Glider

I have tried both 3V and 5V types and can say that the with 10m of cable at the RJ45 mount end the 3V didn't work but the 5V did.

10m gets from my conservatory to the patio.

PM'd you.

Yes, I finished it, and the Ascom driver. It is available to buy.

It is intergrated into Sharpcap and works great.

It also works with Bahtinov Grabber and is especially good when using a gamepad in the dark.

I've pm'd you.

Phoned and placed order for QHY5 yesterday, midday.

Camera arrived 14:00 today.

26 hours door to door.

Thanks, we have done it since the last post in this thread and finished the design. We also have the ASCOM driver now. Sharpcap integrates it all.

Cheers.

That is interesting, it sounds like the corrector effectively gave you some more in focus.

I guess my old R&P wouldn't get enough in focus then?

Black Knight, what focuser has your 200P got, low profile Crayford, rack and pinion?

I think that warning is mount/handset related and nothing to do with Stellarium.

On the mount handset I think you can set limits for RA and DEC to that the movement of the mount won't cause things like the OTA to hit the mount by accident as it slews.

Stellarium could be trying to slew the mount past one of these limits so the handset is giving the correct warning.

I could have used either VB or C# but the development PC that was already turned on at the time was the one with VB on it!

I've been in contact with someone about writing an ASCOM driver, it's just a question of how many people would be interested in having one.

Agilent 200MHz DSO.

I think you are right literally, but people just seem to refer to the SW 'thing' as an 'Auto' rather than what it actually is which is a 'Motor' focuser.

However, link it to some hardware and software, as I'm trying to do and you could use it as part of an automatic focusing system.

Out of interest I've had a crack at a PCB.

I've also costed everything up assuming I'm getting 10 off kits of parts at a time from Farnell.

A complete kit looks to be £56.

I'll have to put a meter across it with and without a load to see what it actually is.

As it is it is happily traversing my 1000D in and out and my focuser is 'tight' as I've made the 'PTFE oven door tape mod' to it to reduce slop and sag.

The code to find available comports works great.

Cheers Steve, that's what I thought might happen so I kept the battery option but since other units don't struggle when run off the USB it should be possible.

The pot on the manual hand controller seems to be set up to supply between 2 and 7Vdc to the motor so 5Vdc is well in range, I'm thinking of current more than anything.

The LM317L regulator is rated at 100mA which is suspiciously close to the basic limit of a low power USB device!

Anyway, so far so good, it all works well.

I'm looking at how much a proper job with a proper PCB would cost.

That's good, I'll do something like that, have you got a pointer to where in the VB Help it appears, or even a txt copy of the relevant code. For my own prototype I knew I could force the box to always be on one of the first four comports so didn't bother.

Just so it is clear, this box connects directly to the USB on the PC using a standard USB lead. There is no need for a USB to serial converter, it is built into the box. The 'serial' type connector is just a convenient connector I had lying around and is only used to connect to the motor.

Funnily enough, I start with the case or box that I want to put it in and then work backwards!

That way I never end up with something that's always going to look untidy and only part finished.

I hadn't thought about it, would enough people be interested?

I'd lay out a proper PCB, then I guess I'd do it as a kit or ready assembled. I'd have to cost it up.

Yes, as a first pass I kept the battery for powering the motor. I use the USB just to control and power the switching circuits.

When I have a better idea of what current is being drawn by what parts I can make a small change and try powering the motor from the USB aswell, it looks like it will be OK.

Have tried it indoors but not in anger yet.

The VB program simply sets RTS high for motor in and RTS low for motor out and throws a DPDT relay.

The motor voltage is fixed at 6Vdc using a regulator off the 9V PP3 which is where I normally set the old handset potentiometer anyway.

Sending a variable length sequence of zero's on the USB TX turns the regulator on and off.

It's not a serial connection, it's for connecting to the motor, it's just a convenient socket I had lying around!

Here is my DIY replacement for the standard manual hand controller that comes with the Skywatcher Auto Focuser.

This connects to a USB port on my computer and is controlled by a small Visual Basic program that I have writen. Connection to the motor is via the usual connector on the end.

The program lets me focus in/out in steps that are selectable from only noticable with a magnifying glass to continuous traverse.

Here's my first effort from early this morning, 27/11/09, Orion Nebula.

Meade DSI II Colour imaging, Skywatcher Explorer 200P, HEQ5 guided using DIY 9x50 finder/PHD/modded SPC900NC.

I just tried to concentrate on getting everything lined up, guiding OK, then focusing, then taking 18 off 42s subs using the Meade Image Capture software. The result is the combined image stored as a jpg. Didn't take any darks because I was just chuffed to be getting anything at all.

I've had a firtle with GIMP but really need to read the manual. I've also got the 18 individual fts files to play with.

Should I take the filter off the DSI or leave it in place?