G4EQZ

On 24/08/2019 at 11:22, continuum said:

I forgot ZWO also.

Ron

I have ZWO 1,25 filters. Their Oiii filter is awful and it’s the newer variety so avoid!

3 minutes ago, Tomatobro said:

listening to other club members it seems that once a particular equipment path is chosen and the pain of commissioning is over they are most reluctant to change and I can understand this. It really matters not provided whatever you choose works for you. Folks tend to promote what they use and understand.

Best of Luck

Well I decided to buy all the gear up front and made a few mistakes along the way but so far have done a minimal amount of visual observing and no AP so when the skies do finally clear I know am due a lot of frustration and a super steep learning curve    hence I committed to the ASIAIR as I became weary of sitting on the fence being indecisive.

I think the "comfortable with what you already know" issue applies to almost everything from computer languages to gardening. Once we find something that works for us any alternative has  to offer very significant benefits to make us unlearn what we know in favour of something new.

On 09/06/2019 at 19:20, Grierson said:

If you intend to use ASIAIR then I would be inclined NOT to dig too deeply into EQMOD. There is a bit to learn as I know to my cost and there is no doubt that having got it set up it is a great way to control the ‘scope. However if you have the appropriate cable and drivers in place using the EQMOD version on ASIAIR is a piece of cake. As said above this takes away the need for the handset but you do need to rely on ZWO’s list of targets rather than CdC etc.

Many thanks. Having bought the ASIAIR I guess my default should be to try and use that first. However, I ran USB out to the pier using a 7.5Meter Active USB3 cable so have 4 ports on the pier if I have to resort to PC control. Shame I haven't had any clear skies since I invested in all this gear but I suppose thats sods law. My apologies to everyone for all the rain recently "Mea culpa"

Cheers ... Keith

On 09/06/2019 at 16:16, Tomatobro said:

my less than a year old EQ6-R does not have this USB socket (I had to go and have a look to check!). Mine has the green setting circles.

I use a Lynx cable that Flo supplied and do all my control from a remote PC using CdC and PHD with no problems

Its worth the time to get set up with EQmod as there are lost of nice features you can use such as a gamepad for remote control and voice confirmation of changes. Its been quite a while since I set this up with an EQ5 pro so I would have to read up again if I was doing it from scratch but as I recall it was not to bad.

Cloudy Nights entry says USB is only used for software updates of the mount

Thanks for the info, my mount has the green rings but the USB must be quite new as when I queried it with the supplier they didn't know it was there - or what it was for. I bought the mount about 6 weeks ago.

Cheers ... Keith

2 hours ago, barkis said:

You might wish to go the EQMOD route to telescope control.  This will allow you to dispense with the hand controller altogether.   The input port and guide port are situated together just above the usb port you highlighted. Neither of those ports are usb's 

 The USB port on your mount is not there on mine, which is also the EQ6 R-Pro.    Perhaps the mount has-been modified since I bought mine.  I don't  know why that usb B port is for.

Thanks Ron, I will Google EQMOD and see what comes up, I am hoping to get it all working with the ZWO ASIAIR but will check it's compatible with EQMOD first.

Yes, none of EQ6-R's I have seen on the net have this USB socket so I guess its a very new addition, shame it doesn't do something useful :. Only had the mount a few weeks from new.

Thanks again ... Keith

Hi, I am relatively new to this hobby and have and EQ6-R Pro mount which I would like to be able to control directly from USB. I tried using USB into the socket on the mount - see pic below - but it doesn't work though is fine thru the USB connector on the bottom of the SynScan handset. Manual says the socket is to connect a USB to serial connector but that means I have to go from USB on the PC to serial then back to USB again which seems a bit daft   Am I missing something?

It's made worse by the fact that the Type B USB socket would need an adapter to go to a standard USB socket which is what the serial to USB interfaces all seem to want. I can handle the complexity of the cable interfacing but seems to be wires hanging off the OTA etc should be as uncomplicated as possible to avoid tangling around things.

Cheers ... Keith

Well the second hand EQ mount had been sold so just bit the proverbial bullet and ordered the EQ6-R Pro which will be permanently mounted on a pier which is currently under construction. Hopefully, this will resolve some of my issues. Also looking at a Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro  on fleabay.

Thanks for the advice guys, taken me from 2% to perhaps 5% expert so still a long way to go yet

4 hours ago, wimvb said:

That sounds a lot easier than it actually is. The faster a scope is (lower f-number), the more difficult it is to get collimation, critical distances, focus, squareness, etc etc, right. At f/2, everything is supercritical. Personally, I'd hesitate to go faster than about f/4, unless it's a camera lens.

