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Robd

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  1. Thanks Malcom. Good news is that the mount now seems to be working. The bad news is that I have no idea why. To expand a bit on the saga. This mount has not been used since I upgraded to an EQ6. Until then it had been permanently mounted in the observatory and only driven from pc with Eqmod. This was the first time that I had used it in the field connected to pains adaptor with 12v 2a supply. Initially I thought that all was OK using the handset - set date/time /location and polar aligned. Slewed to Jupiter and took a couple of images. It was then that I realised that it was not tracking so went through all of the synscan setting but found nothing that would get it tracking. Tried connecting to the laptop but failed. Checked Com ports still no connection. Turned off, closed all windows, gave it a good hard stare still no tracking. Then started to get the no response messages, one axis then both so gave up. Took motherboard out as above. Today I have put it all back together and started again. Still the same result with the handset connected so removed it and connected to laptop, still no joy so raided the observatory for cables, usb to serial etc. Still no joy. Finally stripped anther cable from the observatory - the serial that connects to the mount. Connected to laptop and ....... strewth it works, there's that nice little whine from the motor, it slews, it tracks. I then realised that I had been connecting to the guide port not the handset port with an st4 cable. Disconnected and plugged in the handset and it works. Turned off and on and it still works. Currently checking the tracking rate. This leaves me with a number of questions. Why have I got an eqdir plug etc with st4 connectors that don't seem to do anything when connected? Why did the handset initially half work and then give up? Did connecting the laptop to the guide port screw something up? Why did I start this game in the first place? Since all seems OK now I guess I'll never know.
  2. Thanks Mandy. My first thought was that it was a capacitor that had blown especially given that there is no indication as to what rating it is etc, just the E203 and a fair splattering of white dots made me suspicious. I think that I will try connecting without the hand set from laptop snd see if it works, in which case hand set to blame.
  3. Good morning all, first post since I don’t remember when. I took my Heq5 out last weekend to take to our star party. Had all sorts of problems, error messages on hand set etc. finally realised that it was not tracking so gave up in disgust. Error messages include ‘Dec/Alt no response’ then nothing works. Power light is on a steady, no flickering. Stripped it down over the weekend and removed the motherboard. By my reckoning the large capacitor at the bottom of the image is blown. The only remaining lettering on it is E203. Item is marked as L42, which now makes me think that it is not a capacitor , seem to recall a thread elsewhere on here saying that the ‘L’ items are not capacitors. Second image close up of L42 Is it blown? Any ideas on what it is for replacement? If not blown any other ideas. As far as I can see none of the capacitors are blown. Thanks rob
  4. You could save raw images as PEFs. DSS has always coped with mine in the past.
  5. Eqmosaic is used to osition the mount to build you mosaic. From memory set fov details and overlap required. Start at center of grid and select no of panels required, assumes that you are already pointing to target. Take no of required frames for each panel. Stack each panel as normal then create mosaic. Exact method of mosaic will depend on your software, pixinsight - mosaic linear data. I recently used Hugin on a set of non linear images which worked a treat. Other software may also incorporate mosaic functionality. Rob
  6. Large rings are again just visible, is this from set that created the master or second set? Vlaiv has just beaten me to it, the filter is slightly out of position on second set compared to first. The large rings are on the filter whereas the smaller corrected rings are on the sensor. The latter don't move and are therfore corrected. The former compound the problem since the aberrations are slightly offset. Very careful cleaning of filters may help. However if filter is contributing to the vignetting then incorrect application will still happen. As a OSC user I, fortunately, don't have this problem. Rob
  7. Very odd. The large rings are just visible in the master flat. Is there any sign of them in either set of individual images? Rob
  8. Rather than an error (my earlier reply) or thread problem it sounds more like a timing issue, OK yes a problem with a thread. Solving completes, and results are shown. A separate thread is kicked off to create the 'solved' image, since this is 'interactive' it takes a while to create hence the problems if user is to quick with the mouse. Rob
  9. Not at home at present so going from memory. I assume that the error occurs when you hit the 'Browse solved image' button. The only thing that I can think of is that an error has occurred prior to creation of the solved image but after the display of the results. Make sure that auto syncing boxes are not checked. Grasping at straws I'm afraid. Rob
  10. We have, in the past, briefly considered a society Observatory, one member even looked at a possible plot, the eventual cost of which would have taken several years membership fees. Needless to say, we don't have one. Most considerations have already been covered - security, power, water, insurance. Also consider access/parking, can be problematic just for members but more so when expanding to outreach. Apart from the physical aspects of the build you will also have to manage access to the Observatory. The members will have paid for it so should have access to it, but who has the keys? Must an authorised member be on site to supervise? Will set up be for visual only or will imaging be allowed? If the latter do you allow members to bring own cameras to attach or does the society provide. Having spent many thousands on the build then it should be used, ideally, on every clear night which means that an authorised member must be also available. None of this is insurmountable, but will need a dedicated team to manage the observatory. Rob
  11. If you do not need bet access when imaging and your disk is big enough you could split into 2 or 3 partitions. Win 7 Linux Data. Then as you suggest, kill net access on win 7 and enable on Linux. Free up more space by removing all applications no longer required on win 7, as well as moving all documents to Linux or data. When imaging save to data or folder on Linux, don't use home folders due to security issues. Rob
  12. Hmm just managed to repost. I used the arduino and adafruit driver for mine. The latter will drive two steppers. My plan was to use one for the guide scope and the other for the imaging scope. It all worked fine switching between the two motors via software. Unfortunately one driver no longer works - think I blew something up on the board. Fortunately the other side still works and the guide scope doesn't need re-focusing very often.
  13. In principle that's correct, you can allow for any amount of backlash. Of course you would want to eliminate as much as possible mechanically. Once set there should be no need to change unless drive belt stretches or you take off for any reason.
  14. If you intend using arduino based do as I did, I based mine on TekkyDave's, elsewhere on here. I added functions to PC and arduino code to allow setting of backlash compensation. This is then applied within the arduino logic every time movement direction is changed. I think I ended up with a 100 step correction.
  15. Robd

    Pentax O-GPS

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