tooth_dr

There isn’t anything on the other side and I checked the continuity is ok.

It looks like a week of rain going be the forecast 🙁

It’s only a single layer board Dave. I’m actually embarrassed about the state of my soldering but I’ll post it back of the board below. I replaced both capacitors last night and it still isn’t working. I really need this working now. What are my options here 🙁

Hi Just to update and close the thread - did the rice trick (along with silica gel) in a sealed container for a few days. As expected there is a slight residual mark, but overall lens looks 100%, and I’ve been using it for imaging and all is fine. Thanks for all the advice. Adam

It was the one bottom left of board. I believe it was faulty before I fried the board, would that explain the shutter not working?

@DaveL59 @discardedastro thanks tie the link above. I ordered them and have since replaced both the relays, and still it is not working. Before I burnt it I noticed a little mark on the board beside one of the capacitors but thought nothing much of it. I removed the capacitor earlier this afternoon.l and tried to test it via resistance reading. It appears to be at least functioning. But I get continuity (multimeter beeps) across the terminals intermittently. Would a faulty capacitor cause problems?

Here is a shot from last night, 0.001s (shortest possible exposure) using my QHY9 mono CCD, ED80, 7nm Ha filter. I took 25 images and stacked 20 in AS!2.

So true

Mark, I had 30 minutes of patchy cloud last night so I got a few images. I still have some coma but I can see a significant improvement. I will attach the image later if you would have time to look at it. Thanks Adam.

Lovely John. That region is so dense with stars.

Hi Ciarán. There aren’t adjustment screws on the focuser like a polar scope. I had a look at it again last night and I followed a different guide, and this is different to how I was reading the Tak manual so I’m hopeful

Yes indeed my own 10” F5 is a dream to collimate now! This is a disadvantage of buying a used scope. I think if this was new it wouldn’t have happened.

Doesnt that make a bit of a mockery of the whole process of being super precise and lining up the secondary dot below the cross hairs, if in fact I have to line then up with my interpretation of the centre of a circle?

Outlined in red here below. Looking at that image again, the outer light circle doesnt look concentric. What does that circle correspond to? .

I also replaced the crosshairs with some of my wifes hair.

I cant make it much worse I guess (famous last words!) Ian King has replied to an email I sent to FLO - he believes it is still collimation, and that I have aligned the mirrors but with the primary mirror offset from the main mechanical axis of the scope. This would make sense with the strange coma in the central portion.

Hi Richard. I have the grub screws on the side of mirror some up tight. Perhaps this is causing it?

Hi Mark, I did notice the misshapen central stars too, so there is something amiss for sure. The focuser cross hair does move when rotating, but I read elsewhere on CN that if you lock the focuser and dont move it then the collimation holds true for that particular position. I'm more than happy to address this issue though, and see if it helps. Do the grub screws on the side of the scope needs loosening when doing collimation. Thanks for your ongoing assistance on this issue Mark. Adam. Ive added the text from the manual. What exactly am I adjusting here with respect to the cross hairs.

In a similar situation, I have two cameras with identical sensors, but made by different companies - QHY and ATIK. Having used both for 2-3 years I am in a position to accurately understand the differences. I can see why the Atik is more expensive to buy, its operation and design is better, BUT both deliver the same end result in my experience. Perhaps you can try the cheaper one yourself?

Thats the image in CCDI

Mark, do they need to be loosened to do the collimation itself or should they be left tightened up? How tight do these 3 grub need to be? Thanks Adam.

Hello Stuart. I'm using the tak CC, which is designed to work at 56mm. I have a tak-nikon adapter than is supposed to be a direct fit, and means that the spacing is predetermined. The sensor-flange distance of a Nikon is 46.5mm, and the CC looks to be 9.5mm, so this gives the proper 56mm back focus. Looking at the above, if it is a back focus issue, then where do I need to go with it?

Last night i took a few images. There is a lot of coma despite the scope looking fairly well collimated 🤷 L_0037.NEF

Thanks guys, you make it sound easy! But I don’t think I would have the time to put into this right now, and anyway i would still end up getting it wrong, as I’m no electronics expert (clearly). It wasn’t working before I burnt it so even if I repaired the damage I did, it then it still probably wouldn’t work, unless it was a failed relay to begin with? Does stuff this still be available to purchase or is this not how it works?