adyj1

Grass pitch for 2 booked. @mikeyj1 nudged.

Fingers for clear skies crossed 😉. 

My 2p.... Started visual, learned the ropes on budget gear but realised that age-related eyesight issues meant that I was always going to be the weak link (and limiting factor) in my visual astronomy journey... 

However I'm a geek. I work with computers all day and would happily do the same all night. The first time I put a smartphone to my 25mm bog-standard skywatcher ep on an old 90mm refractor and took a blurry picture of the Orion nebula I was hooked. I get a thrill out of AP and an equal thrill out of computers, wires and associated tech gubbins. 

I still dabble in the visual arts - the binos get regular casual use, and I have a 152mm Mak-Cass that I really must get sorted for planetary - but AP does it for me.

4 hours ago, bendiddley said:

How long does it take to 3D print something, excluding designing it, the actual print time. For example a simple end cap like the one in the first photo?

This is an unusually simple thing to print - it doesn't have to get that much bigger or more complex to start taking 1-2hrs+, and things that you want to be strong take even longer. A pair of tube rings for a cooled CCD camera took 14hrs... 

15 hours ago, Quetzalcoatl72 said:

I don't have 3d printers thousands of pounds or high tech machinery or the technical skill to create something to fix the problem. 

I appreciate this may have just been a turn of phrase caused by your understandable frustration, but is there a 3d-printed solution for this, or are you thinking that someone fettling away at the problem might come up with one?

Ady

Out of interest, what should it look like? 

Alan, thanks for the great explanation. 

5 hours ago, symmetal said:

The Canon 700 being an APS-C size sensor will need the extension spacing to be more exact. The Canon T2 adapters can vary slightly in their length by 0.5mm or so depending on the manufacturer, so the extension may need to vary slightly from 8mm to get optimum results. 🙂

Alan

Alan, 

Useful info. What should you look out for to be able to tell that the spacing is slightly off? 

Ady

6 hours ago, Nojus said:

Now trying to reset head wifi to factory settings by connecting to power for 4 h,lets hope it will works

The one complication is that if any device tries to connect to its WiFi during that 4 hrs (perhaps because the SSID has been tried before), then it will halt the reset.

I used to take mine to the far end of the garage away from the house when I did mine 😉 

It appears I should have been spending the money on spanners 😂 

4 minutes ago, StuartT said:

BTW, does anyone know why EQMOD/EQUASCOM apps can't be closed by clicking the normal X in the top right corner? I always have to open the Windows task manager and 'End Task' (which always feels bad)

Thanks

It stays open until all apps linked to it (in my case APT and CdC) are closed. There should be a 'kill eqascom' shortcut in the start menu folder for eqascom that you can use instead of task manager... 

On 09/06/2021 at 01:35, adyj1 said:

Thanks

I assume it is the 8' x 6' ? ARGOS: Arrow Tall Metal Green Garden Shed - 8 x 6ft

Did you get the have to fabricate the 'flap' the over the apex, or is that part of the shed? 

More details about the runners would also be appreciated ☺

Looks a cracking result! 

Actually, I think the one I found in my post is bigger than the one that @Turbocoo has.

This 6' x 4' looks a slightly smaller one: ARGOS: Yardmaster Metal Garden Shed - 6 x 4ft

Ady

4 hours ago, Turbocoo said:

Hi

Purchased locally direct from the manufacturer, Yardmaster. Their factory is 30 miles from me. 

They supply argos etc. 

Best 

Thanks

I assume it is the 8' x 6' ? ARGOS: Arrow Tall Metal Green Garden Shed - 8 x 6ft

Did you get the have to fabricate the 'flap' the over the apex, or is that part of the shed? 

More details about the runners would also be appreciated ☺

Looks a cracking result! 

Looks good. Where did you get the shed from? 

47 minutes ago, StuartT said:

thanks. Good tip! Probably forms a rather nicer cylinder than my cardboard too. I'll give that a try

I wouldn't say it forms iit that much better, as it is still like corrugated cardboard... It is durable, though. 

