ofranzen

R1 and R2 have resistors on the PCB and I got the resistance to 10 k on them, but that can be off as I need to change batteries in my multimeter  That's how far I have inspected the PCB and I'm quite satisfied with just building the controller as article shows. That's built and verified by at least a couple of people and it'll be used so rarely that I don't need to be more fancy than that.

Thanks for good info. 

My guess is that S is ground and T, R1 and R2 are data pins. R1 and R2 probably have pull up resistors internally and T gets two different values depending on whether the pin is grounded or if the pull-up resistor in the controller is engaged. That, I think, would explain how it also functions with the temperature probe and the controller circuit without anything shorting. 

I'll just build it as the diagram shows as I agree that it is probably a boolean value for fast/slow and not an analogue input.

As for why not just buy a controller. Apart from the controller costing over a quarter of what the entire EAF costs and has components for only a few dollars (all which I already have lying around), I'm simply a tinkerer. I get so few clear nights so to be honest, I spend more time upgrading and tinkering with the rig than doing actual astrophotography.

I want to build a controller for ZWO EAF based on this https://www.williamliphotos.com/diy-eaf-handcontroller and I was wondering if it is as simple as the resistor value determines how much slower the "slow" speed is? Or, does anyone know if it has to be fixed ad 4,7k for the electronics in the EAF to switch in to slow mode?

Thanks in advance

/Ola

Yes I saw that too and think that will be an issue in the long run. It should be fairly easy to make the bracket/mount adjustable enough to take any base tension out.

Very good info. Thank you.

I thought that the fine focus shaft should be avoided because it is more fragile than the main shaft. That would make sense with a side mounted belt setup with tension on the belt but with an in-line mounting I never really understood the issue.

So Back to the drawing board I think. Maybe I get one of those smaller but geared motors instead. I really doesn't need much power and almost any size should have torque enough when geared.

I think this way could work well with a similar bracket but for a NEMA17. I think there are available ones already but I didn't want to mount it this way because I then lose the possibility to add gearing through different sized pullies. But, any backlash issues goes away and I think that the stepper motors with micro stepping will be good enough. I've read in several places that you should not mount the focuser on the fine adjustment shaft as is shown in this video though. Worst case I need to buy a geared motor instead. Thanks again for your help.

I need to rethink a bit how I want to solve this. Either I go for a side mounted solution with a belt or I go for in-line as seems to be the most common. Belt tension was actually planned to be solved simply by using a rubber band. 

Apologies for the delay. I have had printer issues due to cold weather and the workshop not keeping full room temperature, with under extrusion as an effect. I've finally managed to print the part and it won't fit as intended. I overlooked that even if the base of the bracket clears the base for the guide scope riser, the top won't as the diameter of the guide scope is of course wider than the riser base. I will try to flip the part 180 degrees and fit it on the other side of the focuser. That will get rid of any clearance issues and the belt should still fit on the course focuser wheel as intended.

@symmetalThank you again for your help. It was my fault for not considering all constraints and I will post here how the part fits on the other side of the focuser. It was getting a bit cramped on that side anyway

This is very kind. I am printing the cutout version today and will see how it fits tomorrow. I'll keep you posted and once again thanks.

I would say 50 mm is the maximum width between the guide scope riser and the focuser barrel.

Again, many thanks.

Much appreciated. Are these the measurements you meant? 

I'm lifting this again and took some photos of the focuser. Any suggestions are highly appreciated. 

Hi all. I'm building the wonderfully over engineered myFocuserPro2 by Robert Brown and am looking for an STL for a NEMA17 stepper motor bracket to fit my MN190 with the dual speed crayford focuser. I want a bracket that is not "direct drive" but aligned so a belt can run from a smaller pinion on the stepper motor to the coarse focuser knob, or a replacement pulley.

Thanks in advance.

/Ola

Many thanks. Then I'll probably belt mod my old mount as the AZ-EQ6 seems a bit too new/rare to be on the second hand market very often.

