a6400
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Posts posted by a6400
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Just use this and remove all of the MS junk
“Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility”
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I guess you also need more frames, or higher rejection sigma setting.
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Hi,
I feel like the Bortle 4 still isn't enough so I'm looking for Bortle 3 at least, and they have some nice spots in Exmoor.
I know about Wimbeball lake but I don't really like it as you can't park overnight, unless you probably pay on the camp site, also a lot of trees etc.
I have found this spot on Ridge Road, seems like a good spot, anyone been there? (seems like the darkest, perfect clean horizon).
Also found:
1. "Frogwell Lodge Car Park" but it says temporarily closed on Google Maps.
2. Dunkery Beacon - Parking: https://imgur.com/a/Y0tdEGb
3. Deerleap view point (Somerset, Bortle 4, some trees): https://imgur.com/a/JoxwpxD
Perhaps someone is even interested in meeting up in any of these places to do some astro together?
Thanks!,
Pawel
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15 hours ago, M40 said:
A similar spot is the Axbridge picnic area. Very high with excellent views to the south, no lights.
Seems like the trees might be an issue there?
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1 hour ago, M40 said:
We're near Brent Knoll and it's dark enough there, but parking is a bit thin on the ground. Have you looked at the top of Cheddar Gorge?
I want to have my equipment max few meters away from the car, not sure it's possible there?
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1 hour ago, John said:
I've heard that the National Trust car park at Sand Point is quite dark.
Went there yesterday 10pm, some cars and people, some guy told me not to park there etc. 😁
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Hi,
I’m looking for a quiet place away from street lamps in Somerset but it seems like a very hard task.
Does anyone know of any spots not too far from Weston-super-Mare?
Thanks
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On 26/02/2024 at 22:10, Vroobel said:
I have the EF bayonet version, but it's the same lens.
Vroobel has kindly made 2 masks for me and they seem to work very well.
Big thanks!
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2 hours ago, Vroobel said:
@a6400, did you mean the Sigma 40mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art?
If yes, I designed it and printed a few days ago. It works, tested on Capella. Are you interested? 🙂
Hmm AstroKeith printed for me 2 different ones and both won’t work.
Can you post a photo of your mask?Lens:
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The new cable works fine. 🙏
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1 hour ago, symmetal said:
You possibly may need to push it a bit harder to plug it into the battery. As seems to be the case throughout this thread the actual specifications that matter are missing from the components themselves.
The TalentCell manual page calls the 12V in/out connector a DC5521 which 'implies' a 2.1mm pin diameter and 5.5mm width outer diameter. The plug with the two inner prongs rather than the round inner connector as on the Kenable can likely be forced over a pin which is slightly larger. The two pin sizes in 5.5mm width DC connectors are 2.1mm or 2.5mm, with 2.1mm being the most common. Enlarging the picture on the TalentCell manual and measuring with a ruler it looks to be 2.1mm if the outer diameter is taken as 5.5mm so the Kenable cable should fit. Try again using a bit more force. A tight connection is better than a looser one.
Alan
I would need to put a lot of force to be able to fit it in, or damage the input/cable.
We'll see how the new cable does.
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Just got the cable and it fits the mount but doesn’t seem to fit the battery.
Got this one instead
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On 05/02/2024 at 15:38, Carbon Brush said:
Yes a drawn out discussion.
I took a look at the Talentcell specification and user manual (attached) and it will provide 14V on full charge.
This is OK for the majority of mounts and accessories. The 5A capability is good for big mounts and off balance loads.
The Skywatcher site was particularly useless at providing a manual - linking me to manuals for 5V powered products!
However, Mr Google came to the rescue.
https://www.manuals.co.uk/sky-watcher/star-adventurer-gti/manual
Note that the table on page 2 indicates maximum supply 12.6V. Lower than the Talentcell delivery with decent charge.
Current consumption is not given. But common sense says it will be easily within the Talentcell capability.Yet another case of Skywatcher providing sketchy and incomplete product specifications. not just electrical, their optical specs are just as vague.
Yet we keep handing over hundreds of pounds for their kit?HTH, David.
I remember thinking about buying one of their Dobsonians and there was no info anywhere on how large was the mount, so couldn’t figure out if it would fit in the car, ridiculous.
More ridiculous is the design of the polar scope cover. If you insert 8x AA batteries into GTi, the plastic cover that secures batteries won’t align properly, and the scope cover keeps falling off, you can barely touch it and it falls off.
Remove batteries and it holds properly… 😂
Apparently there was the same issue in previous version so they knew it has failed design…
On the other hand I don’t know if all the Chinese companies are much better…
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2 hours ago, symmetal said:
No, the voltage used is confusing the issue here and isn't relevant to you. Kenable quoting a watts rating is rather meaningless on its own. I've bought several of the same multicomp pro cables from Farnell as linked by Bivanus and their 0.6A rating is rather conservative I would say. Current rating is dependant on where it's used, and is governed by the rise in cable temperature when in use, to prevent fires. In the open air the current rating is much higher than if was enclosed in a bundle of wires. If they specified the actual cable size in AWG (American Wire Gauge) or CSA (Cross Sectional Area) we could say exactly how it would perform, but unfortunately that's missing from all the sites data.
