Daf1983

I use a rpi4 with a canon 600d, and I can say it's definitely supported by indi. I have only used to 3-4 times since getting my new setup, I've managed to plate solve with the 600d, but found using the polar alignment module difficult to use with it. Just to emphasise, this is not a problem with ekos, just it takes time for the dslr image to download and for the image to refresh whilst you're adjusting your polar alignment. I haven't tried it with the guide camera as of yet(a zwo120mm-s), but I'm guessing that would be easier.

1 hour ago, alacant said:

Hi

Excellent shots.

One thing which may help the guiding...

Did you try EKOS' internal guider with SEP and multistar? You may well be pleasantly surprised, and it removes the need for third party apps.

Cheers

I haven't tried the internal guider as of yet. So many new things to learn, and I was fairly familiar with phd2 already. I will give it a go next time, thanks👍

That would be an idea!. If all else fails, read the manual😂

Dithering doesn't seem to affect the total rms tonight. I have increased the settle time, so that might have helped

Hi. I'm using a zwo 120mm to guide and a canon 600d as the main imaging camera. I'm currently imaging m5, and guiding seems to have settled down at about 1'' rms after tinkering (all guess work) with the settings in phd2. 

Thank you! The dithering and the increased rms might have been a coincidence, hoping to have another go tonight, so we'll see.

Had a chance to use my new HEQ5 mount and evostar 80ED on Sunday night. My main aim for the night was just to give everything a test run, as this was the first time I've ever used an EQ mount. By some miracle everything more or less worked!

I managed to get the scope polar aligned fairly easily (with the aid of an app), and the slewed to M13. I ran the EKOS platesolving module, and it worked within seconds, took a test shot, and there it was! I then set up the guiding on ph2, and after a couple of minutes calibration was complete and I was guiding! RMS values seemed to settle at about 0.90''. 

The only problem I encountered was when I tried to dither. This seemed to push the RMS value up dramatically, where it eventually settled at about 1.30'' for the rest of the night. I'm not sure if this is normal, or if something was wrong in the settings. Either way, I managed to get subs of various lengths up to 5 minutes without any obvious star trailing.

This is the image I managed to produce. Not going to win any awards, and as I managed to mess up the flat frames, I have used no calibration frames. The second image is slightly cropped.

First light with my new Heq5 and evostar 80ed

30 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

Not bad, but the rings are too close, big overhang.

Take advantage of the lovely green bar and move the rear ring as close to the guidecam as you can. 

You could mount the rings directly onto the green bar and remove another source of Flex.

Michael

Thanks for the tip. Looking at it again, I totally agree.

With regards to mounting ring directly onto the bar; I did think of doing this, but because I store the scope and guidescope separately at present, it would mean bolting and unbolting the guidscope every time I set up. Hopefully this will work well enough so I don't have to do that!

Just posting to give an update. Managed to get 1/4 20 unc bolts from ebay, and mounted the dovetail on top of the 80ed. I then brought a svbony clamp which I mentioned above to attach to the guidescope. Seems quite solid, but haven't had a clear night to test it out yet.

2 hours ago, powerlord said:

maybe this is me botching things, but the madness of some random holes being UNC/20, some M6 was doing my head in.

1. svbony do cheap bars on ebay at 210mm if that helps

and/or

- get a piilar drill. you'll save the cost after your second bar. then you can drill holes where you want, the size you want. get some SS nuts and bolts in metric sizes from ebay and you are no longer a slave to the madness of random threads and positions.

- for a 450mm long bar I needed for my 200p for the top (i.e. opposite vixen), I just got a bit of 2in, by 1/2 inch ali bar. about £15 for 1m. Drill holes where you want, lots spare for others, etc. solid as a rock.

The different size bolts really annoy me as well, especially when you have a mix of metric and imperial units on the same product!

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Good find. I had to buy some. 
 

In fact I’m trying to do exactly the same thing by mounting my SkyWatcher Evoguide-50 on top on the rings.  Trouble is the green bar in which the guide scope fits isn’t quite long enough. I can’t get the rings close enough together in other words. So I’m going to need yet another bar between the rings and fit the green dove tail to that somehow.

I will be interested to see how you fit your guidescope. 

 

I bought a longer ADM dovetail to mount the 80ED, so I have the original skywatcher to mount on top for the guidescope, which is a cheap 50mm Svbony. I was planning bolting the dovetail on top of the 80ED, and then attaching the guidescope with the clamp, similar to this one.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/27028681810

Not sure if this will work well or not. 

Thanks! I found some 1/4 20  bolts in the back of the shed last night, and you are indeed correct👍. 

I've just received my evostar 80ed today, and was planning on mounting a dovetail on top of the rings, so I could piggyback my guidescope.

The allen bolts that come with the scope and dovetail don't seem to fit. Does anyone know what size bolts are needed?

