Icesheet

3 hours ago, PaulE54 said:

One thought - you do have the scope and counterweights fitted, and the mount in balance in RA and Dec, don't you? A badly unbalanced mount might do that...otherwise, I'd be phoning the dealer. Hope you get it sorted.

Paul

Yes it had this on it (excuse the mess!). Balance was good. At least good enough anyway. Plus when it’s slewing it sounds fine. It only makes  that noise when it’s tracking in sidereal. Actually the sound isn’t something I associate with something mechanical. It’s more like a buzzing with something electrical. 
 

Ive emailed iOptron and informed my dealer so fingers crossed. 

I'm using the 12v DC power supply that was delivered with the mount. Also, I am/ was using the USB B cable that was provided with the mount to connect to my laptop so that's not via the HC but straight from the laptop to a USB port on the mount. I did notice that the connection wasn't very secure right enough. The EQ6-R I had before had a similar USB port so I still had a cable from that. Tried that too. No success. 

I had my CEM40 mount out for the first time this evening and it quickly went downhill. I had downloaded all the drivers, ASCOM platform, iOptron commander etc and when I connected the mount to my laptop I got an error saying no iOptron product recognised. I then got an error message that the USB connection had failed. I had another USB-B cable so I tried that and got the no iOptron product recognised message again. I decided to try my ASIair Pro and this time I was able to connect to the mount but it made a strange noise when tracking. At first I thought this was related to the USB-B connection but the noise is apparent when tracking through the hand controller too. Furthermore, when I connected to iPolar it made my mouse pointer have a life of it's own (see attached videos).

Can anyone suggest what the issue might be here? I'm praying this does not need to be sent back!

As far as I’m aware it’s not been knocked but it must be tilt or something but then I’d expect it to affect more than just position 4. Ah well I guess it will need to come off and I’ll see. Fat fingers here I go 🙈

I just cycled through each filter wheel location from the front. At location four the wheel doesn’t seem to ‘lock’ in place. That is I can easily shift the wheel with my finger. In all other locations it feels ‘locked in in and there is not much give when I try and move with my finger. 
 

Is it safe to remove the internal wheel itself?

Ok thanks for the tip! I removed the extension tube from the front of the filter wheel and it cycled through with no issue. There doesn’t appear to be anything in front of filter 4 so it’s clearly catching on the thread of the extension tube. The strange thing about that is it’s the extension I’ve always used and never had an issue before. So the filter wheel plate must have shifted somehow?

Hi,

I have an issue with my Zwo EFW Mini. There hasn’t been any problems previously. When I send the filter wheel to location 4 it makes a grating/ grinding noise and ends up giving an error warning on the ASIair pro. 
 

I’m not the most handy person so before so open this up has anyone had this issue before and can help me?

Thanks in advance 

Chris

I’m waiting on parts for a new mount so I thought I’d dust off the AZ Gti I have and give it a go for imaging in EQ mode. 
 

Shot the North American and Pelican nebula in HA with an Askar FMA180 and ASI1600mm. 30x120sec unguided (darks but no flats here). It seems that’s the absolute limit for me unguided with this. I fiddled for ages with PA and stars still aren’t as round as I would like (camera spacing is also out a little). I even had to throw a good % of subs away. That being said if I add guiding and with the ASIair pro, I think this has great potential for a travel kit. Happy I dusted it off now!

Is imaging your primary objective? If so spend all you can on the mount now and investigate if you can use your bridge camera for imaging (eg what FL is the lens and can you use bulb mode remotely). Might not be what you want you want to hear since we all love a shiny new scope! However, there’s a good chance it will save you money and a lot of frustration in the long run! 

19 hours ago, Pryce said:

The AZ GTi and 130PDS will put you just around that £400 budget. 

It has GoTo and a wifi connection for control with your smartphone/tablet/pc. I've seen some people say they use it for basic astrophotography but I havent seen any example images though.

 

*Important note.

I don't know if they used it in AltAz mode or if they had a wedge and used it as a EQ mount to image with.

I have recently tested imaging with the AZ Gti in EQ mode (although I would not recommend it with the 130PDS. It’s too heavy and long both physically and in focal length). You will need extra equipment/ software to get polar alignment but it can definitely work with shorter FL lenses and scopes.

If GoTo is a must the iOptron smart EQ could be a consideration and is in your budget (albeit not with a scope) Best bet is a second hand HEQ5/ CEM25p if you can push the budget and are lucky to find one.

