gerardsheldon

Thanks very much. It was not that clear from the available information.

I have a MPCC Mark III coma corrector (Baader) and a 294MC colour cooled. I am trying to get a 55mm back focus. I don't know where 0mm on the coma corrector is relative to the focal plane. By 0mm, I am referring to 0mm in the second photo with a camera where 55mm back focus is achieved with two extenders. If I ensure that there is 55mm to the camera in the first photo, is that correct? In other words, do I just use the two extenders and connect the coma corrector, having removed the thin ring that comes with the coma corrector (see red arrow in first photo)?

Malcolm really tried to fix the mother board spending a lot of time, trying various things, and I appreciate all his efforts. He clearly knows lots about electronics. Whilst visiting Malcolm, I did get the bonus of playing with his very friendly dog and seeing his impressive telescope set up- everything is set up in a shed. So, he does not need to polar align every observing session like I do. I got a replacement motherboard (new type) and everything now seems to be working. In the end, it was surprisingly simple to replace the motherboard. I was not very confident, as I have limited experience doing these kind of things (the most advance thing I had done previously was add a SSD memory to a computer motherboard). One slight annoyance was that a washer fell into the daughterboard so I removed the daughterboard. I tested the RA. I put the mount on tracking, waited three hours and checked the time had changed by 3 hours on the RA setting circles, which it had. This experience has given me more confidence in taking things apart and putting them together.

I removed the leaf and it may no difference whatsoever. It is not surprising as the leaf would act as an insulator. I watched some videos and think I can remove and put back a motherboard. It is less complex and difficult than I expected.

Just googled this. A vacuum cleaner produces static which is not good for electronics. One has to use special electronic vacuum cleaner which are expensive. Shame as this seemed like a promising idea, and would have been easy and quick. I have just ordered some anti-static tweezers (arriving tomorrow), and will wear an anti-static wrist band. I am probably being over-cautious. My experience with MB etc is somewhat limited. I have managed to put a SSD memory on a computer motherboard and I did make circuits with a soldering iron when I was a teenager. (I understand what capacitors, inductor coils, etc. are)

malc_c, thanks so much for your instructions. I was easily able to access the MB. . There is a bit of leaf under the MB. See first photo. That may be the problem. Otherwise the MB looks OK and is one of the old ones. I attach other photos. I tried to take out the mother board with a little tug on the wires (not enough to cause any physical damage). i got a bit nervous about static electricity. I was wearing an anti-static wrist band though. The leaf probably got there via the polarscope hole. Can you please advise me on how to remove the bit of leaf without causing any static electricity issues. Gerard

Do you happen to know of any instructions on how to get access to the motherboard, for someone who has never dismantled anything on the HEQ5(Rowan belt upgrade)? Instructions for a real newbie!

I will try this evening. The fact that it does not work with neither a laptop nor synscan handset makes me suspect the motherboard. I keep the mount in the shed Could dampness be getting in?

I am desperate for any help. I thought I had sorted out my EQMOD/mount issue, and the system seemed to be working. Now I have another problem. When using Carte du ciel, and trying to to connect to EQMOD.telescope, it does not connect. The EQMOD window flashes up and then disappears. I have tried to change the settings on EQMOD but that does not help. I have checked the port: COM4. I have also tried using GSS, and get the message: "Mount: errNoResponseAxis1 Timeout" See photos. I have just tried the synScan handset, and I am getting a message "caution both axes no response !". I tried the mount with two 12V mains power supplies and it did not help.

I found the problem. I looked at the time and observatory location on Carte du Ciel, but in EQMOD the observatory location was completely different. In Carte du Ciel, I chose the option to use the EQMOD location. It is very confusing that the locations can be different in EQMOD and CdC. I am not sure how this happened. I was able to track it down as EQMOD displays the Alt and Az of the object one has slewed to, and it was showing ridiculously low altitudes. Thanks Daz for your reply.

I tried last night to get my telescope aligned with the stars. I started with the telescope in the home position and asked the Carte du ciel to slew the telescope to Lyra. I had selected EQmod Ascom HEQ5/6. I then got a message on the small rectangular window with RA,/Dec etc information: "horizon" "limited". I also tried to use ASCOM.gs.sky.telescope, and it pointed the telescope in completely the wrong part of the sky (East rather than West). I then moved the telescop to point at Lyra and sync'ed it. That didn't help though as slewing to another start didn't work. I checked my location and Carte du ciel time was the system time (near London UK). On a positive note, I found a new way to balance my Newtonian (an extra adjustment that seems to be balance the telescope with the camera coming out from the side of the telescope) and I was able to get round start with a 5 minute exposure without guiding. I tried out my new cooled camera. I was amazed what difference cooling make (I only cooled to -10C). Any help appreciated.

My laptop is a lenovo T410. So old and USB2. See specs in image below. I have tried a recent ASI Studio. I tried the preview option within the the deep sky imaging component, and couldn't see any image on the screen. i think I will need to update my laptop. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks for your replies. I have had a go with looping 1 second exposures during the day, but will have to see how it works when I get a clear night. Synchronicity, you mentioned a driver issue. How to check for that ? Thanks

Currently, I can only get live view using Sharpcap for my 294MC pro colour cooled camera. That does allow me to get the image focused. I have tried to get live view with APT and NINA and no luck. In APT, the software crashes and does not really work. I have also tried firecapture which also does not work. I have got USB2 ports on my laptop which may be a problem. Sharpcap is not really designed for deep sky imaging and so I have to move to between Sharpcap, and APT or NINA. Is there any way I can get live view on APT or NINA or some other way?

no pictures yet. Waiting for the next clear night.