Dafydd

Heq5 last week, evostar 80ed today👍 After a three month wait, my imaging rig is all ready to go (once I learn how to use it🙈)!

1 minute ago, Chefgage said:

Looks like we both had a long wait then

Don't think we're the only ones at the minute. Still waiting for a telescope to put on it unfortunately😭

After a 3 month wait, my first ever eq mount arrived today! Expected it to be big, but the size of the tripod took me (and the mrs) a little by suprise! 

Still waiting for the evostar 80ed to put on it, but at least it'll give me time to get my head round this mount!

+1 for cheap astrophotography. I recently had my 600d done by Juan👍 

I also have a heq5 and an evostar 80ed on order since january. Have been told they might be arriving on a shipment early may, or maybe on the next shipment in june/july.😭

Have thought about buying from the 2nd hand market, but since I ordered before the price rises, I wouldn't be making much of a saving. So, I will just have to be patient.

Eqmod cable for my heq5 which is probably stuck on the suez canal somewhere😭 

5 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Yes, exactly, it’s the driver interface software, you can run this on the RPI on your mount with all kit connected to it, and then run Kstars from a different PC in the house, (INdI server mode) or you can run it all from the RPI and then either VNC or teamviewer into the RPI desktop to control it all...I do the later....👍🏼

I thought so. My plan is to run it all off the RPI(heard it's better this way, in case of any connectivity issues), and then use VNC on my laptop from the house, beer in hand😉

19 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

You won’t regret this, I did it two years ago, after constant Ascom issues, and have never looked back...INdI is superb and Kstars / Ekos also....👍🏼
Any questions please ask...

I think there might be a few questions, coming from a position of zero experience! 

Question number 1 - I understand what kstars and ekos are, but am I right in saying that INdi is the equivalent of ascom? (Sorry if this is a stupid question)

Raspberry pi 4 delivered today. Going to download astroberry on this to save me taking my laptop out in the backyard. Have zero experience with linux, so wish me luck.

38 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

It would be a good idea to put a piece of heat shrink over the connection between your lead and the extension - helps keep moisture out and helps prevent it from accidentally being pulled apart.

Thanks for the tip, sounds like a good solution👍

15 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Yes it will work. Thats the short answer 🙂 

Like any cable if all soldered joints are good and cables are in good condition with wire designed for the current being taken then the weak link of any cable is the plug and socket.
Even in good condition there will be slightly more resistance at that point and over time the plugs will become coated with some form of oxidation, maybe even start to corrode as they are outside a lot of the time. Also then sockets can work a bit looser so the contact is not as positive as when new.
All these thinks can work to increase the resistance.
Often we need a good 12V supply not 10.5, 11 and even below 11.5V can cause some issues very occasionally and so reducing the amount of plugs and sockets and also reducing cable lengths to say under 5M just makes good sense.

By far the most reliable set-up with cables is to have no connectors at all and use good soldered joints everywhere.
But obviously that is just not practical at all but not using lots of extensions introducing more plugs and sockets just makes good sense and certainly not using poor quality cables.

All that said, the Baader cable looks a good quality cable and will be fine so long as you do not try to put too much current through it, but if just used to say run the mount then it will be fine.
But many of us imagers have a lot of gear requiring 12V and sometimes with a fairly high current, mounts up to 2A, camera cooling 3A, dew bands 1A and so on, using power supplies capable of 10A or more. So if we fed all these through one of these cables that may make the total length 5M or more then that plug an socket may get hot if the connections are not perfect.
Generally these plugs are only capable of 3 to 5A reliably at best.

Also many cheap cables like this on Amazon and the rest use very thin wire and so be wary of these again if using any amount of current.

Also watch out for the two types of plugs and sockets, 2.1 / 5.5 mm type and 2.5 / 5.5 mm type.
This is a total pita as even the coloured tips is not consistent across manufacturers so difficult to tell which is which. Obviously if you ever manage to plug a 2.1 plug into a 2.5 socket then that plug is damaged and also plugging a 2.5 plug into a 2.1 socket means the centre pin either doesn't make contact or worse still makes partial contact and has a huge resistance.

One last tip if using extension cables like this put a wrap of tape, like masking tape or similar around them to prevent accidently pulling them apart in the dark. Sometimes if only slightly pulled apart the resistance increases hugely.

Sorry for the long response, as the real answer is yes, but I actually hate the fact that this type of plug has been adapted for almost all astro gear power, they really are not geared up for the currents we now demand for many setups. 

Steve

 

 

 

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! I had a feeling that it was not quite as simple as I thought!🙂 

I did think of getting one from amazon/ebay initially, but as you mentioned, I was wary of the thickness and quality of these cables.

The cable will only be powering the mount, so I will give this a go to see how it works. 

Dafydd