Hi all.

Do the newer EQ6-R Pro have a better construction for latitude adjustment than the older models that easily got bent adjustment bolts at higher latitudes? I have an old NEQ6 which I've modded with the "rail kit" and it works great after that - but if I would upgrade to a newer EQ6-R Pro, will I have the same issue at my high latitude? I'm at 59 degrees north and after I did the rail mod it was obvious that the original construction would fail here.

Reason for asking is that I'm planning on doing the belt mod and clean/re-grease my ageing mount and was considering if I should perhaps upgrade to a newer mount instead and sell the old as it's performing quite well as is.

Thanks.

So I finally got around to cleaning the corrector plate. Followed this video's technique but I cleaned the corrector plate in place. 

Tried Baader's Wonder fluid after to get rid of some streaks and it got way worse. The distilled water gave the best result. Probably could have been even better with higher grade deionized water but I'm happy. This photo of the result was the "worst" I could get and the specs are either pits in the coating or on the inside. Some cotton fibres visible in the photo also got dislodged with some more air puffs. Very pleased. 

I will definetely clean the front after tonight's session. The dirt is easily 95% on the front and very little on the inside. Doesn't look as bad in the dark though

Sorry but I can't seem to delete this thread after I moved it to a better group. Perhaps some admin can delete it? Thanks.

Hi all,

Tonight I got horrible dew buildup on the corrector plate on my SW MN190. No idea if the dew heater gave up or what happened. I know that one should clean as little as possible but I think pollen from earlier and tonight's heavy dew really made a nice cocktail on the plate. What do you say? Leave it or clean it? I have the Baader Wonder fluid, I think it's called, but can get something else if it's better suited. If this turns into a "remove the corrector plate situation", I will probably put it off for a while longer.

The photos exaggerate a bit I must confess, but it's quite a lot worse than a few years back.

Thanks in advance.

/Ola

Moving thread to equipment group.

Again many thanks. I will do some tests with and without the USB hub in place and see if it makes a difference. That hub has been playing nice so far so I am actually not expecting any decrease in fps, but one never knows of course. The camera is only USB2 so it may very well be maxing out already.

Wow, that's some of the strangest settings I've seen. A program pretty much meant for high speed video capture and you have a not obvious setting "high speed" and a very non descript "usb traffic". Checking "high speed" and setting usb traffic to "1" (whatever that means) gives ~65 fps from the previous 7.5, both at 640x400. The "usb traffic" setting easily did half of that increase. No idea why.

Thanks for pointing these out to me!

Can anyone say if there is a noticable image degration with "high speed" mode?

Maybe I can find a shorter or better cable but pretty much a 9x increase is good enough for me to be honest

Thanks again

/Ola

I read elsewhere about the "high speed transfer" setting but I don't know where it is. I thought it was perhaps an older setting as it was an old post. USB settings are default.

Hello,

I can't get decent fps with my QHY5L-II C in Firecapture. Max/actual is 100/7.5 with current settings and lower resolution at 640x400. If I do a test recording it is indeed 7 fps captured. Where is a good place to start looking for the error? If I try max resolution I get <4 fps.

Tried on two different computers. Windows 10 and 11. Two different cables. Exactly the same result. Latest drivers from qhy and latest version of Firecapture.

Thanks in advance

/Ola

11 hours ago, pete_l said:

Overvolting usually means running a device with a voltage above the recommended maximum.

The EQ6-R manual states that the supply voltage should be in the range 11 - 16 Volts. Running the mount at 16 Volts is not overvolting it. However to try to overvolt (i.e. above 16 Volts)it does not seem to me to be a good idea.

That's a fair point. I had no idea that upwards of 16V is still within spec. It does sound like several have had good experience with upping the voltage from the 12V stated on the mount itself. I was planning on changing the power supply and will definitely look into something at 14-15V.

Thanks for taking the time to share.

/O