I got some of this from wickes;

Proplex black protection sheet

It's a 2mm thick matt black sheet, like cardboard but made out of plastic (one side has no printing) . Bit more robust than cardboard and a big sheet... 

Cheap and cheerful ☺ 

On 04/06/2021 at 21:37, wookie1965 said:

I would love one of these making for my missing one. 

Pm sent

Yup, this fits my Eq6 and eq5 perfectly - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:681408

There's an Eq6 one on thingiverse that I've printed - I'll check it in my EQ5 later... 

Was the power supply up to it? I think the 533 needs a nominal 12V/3A 

On 26/05/2021 at 11:23, Gasman said:

Cura , Prusa which slicer peeps? Just curious ,trying to suss out which best to use!

Use Cura and find it seems to do everything I need. Being able to vary the infill within a print is v. useful (e.g. 100% on a load-bearing bit and minimum infill on the rest ...) 

Haven't tried Prusa so can't comment... 

Congrats! Go buy a lottery ticket while your luck is in! 😁 

1 hour ago, alacant said:

Hi

Assuming the existing ring bears up against the glass, don't tighten any more. If the glass rattles the turn clockwise until the lens is held loosely but without lateral movement. If not...

Remove the existing cc retainer then screw in the filter carefully a bit at a time into the now exposed thread.

Check to see if it holds the front element by bearing -gently- up against it or, if it goes fully home, rattles when you shake it. If the latter swap the fat ring in the cc for the thin ring in the filter.

HTH

Sounds like good advice, and replacing the retaining ring with the filter might be an option... 

I had another thought - Is it OK to put the filter at the end of the CC, or should it be closer to the sensor? 

I've just got an ASI533MC which came with a 2" UV cut filter.  I can screw it in to the end of my Altair Astro 1x Field Flattener (for my small frac), but there doesn't seem to be enough thread clearance at the end of my SW 0.9 coma corrector that I use on my 150PDS...

In the pic you can see the 'inner ring' on the SWCC which has a notch in it to help tighten/loosen and is undoubtably there to hold the CC lenses in... This is thread right size for the filter, but there's no thread showing.

In contrast, in this pic of the SWCC on the FLO web site, you can see that there are a number of threads showing - and I assume the 2" filter would screw in nicely (as advertised)...

So $60,000 question (well, actually it is a £149 question +P&P); can I screw in the inner ring on my CC so that it exposes enough thread for the filter without completely trashing my CC ???

Advice appreciated, and if there's someone out there who has actually done this, then that would be great...

My CC is now way, way, way out of warranty (which, thinking about it, may actually be the problem - maybe in the olden days they was never enough thread for a filter?)

Thanks

Ady

On 08/05/2021 at 19:04, lenscap said:

This is my Wemos R32, CNC V3 build before I put it in a case;

 

The lower board (that the power jack plugs into) is the R32.

The CNC (with all the yellow headers) just plugs into it. It only fits one way.

The two stepper drivers (with the blue heatsinks) plug into the CNC.

Just connect the  power &  the motors & you have a basic functional Onstep controller that can be directed by the Onstep app and/or Skysafari via Bluetooth or by Stellarium/CdC/Kstars etc by USB.

Would nema 14 0.8a steppers be any good for this? (guess what I already have 😉) 

Thanks

10 hours ago, lenscap said:

Hi Sathya,

I believe you need a Wemos D1 R32 board which has an ESP32 processor and not the item you link to which has an ESP8266 chip.

You need the CNC V3. I think you may  link to an earlier version . Not sure if it will be OK.

I strongly urge you to study the Wiki until you are familiar with it. It has all the info you need including links to most of the main components and it explains the reasons for choosing various options. Keep the questions coming.

 

.

I fully appreciate the 'study the wiki until you are familiar with it' advice, but man, is it confusing!!! There are options on top of options on top of options! Some seem to have been good choices in the past but because the wiki is a collection of information over time it is difficult to tell exactly what is relevent now... 

Having said that, some of the comments on this thread have been very useful (and that photo!) and may well be enough to convince me to take the plunge. Knowing there is up-to-date advice available on the forum will be a big help. 

Thanks all! 

Ady

(apologies for the thread hijack, OP)