Tomatobro

I am lucky as I have access to machine tools when I made my plate but a few pointers on the adapter plate The square post that the adjusters push against cannot have the locking nut above the plate as the slot in the mount is not wide enough to accommodate it so I had to mill a recess so the top of the nut was just below the top plate surface The height adjustment is fairly tight because if the top of the post is too high it will foul the worm that does the Dec adjustment. Too low and the Az screws are not fully engaged with the post The two Az base screws that lock the Az can be M8 if accurately placed but the SW drawing calls for M6. Re reading your post you probably can get away with just using the centre bolt and forget the outer screws. I found that during the final polar adjustment each time these were tightened it pushed the Polar alignment out. In the end I found that the mount moved the same amount each time they were tightened so I just allowed for this when doing the alignment so when they were tightened it moved in the right direction (M6 outer screws)

I used to do exactly what you are trying to do with star alignment and my brother convinced me to try plate solving. There is no way I would ever go back to visual alignment. Procedure Turn on the PC and mount, C du Ceil and connect to the mount. From the parked position, unpark and set tracking to sidereal. Use FIND in C du Ceil (for the object to view) and click on slew. The scope will slew close to but not on the object. Open Sharpcap and select the camera, set the exposure so you have some stars and click on plate solve. Within 30 or 40 seconds the mount will slew to the target and the target is always in the centre. All this from my armchair using remote desktop

And just to wet your appitite 21.7 kg on the mount, Altair guide scope, PHD default settings. Oh and thin high cloud with no stars visible to the eye

That's correct. I think its in the Celestron setup instructions but its been a while since I did it. I also machined up a centring ring for the shaft to hold it central while tightening the cross head screws. Better than doing it just by eye I thought.

Hi Jim I have access to machine tools and have looked at what could be done to make the adjustment easier and in the end I decided that just removing all the weight of the adjusters was the way to go. I made up a small scope and camera, set up the mount with this installed first, polar aligned and then fitted the main scope. I found that the polar alignment was still satisfactory using this method Using Sharpcap pro to polar align

Without the extension bar and one weight right at the end, fully undo the clutch, lift the weight till the bar is horizontal and then let go it swings up the other side about a third of the way and then settles back to the vertical. Nothing in the dovetail clamp.

Me too once....and struggled with EQMOD.

EQMOD is not a stand alone program so it MUST be started via third party software such as C du Ciel, stellarium or Sharpcap etc. If EQMOD fails to connect because the comms port is incorrect or the mount is not switched on then it will continue to be called by the third party software to try and make the connection. Shutting down the software used to call EQMOD will stop the "flashing". EQMOD will not appear in program manager

A few things to look out for Check that the azimuth bolts have not been bent, Screw then all the way out and check the ends for roughness and the that the bolts are strait. With the mount off take a look at the square peg that the azimuth bolts push against. Is the mark made by the bolts fully on the flat part if not adjust its height. Is the peg tight Screw out the altitude bolts. Do the same checks as you did on the azimuth adjusters. You don't list what scope you are using to do the polar alignment but I found that using a cheap guide scope and camera on a dovetail to reduce the weight on the adjusters (instead of the main scope being fitted) made for comfortable polar alignment. when done just remove and fit the main scope. Also use the motor to move the scope through 90 degrees rather than loosening the clutch when using Sharpcap

The mount is everything, A poor scope on a good mount is usable but a good scope on a poor mount is worse than useless

curved towards the stars

Arrived Tuesday, machined up the mount adapter on Wednesday, swapped the vixen bar yesterday and placed the scope on the mount this morning. Software wise a simple swap for the EQ6-r so just need some clear sky's to do all the calibration and polar alignment.

Mine arrived this morning.... And some wood to help with the heating bills..... "gonna need a bigger boat right chief"

I used a HEQ5 pro for years and found it very good indeed. I tried a raspberry pi and software but eventually settled on a NUC mini pc. Runs windows 10 pro and all the software typically found for astro imagining and mount control. Used NUC's can be got for £150 (ish) and run quite happily on 12v. I have no experience of ASIair but it has a strong following of SGL members.

I can help you for Thursday. I have some new equipment arriving on that day so the clouds will migrate towards Shropshire and should leave you clear.

Put it where its comfortable to view through with the scope in all positions. Some compromise will be needed for some scope positions but that is a given. Its a lot easier to find a good position on a Dob than an equatorial No need to move the finder scope.

And sooner than you expected........with a bit of luck👍

I wonder if Flo would get into the insurance broker business.....Just a thought

Flo have a couple of CEM120's in stock but at £1k more than the EQ8-r (its price might change once stock is available). I really like EQMOD and am so used to its features going to the CEM120 would mean I would loose this. Also 4k for the 120 is much closer to the MESU so I guess if I give up waiting for the EQ8-r then the MESU would be my choice.

Its also a question of modern computing power. My little i5 NUC runs windows 10, PHD2, Two versions of Sharpcap (v3.2 and 4.0), The Pulsar dome control software, C de Ciel and EQmod and still lets me control remotely using Windows remote desktop. If there was an APP for it to make the coffee it would probably run that as well.

I resisted getting involved in Plate Solving but now would not do without it. On a SW star adventurer I plate solve until the declination matches the object and then adjust the RA. Adjusting both at the same time does not work for me. Gets the object in the field of view every time. Give it a go but you will need something like Sharpcap and a laptop .

I think the name of the free software is Filezilla. You have to enter the IP address in the manager then you can see on the right hand side of the screen the Pi and on the left side your PC file locations. Just copy across what you need. Yes its FileZilla FTP Client just looked it up

remote focus motor controller picture of what is inside

I have made radio controlled versions of the DC focus unit and I supply the motor with 12 volts PWM. I have tested the Hitec DC controller with 12 volts DC but I have not tested it at 13.8 volts

I agree with Tomato......he is a hero. Never seems to give up when sorting a board.