Grierson

Bit draconian but If you are an imager you could just remove the polar scope and rely on SharpCap to do your PA.

Thank you chaps. I’ll go with a south leg then. I won’t need the polar ‘scope once the adapter for the Polemaster turns up. - John

Hello folks. Just received my shiny new EQ6-R this morning. (Thank you FLO!) I hope you'll let me join the club. Already I have a simple question. The drawings of mount appear to show one tripod leg pointing north (similar to my HEQ5) However I am sure that I have read or seen that one leg should point south and in fact the position of the dowel pin, as unboxed, is located between two legs to enable this to happen. (See image) Nothing in the manual clarifies the position. I wonder if some kind soul would provide a definitive answer. Many thanks - John

Sorry I should have said Facebook group!

When you say 'no mount control at all' does that mean that when you click on 'Go to Home ...' nothing happens? If that were the case I would be inclined to check the EQMod cable or try it in a different USB port on the Pro. Are you confident that your power supply is holding up during your curtailed imaging session? You may well be aware that there is a dedicated YouTube group for the ASIAIR. It might be worth posing a question or two to them to see if anyone has experienced/cured the same problems. - John

Thank you gentlemen. Sorry I wasn’t too clear in my question, I was sure I had read that there were minor differences between the initial launch models of the EQ6R Pro and the later releases of the same model. At the time I did not have a particular interest and I may have got it wrong (again 😩)

I read a couple of posts some time ago that the latest version of the above mount has some minor connectivity port changes. None of the suppliers (including SW themselves) show an image of changes from the original. Have I got it wrong and if not could someone kindly set out what has changed as I’ve got an itch to upgrade my existing to cater for an Edge 8”. Many thanks. - John

I wonder why your laptop is involved. (Unless perhaps it has an Android platform) What are you using to control the ASIAIR Pro with? Thanks to FLO I received one of the early units but despite my reservations as an ‘early adopter) the Pro worked straight out of the box using the Lynx EQMod cable that I had previously used on the Mk1 version. As MarkAR suggests it simply plugged in to one of the USB ports on the unit with the system being controlled from an iPad. - John

That settles it. Thanks for the info. Mark. - John

Now that MS will no longer produce Windows phones many are becoming cheaply available as users ‘upgrade’. It occurred to me that this may be an opportunity to replace the laptop I currently lug around to use Polemaster. I haven’t seen a cheapy phone with a suitable USB port (micro) and they seem to run a special version of Windows so the question arises ‘can it be done?’ Any comment would be appreciated. John

Nice thought, thank you. Could I ask where you purchase the sleeving from?

In the continuing quest for neater cable management I wonder if anyone can suggest a source of shorter EQMod cables. My current LYNX cable is about 12” too long on my rig. Old age and shaken hands prevent me from cutting it to size and resoldering the plug. Many thanks - John

Having gone down various routes as I climbed the steep learning curve of Astrophotography there is no doubt IMVHO that the ASIair is the way to go. Every thing you need to control the mount in one small box. Minimum number of cables, just one taking power to the mount in my case with the Air mounted on the tube. Control over WiFi from an iPad or Android pad, direct or over your house WiFi. EQMod control, no hand set. Use of the internal target listings or SkySafari. Live stacking. etc. Principal drawback is that only ZWO cameras are supported together with a whole batch of DSLRs. Need I say more! 😁

Again gentlemen tank you for taking the trouble to provide some further food for thought. Although I have been imaging for some time I am still climbing the learning curve and at my extended age it is getting more difficult rather than easier. My first thought Olly, was the ED120, but as the responses have rightly implied I come from a photography hobby and I was sure that it was perhaps not as simple as just investing in a longer 'scope. - John

How about a ZWO ASI 120 mm. c. £30 less than your preferred option?

Thank you gentlemen. My simple issue is that when imaging many galaxies I find that the actual galaxy is very small in the frame. (The ‘scope is fitted with a reducer and equates to a focal length of 510mm) Cropping and enlarging the image is clearly not the best approach! I will have a look at the iOptron spec. John

My SW ED80/reducer is limited for imaging smaller galaxies. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for a suitable reasonably priced alternative which can be carried by an HEQ5. Thanks - John

Phew David thank you for taking the time to post comprehensive comment. The answer is NO to your penultimate paragraph question. The problem is getting bespoke lengths/terminations from recognised manufactures is clearly a very expensive option.

Thanks Pete, I’ve had a brief look and it is not immediately obvious how specific lengths and terminations are specified/ordered but I will dig a bit deeper. - John

Thanks for the suggestions chaps, I will have a look.- John

Thanks James, I’ve never tried to cut in to USB leads to fit plugs but I would guess the required precision soldering involved would now be beyond my old eyes. John

Thanks Peter but I need three and at £60+ I would have to live with the untidiness 😀

Having recently received a new ASIair I am keen to tidy up the cabling on my rig. I'm having great difficulty finding leads of specific lengths. (e-bay and Amazon) i.e. 2ft USB2 A to B with the A being a right angle plug. I wonder is anyone has a source of leads with oddball lengths. Thanks - John

I run my ASIAIR Pro from your second example. Runs fine indoors but I’ve not had chance yet to try it out in earnest. Can’t tell from your signature what your set up consists of but received wisdom seems to be that the mount should be powered direct rather than a port on the ASIAIR leaving the four ports for powering cameras, focuser, heaters etc. I run my setup in EQMod with the cable from the ASIAIR to the mount direct. Since, briefly in my early days, I have never used the hand controller and now that the unit has an option inbuilt to use SkySafari /EQMod this make life even better. Again the guide camera connects to the ASIAIR with one cable direct.

Hi Steve, did you get one and what are your first impressions?