JonC

Have you considered 

CeX (UK) Buy & Sell Games, Phones, DVDs, Blu-ray, Electronics, Computing, Vision & CDs (webuy.com)

Have had a couple of cheap cameras from them, you get a warranty.

If you dont have a crimper tool (assuming you have a soldering iron), you could chop, solder and sleeve with heatshrink. I would probably put  a layer of self amalgamating tape over it as well.

You could always chop your existing one down (carefully) .

We use UltraVNC at work, no internet required and it allows file transfer.

Just now, MylesGibson said:

Nah, I've given up for the evening. I'll give it a try tomorrow, and if not, I'll just buy a new one

Good call 

1 minute ago, Seelive said:

If it shows up in 'other devices' rather than a COM port it suggests to me that it hasn't found a suitable driver for it, which then suggests that the latest Prolific driver won't work with it.

good point. There is a legacy driver (pre 2010) on the originally linked website.

Myles, did you try the win7 64bit one? 

Startech usb serial with a ftdi chip is £18.21 on amazon. have to say life is way too short to muck about with flaky usb serial adapters.  When we need a lot of serial ports at work we use 16 port Digi edgports, over 10 years old and still going strong. We cab have multiples of these stacked up each connected to serial outputs on sensors. 

D300 has a mirror lock up function. You would need to be bale to program a mirror lock up pause  on your intervalometer. 

Try downloading the alternative win7 64bit driver. Unzip it into a folder and then point the driver update dialogue in device manager at the folder.

Win7 drivers can often work in Win10.

But if your doing anything where your going  to depend on the  adapter I would highly recommend getting a good brand one, I use a lot of Startech stuff at work, on expensive projects and they havent failed me yet, the projects involve capturing data serial times a second over several months. Startech one will cost you about £18, or can grab another brand and test it for you and send as a late christmas pressie.

What happens when you plug it in? Windows has a lot of drivers built in, check in device manager and see if it appears and is working. If you get stuck I can send you one that definitely works in win10, have a few laying around.

You can get the EOS utility from the Canon HK website, its the full version not an update

https://hk.canon/en/support/0200584002/1

Just a quick thanks for making this video. Its inspired me and a friend from work, just had a text that he's picked up a SW 200p dob.

11 hours ago, BoredPhil said:

After lurking on the for sale board on and off for a couple of years (also been reading other posts!) I finally found a step up from the Travelscope 70 and bought a used SW 130m last week for a bargain price 🕺

Work being horrendous at the mo, I've only just got it home today, so I finally got an EP in it once the kids were in bed. I've had a nice couple of hours trying to get used to an EQ2 with Venus (lovely crescent tonight) and general star hopping until the moon came up.

Unfortunately, the "m" in 130m doesn't work - despite my smugness at remembering to order some D batteries - so I've spent the last hour taking things apart to try to find loose connections etc. My suspicion is the battery holder as there's no light on the control, but I'll need to examine it all more with the voltmeter at some point to try to narrow it down.

It's no big problem if it's not salvageable, I'm only planning on observing as I've read too many posts on here warning about the potential cost of imaging! (I was going to say "astronomical cost", but that was too cheesy, even for me 😁).

So for now, I'll keep trying to get used to the mount (the number of times I went for the wrong dial...) and enjoying the ridiculous effectiveness of a red dot finder.

 Thanks for reading - hope you have clear skies and no work in the morning!

Hi mate, and hello from another bit of Kent. I am over towards Tonbridge.

If you have an android phone look for an app called synscanit (there is probably an apple version alternative), it will take you through setting the synscan controller up and give you the coordinates in the right format.

You should be able to pickup a used HEQ5 for £500

I can lend you some TP link ones if you want to try them. Have run them for a couple of years then shifted to BT mesh when I had FTTP installed.

Get your license here

https://softwaregeeks.co.uk/product/windows-10-pro/

I have been using them for several years without any problems. This guide walks you through the install

https://softwaregeeks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2015/09/Windows-10-PRO-Instructions.pdf

For info. I use Startech, and ended up taking one of their hubs in to work so that I can reliably run some equipment. Its been working flawlessly 24/7 for 3 months with a load of test kit connected. The project is worth around £1million a month if we hit a delay, that's how much I trust the kit. 

If it was me I would use a remote battery holder and solder it in with an inline switch. But postage and bits would probably be more than a new one..

Hello from Kent. Heading to Happisburgh for a week next month, if the weather looks good will take some kit.

Why not just go for planning permission? Try and get exactly what you want instead of trying to stay within permitted development regs. You might be able to get help pre-application to smoot the way, some places its free other areas you have to pay for it. 

21 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I have one bolted permanently onto my Prusa i3 MK2, it gives you the same type of functionality you get with the Duet Ethernet\WIFI, so very worthwhile installing, 

Main task at the moment is learning how to use the various software. Going to start with Cura to allow me to use existing models, have also downloaded and got the free license for Fusion 360 so I can make my own models. First test print came out very well, probably haven't got enough PLA to do a 2nd, picking some up tomorrow. The quality of the components of the Ender 3, and its ease of assembly has surprised me. 

Just built my Ender 3 Pro and running a test print. Very impressed with the way the kit is packaged, everything you need including the tools, and some spare washers, very easy to assemble. I have a spare raspberry pi laying around, is octoprint worth using?

1 hour ago, Dave_D said:

i caught the postman trying to shove this through my letterbox today

so far it works WAY better than my anet AM8

I will be interested to get your thoughts on the Ender, its one I am considering getting. Did you get it on ebay?

13 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Hi

I don't know the camera/sensor but it has been done and you can buy a ready monofied one from here. However, I don't know if it's really worth the time, effort and risk, of attempting it yourself these days. You can buy cmos mono astro cameras relatively cheaply and cooled versions for a bit more. Having a cooled camera is important for long exposure imaging preferably set point with a good delta.

Louise

What are the current "starter" cmos mono cameras? Just wondered what price point I would be looking at.

Cheers

9 minutes ago, John said:

This begs some questions

- At what point is an optical instrument of sufficient bulk, delicacy and sensitivity that it requires bespoke transport arrangements ?

- Are there packaging methods which can provide better insulation from the rigours of transit  for such instruments ?

- Both the above are bound to impact the end cost for the consumer I reckon but maybe a price worth paying ?

 

 

Shipping wise the China to EU/UK bit is probably in a large shipment in a sea freight container, so would be pretty safe. Damage is most likely once the shipment is unpacked and sent to retailers and customers. I build and test gas analysers and we mainly ship them to the far east, packaging is 1m drop tested with a 25kg analyser in it, analyser is then inspected and tested. The packing is a cardboard box containing custom cut foam, think its at least 10cm on all sides.