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Another EQ8

Zakalwe

By Zakalwe
in Discussions - Mounts

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nmoushon

nmoushon

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Can't believe I've missed this thread so far. I'm in the middle of descision making on upgrading my setup to pretty much what you have. I'm currently debating going with a 11" EdgeHD or a 12" ACF on an EQ8 but was worried I might have to upgrade to a mount in the AP900 class. Good to see that the EQ8 is handling your 11" very nicely. Can't wait to see what kind of guiding you get with that kind of payload. It slews it around like there nothing on it but guiding at those long FL is something else. Hope all goes well for you and you get some clear skies to test. As I would really like to save the extra $2k and not have to buy an AP900.

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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How's your set-up going? Work pressure prevented me from getting out last night to do anything.

Still, I did get time to start configuring the little Intel "NUC" PC which is going to be controlling the observatory and scope.

Same here.....my GF was over and although the skies were clear I opted to head to bed :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin:

Ive got it working with EQMOD now. However, I couldn't get it to sync with CdC. I think that I need to resync the encoders, as I manually moved the mount. I thought that it would report it's position back to EQASCOM??? perhaps I had it parked at the time.

It shouldn't be a big problem to sort TBH. I just need to get my head around the issue.

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stephen_usher

stephen_usher

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Same here.....my GF was over and although the skies were clear I opted to head to bed :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin:

Ive got it working with EQMOD now. However, I couldn't get it to sync with CdC. I think that I need to resync the encoders, as I manually moved the mount. I thought that it would report it's position back to EQASCOM??? perhaps I had it parked at the time.

It shouldn't be a big problem to sort TBH. I just need to get my head around the issue.

I wonder if EQMOD needs to be updated to read the absolute position of the mount from the auxiliary encoder?

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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I wonder if EQMOD needs to be updated to read the absolute position of the mount from the auxiliary encoder?

I don't think so. AFAIK it will read the output from the mount as standard. I think my problem is that I moved the mount when it was parked. EQASCOM will not sync if the reported position is more than 450 from the star that you are trying to synch to. It doesn't report an error, just doesn't synch to it.

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chrisshillito

chrisshillito

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I don't think so. AFAIK it will read the output from the mount as standard. I think my problem is that I moved the mount when it was parked. EQASCOM will not sync if the reported position is more than 450 from the star that you are trying to synch to. It doesn't report an error, just doesn't synch to it.

It throws out an error message to the message center.

Chris

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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It throws out an error message to the message center.

Chris

Thanks Chris. Now that I know where to look I can see it. A pop-up might be better, especially if you don't know whats going on?

Anyhoo, I set up using the ADM side-by-side bar today. By showing it over to one side I can counter-act the offset weight of the motors, as well as shoving the OTA over a bit. Using this means that I am running the mount saddle at 900 to the "normal" position. I defined a new park position to have the mount pointing straight up as the original park position now puts the OTA horizontal to the ground*. I will need to park in this horizontal position when using the SCT in order to prevent the obsy roof braces hitting the OTA. When using my refractor I will park in the normal position (counterweights down, OTA vertical).

I also find it a bit difficult to use the clamp handles. Its tricky when there's a large OTA on the mount to get the clamp handles tight enough, especially when the mount is parked as there is very little clearance between the OTA and the DEC wheel. A 22mm metric socket fits nicely onto the handles and with a T-bar allows them to be tightened much more securely. When there's a heavy OTA like the 11" (with 15" Losmandy dovetail. rings, Moonlite focuser, Barlow and camera) on it I like to be sure that it's solid.

*I reconnected the handset and told it to define the Home position. The mount then slews back and forth, reading the encoders, until it settles on the Home position. I then told EQMOD to re-synch the encoders. Once I connected CdC, the telescope icon was sitting bang on olaris.

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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"I have no idea why it wouldn't work when plugged into the PC, but would work when plugged into the hub???"

Powered Hub perhaps?

Cheers

Ian

Ian,

Yes, it was an Orico powered USB3 hub. Would the ports on the PC not supply to full USB power specs?

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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Well, I'm trying some planetary imaging on Jupiter. I don't hold much hope as its windy as heck here.

The tracking seems good though....I synched on Jupe and then had to slew away at speed to close the roof when the rain came. 5 mins later i told CdC to slew back to Jupe and it was bang on target. On a Chameleon chip (8mm) at 7 metres focal length. :icon_bounce: :icon_bounce: :icon_bounce: :icon_bounce:

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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Last night was really the first time that I've used the mount in anger. I spent about 4 hours imaging Jupiter (no DSO yet, conditions haven't been up to it, though last night would've been a candidate).  I was using the C11, Powermate and 2 x TIS 618 chipped cameras. I was experimenting using a flip-mirror to "flip" between a mono camera (for luminance) and a colour cam for RGB. Initial results looks promising (more on this later once I process the data).

