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AstroEQ for EQ mounts


Oily

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I got my astro eq the other day and after trying to get it to work all weekend I emailed tom on the sunday and me got back to me stright away telling me to try the toolbox on the eqmod for the port and I left it last night come home for work and I had to try and get it working to night and yes I am up and running now for some reading and learning to use it all be for I get my new shed build for it all next summer still got a lot of planing to do

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Jim. Just wish I'd have spent longer on it! Packed up early as I only went out to try Astroeq. Another hour and it could have been a much better attempt but I'll know in future to spend as long as I can on stuff. All part of the learning curve I guess.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been using Astroeq with my EQ5 mount since I bought it from Tom earlier this year.

However, I'm now looking to get into imaging.

The weight of my setup with everything on is a bit beyond the capabilities of my EQ5. So I've bought a second hand HEQ5 mount. Not the pro/syntax or goto version though.

My question is this: How do I use Astroeq with the HEQ5 mount?

With my EQ5there are two leads from the Astroeq box to the mount...RA and Dec.

But on the HEQ5 mount, there is only only one ......st4? connector.

Do I need something else? Ive trawled the forum but not been able to find any info.

So any help would be much appreciated.

Regards, Howard

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I gather Tom would include an ST4 port on the AstroEQ if requested. Have you trawled the TCWORLD Github as that is where to find the wiring info'.

Thanks for that, I'll have a look. If I used an st4 port, would I still be able to use everything else as before d you know.....like CDC PHD etc?  Sorry, it's probably obvious but I'm not too well up on this sort of thing,

Thanks, Howard

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Is an ST4 port the only way to get astroeq to work on a HEQ5 mount then?

I could be way off the mark here and I've not read all 49 pges of this thread but I thought astroeg was to make a non-goto mount goto. The heq5 is already a goto mount so surely astro eq is not needed?

edit- My mistake.I assume you have the syntrec version?

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I could be way off the mark here and I've not read all 49 pges of this thread but I thought astroeg was to make a non-goto mount goto. The heq5 is already a goto mount so surely astro eq is not needed?

edit- My mistake.I assume you have the syntrec version?

The HEQ5 mount is available in goto or non goto. I've got the not goto sytreq...version at the moment

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 pianorealm i think you would have to solder on two rj11 sockets direct to the stepper motors but you mite want to upgreade the mount ie better stepper motors and fit belts and pulleys 

OK......thanks for that Robert. I can probably manage to do that...I think? Are the RJ11 sockets the same as I have on my EQ5 mount do you know? I imagine I can find wiring diagrams on the internet? Might think about upgrading in the future as well.

Regards, Howard

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Hello. I'd first like to say that this is awesome and thank you for putting in the work and sharing the results.

I've got an older CG4, the black/grey hammertone one. Looks alot like the one JamesF has but without the SkyScan logo. 

 About the pulleys, do they have to be MXL or will HTD (3mm pitch) work fine? What about a bigger pitch like 5mm?
Also, is the ratio critical? 16/48 seems to fit nice, but I may not be able to find those exact tooth counts here in the states. Ordering from overseas is cost prohibitive.

Thanks, Mike

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Mike,

The setup menu on the Astro EQ allows you to enter your gear ratios (worm/motor etc).  I'm pretty sure the setup accommodates a wide range of ratios - for me the limiting factor on the diameter of my motor pulley was avoiding fouling on the surrounding parts of the mount.  I think I ended up with a 46 tooth pulley and just specified the matching belt - I didn't really worry about belt pitch  size.  So long as it was compatible to the pully it should be ok. Happy to be corrected by anyone who knows more.

Jim

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Thank you. The next thing I'm wondering is; what if the DEC axis was a tanget arm instead of the standard motor->gear->worm setup? I guess if it allows us to enter the ratio it would just be a matter of doing the math.

I've got access to a machine shop and have some modest machinist skills so I'm thinking about ordering Pulley Stock and cutting my own instead of the individual pulleys.
Should be able to save on the cost a bit, if not cut it in half. It looks like this:

SSTSCM.JPG
Thanks, Mike

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Mike, if I have understood you correctly then I don't see why that would not work - like you say, you would simply enter your ratios into the setup menu.  Are you confident that you would have no fouling/interference issues when you come to place it in your mount, and how to you envisage connecting to the stepper motors?   Is the cost or availability of commercially sourced belt pulleys really an issue?  I would have thought they would be easily sourced in the USA, I'm frequently envious of what your market provides and at prices we could only dream of here in the UK.

Jim 

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Hello everybody!

I would like to share my experience with AstroEQ and especially to thank Tom for his contribution to DIY astronomy.

A couple of months ago I've decided to equip my CG4 with  AstroEQ using Arduino Mega as I had one laying around. Bought cheap A4988 and NEMA 17 motors of Ebay and MXL gears from beltingonline( by the way they've got ready kits - which are cheaper than choosing separately pulleys and belts). Took me about 2 hours to breadboard the schematics and upload the sketch and - Miracle! Everything worked from the first time! ...

Hi all, I have a couple of DRV8825 and two RepRap NEMA17 steppers (200 steps, 0.95A) so I'd like to try an DIY AstroEQ on my NEQ3. I read something about the possibility to build an 'hardware simplified' AstroEQ system based on an Arduino Mega board. The questions are: is it possible to use a 'clone' Mega board (seems that there are some of these cheapy boards on the internet) or it would be advisable to use an original one? Furthermore, where can I find schematics and partlist for this AstroEQ hardware solution? Thanks in advance, Gigi.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Tried to have a session tonight and could not get the scope to slew to targets using cdc. Was just going random places but when I got to a target the tracking was really good. I'm confused... Any ideas? Both axis are way off when cdc shows it has reached the target. I've used the setup before very successfully so I'm puzzled

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