dazzystar

I'm looking for something to mount my Nema 17 PG5 to a Startravel 102. Does anyone have any 3D files I can print. I've looked in the usual placed to no avail

Well above my pay grade I'm afraid and deffo something to add to my wish list. Going to stick with what I've got and go with a 183MC camera. I know it's not ideal but at least it'll whet my appetite.

Thanks again. The issue with the 50ED is the focuser. I intend to use an autofocuser (I'm actually in the process of building one based on the MyFocuserPro2 project by Robert Brown) and this is designed to either use a direct connection to the manual focusing shaft or from gears and a belt. I'm not sure if this can be used on the 50ED though. Can anyone recommend another small APO instead?

Thanks for the reply. I was intending on buying a FF (field flattener) anyway whether I went for the 50ED or the scope I now have. I do understand your point regarding the quality of optics but nevertheless, surely the 102 will outperform the 50ED initially?

Thanks for the reply Adam. It was actually that video that Cuiv did that started this whole journey for me. I don't understand however how a 50ED could be better than a 102 though. Surely the fact that the 102 has twice the diameter objective lens means more light gathering power?

As you may know, I'm looking for my first camera for DSO imaging on an EQ3 Pro and Startravel 102 scope and settled on a ZWO 183 as this gave be the best I could get on my limited budget. Below is an excerpt from an email I received today from someone from ABS who has an ASI183MC camera for sale. I think he was trying to be helpful but it makes me feel that I should sell my scope and mount until I can save enough for a 533MC Pro. Let me know what you guys think:-

The ASI183 has very small pixels at 2.4u , it's really a high
resolution camera for planetary work. Planets are small so you need
the resolution for detail and they are bright so there's no downside
to having small pixels. Small pixels give resolution but don't capture
much light, a typical sized 4.5u pixel will capture almost 4 times the
light so think of that as 1 hour of imaging vs 4 hours to give the
same result.

For the stage that you're at the ASI183 is not the right choice for you.

It's sorted now. The speed in device manager needed to be changed from 9600 to 57600. The only thing I'm not stuck on is the motor settings tab and what numbers need to go there!

thanks Guys!

Hi All,

I've just finished building mine but am having timeout exception errors when trying to connect to it from my PC using the MyFocuserPro2 windows app. Firmware uploads no problem, com port is correct.

Cheers

Daz

How you getting along Kari?

I was literally about to look at DIY TEC coolers as I want to buy an ASI183MC and can't afford the Pro version. How much of a temperature difference do you get with yours?

Thanks for the reply. It now makes much more sense and I only need to concern myself with back focus when using a FF or similar additional optical component in the imaging train.

Should this back focus measurement be provided by the scope manufacturer as I can't see it on the Skywatcher website? My tube is a Skytravel 102.

11 hours ago, kbrown said:

Just to let you know I have started to look into writing an ASCOM driver for this but my lack of ASCOM, C# and Windows .NET development experience means that it is going to take some time to get there. At the moment I can't even get the basic template stuff to compile without issues (what have I gotten myself into?). Could be months before I'll have anything usable available...

Great news Kari!

Hi All,

I live in B7 skies and looking for my first DSO camera. I've been told to stay clear of the ZWO ASI183MC camera as it suffers with terrible amp glow. Not sure if a) that's true, b) do all 183's have this issue and c) is there a way to mitigate this?

Welcome to advice on alternatives as well.

Cheers

Daz

I'm going to be building Robert Brown's DIYFocuserPro2 instead as this has ASCOM drivers, etc. I'll report back if I'm successful! 

1 hour ago, scotty38 said:

I had one of these arrive last week and used the aaotokk adapter mentioned above. All was well EXCEPT the wireless would drop out if I mounted it on top of my pegasus powerbox. If I moved it just a cm the rdp connection would fire back up again. I moved it to the other end of my dovetail but it was still intermittent so I returned it and have a different type arriving today.

I may have just been unlucky with my example, everything else was perfect for me though....

Don't put power lines close to WiFi antennas. Keep it as far away as possible.

1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

£209 on Amazon…

Yes, last week they were £239 but with a £30 off coupon so the same price.

Yup. I'm waiting for the price to drop to under £200 (they have in the past) and then pushing the button. It was Cuiv that got me looking into it in the first place.

Thanks for the reply.

1 minute ago, ONIKKINEN said:

No need for EQMOD if you connect via on-mount USB on the hand controller. Not sure about the control box though. I use my EQM35, which runs on the same Synscan hardware and firmware with NINA this way.

The handset still works this way, so you can manually slew or do GO-TOs from either the handset or NINA.

Do you not need a driver though or does NINA recognise the hand controller?

Thanks. I was thinking about that too.

Thanks Malcolm.

Yes. I've asked Kari and he can't help unfortunately.

what about rust / moisture?