Amazon used to sell plenty of thicker higher current cables with the same 2.1 x 5.5mm male connectors but they are not available anymore.
I've looked through my cables bin and found an identical 3m Multicomp Pro DC power cable. I've measured it at 0.3 ohms resistance per wire. At 2A current it will drop 1.2 volts. The Star Advenurer GTI spec states 8AA batteries (DC 9.0 to 12.6V) or a 12V external supply. The Star Adventurer will actually draw less than 2A as the supply is always rated higher than the max current drawn. If it however, did draw 2A then the mount will have an input voltage of 10.8 volts. This is significantly higher than the minimum required, so I can't see any problem with using the 3m Kenable cable in real life.
You won't fry the motherboard if the input volts are too low, so don't worry about that. 🙂
Alan
Okay I went with the first linked cable but 2m. 😁
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8 minutes ago, symmetal said:
The cable will work despite the ends looking different. They both perform the same function.
The Kenable site just specifies 75W rating for the cable used, no other details, which isn't very helpful without specifying the voltage it's used with. I expect it's nominal 3A cable so will drop some voltage when the mount is slewing depending on the cable length. The current used determines the voltage drop down the cable. The Star adventurer doesn't take much current so if you can use a 2m cable then fine, but if you need 3m to make things easier to work with choose 3m length. It's very unlikely to cause any problem.
Alan
I can ask the seller for more details, should I just ask about voltage?
Or perhaps you can link a different cable that you are sure will work?
I really don’t want to fry the motherboard haha
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On 31/01/2024 at 21:25, Elp said:
There's three holes on that lens ring holder. What sizes are they? What is the depth measurement under the dovetail from the raised edge to the bottom face?
Cap head screws work well. Otherwise you can grind the outer circumference of your existing dslr screws smaller if you have access to power tooling and fit with a second smaller bolt/screw next to the first.
I will leave it at one screw, seems more than enough.
Thanks
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9 minutes ago, Celerondon said:
Yes, that longer DC5521 male/male cable will work. Like David said, the numbers need to be right but you aren’t doing anything extraordinary. That LiFePO4 battery pack will naturally produce voltage in the range that your mount requires with current to spare for other devices. As long as your cable runs don’t exceed two meters you should be fine.
Don
So the cable I’ve linked will work despite the output/input looking slightly different?
And I should go for the 2m length?
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44 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:
The short and poorly checked answer is that it should be OK.
The correct (but not immediately helpful) answer follows.
The Skywatcher user manual (and CE/UKCA approval documents) should state max/min voltage for correct operation.
All these must be available from the importer (a legal requirement) if not supplied with the equipment.
The Talentcell user manual (not a few bits of text on the amazon web site) should state the output voltage range in normal operation.
Also their approval documents should contain this information.
Ensure the upper end of voltage (at full charge) supplied does not exceed that allowed by Skywatcher. Very important!
If the lower end falls below that allowed by Skywatcher, monitor voltage when in use and be prepared to end use early.Kenable are a well known cable manufacturer.
The long answer is to identify the Kenable part number and check the spec on their web site.
The cable CSA or resistance will be specified.
That allows you to calculate exoected voltage drop.
Provided it is small (which I expect) it can be ignored.All of the above is applicable to any mount, power supply and lead combination. Not just this enquiry.
With the caveat that if a heavy off balance scope and big mount are involved, slew currents will be higher than expected.HTH, David.
I know nothing about electricity but that battery was recommended in few places for multiple mounts including mine.
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Hi,
According to Skywatcher manual:
”The Star Adventurer GTi can also be powered using a 12V DC source. You
can utilize an AC/DC power transformer if you want to plug into a wall outlet.
Make sure that the power supply used has an output of 12V at 2 amps and
2.1mm center pin positive - 5.5mm length.”The battery I have:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B082X92J72?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I have found a cheap long cable but the one that came with battery and seems to work fine (too short) has kind of hole on sides.
Here is the original cable:
Thanks in advance
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Got the Neewer dovetail plate but the issue is with the second screw.
https://i.imgur.com/WMZQR9q.jpeg
The smaller 3/8" screw won't fit next to the larger one due to too large head.
Not sure how to look for a screw with same thread but smaller head?
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9 minutes ago, Elp said:
The lens collar you've linked to has more than one fixing hole. Have you actually got it in hand?
There isn't really an issue mounting via the bottom of the camera body, i've sometimes done it with my adapted Canon Samyang 135s and they weigh a ton.
Yeah but you would need dovetail with holes in same spot as collar and same size right?
Can’t mount camera directly to dovetail because of the lens design it’s too beefy.
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I just found this, which should work with the collar, but the price...
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3 hours ago, Elp said:
If you're only going to fix the lens collar to the dovetail via one bolt there's a chance the whole setup can rotate in declination, trust me I've seen it happen. You need two fixing points to stop rotation.
Measure the hole diameter on the bottom of the collar, likely it's a photo 1/4 inch 20 tpi (unc thread) but it could be metric. Length you can determine yourself by measuring.
But then it will be attached by 1 screw and might be unsafe as you said. Any other idea what I could try?
Aurora to night
in The Astro Lounge
Posted
Was notified of the phenomenon by Vroobel last minute, still happy I've captured anything at all.