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Shelster1973

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Posts posted by Shelster1973

  1. Hi there 

    sorry, but no idea where you could get a geared motor from 

    have you looked at the grub screw that sits on top of the worm gear? When I put mine back together, this needed adjusting a few times so that it did not cause a bind and stop the turning

  2. 11 minutes ago, DaveS said:

    Question: Are you going to upgrade the mount?

    Although the EQ6-R is a reasonable piece of kit, a "Lifetime" 'scope really deserves a "Lifetime" mount, something in the Mesu / 10 Micron league as a minimum.

    That would be an ideal situation yes, but at this monent in time the answer is no on teh mount upgrade.  Wil be sticking with current one, although it will be mounted on a solid pier when in use (pier is part of 'upgrade' too)

  3. 3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

    If solely for imaging, and if its a life-long scope. I'd get the Takahashi FSQ 106..

    Hadn't even seen that one...thaks for info

    33 minutes ago, johninderby said:

    For me it would be the TEC 140 although not as portable as the Tak100.

    While I have heard good things about them, have to say that it is too expensive for me to go for, but many thanks for highlighting it as an option.

     

    The FSQ 106EDX4 f/5 quad petzval is right at the very top of what I would want to pay, when factoring in rings and plates for scope and guider mounting, plus I will be going motorised on the focuser too, so that maxes out the budget

    • Like 1
  4. Come September (which seems a long way off, but will soon be here), I am going to find myself in the lucky posiiton of being able to get myself my 'forever, lifelong' scope and having previously had a Newt am now leaning towards getting a frac, but the question I keep going round and round in circles with, is which one?

    This will be solely used for imaging and will be mounted on my EQ6R-PRO along with SXVR-694 camera and SXPress filter wheel.  Data grabs will be LRGB plus all the funky narrow band options too.

    For a long time now I have been looking at the Skywatcher Esprit Pro 100, but am now looking more towards the 120 if I went SW with this 'once only' purchase, but having recently restarted my research, have seen mention of the Takahashi TSA-120 and that then even lead me onto the Borg 107FL 3.9 Petzval scope.

    I suppose my question is, would the Borg be a better purchase over the Tak and also what would the final price for the Tak be when factoring in all the bits and bobs needed (tube rings, dovetails etc etc)

    As I will only be doing this once, I need to get it right first time, so wont be rushing into this and am hoping other people have constructive views and comments to help me out here.

    Cheers and clear skies

  5. As I am struggling to get my pier built at home, am now looking at moving to reemote imaging locations with my setup and as part of that, am looking into getting a hard travel case for my EQ6R-Pro.

    Has anyone else found a suitable case to store and transport this mount in?  I don't have the original packing anymore either, so will eb doing my own foam inserts too.

  6. Ed

    That is pretty much how platesolving works yes.  I do not use APT myslef, so cant say for sure how that functions, but for me using NINA, i just tell the mount where to go using Stellarium then platesolve in NINA.  It uses Astrometry for its solving solution.  Then when the result comes back, the software knows where it should bo pointing, compares this to where it actually pointing, resolves the differnec and moves the mount accordingly.  It then re-syncs the mount so that it knows where it is pointing, takes another image and goes through that cycle again, unitlk it within a set tolerance.  The you just carry on and image away.  No updates are sent to Stellarium just provides the co-ordaintes for the mount to slew too, the update as mentioned is in the mount.

    I was a bit daunted when I first used it, but now would not go back at all.  Have given up doing 3 star aligns and using handset - everyting is done via direct PC connection and platesolving now.  Still have to do a Polar Align though.

    Hope that helps

  7. Fred

    Was not that focused on grabbing such detailed info whe i did my first teardown, sorry, but as I have to go back in for some minor tinkering that I want to do to the power solution I have, will get the info and post back on here, along with any more detailed phots that I take along the way.

    • Like 1
  8. Hi there

    In my last house I installed a fixed pier made from 4 fence posts bolted together and only ever polar aligned either after removing the mount for maintenance or once every 6 months or so just to check that all was still solid.

    Am planning on installing an Altair Astro pier in my new garden at some point in the near future and will be doing the same again when it comes to Polar Alignment.  Will be done when I do the first install and done to a high degree of accuracy and then as a check every 6 months or so, or if I start to get some weird readings from guiding or my images start to look a little ropey.

    As you say, time spent not PAing is a bonus here in the UK.  I did invest in a the QHY Pole Master which has proven invaluable with my temporary setup, but was also a bonus for when operating of the fixed pier as it allows the accuracy to be checked (and adjusted if needed) very quickly indeed.

    • Thanks 1
  9. At present I have my Evostar guidescope mounted to the rather small screw held bracket on the side of my ED72 OTA.

    Am wanting to make this slightly more stable and solid, so looking to mount it a-top the 72 in the good old over nad under configuration and was wondering what people would recommend for tube-rings and dovetails to achieve this.

    I will be giving it a good look at over the weekend when I get back to my set-up, but for now as I am just pondering, am open to guidance and advice

  10. Joining in, like others, to say that this is a great idea and many thanks for FLO / IKI for making this happen.  Thank you.  Can get to fully learning how to drive PI and get an image out of it.

    One side of me thinks that this is fully altruistic endeavour....then the ever present cynic thinks this is plot by staff at FLO to be able to get away every month or so to some warmer and clearer climes to 'check on the equipment' and 'bring back a few supplies (duty free) 😉 and seeing as Exeter airport is only just down the road...….need I say more??? 😁

    Just putting it out there that if you need anyone to carry bags, turn screwdrivers, pour sangria for you, I am only a few miles down the A38 and happy to come along and help.

