Stephenstargazer

So thats moderate binoculars then. Not that they see through clouds but they are easy to point at the little clear bits in between momentarily 😁😁

ZS 73 and 1 1/4" eyepiece can see up to 3.7 deg of sky, so why consider a 2" diagonal ? Seems like unwise expenditure and bulk to me, considering you mention occasional use only. For wider fields a binocular is probably more useful.

Congratulations! these are excellent cats for either imaging or visual. I had a VMC200L for years but bought a VC200L when the chance arose. Never regretted. A true flat field that works with every eyepiece I have.

Well said! I feel with binoviewers, given the prisms , merging of images (in the brain) and various focal extenders often required that medium quality eye pieces are more than adequate. Useful given that a pair is needed and they may be less bulky. Recently bought a pair of Stella Lyra LER 55deg and very happy with them in binoviewers🥸 (and in monocular use......🧐) .

No mate, it's because I have a few hundred black round things and they still sound great 😁 Back to topic, yes there are already less visual astronomers and more AP. The good news is nothing will ever stop you looking through an old telescope. It does not need fossil fuel and silicon chips, and is practically obsolescent proof. Light pollution has made it harder already and it does not 'share' as easily as images. But lets be honest, who still 'shares' all those photos of holidays past? People go to the same places and can enjoy the view for themselves

Tonight 3 astro sky sites and the Met Office said it would be clear here well into the night. It was until I aligned and that was about the last thing I saw except RED.....90% fluffy mid height stuff came in and stayed in. Put everything away now. I don't care about the CAUSE, I want a REFUND ☹️☹️☹️

Pan handles : if you want a short one buy the AZ75 version, same thread etc but about 2 "shorter. I also avoid the problem by tilting the pan handle upwards wrt the telescope (mainly so it still works in azimuth near the zenith).

I would also recommend all Motor Set users to update to the new general release V1.1.1 as it is a very nice improvement to the AZ100 Planetarium and sorts a number of interface issues with other software. Please note this version is DSC capable but you will need an update to DSC firmware as well before that can be used. (Edit: DSC firmware update not yet released as a couple of issues to fix from beta versions, but under way). Regarding the green 'Rebooting......' message at the end of the update Derek advised me: "Instead of saying rebooting it should really say reconnect to wifi and open new web page" Dont forget to check the version No. when you re-open the web interface it should now read V1.1.1 (build number). If this has not advanced from V1.0.4 then the update has failed. One cause of this can be your phone/tablet/laptop dropping wifi connection with the AZ100 wifi hot spot. This is less likely to happen if you get well away from your (and neighbours!) domestic wifi (or turn it off) (or select a different wifi channel in AZ100 Config).

The source paper was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the RAS. It is out there for others to discuss and respond to, by publication in journals. That is formally how science progresses. Media commentary on the paper is another matter. That applies to all unreviewed media from any source.

In the last (mere) 1000 years we have had several woefully inadequate models of the universe. So it seems quite fair to question the most recently accepted version. Mind you not knowing your d.o.b. can have severe on line and in life consequences, eg NHS, 🤔

Suggest you check the Astrowl website and read the manual. That will give you a good overiew.

I use a plastic Really Useful Box for the mount, with some foam padding. Cheap and cheerfull🙂. For the tripod I found a photo lighting bag (Wex ?) was strong and cheaper than astro bags.

OK I understand different folk want different things, but let's not forget that the Nexus DSC does have slow motion control built in on a keypad and it works pretty well. I understand that is how Nexus works with other motor systems (at least according to the manual). The issue of why Sky Safari and the AZ100 do not entirely get along is an issue for Rowan to check out. I have to admit I don't have experience of SS with other mounts, and my comment re the protocol was speculation. We should perhaps remind other 'followers' we are still discussing a beta, unreleased version of the Rowan and Nexus firmware. Also that a motorised AZ100 can actuslly be used without either a Nexus or Sky Safari. PS is anyone else trying the mount with other 3rd party planetarium software? In principle it should be possible?

Correct - @Dek Rowan Astro has told me he will forward specific* problems to Serge at Astrodevices. I don't personally see any need to turn the motors off in DSC. It uses the motors as required when Auotlock is engaged, or to do a Goto, or when using the Arrow pad (direction keys). You do not need any part of the AZ100 Web interface when DSC has control.The choice is to use either Nexus (DSC or PRO) or the AZ100 web interface. Each of which is compatible with Sky Safari*, to some extent. I don't know that it was ever intended to be used otherwise. In either case you can push the the scope to any part of the sky, any time, without using a clutch or turning off motors. What else do you need? * native 'control' from Sky Safari is by an implementation of 'LX200 Classic' protocol as the means of communication. I do not forsee any change beyond this.

