mbalkham

I went with thickened epoxy with black epoxy dye in the end. I placed electrical tape over the outside then pushed in the epoxy mix and used a spatula on the inside to smooth off the mix. Not perfect in terms of finish but does the job well. If I did it again I'd prob chamfer the holes, spend more time packing the epoxy in the holes and I'd prob also go over the outside later with a clear epoxy.

@Starflyer I'm getting closer to getting it dialled in. My current iteration uses a stainless steel band (see photos) but I've tried just marking and drilling and couldn't get it accurate enough. Any difference in distance to the primary twists the spider (and the spikes don't align) and any slight difference in spacing around the tube misaligns the vanes with a similar result. I considered trying to spring load the attachment to ensure my bolt tightening was equal and not distorting the spider but adopted adjustment under the stars to try and dial in as best I could. What I've learnt so far: The hole alignment is critical and drilling them right is tricky! (See below for my latest thoughts). Not only to they need to be equidistant from each other but also from the primary. Any error means that the vanes don't end up in the right alignment and the diffraction spikes never perfectly align. Changing the rotation by 45degrees has made collimation slightly easier as I suspected above with alignment of the adjustment screws with the optical arrangement. My mirror isn't equidistant from the end of my tube) or more likely the end of my tube isn't square) so I can't measure from the end of the tube for anything critical A wide band of paper/thin card is prob the best way to mark 4 equidistant holes. Take the band off and fold in half twice and mark those lines. The width of the band means it will be parallel to the tube My current solution was to clamp a (actually 2) stainless steel hose clamps over the top of the marked paper band and mark the 4 equidistant lines and the end of the hose clamps. Then to remove the hose clamps, remeasure/check that the holes are equidistant and punch and drill the 4 spider holes in the centre of the band. When you tighten the clamp it will square itself to the tube was my theory I aligned one of the holes placing the bolt through the clamp and OTA and then filing out the remaining 3 holes to perfectly align. I have filled the old holes with thickened epoxy with black dye. They look ok (from a distance!) Measure the spider to check it is roughly centred. Tighten the for bolts of the spider finger tight. I did the collimation after installation as per usual (catseye and glatter combo for me). I did also check that the focuser was square and centred using a hole opposite the focuser drilled with he paper trick. After that I used the laser to check and adjust focuser alignment. Under the sky I honed my centring of the spider. If it's not dead centre it distorts the vanes and the diffraction spikes aren't right (they diverge away from the star). My Rho image below shows some residual diffraction spike divergence (and was before I installed my steel band). I've improved it a little more since I took that image (see the other test image of Rigel I think). My process for adjusting under the stars was: Point at a bright star, focus and take an image Adjust the spider screws towards the diverging diffraction spike. If your sensor is aligned to the spider this should be easier. If at 45 degrees I suspect you'll need to adjust all four screws simultaneously (and refocus between adjustments) In my case i could adjust left and right without affecting the focus too much but up and down requires a refocus (as it moves the secondary towards/away from the sensor. After a bit of fiddling I got to a point I was relatively happy (I do still want to make some final tweaks). This adjustment is likely to have affected your collimation so recollimate at this point. All in all a lot of hassle! I'm getting there. I recon one more night under the stars and I'll have it pretty dialled in. Good luck if you do decide to make the mod! I recon sticking with the factory spider holes might be a lot easier. Then again you might highlight some issues you never thought you had when you put the new spider in! Def holds collimation better and I think my diffraction spikes will be better (eventually!).

Yep this is the new version of 1.5.8 with the updater reinstalled. I think it also includes indi 1.9.0. It all worked fine yesterday am then update and all the issues. Phd2 and kstars corrupted and indi qhy driver issues. Even tried a fresh image of stellarmate and have same issues after update.

The latest version of stellarmate seems to stop the qhy driver working. I had my qhy268m working fine but since the update it won't show up. Any ideas?

I'm working on a project with my local astronomy society. We are considering the qhy600pro and fli kl4040 cameras for a new project. They will be dropping into an officiana stellare RiFAst 400 (1500mm fl f3.8 astrograph). Looking for advice to help make the decision ideally from those that have used either of these cameras first hand. Potentially open to alternative high spec cameras. Thanks in advance Matt

