MrZuiko

Hi Bryan, Thanks fella......old tech by todays standards but a lovely piece of engineering , not wanting to start a war but it beats my skywatcher star adventurer pro at that focal length as I only ever managed to get 45 seconds @200mm and I really want to see how the astrotrac handles longer lenses and longer subs! What's your longest focal length/sub that you have managed to get with yours? according to "photon's to photo's" my Oly has a much better s/n ratio than my D800 eager to try that on Andromeda and a longer focal length! Ash.

Hi all, My first time using the Astrotrac tt320x ag...........Nikon D800 with a vintage 200mm f4 manual focus nikkor @ f8 15 x 3 minute subs @1600 6 x 3 minute subs @800 10 darks 15 bias no flats This was a quick test to see how it preformed as it was a school night and have to be up early for work!! I'm sure that I could have gone longer,next time I will take more lights etc and will try my Olympus Omd em1 with the 200mm f4 nikkor lens which will give me a focal length of 400mm to get a bit closer. Very happy with the results.....first time using astrotronomy tools set and photoshop.......very new to processing help and advice always welcome! Clear skies. Ash.

Evening guys, Quick update and my first image with the Astrotrac first time using astronomy tools and photoshop,details will be posted in the imaging deep sky section. Ash.

Hi Phil, I honestly don't know as I did research what power supplies worked as stated from Astrorac themselves.....Suitable Power Supplies The TT320X­AG can be powered by any of the following: ● a car battery ● 8 x 1.5 V alkaline cells (a suitable battery holder with lead can be purchased from your AstroTrac Dealer or from AstroTrac directly) ● 10 x 1.2 V NiCAD or NiMH rechargeable cells ● a mains to 12 V DC adaptor In general, we recommend using a 12 V 7.2 Ah lead acid gel battery. I have replaced the 8 cell battery holder,I'm just happy that I have been able to fix it.......at one point I almost threw it in the dustbin. I took sometime to identify and purchase the required capcititor! I have seen these supplied with car the battery adapters as shown in this picture,so can probably rule that out! Ash.

Quick update the capcititor's have arrived at long last and great news I've soldered the new one on was a little awkward as they are so small.......soldered the jack on to a new 8 cell battery holder and bingo I'm back in business as it's working!!!! powered on and it set itself in the home position....pressed play button again and it started tracking....pressed rewind and it rewound back to the home position so now gotta wait for a clear night! Thanks Stuart for all your help and I to have spares capacitiors should anyone require one....lets hope not!! Clear skies all and keep safe. Ash.

Ok thanks Stuart, Just have to wait now......! Cheers Ash.

Looking at your pcb and mine they both show the capcititor with the the "red block" facing to the front of the pcb,so surely this is the position to solder it to the board. Ash. Ash.

Hi Stuart, Yes I have solder,not sure if it has the "flux" built in tho, so are you saying that it will be difficult to get a good join even tho it's surface mounted? How can you tell which way it has to be mounted? these are what I have ordered surely just mount it with the lettering upwards? I can get my hands on a multimeter what next? I'm crap at electronics but quite handy with wood! Ash.

Hi Stuart, Can I ask your advice please fella........I have solder and soldering iron would I need to use flux or can I solder without? this is the state of my pcb now that I have taken off the burnt capacitor to my untrained eye it looks in good condition with no obvious deep scars!! Your thoughts please. Ash.

Hi,Seem to be going round in circles...I've had to cancell the order as I made the mistake of ordering 475 and not 476c not having luck luck online apart from ordering from China which of course will be on a slow boat and not a speed boat!! Not finding a UK supplier as I require them to be 6mmx3.2mm otherwise they ain't gonna fit! Wouldn't have thought it would be so difficult getting hold of the correct part!........so I've ordered 5 from China now just gotta wait! Ash.

Another update lol......just whipped out my pcb and the capacitor donesn't match yours! I've got 476c and 30ju2 on mine so I'm guessing it's a "c" size not "d" I'll have to search again for the correct size! I have found these on Ebay TANTALUM CHIP CAPACITOR 4.7uF 25V 10% Case C KEMET T491C475K025AT PACK of 25 Ash.

Hi Stuart, No multimeter I'm afraid......I've ordered a bunch of 16v tantalum capacitors that I have found on Ebay and give that a try.......I'm hoping that it will be that easy !! Thanks for your help so far really appreciate it. Ash.

Hi Stuart, Quick update I have found on ebay a seller with a 47uF, 16V surface mount tantalum capacitor but with these case markings......476,16R, 907 not 128! I have sent a message and photo to them so hopefully I'll get some good news! Watch this space....pun intended! Ash.

Hi Stuart, Thanks fella for getting back to me and the picture sure does help! now to find a replacement....so far I've found some but the numbers don't match on the casing (475,16R,128)...is it critical that the numbers match up?I had no joy with the 8 AA cell battery pack hence why I tried the 12v cigarette lighter route as I understood it could be powered this way...how wrong was I! Regards Ash.

Hi Stuart, First apologies for the late reply ! That would be great if you could help me idenify the part,I did email the managing director again asking for his help with this matter but got no reply there! I would like to try and get this working,I even had a crazy idea of connecting a speeed regulator and a reversing switch etc to see if I could spark it in to life.....but your idea sounds the best option. Fingers crossed it's worth a punt!! I wait your reply with interest. Thanks Ash.

