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teoria_del_big_bang

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teoria_del_big_bang last won the day on August 23 2021

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    Apart from Astronomy 3D Printing, Model Railways, Real Railways.
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    Skipton, North Yorkshire

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  1. tbh not sure. For sure you can set a zero but not sure if NINA would just overwrite that after a successful plate solve, again the guy to ask is Pavle at DSD, he is very good and will sort you out. pavle.gartner@gmail.com
  2. Hi Bryan, Glad I could be of some assistance but looks like you sorted much of it yourself. Whatever, I am just so glad you have got it all working and hopefully like myself will come to think it is one of the best things I did to upgrade my rig, so easy when used with NINA to get perfect alignment of images session after session on same target . Steve
  3. If you are still having issues then email Pavle at DSD, he is very good and will sort you out. pavle.gartner@gmail.com Only other thought is if you had bought 2nd hand was the Firmware out of date ? Mine is quite old but this is my Firmware version. Like I say email Pavle he sorted me out on a few issues with both rotator and flat panel. Steve
  4. Just powere my scope up as not had it out for ages just to check but mine does go the shortest direction and will not keep going same direction that would twist the cables out of their connectors. In NINA. And settings in FR1
  5. Sorry but not really any idea how to connect to PHD2. I didn't even know you could do this. I know you say it has to do this because of the OAG but it would still work shouldn't it so long as PHD2 recalibrates every time you have moved the rotator , which shouldn't be too much of an issue because that is only really every time you change targets and even if you manage 3 or 4 targets in a night still not too much lost time. Steve
  6. I would have thought there is a good chance the negative posts are grounded on that type of supply but it is only a thought. And ultimately what effect that has I am not sure I guess it depends what else is already plugged into and what bits are connected by pieces of metal (or carbon I guess). But I would have thought if the negative is earthed then that is safest but I must be honest I really do not know. Like I say I have seen these flashes in the past when connecting things live, but again in the dark a small flash looks horrendous, so I always supposed it was just a very small arc as the plug went in and nothing sinister, but since I have always tried to discipline myself to always plug things in when powered down. Sometimes though just too tempting to plug that last lead you forgot in without a power down. Steve
  7. I am not putting myself forward as an electronics Guru here, admittedly I did go to part time to college to do electronics for 5 years but that was 40 years ago. Anyway for what it is worth saying both the legs of the tripod and the outer pole of the plug are both at zero volts is normally meaningless. Obviously, we have to assume the HEQ5 is connected to 12V power source and that the outer casing of the mount (an hence the tripod) are also connected to zero volts of its power supply for anything to be meaningful. With this assumption then yes the tripod may well be at zero volts (now the important bit to grasp) wrt (with respect to) the +12V DC of it's power supply. And in the same manner the plug on this other power supply, that touched the leg, will also be at zero volts wrt the inner pole of that same plug. BUT, to each other the zero volts of the tripod / mount has no reference to the zero volts of the outer power supply plug. They will have no potential to each other at all. Best similarity I can give is imagine both supplies as 2 batteries, if you took a voltmeter and measured the potential between the negative of each battery then there will be no reading (meter may show some fluctuations as it picks up radiation), but it does not mean they are at the same potential voltage, similarly if you tried to measure from the positive of one battery to the negative of the other again there is no voltage there. But, connect the positive of battery 1 to the negative of the battery 2 and now you make that negative of battery 2 the same potential as the positive of battery 1 and you now can measure a voltage from battery 1 negative to the positive of battery 2, and the voltage will be the sum of the two battery voltages. I do not know if I have explained that very well but you see that until the two batteries have one node of each connected then there is no voltage between them at all. Now that is not the end of the tale as some power supplies may have the negative tied down to earth potential, and if both supplies have them tied to earth then the negatives would be the same potential, but only if both are tied to earth, not if just one was. In my experience normally none of the encapsulated (black box oblong supplies) have the negative to earth, but if using on of the bigger supplies that come with amp and volt meters on the front and a red and black post terminals then those could be tied to earth. Apologies if that sounds like unsubstantiated waffle, I often struggle to explain what I really mean and non of this explains why a HEQ or CCD would be