Like others have mentioned don’t jump into anything as tempting as it is. Think what you want to achieve and read all you can here. The answer is in here somewhere! Good luck!

That is far too long and as far as I can see you’re an investor in it. Usually that should at least entitle to you to a discount on normal retail price. 
 

Anyway my fingers are crossed that your wait is finally over. 

@Space Hopper you might want to take a look at the CN forum post about it. It suggests a dealer received stock and that 365astronomy has 3 in stock. I checked and right enough that’s what it says! I would be mightily pi**ed off if I paid up front waited two years only to find a dealer selling them to anyone. 
 

Maybe it’s an error on their site. Happened to me when I ordered something from them recently. Worth phoning and asking though. 

I echo the points above. There doesn’t appear to be a legal standing for refusing a refund and withholding your money. My concern might be more along the lines of do they have any money left? Perhaps a bit cynical but these projects don’t have unlimited funds. 
 

Edit to add: Their own websites states returns for a full refund are accepted until 30 days after receipt of product. So sounds like they are just fobbing you off

The short answer is yes there is no reason why you can’t use your cameras and whatever telescope/ lens on your CEM60 as long as you have the correct mounting plate that fits the CEM60. Unless I’m misunderstanding what you are asking?

50 minutes ago, Uranium235 said:

This was taken with the lens wide open. When you have exact focus you will always get diffraction spikes - they are caused by the clips that hold the lens elements in place (its a very common occurance).

The adjustments required however to get to this stage are very...very... fine.  On a centrally focused star there was a little corner distortion (though equal and distribited evenly) - but if you move the star 2/3rds of the way out to the corner, then refocus it flattened the field out.

Not really half the story really though. Ive only gotten to this stage because I swapped out my adaptors twice, then had to install a 50 micron (0.05mm) shim on the camera becuase it had a bit of tilt. Still more adjustments to make though, I had the spacing set to 56.5mm - but I think at least 0.5mm can come off that.

Thanks 👍🏻 Very nice piece of information I didn’t know. My focus must be rubbish then 😆

On 01/09/2020 at 00:28, Tenor Viol said:

I see AN has a review of the 180 - interesting piece of hybrid kit. 

On 01/09/2020 at 00:34, Adam J said:

I have one, its a really nice bit of kit. I am going to review but my camera is currently mounted on the Esprit finishing a project so I only have a quick test image at the moment. But from the test everything is looking good and it has a nice feel to it too. I would hesitate to recommend it until I have a full image for obvious reasons but from my perspective at £350 its was worth a punt and it looks like it will pay off.

Adam

The review in AN was very positive. I also have the FMA180 and am similarly optimistic as Adam at this stage. I’ve only had it out to image briefly but it looks promising and I have high hopes it will perform better than the Samyang 135 (at least the copy I had). I also used it for terrestrial observation and it was really sharp and bright with the Panoptic 15mm eye piece I have. Doesn’t handle glare well though. 
 

I would note the FMA is also half the price of the ACL200 too so I should expect the ACL to perform better overall. Be interesting to see if it does as the FMA is certainly more versatile. 

7 hours ago, Uranium235 said:

My work is done... im going to bed...lol.. 

10x120 (L)  QSI683

Looks like a nice sharp and flat image. Did you stop the lens down here? Looks like some diffraction spikes on the brighter stars?

Edit: I see it has 10 blades so you would expect to see more spikes I suppose? Is it something else?

I started with a belt modded HEQ5 then moved to an EQ6-R, sold that and now have a CEM40 sitting at home! I haven’t had the CEM40 out yet so can’t comment on performance but in terms of build quality and form factor the CEM40 looks and feels a higher quality mount than the SkyWatcher ones. However, the biggest benefit for me is the weight. I initially tried to save money by moving to the EQ6-R thinking the weight wouldn’t be an issue but it was! It’s even noticeably lighter than the HEQ5.
 

Fingers crossed it doesn’t just look good and performs too! One thing I picked up on when researching the CEM40, and iOptron mounts in general, is that the stock tripods are generally not thought to be up to it. Most people recommend going straight to their tri pier. I already had a Berlebach Uni tripod so I’m going to put it on that.  
 

Given weight is clearly a big factor for you I don’t think there is anything else in its price class that can match the iOptron payload to weight ratio. 

