GCG-Observatory

On 13/08/2018 at 19:24, Owmuchonomy said:

The Mods may move it anyway as I think you will get better responses there.  Yes I have a ROR shed.  Here is a picture from a recent thread where I compare my SCT 9.25" with a new ED 150.

Hi, awesome setup. Just wondering where you got your pier extension tube? I’m looking for something like that to raise my mount higher off my Altair Astro pier. Many thanks

Hi, I recently purchased the Altair Hypercam 294C Pro Tec Cooled. I am having major issues getting it to connect and work with my existing setup.

I run a remote Pulsar dome with direct CAT 8 cable connection through a ICRON USB Raven 3104, and USB3 cable in observatory to Pegasus Ultimate Power Box. This is running the mount, the guide scope, the focuser and previously a DLSR. 
All was working great with that from the connected PC in the house, no lag and no issues connecting or downloading images.

Now I have this Hypercam it is a whole world of pain. I struggle to get it to connect, and if I do, it just shows a zero frame rate and a black screen. The only way I can get the camera to connect and show me anything is to bypass the Pegasus and just connect USB to the observatory ICRON.
This however will really affect my cable management and my ability to easily power off, recycle the camera USB (which was the whole point of the Pegsasus) plus a complete rejig of my setup in the observatory.
I ordered an active USB3 cable extension to go from the Pegasus to the ICRON, but still not even a connection. The only thing I havent done is tried powering with a 5V adaptor the active cable. I spoke with Altair and they said to make sure that the Pegasus variable voltahe is set to 5V or I might blow the circuit board of the camera, so I made sure that was done.

Does anyone have any experience of using these Altair cameras in a similar setup, as I am currently lumped with a very expensive but very pretty purple counterweight to my telescope.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks

On 27/04/2020 at 18:01, Jkulin said:

Hi Adam,

I'm in discussions about a dome at the moment, can I ask how you managed to make a perfectly round frame?

I'm tempted to make mine oversized and then have my bricky build a 3 high brickwork base on top with air bricks in to keep the air moving and then build rafters for the floor, my existing pier block is fine and would just need isolating.

I used a 6 inch pvc  strip and cable tied it to some rebar pegs.

7 hours ago, Starflyer said:

This is for the older EQ6 mounts, just check it has the correct plug;

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq6-or-neq6-syntrek-pro-mounts.html

Thanks, funnily enough I was just looking at this right before I saw your reply

I'll order one of those I think 

Thanks everyone for your assistance

Ah okay, yeah I have older model. So is there a special EQMod cable then?

Having setup a remote observatory in back garden, and having it powered up/down through a Pegasus Ultimate Power Box, does anyone know if the EQ6 is powered down, and then powered up remotely if there is a way to bypass completely or remotely initialise the mount? Cannot connect to the scope remotely without physically going out and doing a manual initialisation first. Not a major deal breaker if not, as it just means getting out and doing so manually, but would be handy if I was feeling lazy or if there was a power cut etc.

Update. 
 

Contacted Pulsar and they said just measure from seam to opposite seam of the outside edge of walls, and make sure they are the same. 
I didn’t bolt all the walls down until dome was on so I could still make adjustments.

Dome is on and pretty much flawlessly turns with a push of the finger, so good news.

Hi Ben,

well after a few months of wind and rain I have now finally made some good progress on my dome. (Check pics) Base is done, pier foundation is seperate and isolated, I have built the dome, installed shutter drive system and walls are loosely bolted for final positioning. My question is on this, how did you manage to ensure that the walls were perfectly square, (circular) so that when the dome is on top, it will move flawlessly? I haven’t bolted wall panels down to base yet. Struggling to work out best way to square it up. Tried measuring from central point, but not sure if there is a correct measurement to go by?

Any tips?

Just now, Davey-T said:

Well done, I wonder if the last owner had the same problem or just didn't realise.

Dave

I contacted him and he said he didn't when he last used it in December. He did say he had the ticking though, so probably had the issue, as the cogs were not catching correctly as the whole tension was out, due to the motor being loose. Main thing is I have managed to sort it hopefully, and if anyone else has the same issue will be able to fix it now more easily.

UPDATE

I found the issue. Took the cover off to reveal the cogs, and could see that the motor was hanging loose. Then discovered that there was a screw loose by the cogs, and that it was the screw that must hold the motor into the cog housing. Fished it out, tightened it up, put it all back together and ran a test. Now tracking and making a soft whirring sound, no ticking. Hopefully job done. Thanks for help everyone. Hopefully now I can actually get some tracked shots, as last three or four nights have been frustrating.

1 minute ago, happy-kat said:

I am not suggesting  you open it up but you might find this interesting.https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/275823-inside-a-star-adventurer-mount/?tab=comments#comment-3020725

Yes, I did see that, and I have opened it up. Can see the cogs turning, but it doesn't seem to be turning the dovetail etc. I have put a small white mark under the dovetail assembly and a corresponding mark on the clutch area. Left it running on 12X speed and not an inkling of movement even an hour or 2 later

2 hours ago, Jonk said:

Check the adjustment screw underneath the main body, if it’s too tight, the gears may not turn.

When you move the main switch to track, can you hear it whirring?

It could be the switch or loose connection inside.

