Guiding conversion project for 200p and EQ5

[Quatermass]

APT looks very good Rik will give it a look when im set up.

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[austen4]

Hi Austin the uk supplyer the higher price has the longer cable with it just order it from shoestring is easy enough. Not sure which web cam to go for at the moment. Im outside waiting for clouds to clear away

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Thanks, think i will just buy a small one as I bought a big one for the ST4 port mod. I was thinking about getting a logitech or the philips but that is very expensive at the moment. I will do some research to find out. Hope it goes well tonight, are you testing anything?

Edited January 31, 2012 by austen4

[Quatermass]

Im testing the lvi auto guider again but I just cant get a clear break in the clouds yet to take a long sub while its guiding. However the finder scope is working great as a guide scope Im glad to report. Can you belive it the pesky clouds just will not give me a break all I need is 10minutes of clear sky and the last 3 nights I have tried all I could get was 93 seconds. Oh well I will keep my fingers crossed

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[Quatermass]

Well managed to get a few longer subs this evening a full five minute sub while the lvi autoguider was guiding even though I could not calibrate it the 5min sub was only slightly out. So I took a closer look at the gears and found the dec gear was not fully ingaged. I called it a night after too many clouds spoiling my fun and took the mount indoors to take a closer look at the dec gear. The gear was not close enough and not fully ingaging so I removed it and replaced it in to a snug fit. This should make quite a bit of difference next time I try again. clouds willing.

Glad the finder scope works well as a guider scope heres how I fixed in the camera bit of foam and a loo roll tube cut down the middle and then wrapped around the camera barrel and taped for at tight fit, then tube shoved into foam and placed inside finder scope works quite well for a quick fix.

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[Quatermass]

Ok I need some help from those of you that have the dual axis kit. The problem I am having is that when it is all plugged in I can move the gears with the RA buttons on the 8x speed both back and forward using the left and right RA buttons on the control pad and also with the 4x speed BUT..

When I use the 2x speed the gears will only move with the right hand ra button and when I press the left side button the gears just stop moving. In all cases with all buttons that control the RA axis when not pressed the gear are slowly moving and tracking. SO I dont seem to have any movement forward or back when I press the left hand button of the RA axis on 2x speed.

If any of you have the dual axis unit can you please let me know if it is the same for you as this may be the reason the LVI guider is saying motor not moving.

QM

[RikM]

Yes. That seems to be the same with the EQ3-2 dual motors. When you press the left hand RA button in 2x, it just cuts power to the RA motor so that objects drift across in RA due to Earth's rotation. It says something about it in the motor kit booklet I think.

[malc-c]

QM,

I would of thought that you should see some movement as you say. Try unsoldering the wires on the back of the handset and see if it does the same ? If it does move then something must of been wrong when the wires were soldered

[malc-c]

Rik, that seems strange... so in practice it's not slewing at 2x rate in either direction, it's 2x in one and 1X in the other !!

That might also explain the issues QM had and still may have when using PC control as in effect you can't "drive" the mount in that direction.

QM, If it was me I would flex the credit card and simply purchase the Synscan upgrade and save all this hassle

Edited February 1, 2012 by malc-c

[Rob L]

Yes. That seems to be the same with the EQ3-2 dual motors. When you press the left hand RA button in 2x, it just cuts power to the RA motor so that objects drift across in RA due to Earth's rotation. It says something about it in the motor kit booklet I think.

Yep, it says so here http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/39.pdf

"2X"button will rotate the telescope forward at twice the tracking

speed or approxiamately ½º per minute. The left "2X" button stops

all motion and allows stars to drift by at their normal rotation rate

of approx. ¼º per minute. The "8X" buttons allows forward at eight

times the tracking rate (approx. 2º per minute) and the reverse

button move the telescope backwards at seven times the tracking

rate (approx. 1 ¾º per minute).

Edited February 1, 2012 by Rob L

[Quatermass]

What happen is I set it to 2x and press the left button when I do this the gears just stop when I press the right button the gears move.