Hi all, I'm helping my astronomy society develop detailed plans for a remotely controllable astrophotography facility. We're in the latter stages of planning about to draw down funds and start ordering. We have a good idea of the main equipment (dome, mount, ota, camera, filters, etc.). Some final decisions still to be made but largely this is now agreed. I've done a fair bit of astrophotography (and my rig is about as fully automated as they come and is entirely controlled over wifi or LAN running on a computer at the mount) but never tried to establish an observatory let alone remotely access one. We are now looking for advice and support around the hardware and software required to automate the observatory. We hope to ultimately be able to operate the facility entirely remotely (that is over an internet connection) including powering up/down, automatic weather locally overriding control, data sync to a shared server. Our current thinking is that the society will vote for or request target time via an online platform and the facility operator or team will then queue the targets. Hopefully the facility will then open, check mount model, slew to target, focus and start capturing. The dome and weather station would also interrupt the capture and safely close up if the weather took a turn. We imagine that the data will be saved locally initially and then uploaded to a private data server accessible by members (which may take some time due to access speeds). On that server we would also hold a dark library and periodically capture a set of flats & flat_darks (prob captured by someone onsite, though a remotely operated flat panel in the dome would be ideal). We want the mount and camera etc. controlled by an onsite computer in case the remote link isn't great but targets etc. quid from offsite and the whole rig accessible by TeamViewer/similar. Targets will be deep space astrophotography (nebula and galaxy), mostly pretty pics (hopefully!). We have research and video, live stream, teaching and other aspirations but these are all secondary and might be achieved at another facility or with other equipment. Our current equipment list includes: Mount (10 Micron GM3000HPS, OTA (OS RiFast400), Camera (TBC but prob FLI KL4040 or QHY600 Pro), OPTEC Focuser, Filterwheel & filters (LRGB and NB), etc. Dome (3m ScopeDome) and weather station (AAG CloudWatcher & Anemometer plus dragonfly observatory controller) with all automation hardware and software Local computer, screen, keyboard, mouse, router Eagle 4 Pro Local 12v battery backup (LiPo4), solar charger, mains charger, pure sinewave inverter Uninterruptible power supply and UPS remote relay (though the 12v system may negate the need for this)? MGPBox (to remote power on mount and provide refraction data) Slab, ducting, power and data hardware Not yet entirely sure of software needs and licence costs. I'm most familiar with INDI/Kstars but I suspect we might go ASCOM. I believe we already have a Maxim licence (not sure which one). We might look at another premium paid software if need be. Any recommendations? What else have we missed/do we need to get up and running and control remotely? Not looking for comments on mount, OTA, camera, etc. just on the automation and control stuff. Thans in advance Matt

Is this anything like your setup? I'm happy with back focus. Some potential improvements: I wonder if a paracorr to M48 rather than t2 (M42) might help open up that end of things (reduce vignette?). Have also been looking for a way to go to screw connections right through but can't think of a good way to connect the steeltrack to the paracorr and then the rest of the chain. Hoping clicklock is good enough (and better than the standard clamp). Would be nice to have it screwed right through so open to ideas. Might take out OAG in favour of a spacer. I don't like the 3 thumbscrews at this point as it could introduce tilt. Thoughts?

I have a tilt adjustment on the ZWO ASI 071MC Pro so hoping that would work if I need more adjustment. My optical chain is Paracorr>ZWO OAG>ZWO filter drawer>Camera which I think gives me the correct back focus. I'm toying with removing the OAG since I'm running 10mins unguided these days.

I'm having a bit of a tilt issue myself at the moment with the Baader steeltrack and Teleview Paracorr combination. Looks like I might need the clicklock.

I think you might be right. I remeasured the spacing and it looks like my 4 holes are not equally spaced around the circumference (not by much). I was not far off centre but obviously not close enough and that was pulling vanes offline a little. I've filled the holes and will redrill tomorrow above the last lot. Will triple check all the measurements and accuracy of the pilot holes before redrilling. I think I'm parallel to the primary. I'll check again. Will also check the focuser alignment again.

So testing tonight produced a funny set of diffraction spikes. Does this mean I haven't managed to get it square? or is this some other issue (don't think it is collimation or focus but could be tilt, focuser tube alignment, something else?). Also screenshot of ASTAP CCD Inspector for same image.

I have another post on this specific question (Spider upgrade - orientation of vanes - Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups - Stargazers Lounge). I didn't get a definitive answer on that thread nor from the manufacturer of the new spider. General wisdom was that it wouldn't make a difference optically, but my thinking was about ease of collimation. I wanted adjustment towards/away from the focuser with one screw and then left to right with the other two. I think this means easier adjustment as you don't adjust in more than one plane when you make an adjustment. I also think it will help support the focuser and weight of the camera/reduce any flex at that point of the tube.

Hi all, Anyone tried to fill holes in a carbon fibre tube? More cosmetic than structural (see pic). Also want to stop light for darks. Currently using black pvc tape! Looking for tips/ tricks. Current thinking is thickened epoxy with black pigment (or perhaps graphite?). Something like this https://www.epoxyworks.com/index.php/adding-pigments-to-west-system-epoxy/ Prob also paint over inside with black acrylic paint. Thanks in advance Matt

I went with changing the orientation. Not collimated yet but I'm sure it will be easier if I'm the same plane. Looks and feels much stiffer which must be good. Hopefully test it this weekend.

In the new one I'm not sure if 45 degree rotation works either because of the offset of the two thumbscrews? Will wait to see when it arrives! I've also reached out to TS Optics for advice.