adyj1

Whilst I've spend many, many times more than I ever expected on astronomy, I do still prefer to look for the cost-effective solution. If buying cheap isn't too expensive, then I'll give it a go - inevitably there's some things that just aren't good enough, but my home-made FTDI cable (spliced with a cable that had the correct end for the AZ-Gti) has been reliable, so hasn't needed the expensive replacement... (so far!)

Surely that's a typo? Got to be 2037 😉 But seriously, although the learning curve has a chuffing great hump at the beginning you have made really good progress. What seems like endless unconnected problems slowly get resolved as you learn more, and an understanding of your particular process clicks into place. When you transition from 'hump' to steady 'curve' you will start to feel a sense of accomplishment as your results slowly improve. (Of course the learning curve never actually flattens out 😁) Advice from more experienced astronomers who have been through what you're experiencing and have come out the other side is invaluable, so keep asking questions here. If you are thinking about making changes perhaps ask in advance of investing time and money (and potentially wasted clear nights). It will all fall into place eventually (and well before 2027), so stick with it! Ady

Welcome, and good luck for a speedy delivery!

Oh, ye of little faith. Every full moon! 😉

@Trikeflyer, I would ring them up and ask for a pitch number. They are very helpful and will probably already have allocated you a pitch - I'm sure everything is fine, but it's best to know now just in case there's been a hiccup.

Hello and welcome. It's less cloudy over here 😉 (I wish)

Thanks for getting back with the information @JimothyC, I guessed as much but worth checking.

I think we have to fall back on the fact that if you know your dc barrel is 2.1mm then it will *only* fit a 2.1mm socket...

I think DSD needs to do some Web site management 😉 https://shop.deepskydad.com/product/dc-hub-2/

My apologies, I meant were the replacement motors quoted at £150 ones that would come from Skywatcher? As you say, way too expensive, but if you knew they were going to be better quality it might be able to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse 😉 It is the motor side, and the thought of opening and fiddling with internal gears fills me with dread - I don't have the right sized hammer, for a start 🤣 Your helpful list of bearings has been bookmarked, though, thanks 👍

I'm wondering whether you've got a DC Hub V2, which on the DSD website says is a 5.5/2.1 input, the same as the outputs. I think it was the V1 that advertised as 5.5/2.5 input and may be the cause of some of the confusion. But the main thing is If a 5.5/2.1 barrel tip fits, then the socket is 5.5/2.1 as well and you are good to go. (@callisto linked to a 5.5/2.1 that he uses, so this does seem to be the case.) If you do get into the situation where you have a 2.5mm barrel connecting into a 2.1mm socket the general advice is to swap the barrel connector to 2.1mm for reliability (if it actually works at all - it can depend on the design of the barrel) - or get a connector as mentioned by @bottletopburly Ady

Steve, I think I am missing something... Are you saying that the female power input connector on your DC hub has a 2.5mm pin and the male connector on the cable you have been able to plug in to it has a 2.1mm barrel? If it were the other way round (a 2.1mm pin and 2.5mm barrel) I would say that it normally works, but they aren't designed to be that way so if you are making cables then get the correctly-sized connector, but it sounds like the socket on the hub is a 2.1mm pin... Unless I'm missing something 😉 Ady

@JimothyCWere the replacements from SkyWatcher (i.e. the same as those already in the AZ-GTI? When I tried to move the motor to reduce the backlash on mine, I noticed that the spindle on one of them moved slightly side-to-side which meant that the gear engagement was always slightly loose. I'd be interested if I can get a better quality replacement, but if I still have to rely on the luck of the draw in terms of SW quality then it wouldn't be worth it.

Have booked 7th-10th with the option of the 11th... Adyj1

Great result! Do you mind saying how much it ended up costing with shipping and any duty?

I'll let someone with practical SGP experience step in now... I would not have thought there any reason to disconnect all equipment before shutting down, but it is good practice to do a slow warm-up of your cooled camera sensor at the end of a session. I'm confident that SGP will do what you want...

1) what improvement would you like over the smart plug solution? I imagine it's the sort of thing that needs you to decide a camera reboot is necessary. 2) SGpro will run scripts (vbs, cmd, bat etc) at the end of a session, and so you should be able to find a 'shutdown pc after n minutes' script somewhere. Ady

Good luck - I'd be interested to know the final cost, as it looks a good option...

Out of interest, where will you be sourcing it from? I had an untracked EQ5, upgraded it with the dual-axis motor kit you first proposed and then got bitten by both the GOTO and DIY bugs at the same time. Had to sell the 6v motors as they weren't suitable and went with an AstroEQ controller and stepper motors (a bit like the onstep). The EQStarEQ5 setup looks like a good choice.

I basically built an oven. Stop sniggering at the back... Ady

I haven't tried the Prusia slicer, but get on well with Cura - which is what the Creality slicer is based on (a very, very old version of Cura as I understand it).

A word of warning - some exotic materials have very specific requirements (such as a heated enclosure for ABS) so do your homework before ordering... Ady

lol - I did a test print of a stepper mount in PLA and then ended up using it. I was very happy. Then I left it out under the cover on one of those really scorching days recently (there was clear sky the night before and clear sky the following night...). oops; Lesson learned. PETG for important stuff, and better protection from the heat if I do leave it out... Ady

That's something I never really thought about - if I connect to my upgraded GTi with my phone, it prompts for AZ or EQ mode. If I connect with a handset instead, it does the same... But when I connect with an EQMOD cable it seems to automatically be in EQ mode without me selecting it. I'm interested to see if anyone has run a GTi with the upgraded firmware in AZ mode with the EQMOD cable...

This does look like an ideal post for the Suppliers Review forum, but it looks like you will need 50 posts before you can post there. Ady