    Back to serious, thanks again FLO and IK for being great as always

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  11. Must do an update on this and try to get my head around it again.

    Some of the future updates look good too, especially the replacement for DBE.  Will be interesting to see what that looks like and how it performs / behaves.  Also interested in the atsrometry tool too, just to see what it actually is.  Also, as it is currently unnamed, wonder if it will be known as Tooly McToolface 🤣

  12. At the moment, I am not using any cable to fire my camera as I have an issue with the snap port.  I get very intermittent fires with mine.  Sometimes it works, others it wont and sounds a bit like yours, it will just fire off a rapid amount of shots.

    The cable that I have is this one in the AP-R3N(N3) flavour.

    I have had the mount apart and tried to replace the snap port, but it is on a very small board mounted connector and also heard from @FLOthat Sky Watcher don't spare that particular part.

    My only option left now is to use an external intervalometer, which I was loath to do, but am guessing that I have to now.

    One last option would be for me to connect the shutter release cable that I have to the wires that are left on the snap port, but would mean cutting the cable

  13. After what seems like ages, I have finally managed to grab some data with my setup. 
     

    I decided to go for The Elephants Trunk A’s was very visible to me, but I ended up not being able to get all the data I was after due to a small issue of running into the tripod 

    in the end I managed to get some Ha, lum and red data and was wondering what would be the best way to combine them, if indeed I can?

    havent started on the processing yet

  14. Very nice setup indeed. I am after getting the same scope at some point in the future. 
    interesting to see that there is now a USB port on that mount. Mine did not have that, so am guessing they have just had a revision. Still, have had no problems controlling it via an eqmod cable. 
     

    enjoy and clear skies

  15. 4 hours ago, Wiu-Wiu said:

    This software looks pretty promising... 

     

    For my home pier, I'd be interested in installing it so I can capture frames while I sleep, as it seems it's only clear when I need to work in the morning :D

     

    Does anyone have more info on how to connect the camera, guidecam, mount, focuser, etc etc... to your laptop or PC? I might opt to run my cables all the way into my house - that saves me from leaving my laptop outside... But I will need about 15 meters of cable to do so... The big question is... is this possible and what cables should do the trick? 

    I connect all mine through a powered USB hub and have no issues with this.

    For a pier install over the distance you mention, you could go two ways with it.  Have a NUC sat on the pier, connect all your equipment to this (either direct if enough ports or with a powered USB hub) and then control this via a remote desktop application, or you could use a powered USB hub at the mount and then use a USB over ethernet extender to connect back to a PC inside your house.  it may be possible to use a powered USB cable to bring the hub output back to the house, but these can be temperamental and give connection issues.,

    I have found it to be a great piece of software and prefer to use this over SGP, which I have paid for.  I find it very intuitive and the GUI is well laid and out and very clear

  16. For those who have ever wondered what is going on inside the Skywatcher Star Adventurer, wonder no more.  Here is the mount, stripped down as far as I am willing to go.

    1499839892_20190809-SATeardown-U.thumb.jpg.ee70b35be3c76b42c22c04d30f80394c.jpg

    I have an issue with the SNAP port on mine in that it is very sporadic in its working.  Sometimes it will be fine and then others it will fire the camera but not hold the shutter open as it should.  I have tried replacing the 2.5mm socket with another, but to no avail.  Have contacted @FLO to see about getting a whole new port, harness and connector and am waiting to hear back on cost for this.

    To get to the board that it connects to, you have to strip the mount down as far as I have above, as the worm / motor assembly gets in the way of the connector.  A very easy stripdown it is too.  4 x Allen screws take off the saddle.  You then fully unscrew the black clutch ring and remove it.  The roller thrust bearing then slips off to reveal the rotary gear.  4 x Allen screws set inside this remove it from the mount body.  The worm / motor assy is removed by 2 x countersunk Allen screws.

    Was very pleasantly surprised to see the roller thrust bearing in there.  A very nice engineering touch.  The grease used is very light and they have not gone over the top with the use of it too.  I will be wiping all clean and using a teflon grease when I put it all back together.

    Have left the polar scope fitted as I do not need to remove it to do the work I am doing and will also save me the hassle of getting it back in and collimated too.

    If anyone wants any closeups of any of the parts while it is in this state, let me know and will take some and post here.

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  17. Sorry, I never got round to sorting this one out. Had a lot of other stuff going on that distracted me away from investigating any further.

    i still reckon it is down to the lens being wide open and the issues that causes with focusing exactly. 

    As I now have the opportunity, I will look back into this and see what I can do to resolve it.

    • Like 1
  18. Said I was crap at maths.  I was planning on dividing 360 by 24 which gives 15...not sure where i got 6 from...........

    Hand controller would be a very good test. Cuts out all of the other parts and would give a true representation of the mount on its own

  19. 6 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

    If you set the pulse guiding rate to 0 then it wont guide at all? It will just track at sidereal. Try setting it to 0.5.

    I was just about to jump in with this one.  

    A good read on all things guiding with EQMOD can be had here.

    I would still set up a non-guided, tracking only dummy run.  Use the setting scale rings to mark a zero point, then head away for a cup of tea, or other beverage of you choice (over 18s may imbibe if desired) and then head back after an hour or two.  If you are tracking ok, then you will have moved.  Not sure of the number, but am sure another user well versed in maths will be bale to provide how many degrees will have moved in 1 hour.  My crap maths says 6 degrees........ but was never good at the numbers

    Just read/noticed that you are using KSTARS/ekos/indi.  Do you have a way of using the Windows iteration of EQMOD as a way of ruling out an issue with your current solution?

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