If I set it to 4x or 8x the gears respond by moving clock wise or anti clock wise at the press of the left and right buttons. I some one had the dual axis kit and can test this out for me Rother Valley say they will change the dual axis kit if it is at faults Just need some one to test theres so I know

[Quatermass]

"2X"button will rotate the telescope forward at twice the tracking

speed or approxiamately ½º per minute. The left "2X" button stops

all motion and allows stars to drift by at their normal rotation rate

of approx. ¼º per minute.

Well spotted I missed that, SO its working ok then I guess.

[Mudskipper]

Going to be trying the same thing with an old webcam and 80mm achro piggybacked when I have played around with my new toy a bit.

Looking forward to seeing the end results in action

David

[malc-c]

Rother Valley say they will change the dual axis kit if it is at faults Just need some one to test theres so I know

I don't think there will too accommodating when they see it's been modified and has an extra hole in the case for the ST4 port

[Quatermass]

there was a lot of slop in the declination gears which I have taken out now so things should improve a bit now. Just waiting for my GPUSB adapter to arrive now . What a lot of hoo ha to go through, nothing easy is it lol

[Quatermass]

I don't think there will too accommodating when they see it's been modified and has an extra hole in the case for the ST4 port

They were really helpful, and Im glad I dont have to take it back cant fault Rother Vally optics on there customer service polite helpful and genuinely interested, you dont see that very often these days.

[malc-c]

They were really helpful, and Im glad I dont have to take it back cant fault Rother Vally optics on there customer service polite helpful and genuinely interested, you dont see that very often these days.

Have to agree with that... Ian and Adam often go that extra mile..

[RikM]

I don't think this will matter with PHD since it monitors star movement during callibration and will simply take the rate differences into account when issuing guide commands.

[Quatermass]

I don't think this will matter with PHD since it monitors star movement during callibration and will simply take the rate differences into account when issuing guide commands.

Totally agree on that point Rik

The LVI auto-guider just does not have that flexibility in its software design so I am looking forward to using PHD. Last night was really cold outside so to be able to run just two cables from my telescope (the webcam cable and the ST4 port cable) straight into my garden shed is going to make a big difference to me.

Already thinking about how I can rearrange my shed to have kettle and a nice little desk area. Just wondering how long can you extend the cables from the Telescope?

[Quatermass]

QM, If it was me I would flex the credit card and simply purchase the Synscan upgrade and save all this hassle

Theres no turning back now Malcom I belive that if Stan can be successful with his set up on an eq3 I should have the same results with an eq5. I have not added any more weight to my setup by doing this modification and I can also use the webcam for planet imaging.

I also need the GPUSB adapter to run PHD to an ST4 Port and having a dual axis motor kit on my EQ5 is very nice for general observing as well. So really the only expense for me is the GPUSB and the ST4 adapter plus a webcam which I wanted for planets any way.

If this all goes to plan and I can guide with it as Stan is doing then its got to be a step in the right direction ie the money saving direction My GPUSB adapter should arrive by next week from the states then I can do some proper testing and post my results for everyone.

However several things have come out of this conversion that have been very helpful.

1. I know that I can use the sky watcher 10x50 finder scope as a guide scope and that it works well.

2. I know that the LVI auto guider and other auto guiders will not work well with this modification due to there need for a lower gear ratio.

3. I know that Stan has successfully guided with his set up the only difference being the mount he is using which is the EQ3 mount, the EQ5 should offer a little bit more stability so that's good news.

4.I know that converting the hand set on the dual axis motor kit with the shoe string astronomy's guide port kit is very easy to do and any one could do it.

5. I now know what PHD (push here dummy) the free guiding software from Stark Labs is all about and that it is free and easy to use.

6.I know that the LVI guider will only work with mounts that have the lower gear ratios such as the HEQ5 or EQ6 and that its camera can not be used as separate imaging camera.

7. I have learned a great deal about the ins and outs of setting up a guiding system and had a great deal of help and encouragement from the folks on this forum and made some good friends in the process.

