deanok

Ok so just as closure to this thread..... I got mount back up and running again and it’s guiding perfectly now, no issues. was a knackered/worn bearing apparently. dark frame did a great job, the mount is smoother than ever...... it did however take three months And I didn’t get the photos or test results documentation I was promised... I did get 12 months guarantee, but to be perfectly honest I’m just glad to have it back in working order with no issues so hat off to dark frame for that.

No, not even considered that yet.... hoping to get it back up and running in next few nights to check if the problem has been fixed, if not I’ll be fuming..... and back at square one

Ok so got my mount back from dark frame optics yesterday ..... after three months !!!! apparantly it’s had the full works and is spot on now ..... but I’ve read a bit about them since sending my mount and I’ve got my fingers seriously crossed in hope. awaiting next clear night so I can polar align and run some guide tests.... watch this space.

The guiding was running smooth as silk last week no matter where I pointed it then the ra problem started so I started to play about with settings.... then ran the assistant and applied the suggested changes and it never really got better after that... I am convinced it’s a mechanical problem now so it’s being shipped off tomorrow, I’ll post the results when I know more.

Many thanks for your reply you explained it extremely well. i have been in contact with dark frame today and decided to send the mount to them for a check up and rectify if needed .... I will post what they find on this thread when I know more many thanks

As promised here are a couple of guide logs from last evening..... and a picture of guide graph with ra problem obvious ..

PHD2_DebugLog_2020-04-19_163820.txt PHD2_GuideLog_2020-04-19_163820.txt

Thanks for reply, I have tried locking them as tight as possible and at different pressures ( if you get what I mean ) all the way from literally as tight as poss to almost not on at all . A friend of mine suggested this early on so it was one of the first things I tested .... sadly no difference

Not quite sure what you mean here....... my observatory is in my back garden, I’m an amateur astrophotographer using Canon dslr cameras attached to telescopes so yea I’m sure.......

Hi all, ok so this is probably another one of those ‘im having problems guiding’ threads but this one is somewhat strange and must have a very simple answer, it’s just that I’m missing it. I’m hoping someone has encountered the same issue. Let me set the scene..... I have an eq6 Mount that I bought second hand over a year ago that has has the dark frame belt mod. I run it with apt and PHD2 via eqmod and ascom. I have two scopes on there, an Altair Astro 110mm and Altair 70 mm both with canon eos’... for guiding I have an Altair 50 mm guide scope with a qhy5ll camera. All this has been running sweet as a nut for the last 12 months, literally point, platesolve, choose an object, guide and away..... all evening, every time no issue. however over the last week or so it has developed the obsession that every now and then when guiding the ra axis decides to drop like a stone off the graph. PHD2 does bring it back and it continues to guide happily again until it decides to do it again, every 10-15 mins at the moment. Although phd never looses the star ....It is driving me crazy trying to figure out the problem as every second exposure is ruined because of it. firstly I checked the usual suspects, balance, cable snags, loose hardware etc etc. No change then thought it may be a belt/mount issue so I pinged the phd log to dark frame who ensured me that the time scale between ra throwing a wobbly isn’t because of the drive train as the timing doesn’t match. i have tried the guiding assistant in PHD2 to seei if it has any suggestions and applied the recommendations but still same problem. it is driving me insane ...... I will post the phd log for this evening tomorrow ( it is midnight as I type this and to be honest I’ve fallen out with the observatory so best to tackle it in the morning ) any ideas or advice would be very gratefully received many thanks Dean

This is the unit .... has two ports on bottom for usb and jack for dewband... also a nice robust quick release sliding mounting plate on back and a screw fitting on bottom for attaching to a tripod .... really impressed .... just need to sort the correct lens for my camera now ..

I realise I am very late to this thread but if you are still considering wheeling your dob out from a small shed type building I have a friend who did the same but to prevent aligning every time he had the setup on tracks, like a train, with a stop at the point where he got the best view and was aligned. i realise the alignment can't be absolutely precise every time doing it this way but it is food for thought...

They are a new venture from Altair ....3D printed and fantastic built, a friend of mine was having a chat with Ian about something else and it came up in conversation so my mate very kindly bought me one. I guess they should be available from the Altair website really soon but at the moment it needs a phone call to the Altair guys I think .... Sorry I can't be of more help....

Magic thankyou and thanks for the tip 👍

Great build... Am currently building one using the Altair Astro housing and wondered where you got the dew prevention ring from ?

I’ve been told it’s not the ir filter I need removing its part of the cfa? Colour filter array ?? mom guessing the ir filter is part of the cfa? I have no idea .....

Magic many thanks .... is it just the i.r. I need removing ?

Hi all .... does anyone know the best place to send a canon 1000d for Astro modding ? many thanks

Ok so just as a follow on to this problem I have found a solution of sorts....... Staying with my 64bit Windows 10..... Also With a usb to serial adapter I can fire the shutter on the 350d using 'dslr shutter control' and choose exposure time, lock the mirror etc all good . Once an image has been taken in order to view it on screen I have to switch the camera from 'PC connection' to the print setting then using the normal usb lead Windows will recognise the camera and I can go into and view images using file explorer. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to both fire the shutter and view image without faffing around with the camera settings etc so not quite as easy as using EOS utility on newer camera models but, that said, I'm happy I can use the camera on my 64 bit machine ....... i will continue to research further to find a way to do both actions without messing with the camera but in the meantime at least I can use the 350 👍

Hi all, does anyone have any experience of converting a c8 to hyperstar ? Where to get kit etc ..... I have a c8 sat in observatory under bench doing nothing and it may be a nice project ......

That’s it Mate nailed it ...... my windows is 64 bit !!! i assumes cos it was Okd it would be 32bit but alas it’s not am I screwed then or is there a workaround ?

Yes I have all the disks with software and all installed just camera not playing ball .... it will connect to backyard eos but only with usb and only when camera is in print mode not pc connection mode !! Camera flashes busy and not a lot else .....The serial port shutter control lead does nothing .... even in seperate dslr shutter program, having tried all ports .... It’s driving me crazy !!

Thanks, worth a look at the matrix page just for info on all canons alone !! ..... I’ll keep plugging on with it till I get it to do what I want then I’ll post on here how I did it .... hopefully !

Ok so I have just tried the 350 with backyard eos..... my camera will only connect to pc when set to the print setting not pc connection setting via usb !!! What is going on ..... then, even though it’s connected it won’t fire .... (I realise I need the serial cable also) but even with this connected nothing happens ..... any ideas ?

Thanks for this, I will have another bash at it this eve ....