Thanks, Wim, Advice noted and understood - sounds like every approach has its challenges and as said before I need to learn to walk before I run ... Keith

11 hours ago, wimvb said:

It means that the cogwheels inside the mount have been replaced with belts. This makes the mount run smoother, and removes some of the backlash.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/belt-mod-kits/rowan-astronomy-sky-watcher-eq6-neq6-neq6-pro-and-orion-atlas-eq-g-belt-mod-kit.html

The neq6 pro, without the belt modification, costs about £ 1100+. So 800 with the modification seems a fair price, if the modification is done by a qualified person, and the mount is in good condition.

Thanks, Wim, now I know  and another mystery solved ...Keith

14 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

It has a long focal length and a narrow field of view, which I'm told makes it difficult to use for imaging, compared with a small short focal length refractor. In practice, you could image small galaxies with it, while a lot of other things will fail to fit in the FOV.  If you have Stellarium and some camera specs you can see this for yourself by modeling what various things look like in the camera frame.

I have played around with deep space EEVA using a Startravel 102mm f5 refractor and a ASI120MC camera, neither of which I bought for this purpose.  Much easier to manage than using a f10 SCT.

Many thanks, I understand what you are saying and it makes sense. I could go down the fit a hyperlens + camera in place of the second reflector to get down to F2 but for the cost of that, I could buy a decent reflector and have the best of both worlds so doubt I will go that route ... Keith

Hi All,

 Thanks for your advice. I suppose to some extent having just forked out £2.3k on the 9.25 Evo I am trying to find a way to (justify) keep it rather than taking a big hit on a trade in.

The setup issue every time I want to use the scope is a separate issue of course from its suitability. An observatory is not an option as I don't have space and other hobbies (ham radio antennas) already clutter up the small garden and since I denied "she who must be obeyed" a rotary clothes dryer on the grounds of space it would be a difficult argument 

 I may go for the pier option anyway, at least when weather permits  I can leave the mount out covered up for a few days or weeks and perhaps get it to accept a rotary clothes dryer when it's not needed for astronomy  Tips for the best materials were welcome thanks, Jeremy, and I have a mate into that sort of stuff so will ply him with beer to see what he can suggest, then some more beer to get him to volunteer

Medium term I think I am going to have to accept there is no one size fits all scope/mount and get my feet wet using the C9.25 for what it's intended for - planetary etc I assume. Further down the road, I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and get a good GEM mount (EQ6 Pro?) and then perhaps a retractor so I can have the best of both worlds.  Eventually, I would like to do some DS imaging but need to exercise a little more patience and learn to walk before I run.

For now, I will attempt to fight off the impulse to indulge in some "retail therapy" and avoid the wedge, as already pointed out it will go a good way towards the cost of a reasonable GEM. There is a second hand EQ6 Pro with Rowan belt mod (whatever that is) going for £800 fully serviced etc which I am tempted to buy - anybody willing to put me off is welcome?

Cosmic Geoff, you said the c9.25 was a grim deep space scope. Is this an optical issue? just the long focal length, mechanical stability or what.  Bear in mind I am pretty green and as with most things the best lessons in life are often expensive but since I already spent the money it's best if know where I went wrong so I don't do it again 

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for their advice. Not always what you want to hear if you screwed up but what you need to hear to move on and make better decisions in the future.

Cheers, 73's and Clear Skies ... Keith

Hi, Folks

 I am only a few weeks into astronomy and started off with a Celestron 9.25" Evo on the standard AZ mount. I guess with hindsight this wasn't the best place to start and also with hindsight I would have done better to have bought a GEM mount. Anyway, lesson learned and at 71 years old I have to speed up the learning process compared to younger enthusiasts  I have 2 issues. 1/ Its a pain dragging the scope out into the garden and setting it up every time I think the fickled weather might be obliging. 2/ I now know that the mount I have is useless for long exposures and a wedge is fiddly to get polar aligned.

My question is, though I gather wedges are a PITA to setup etc is if I was to build or buy a pier for the backyard and use my existing mount + a wedge is this a reasonable way to go? Though it's fiddly to set the thing up once set I could leave the mount, wedge, etc covered up and would just need to drop the OTA on when I wanted to use it.  Is this reasonable or am I missing something fundamental down near the bottom end of my learning curve

Any advice much appreciated and don't feel you have to spare my feelings