So despite the problems I have faced along the way all those things taken into account it has been a worthwhile project and hopefully the best is yet to come

[malc-c]

Theres no turning back now Malcom I belive that if Stan can be successful with his set up on an eq3 I should have the same results with an eq5. I have not added any more weight to my setup by doing this modification and I can also use the webcam for planet imaging.

I also need the GPUSB adapter to run PHD to an ST4 Port and having a dual axis motor kit on my EQ5 is very nice for general observing as well. So really the only expense for me is the GPUSB and the ST4 adapter plus a webcam which I wanted for planets any way.

If this all goes to plan and I can guide with it as Stan is doing then its got to be a step in the right direction ie the money saving direction My GPUSB adapter should arrive by next week from the states then I can do some proper testing and post my results for everyone.

I've got more patience than I have - 10/10 for perseverance

However several things have come out of this conversion that have been very helpful.

5. I now know what PHD (push here dummy) the free guiding software from Stark Labs is all about and that it is free and easy to use.

It has a habit of having a mind of its own. One day it all falls into place, guiding graph is almost two straight lines and it works "straight out of the tin". The next night, nothing changes and PHD is a b***h to calibrate or the graphs resemble the French alps !

7. I have learned a great deal about the ins and outs of setting up a guiding system and had a great deal of help and encouragement from the folks on this forum and made some good friends in the process.

So despite the problems I have faced along the way all those things taken into account it has been a worthwhile project and hopefully the best is yet to come

Can't say fairer than that - to be honest sometimes that's what ist all about...

[stan26]

Don't worry you'll get there eventually mate.

Your doing things at 100mph compared to me. I put up my guided project on the forum when I eventually had the necessary equipment and had eventually got it up and running in a functional manner. It may look like I went from un-guided to guided over night, but trust me I didn't! 8:23 pm on the 26th April last year was when I asked my first question on here about guiding the EQ3-2. That was the moment the seed was sown for me, and its taken till now to gain the knowledge and bits to make it happen.

To be honest I wouldn't bother wasting to much time with the LVI. I spent a bit of time reading up on what it can and can't do and I don't think you're going to have any success with it, which is a great pitty.

PHD can have some inconsistent behavior, But I have found that correct balance of the rig and things like making sure the backlash if any has been taken up in the DEC guide direction before the "PHD" button is pressed can eliminate this, after all it is computer software we're talking about, and contrary to popular belief computers generally don't have mood swings etc, it will compute exactly the same from one night to another, it will be physical changes to the mount/scope/orientation that will make things act differently......but that's my opinion.

Stan

[stan26]

BTW my comment on "computers not having mood swings" does not apply to some work computers :D

stan:rolleyes:

[badgers]

I love all the dedication and hard work going on in this thread.

Hats off to you guys!

[austen4]

Hello everyone,

Ordered the ST4 port mod for the hand controller. Also ordered a logitech hd 9000 webcam for £35. Will order the GPUSB on the weekend. Will hopefully ready for testing next Tuesday. Will keep update coming for quartermass. Hooefully it Will work for the heq5 and then we should have a good working mod that save alot of money.

[Quatermass]

Thanks guys I had an intresting evening trying out the LVI again just for the hell of it. And after I had sorted the gears out yesterday and sussed that the 2x wont move the motor when the left ra button is pressed, I decided to try it on 4x and blow me if LVI went ahead and did the whole thing found the star adjusted exsposure and then calibrated its self moving all the motors and then finally started guiding. I hit the camera remote and took a 5 second sub but as exspected it was rubbish with lots of little sqigglys every where. So what the LVI guy said was right it wont work with this set up because it needs a lower gear speed fussy little swine that it is.

I then took a 5 minute sub unguided and it was much better still some movement but no where near as bad as the LVI effort.

Its all good fun though I quite enjoyed messing around with it and finding out what I could and could not do with it.

Any way Im pinning my hopes on PHD which I think will be much better.