When Nexus DSC is connected by serial cable, the Rowan Web interface is disabled and I am 90% sure that Sky Safari cannot connect to AZ100 when that occurs. (Edit - it will in fact connect, but thinks it is in another part of sky. Eg the offset from the encoders does not match DSC, so not usable) @swsantos have you tried it? Thanks for finding those overshoots as well, nice to know I am not alone! There is some overshoot even using DSC alone. Our experience with DSC seems to be the same.

Yes Steve, that's exactly how it has worked for me. I too had used SS with DSC that way before fitting motors to AZ100.

Sorry still don't have one! Not needed for me as the DSC Arrow pad works perfectly well for my accurate adjustments. In fact being a bluetooth device there is no apparent way to connect one through Nexus DSC. Others with beta firmware may have one to try with new version of Rowan planetarium ?

I now have the Beta updates for both parts and they installed into the Nexus DSC (or Pro) and (after a small hiccup) the AZ100 motor controller. In what passes for nightime at the moment.,I had more success in what I could find than in what could be seen!! Instructions: Enter a few scope control settings into DSC, join DSC to AZ100 with cable, point scope North (not South like the Rowan Planetarium....), turn on AZ100, turn on DSC. That's all you have to do......first time you might want to 'Test Encoders' to make sure connections and data are correct. You go straight into the DSC 2 star alignment (or levelled and 1 star) and away you go like using DSC with a manual mount. which you are probably familiar with if going down this road. It finds, it tracks, it runs the mount. It does this accurately and you can improve that with Syncs as you wish. All this does not require the Rowan web interface to be connected - in fact it has to be unconnected. AZ100 Wi-Fi is not used or running. If you want to use Sky Safari as well (definitely optional) then you can connect SS to DSC, but not to the AZ100. SS works seamlessly with DSC (long proven) and in a good nights test there were no issues with the 2 staying in step. The mode 'Find in Planetarium' supports a go to from SS and the direction arrows in SS do work through DSC. The DSC direction arrows work equally nicely to centre objects in the eyepiece (check DSC manual pages 24 and 31 to see how this function is turned on and off - it becomes instinctive, as do go-tos) So is this an absolutely done and finished part of the project? Well very nearly but perhaps not quite or it would not be Beta. There may need to be some prior adjustments in the AZ100 'Configuration' to adjust the Arrow Pad steps as you may like according to magnification. They respond fast with a long press, but quite finely with a single press. The go-to associated with the alignment routine (nice but not essential) is not working yet, but the Arrow pad corrections are. I found a problem with longer go-tos overshooting the target. The good news is that a second press of go-to then corrects the error to virtually nothing. I never noticed this if I pushed the scope to the general area of the target, which is quicker than using the motors in fact. These items may need a fix. If you like and are already familiar with Nexus DSC then the way it works with a motorized AZ100 is a natural progression from it's use with a manual version of the mount. The tracking works with the Auto-Lock function, which you dont have to understand, it just does OK? I think I am going forward with this and a star atlas for company.

The present version of the Astrowl body has a Canon Eos F bayonet. With an adapter to T2 thread it can use a wide range of connectors to a tescope, such as 1.25" nose. See http://www.astrowlbox.com/

What is it like for visual, or is this for the EEVA kit??

I did say "full editorial control", but happy to hear from a moderator on that ??? I do notice that unwarranted comment on ALL suppliers is not tolerated, which speaks well of the approach.

The clue is in the header............... however in my experience FLO has given full editorial control to the moderators, volunteers from the membership. itself.

There is beta software out for test from Astro Devices and Rowan to allow DSC devices to control the optional motor set on an AZ100. Neither is released yet, but it may not take long. The AZ100 is added as an optional motor controller to select in DSC/Pro serial connections. Discussion on AZ100 Mount Owners Thread.

@Deadlake no I do not have such a list. The DRAFT Manual refers to " Bluetooth low energy" joysticks and keypads. I would presume until some beta testers report on specific makes that no more can be said. A joystick can apparently be connected either to the motor controller direct or to an IOS/Android device being used with the Rowan Web interface. Does that help? I don't have such a thing to even try 🙂

@Saganite clearly has a beta version and I now have it too. I won't be trying a bluetooth joystick yet (sorry!), but will mainly see how well it works with DSC. There is an update for the DSC to control the AZ100 motors and once I get the AZ100 software installed OK I shall comment on that. I have checked out the AZ100 changes and the revised planetarium is now a serious contender. Reported bugs have been addressed too. The Sky view is improved with selectable databases, panning, horizon, magnitude filters etc so that it could well be used on its own. I have just about got used to Rowans onscreen joystick in the 'standard' version but perhaps the dedicated hand controller, or the Bluetooth option, will make the package complete. However you look at it Rowan are making the AZ100 motordrive options configurable to suit a range of user choices. Much like the hardware in that respect, they have listened to astronomers feedback and developed optional components and firmware gradually.