Hi all, Just had an email from Mr Richard Taylor,managing director Astrotrac limited regarding the above tracker,mine wasn't powering up from the 8 AA cell battery pack.....read online that you could also power it by a 12v car cigarette lighter ,so you can imagine to my horror a couple of seconds of plugging in and a few whisps of smoke........cut along story short........Astrotrac no longer offer a repair service for these units as it was discotinued in 2018 and superseded by their 360 model and have no replacement parts available. I did reply asking Mr Taylor if he could identify the burnt component in the unlikely event I could source a replacement and solder a new one back on if it's that easy!! So ladies and gents please look after them and don't plug them into your cars cigarette socket or your have a circuit board like mine!! not sure what I'm gonna buy now to replace this with I've had Skywatcher SAM and the mk1 adventurer any suggestions only require it to hold my Nikon D800 and telephoto lenses nothing bigger than 300mm.... Clear skies all. Ash.

Hi Phil, Well I've tried everything bought a new 8 AA cell battery pack no joy.......tried running it off my power bank which I used to run my Star Adventurer from no joy I think not enough volts.......read the manual which you kindly sent me the link and got myself the 12v cigarette lighter power cord with a builti n 3amp inline fuse on/off switch plugged it in for 2 seconds and then I saw whisps of smoke unplugged smartish so now I'm well and truly in a jam because I sold my star adventurer just after I bought this feeling rather disappointed.........in the manual it mentioned a 0.5 A fast blow type fuse where on earth would that be? was that the fuse blowing I saw with the smoke? What do we do now Phil? Regards Ash.

Hi Phil, Thanks for replying! Well so far I've plugged a mains adapter in from another piece of equipment I have the green light came on,pressed it again to start tracking it was blinking but no movement and I heard nothing too. Looked on the back of the adapter and it's only good for 4v and not the 12v required so I'm guessing it didn't have enough voltage to get it going! I've ordered another 8 cell battery pack plus and adapter so it can run off my car so I'm praying that both these will work,it's currently stuck so unable to rewind it to the home position! if this doesn't work then I have run out of ideas!! I'll keep you updated Phil on my progress I so want this to work. Thanks again. Ash.

Hi all, I have recently purchased the Astrotrac I've been after one for ages having used the Skywatcher Star Adventurer. So it arrived in the post double quick time thanks Phil........had to wait for a thread adapter to arrive so I could mount it on my tripod,so it's mounted I've put batteries in the pack connected switched on and all works as it should,I let it track for a while then rewind it until it's home and parked great I thought as I was heading out to a dark location for two nights over the weekend. So I've set up polar aligned my D800 is all set to go connect the battery pack and ........nothing not a peep such a shame as the sky was truly dark. Next day I bought fresh batteries and still nothing,the connections on the battery pack look good wires are connected still nothing. I have a mains adapter (not from astrotrac)which I also tried powered up green light came on pressed play button again green light started flashing but no movement of the arms! I have bought a usb to male jack to see if I can power it from my power bank output : 5v-1.0A which ran my star adventurer without any problems hoping that this will cure my problems. Has anyone else had problems with power and how did you cure them..........please help!!!!! Clear skies. Regards Ash.

Thanks guys for your help and advice.......... Ash.

Hi, Thanks for your replies......this is the condition of the mirror with the dust removed!!! I was thinking the same to get it out and test it. Here in the UK I have found out it will cost almost £230 to have both the mirror and secondary recoated! I'll probably end up giving it away! Ash.

Hi everyone, I have just picked up a Coulter 10.1" f4.5 red tube dobsonian wow it's huge and I understand a classic telescope from the USA. I didn't pay a lot for it as I was told that the optics were very dusty and dirty,on closer inspection when I got home I found the mirror to be more than just dirty it's tarnished and will require re-covering as well as the secondary which I have to say is massive.......compared to the 6" f8 I'm making which has David Hinds optics and I'm very near to completeing it,you can see in the back ground on it's pipe mount. Now what I would like your thoughts on is the Coulter worth sending off to get recovered,I had planned to re make the rocker box out of 3/4" ply,repaint the sonotube etc but is the mirror worth the expense and how much and where would I send it if I restore this telescope. Your thoughts and advice please! Clear skies all. Ash.

Hi all I'm making a gem pipe mount,I've got a 4" sq pillar with 20" legs it's about 4 feet high at the moment if needed I will cut it down to acheive a comfortable eyepiece height.I've weighed it and it's real heavy just over 42lb without counterweights! and I've not even built the 6" scope yet got a goood deal on a David Hinds mirror and matching secondary for £25. I'm lapping the threads with cutting paste,what I need to know is when do you stop as if I unwind too much the threads gently rock but with the weight of the tube on top etc would surely keep it stable? or do I need to continue lapping the threads? I'm using 1 1/2" pipe any advice would be appreciated looking forward to making the OTA from Richard Berry's book as reference and that should add another 18lbs !! Clear skies. Ash.

Hi all I'm making a gem pipe mount,I've got a 4" sq pillar with 20" legs it's about 4 feet high at the moment if needed I will cut it down to acheive a comfortable eyepiece height.I've weighed it and it's real heavy just over 42lb without counterweights! and I've not even built the 6" scope yet got a goood deal on a David Hinds mirror and matching secondary for £25. I'm lapping the threads with cutting paste,what I need to know is when do you stop as if I unwind too much the threads gently rock but with the weight of the tube on top etc would surely keep it stable? or do I need to continue lapping the threads? I'm using 1 1/2" pipe any advice would be appreciated looking forward to making the OTA from Richard Berry's book as reference and that should add another 18lbs !! Clear skies. Ash.

Thanks Chris, My addiction started years ago with a electric mini eq mount from "beaconhill telescopes" connected to my car battery with my Nikon F3.....now there's a camera!! Now ordered a eyepiece cover DK-5 for £8 from a well known auction site,perhaps I should try my Nikon D2XS which has the shutter blind built in but it would look awkward sitting there on account of it's built in grip! moving on regarding "dark frames" is there anyone else here that doesn't use them? I thought you used them to control noise! Ash.