Which adjustment screw do you mean? Struggling to see one? Do you mean the clutch?

Yes I can hear it whirring and an occasional tick, which speeds up according to what speed setting its on

UPDATE

Yes finally found the adjustment screw, its an allen key style bolt, pushes down on the cog mechanism which which adjusts the tension between that and the biggest cog wheel. Thanks again, that was useful as it helped me when i finally found out the problem. See update below

Are these things known for not tracking due to age, mechanical wear etc?

21 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Best stick a laser pointer on it and run it indoors for a sidereal day test.

Dave

I might have to try that

56 minutes ago, Jonk said:

My first thought is - have you tightened up the clutch?

Hi, yes I have, sometimes too tight, (so much I need to realign after trying to loose it) so I don't think that's the issue.

Just bought a second hand Star Adventurer Pro, and having become aquatinted with it over a few nights, balancing and making sure I am correctly polar aligned, I still find that I am getting star trails on 10-20 second exposures on a 85mm lens. Over the course of 70 exposures, my subject will drift out of view. I check my polar alignment before, during and after and it is spot on. I am totally flummoxed as to why this thing doesn't seem to track. It has new batteries, and I have no warning LED lights. I have set it to Star on the dial and N on the S, Time-lapse, N switch.

Has anyone any ideas as to what my issue is here?

Thanks

On 22/10/2014 at 17:22, bobmoss said:

Fitting the pier

I ended up leaving the concrete about 6 weeks before trying to bolt the pier down. This was mainly down to weather and time constraints.

Altair Astro supply 4 x M12 300mm long threaded rods with their piers for attaching to concrete (or you can ask them for L bolts for setting directly into wet concrete). I went with the threaded rods as I want to be able to unbolt and remove the pier in the future.

The idea with these is that you drill a hole slightly bigger than the bolts (14mm), put in some chemical anchor resin, push the rods in and then they will set firm. The key to using the chemical resins is preparation. The holes need to be very clean and free from dust. Also, once you open that resin, you have about 15 minutes until it starts gelling and then you can't use it any more.

I placed the pier in position, marked the holes and then drilled the 4 holes using an SDS masonry drill down to a depth of 200mm. Don't try and use a normal hammer drill, they are just not powerful enough. I cleaned the holes out using a bottle brush.

I then cut the rods to about 260mm so that 60mm will be showing out of the top of the hole. I also chamfered the bottoms as I had been recommended to do that to stop them unscrewing once the resin sets (also, the off the shelf chemical anchor bolts you can buy have this chamfering so there must be a good reason for it).

With some help from my wife we were ready to start!. I filled each of the holes about 3/4 full with resin as my wife followed me round and screwed the rods down into the resin. Once the rods are in, clear up any overspill resin as quick as you can.

Next we put a few thin pieces of wood on the ground and offered up the pier to make sure all the rods were lined up - they were! Remove the pier and wait for the resin to set.

The next day, the resin had set solid, those rods are not going anywhere!

I then placed the pier into position and tightened the nuts down. Do them up tight but not too tight! They will shear off before the resin gives way and you won't get much warning.

Here is the pier in place:

After a few days, 2 things became apparent. Firstly, water was pooling around the bottom of the pier and secondly the rods were a bit too proud and I was going to end up catching my foot on them.

So, I removed the pier and got out the angle grinder. First off, I used the metal cutting disk to cut a good amount off the rods, leaving just enough for the bolts. Next, I put the masonry disk on and cut out a big channel to hopefully let the bulk of the water drain away:

I then bolted the pier back down. The last thing I did was to mask off the bottom of the pier and spray the top of the rods with cold galvanising spray. The rods are zinc coated but where they have been cut off they will start to rust. Hopefully the cold galvanising spray will slow down the corrosion.

I am about to set mine in cement using L-bolts. How much from your experience would you leave proud? Altair are suggesting 60mm, but that looks a lot more than what you have grinded yours down to?

Is the Shelyak system even required now? Doesn't the Pulsar drive system have all the tracking built in on their latest models?

Many thanks Steve

Just now, steppenwolf said:

I have had one for several years and have found it to be incredibly reliable.

The system itself requires very little setting up but to get the dome to slave correctly with the mount will require some careful measuring and some simple maths. I can provide you with a spreadsheet for MS Excel to help you with this.

Hi Steve, yes that would be fantastic, I think because I'm using this with a 10 reflector, on a equatorial mount, it is going to need some clever maths so any help will be very much appreciated

thats great, thanks for drawings.

for anyone interested I shall be updating my progress on my observatory build on my facebook page @ : https://www.facebook.com/blackmountainobservatory/

Thats great to know. I am in the process of awaiting to finish building my base for my used Pulsar dome, so I relate to the weather!

I am looking to acquire their dome and shutter system in the new year, so that is really helpful. So does it work straight out the box, or does it require a lot of configuration? Many thanks

Has anyone any experience of using a Pulsar Dome Drive System and / or Shutter Drive System? Just wonder how reliable, easy to use, and if they work well with Sequence Generator Pro etc?

Many thanks

Thank you, I shall check it out

On 07/12/2019 at 19:13, martin_h said:

Yes I am

Did you find it difficult to configure and get everything set up?