Anne S

+1 for Pixinsight please.

I've got 2010 vintage Baader nb filters. I'd be interested in how you get on with the ultranarrowband O3. I'd like to upgrade. Anne

We've booked Friday to Monday. We may want to stay longer if the weather's good. Or come earlier!

I checked with Altair Astro who are the distributor. They say the capacity for the Cem60 is imaging capacity ie 27kg. 7kg more than the Eq6r. I think that's a fair increase in capacity, and it's lighter so I can handle it on my own. I couldn't get the eq6 up from the floor!

I haven't had a chance to use it properly yet. That probably won't happen now till August, I'll be doing solar on it this summer. My maximum fl will be 1370mm though mostly it will have a dual scope setup on it once I get going with it. I normally use a finderguider though I should probably use an OAG for the ritchey chretien. I have polar aligned it ready.

I've got the ec version too.

I'm doing the update from a Windows 7 professional laptop, does that still apply?

My eq6 is belt drive modded, you should see the effect hanging cables has on the images. The cem60 will be the same.

I'm selling my eq6 because upgraded it to a Cem60. I've spent the last few days setting it up. I've got it mounted on the Tri-Pier which is very solid, much more so than the eq6 tripod. As to balance, I was worried about that. I've just finished balancing for the moment but I made sure the focuser on the scope was close to the eventual position for my camera etc. There was some tendency for sideways movement when in zero position which I fixed by rotating the focuser slightly and fiddling with the filterwheel and finderguider until everything stayed straight. I was also quite surprised how much having the focuser 2.5 cm out had on Dec balance. I ended up having to put a Primiluce balancing weight on the objective end without the counterweight! I've never had to do that with my 4 inch refractor before. The saddle plate is very long which could cause issues with motorfocus brackets. Now all I need is a clear night to polar align and fine tune my focus so I can check balance again! I wanted more payload to run two telescopes and cameras eventually.

Yes it does. It only shows 255 etc when I open the loader window and click on the handset button. When I try to update it says shows the error above. I haven't tried your files yet. I'm beginning to think it can't read the handset info.

Thank you for those files. One other question, when I opened the loader programme from the Skywatcher website, if I click button that displays the current firmware at the bottom of the programme window, it showed 255 in all positions. Do you know why it didn't show my version 3.12 etc there? I was beginning to wonder if I have a problem in the serial cable, perhaps a wire broken somewhere. I don't have another lead to try as all my pc connection cables only have 4 cores. I don't really want to buy another cable if this won't do anything.

That explains it. If one could get the older version of the update software it would be possible to update it slightly - it's on 3.12. However I thought it wasn't controlling the mount when I tried it outside - it just complained about the software needing updating. I've now tried in inside and it slews fine. I'll amend my for sale listing accordingly. I may get an answer from Skywatcher yet with the necessary files to update as far as possible. Thanks for your help. Anne

I've tried updating the bootloader this morning. I get an error message "Version 3.xx firmware does not work on 255.xx hardware. What do I try next? Not yet heard back from Skywatcher.

That's my problem, I couldn't get the firmware loader programme to let me update the bootloader. I had tried to update the software first before I realised. Maybe I should have rebooted the computer before trying again.

I'm using the lead that came with the mount and a usb converter that I'm sure worked when I used it last. I've another one that worked in Kelling earlier this month, I'll try that tomorrow. W7 laptop.

I'm trying to update my v3 handset prior to selling the mount. I need to update the bootloader from v1.0 to v1.7 before I can upgrade the firmware from 3.12 to the newest version. I've tried following the instructions in the bootloader download but the upgrade loader refuses to install anything. Before I realised I needed to update the bootloader, the synscan loader v3.3 just showed 255 255 255 where it should display the handset software, ie 3.12. Can anyone advise what I'm doing wrong? The handset won't run the mount probably because I had a replacement motor control board a few years ago., I'm guessing. It worked fine before that. I've been using eqMod for years. Thanks. Anne

Some of the earlier Ioptron mounts also have the problem. Ioptron are working on a software fix. I found out about the problem because Tomtom said my car gps needed a software update. They seem to have been on the ball!

IEQ45 Pro or the new Cem40. The Cem60 has slightly more capacity at 27kg. I'm advised that's the imaging payload figure. The original eq6 is states at 18kg for imaging,

Can you Photoshop some clea skies for us!

Thanks for all the replies, that will give me something to think about. Unfortunately it looks as if it won't be clear enough tonight, so I can't take the RGB subs! As it's Thor's Helmet, I'm running out of time to image it as it's so low here. My image is HOO so I can try Ollie's method eventually, it looks a lot easier than removing stars in PI.

I've been imaging Thor's Helmet for the last couple of nights in Ha and O3. I notice that RGB data can be used to correct star colour. What exposure is recommended to capture the stars and how many should I take? It looks as if I've one more clear night for the time being. Thanks Anne

Price point unknown at present! I'm hoping to replace my mount shortly. That's more urgent. The main problem is my lack of technical knowledge. I'd probably need to buy something, I thought Pulsar only made their drives for the newer dome. I need to win the lottery then I can get an all in one solution for the new house I'd move to in a part of the country that has more clear skies! Or the South of France.

I've no technical background at all and no knowledge of the what the parts are and where to source the .It would need to be a kit of some sorts. I also don't want to wreck my dome in trying. I need someone to make and fit one for me!?

That looks like the newer Pulsar. It's got the extra section under the sliding section of the dome. It also has the inside of the dome overlapping the walls on the inside. Mine is like sloz1664's dome.

I'd be interested in how you do it. I keep hoping someone will develop a very simple (and cheap) way of motorising the dome. I only want it to track so I don't have to keep going out to turn it when I'm imaging. I don't know that I'd trust our weather to image all night!