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AstroEQ for EQ mounts

Oily

By Oily
in DIY Astronomer

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TCWORLD

TCWORLD

Posted
Posted

I've got a 550D. Trouble is I use it for daytime as well as astro, so I don't really want to mod it. I had thought about getting a DSLR just for astrophotography but with the skies I have I can't really justify the cost.

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TCWORLD

TCWORLD

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Had to google that, lol. £20 on eBay. ;)

I've released a new firmware version (6.8). This increases the speed at which AstroEQ processes commands so should make guiding more responsive.

You can use the "Check For New Version" button in the configuration utility to get the new firmware, or download it from github.

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Ive uploaded the latest firmware from Tom using the config utility's auto update function and going to try it out again tonight. Doug had reasonable results the other night after the upgrade so its looking good. My 200p is much heavier then his ED80 though so requires quite a bit of tweaking to get the guiding working. Hope you get your ASTROEQ soon Astropedro and wishing you clear skies for the first run.

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Dave_D

Dave_D

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Have you down loaded astro tortilla yet if not do get it ready its a great bit of software

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk 2

I've all but given up using my synscan for goto now i have astrotortilla doing plate solving... 

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Dave_D

Dave_D

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From what i can gather (as i've only had chance to use plate solving for 2 or 3 nights) it shouldn't matter as long as there are enough stars in the plate to be solved. mine is set to use the 100 brightest stars on the plate) and i use my main scope (+APT). My guider (at the moment) is a 50mm with an orion starshoot autoguide camera which is probably nowhere near as sensitive as a lodestar

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Robp

Robp

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Hi guys,

Must say I'm enjoying this thread very much.

I got some cameras for Christmas so converting my EQ5 to be able to guide and goto is next on my list.

The plan would be to use AstroEQ (once purchased), my QHY5l-ii for guiding and the 1100d for imaging. once that is all set up I'm going to invest in a lighter scope when budget allows (130PDS and/or ED80)

As I haven't got a motor kit for my EQ5 yet would it be more worthwhile trying to put together my own as opposed to buying the Skywatcher Dual axis kit?

A few of you mention that custom motors are a lot better, however I'm not to nifty with stuff like this (yet!) but willing to learn :grin:

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JamesF

JamesF

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As I haven't got a motor kit for my EQ5 yet would it be more worthwhile trying to put together my own as opposed to buying the Skywatcher Dual axis kit?

A few of you mention that custom motors are a lot better, however I'm not to nifty with stuff like this (yet!) but willing to learn :grin:

My post here may help:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188877-astroeq-for-eq-mounts/page-19#entry2164580

James

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Hi guys,

Must say I'm enjoying this thread very much.

I got some cameras for Christmas so converting my EQ5 to be able to guide and goto is next on my list.

The plan would be to use AstroEQ (once purchased), my QHY5l-ii for guiding and the 1100d for imaging. once that is all set up I'm going to invest in a lighter scope when budget allows (130PDS and/or ED80)

As I haven't got a motor kit for my EQ5 yet would it be more worthwhile trying to put together my own as opposed to buying the Skywatcher Dual axis kit?

A few of you mention that custom motors are a lot better, however I'm not to nifty with stuff like this (yet!) but willing to learn :grin:

A sound plan and I think the skywatcher 130pds would work really well with that set up. Getting better motors is something I am considering as well it would be nice to have some motors that could offer faster slew speeds if that was possible but like you I am not much good at electrics and would like some help on that side of things if any one else is doing a motor upgrade.

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Robp

Robp

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Cheers James, hadn't read that far in. Just hit the section where the talk about motors occurs.

Excuse the noob question but will better motors improve guiding accuracy/stability or is just a speed/power improvement?

When you talk about backlash on the standard kit I assume that isn't good for guiding :grin: 

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JamesF

JamesF

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Excuse the noob question but will better motors improve guiding accuracy/stability or is just a speed/power improvement?

When you talk about backlash on the standard kit I assume that isn't good for guiding :grin:

You should get a speed improvement, but I believe the accuracy and responsiveness will be much improved too.  To a certain extent backlash can be managed to enable guiding to be more reliable, but it's a bit of a pain when it's as much as is present in the dual axis motors.

When I was using my EQ3-2 (with the dual-axis motors) for planetary imaging and didn't have the alignment accurate enough I'd often find that if the planet drifted off the sensor and I needed to change the direction of travel of the axis to get it back it would often take five to ten seconds before the mount even began to respond which doesn't sound like much, but that's more than enough to lose the target completely and have to find it again with an eyepiece.

James

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Robp

Robp

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I'm building my parts list from the information in this thread:

2 x Motors

http://proto-pic.co.uk/stepper-motor-bipolar-200-steps-rev-35x36mm-2-7v-1000ma/

2 x 40T (5mm bore)

http://www.beltingonline.com/40-tooth-mxl-pulley-al40mxl025f-5178

2 x 15T (5mm bore)

http://www.beltingonline.com/15-tooth-mxl-pulley-al15mxl025fb-5168

2 x belts (1 x 61Tooth, 1 x 63Tooth)

http://www.beltingonline.com/mxl-pitch-rubber-timing-belts-4580

Then I just have to worry about mounting and connecting to the astroEQ

I think I'm going to have to make the mounting bracket out of wood or get one made up as I don't do metal fabrication :)

Anyone have anything to add or change?

Is there a way of locking the pulleys onto the shafts or is that not needed?

Think I might have to split this off into its own thread

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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A separate thread for this build might be a good idea in the diy section but then again it is to do with astroeq as well so ok to keep it here in one place rather then have everyone running off to another thread looking for it. I for one will be following your progress with great interest and I am sure the rest of the astroeq owners will as well.

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Tinker1947

Tinker1947

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A separate thread for this build might be a good idea in the diy section but then again it is to do with astroeq as well so ok to keep it here in one place rather then have everyone running off to another thread looking for it. I for one will be following your progress with great interest and I am sure the rest of the astroeq owners will as well.

And some that don't have Astroeq..:)

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TCWORLD

TCWORLD

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Is there a way of locking the pulleys onto the shafts or is that not needed?

The 15T pulleys come with a 2.5mm grub screw, so you can select "Grub Screw" as "Not Required" as you don't need it modifying (worked fine for me).

For the 40T pulley you will have to select "Grub Screw" as "1off M3" otherwise you will not be able to fix it to the shaft.

Other than that, your list looks fine bar the brackets. If you do end up making the brackets out of wood, I imagine they would end up being larger than the metal variety which would likely mean you would require belts of a different length.

The one thing I am not certain of is whether those motors will have enough Torque for a 200P. If it is balanced it should be fine I suppose as the skywatcher motors seem to manage, although they do have a massive gearbox.

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