22 hours ago, Craig a said:

I know this is an oldish thread now but I’m in the Uk and my rig has been outside permanently for the last 2 years under a telescope cover, its been through many storms with horrendous rain also down to -7, blazing sun and still looks like the day I set it outside, the telegizmos 365 is an excellent bit of kit. It covers my Newtonian on a neq6 sat on the moveable skywatcher peir, best thing I ever did with my rig. Only thing I take inside is the main camera after a session, my guide cam has been attached for them two years also and still good as new 

Thanks, there’s been a lot of good words about the telegizmo covers now. Maybe I jumped the gun a bit but I have already sold the EQ6-R. Ordered a CEM25p, cancelled that and ordered a CEM40! 
 

Should I decide to keep stuff outside I will definitely look at the telegizmos!

If you have the funds available why not take both and decide with your own eyes which is best for you. They’re both desirable so I doubt you would lose much, if any, money on the one you decide to sell. Nice problem to have 😉

Thanks for all the replies! In a way the decision has been made for me. Turns out I need neighbours permission to even put a small shed  up and that’s not worth the hassle if we plan to move in next year or two. 
 

I put the EQ6-R up for sale and have some solid interest so I put an order in for the CEM25P. Going to put it on a Berlebach UNI tripod I have. 
I don’t think this setup will handle the Esprit 100 so I might be looking for a good 80mm scope soon. I was thinking the Esprit 80 but if anyone has any other suggestions happy to hear them!

1 hour ago, BallistaSlim said:

Thanks Ice. I have hit a snag though. It seems that the ZWO EAF doesn't play well with the Esprit range of focusers. That means that I have to abandon the thought of going laptopless. Hmm. 

Regarding darksite: My results from my backyard and the darksite have been  incomporable to each other so far in favor of the darksite, but I have thought that the difference when it comes to NB-data is not as huge. Is this wrong? 

/Ulf

Really! I didn’t know that. I was hoping to go ASI air route with EAF on my Esprit 👎🏻
 

Yes it’s true that NB is more than possible in light polluted skies, even more so if you have the pockets for 3nm filters. However, I’m sure you will go deeper and have much cleaner data in less integration time from the dark site. Someone with more knowledge than me might comment on that. 

6 hours ago, BallistaSlim said:

This is an area where I am not that experienced. I am thinking in terms of:

Is it really harder to lug the gear inside my car and put them up on my darksite than doing the same in my backyard? My darksite is basically a cul de sac in the middle of nowhere, where no one else goes, so I don't have to carry my gear more than a couple of metres. Am I completely wrong in thinking like this?

I am also thinking of gathering rgb-data to multiple objects under good conditions when going to the darksite so I hope I won't have to do it that often. 

In theory probably not, but in practice who knows. Remember you would essentially be lifting in and out four times for each journey away. Packing and unpacking 40+kg of weight from potentially awkward positions in a car is not my idea of fun. However, people do it but just so you’re aware. 
 

If it were me it would be a CEM40/ GEM45 plus Esprit 100ED job too (unless you’re really sure you want a bigger refractor later). With ASIair pro and ZWO cameras/ filters I think you’d have a very nice portable(ish) set up! Plus I would consider getting as much of your narrowband and lum data at your darksite too if possible. 

To me your biggest decision should be around condition 1 and being manoeuvrable. That may have different meanings for different people but I don’t think many would consider an EQ6-R/ CEM70 and 130mm APO with all associated equipment as a mobile unit. I’ve just decided an EQ6-R isn’t even mobile enough for me to move in and out my house! 😂

If you’re happy you can shift all that comfortably to a dark site then I would say any combination above could work and none in particular would be the limiting factor in the quality of your images. The CEM70 may be more suited to the 130mm once you start considering the extra weight of imaging equipment though. 
 

Petes advice may be wise. Perhaps it’s safer to choose the tried and trusted as there will be plenty of support and advice available if you are having issues. One thing I would say regarding the scopes is that you might want to consider what focal lengths you want to image at. Native they are quite different at 550mm for Esprit and 910mm for the Photoline. 
 

If you did plump for the Esprit you might want to add the CEM40 or GEM45 to your list as they are a lot more portable than the EQ6-R and CEM70. 

6 hours ago, Adam J said:

Yes but not sure I should post the results as it was taken in poor transparency and 100% moon. So not a good example image. 

Hi, you don’t need to post it here. More interested to know if there are any obvious flaws in the lens. I’ll pm you. 

No the GEM and CEM are different product lines. GEM for German Equatorial Mount and CEM for Centre balanced mount I believe. With regards to the RA encoder there seems to be a bit of debate whether they are worthwhile. Couldn't really say myself.