fried. But as I believe it, because essentially on these black box supplies the negatives are essentially floating until they are plugged into something which then may ground the negative to earth potential, a switch mode supply, if powered up but not connected, can assume quite a large potential, wrt earth that results in a spike when it is connected as it then becomes earthed. In all circumstances I would not recommend plugging in a 12v (or any voltage) supply whilst switched on, it should be switched on after plugging it in. And, I think similarly, the ccd casing MAY be earthed by virtue it is connected to the scope and mount via various metal spacers and other metalwork, and within the ccd the negative supply may be also connected to the casing. So similarly plugging in a live power source could mean the centre may touch slightly before the outer casing does and may then momentarily apply a larger voltage just for a split second until the outer casing connects, just enough of a spike to fry some circuitry. These are just my thoughts, and I obviously cannot say for sure, I am just offering one possibility. In the past I too have seen flashes of sparks when connecting live 12V DC plugs to equipment, normally not had anything fry doing it though, but it has since made me check the plugs are dead when plugging them in and then only switching them on after they are connected.
  8. I have never seen instructions like that. Like you say it seems wrong. I have always used the little arrow on side to orientate them. Only other thing I have read, on the Badder website is that if you suffer halos to try them opposite way round and on my Baader OIII I had terrible halos bit the same which ever way round I fitted it. Steve
  9. Hang on here, what are you suggesting here - that he doesn't exist ? Seriously though, some good advice above. It is great when a child shows interests in something like space, or any science based interest, and of course as responsible parents we wish to nurture that interest, and of course we should. Hopefully your daughter will embrace the telescope, but be prepared that she could be disappointed depending what her expectations are, unfortunately I think many adults also get the urge to buy a telescope and a month or two later it is on Fleabay. I personally think the problem is they are generally underwhelmed with what they see, as the truth is through a telescope most stars are still little points of light, a tad bigger and brighter but still small dots, they expected to see things along the lines of Hubble images, and sat out in the cold dark night they just give up. But for the odd few, like the majority on this forum, they are far from underwhelmed, yes they are small dots but through a telescope on a good night there are so many of them, a multitude more than can be seen by eye in anything but a dark sky area, then there are galaxies, un unbelievable number of them, again not much more than misshapen fuzzy stars, but we know they are far more than just stars, planets, clusters and so on. All you can do is hope your Daughter is like that but at a young age may not be the case (but you have to try). So, as well as the scope make sure you, and your daughter have some really warm clothes, hat gloves etc as most good clear nights can be pretty cold in the UK. Buy her some books to help her understand where to point the scope and what to expect to see, the moon is a fascinating place to start and even through a pair of binoculars such detail can be seen. Encourage her to sketch what she sees, maybe take a few images with her mobile. Remember that Magnification is not necessarily what we are going for. Many new to the hobby just want a scope with huge magnification and that is really not the way to go. For the stars even the most powerful scope on earth they will still be dots of light, they are so far away that's all you will ever see, and at high magnification you will struggle to keep things in view as the will pass at huge speed past the field of view as the earth rotates. So it is more the field of view that you need to concern yourself with. So before buying anything I would repost your choices on this forum and let some of the many knowledgeable members give you their opinion. Do all you can to keep her interest because if she does carry on with the obsession of what is out there then it can become a great relaxing and informative hobby, but obviously do not force her, if she loses interest then in years to come that urge may well return so worth keeping safe somewhere 🙂 . Steve
  10. Oh no, how awful. Some very fast gusts last night, certainly up here in North Yorkshire when I took the dogs out late last night. I assume as weather was bad you normally leave your rig outside covered up. I hope you can salvage both scope and mount. Steve
  11. Have you contacted Starlight Xpress ? I cannot remember what issue I had it was a few years back but they were very helpful and prompt to react. Not that this helps but a that is a cracking image, I hope you can still salvage something from it if the flats are of no use. Steve
  12. I don't know TBH, and not sure I will even do the upgrade, unfortunately I am busy getting ready for a trip to China for work so will not be doing anything until December at earliest. I may take a look when out there if I get chance and try to digest if the upgrade is worth it . Steve
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