I spent a fair bit of time yesterday sorting out cable runs. The design of the mount means that there are loads of flat surfaces to mount stuff onto. I have a Hitec DC focus controller (for the Moonlite DC motor), a Hitec Focusmaster controller (for controlling the Robofocus on my refractor) and the 4-port dew controller Velcro'd to the surface near the power switch. To the side I've Velcro'd an Orica 7-port USB hub. This means that most of the control wires are "on-mount" with a single USB3 cable running to the PC. 5 x 12v power cables are the only other cables going off the mount. The mount design means that cabling is a heck of a lot easier than the EQ6. I've used a small P-clip to take the weight off the USB hub to prevent the cables from pulling out. I've taken off one of the handles and used the bolt hole to secure the P-clip

(apologies for the poor quality camera-phone images)

11603500374_833fe9271d_z.jpg   11603162925_bd73938e1e_z.jpg

(there's an EQ8 in there. Somewhere!)

The Polar Align feature of the handset means that polar-aligning is a cinch. The only thing to be aware of is that, on mine anyway (which could be the pier top plate), cinching the azimuth locking bolts tends to shift the mount. I used a 8mm EP in the C11, so at 2.8 metres focal length the slightest movement was apparent. This routine is a dream...much more accurate than the EQ6. Even with EQMOD's polar-alignment routine there was a lot of "guess-work" involved. For example, the Polaris circle in the polarscope reticule is way too big, meaning that you had to judge the centre. Plus the azimuth adjustment on the EQ6 is quite coarse (the EQ8 has chunky ally knobs which give a lot of control, as well as looking and feeling beautiful). And in comparison to the much-derided altitude bolts on the EQ6, the altitude adjustment on the EQ8 reeks of quality.

The latest version of hand-controller firmware splits the polar alignment routing into two, one for altitude and one for azimuth. I think that I preferred the earlier version as it had one less step in it. There's not much in it though.

I'm now a lot more comfortable with controlling the mount in EQMOD. Re-synching the encoders is a doddle if you are swapping between a side-by-side arrangement and a single OTA.

The mount seems very tolerant to the OTA being unbalanced, but it still is worth spending time on proper balancing. The motors poking out on the same side means that perfect balance is hard to find....I use an ADM side-by-side bar to shift the OTA over. I have some ADM counterweights on the way and I will experiment with an offset weight like this:

EQ8+Counterweight2.jpg

(picture off the EQ8 Yahoo group)

Securing the OTA can be a bit of a faff. The saddle bolt knobs are difficult to tighten down when there's a big OTA on the mount. I now use a 23mm metric socket on a T-bar. That makes it very easy, though I am sure that the anodising on the knobs will take a bit of battering.

I must say that I very extremely impressed with the mount's performance. At 7 metres focal length, and using a 1/4" sensor, Jupiter tracks beautifully. No drift whatsover between imaging runs. Pressing the direction keys (either in EQMOD or using a gamepad) means the mount moves instantly. Virtually no backlash in either RA or DEC. I use Carte du Ciel as my planetarium and it issued a few meridian flips during the night (using the Powermate and flip-mirror on a Moonlite focuser meant a long imaging train so there was a tiny bit of sag) as I picked different stars to collimate on. Each time the mount flipped it put the planet pretty close onto the sensor...very very impressive given the focal lengths and sensor size involved. I used to spend ages trying to get the planet on the sensor with my EQ6...there was a lot of backlash in DEC that I never could tune out. Compared to that, getting the image on sensor was a breeze with the EQ8 as the image was somewhere near and the mount responds so accurately to commands from the controller.

I can't wait to try this mount on DSOs. I have to set up the PHD guiding as it will not need the same level of aggressiveness that my old EQ6 required, so I expect some fiddling as I poke and prod PHD, but based on what I saw last night I am expecting it to perform beautifully.

So far, I am very impressed. The mount really does exude quality. Everything is so solidly built, with no plastic to be seen.

<edited for schpelling> :smiley:

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nmoushon

nmoushon

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Good to hear that there's another mount out there that doesn't suffer from the horrible backlash that several people on this forum and others are complaining about. Rightfully so of course. I hope more people have the same results you are getting. Will help show that maybe it was just a bad batch that got shipped out and not a design flaw that effects all of them. Finger still crossed though. Will be eagerly awaiting a lot more reports. Will be looking forward to what you can do with it on DSOs. Best of luck moving forward.

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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11666573616_e5eda9d03f_c.jpg

Well I finally managed to have a bash at DSO imaging. Last night was really horrible though. Lots of moisture and clouds in the air. It was murky as heck..at times I could just about make out the main stars in Cassiopeia (it really is a blooming horrible, frustrating, heart-breaking area to live in as far as astronomy goes :mad: :mad: :mad: ).

I only managed to get 5 x 10 minutes H-a subs of the heart of the heart nebula, so this isn't going to win any prizes! I'm actually amazed that I managed to capture anything to be honest.
However the mount performed beautifully. I had the guiding running (OAG and QHY5) and the guiding graph was as flat as a pancake. If it ever clears up here I will try some unguided imaging, but based on the guide graph I think that the EQ8 will have no problem unguided at f5 and 400mm.

The next step after that will be to try the C11 with the Antares focal reducer and Atik428.

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Astroscot2

Astroscot2

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Looking very promising indeed.  I saw soem stars last nigth and raced out, did not get as far as the 3rd star durign alignment before the clouds moved in again.  Ive noted my Eq8 make a high pitched whining noise when guiding, I also find it a bit noisey when slewing?

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nmoushon

nmoushon

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Thats good news! Glad your mount is not giving you troubles. *knocks on wood*
 

I'm sure you'll get some good results unguided @400mm. Be interesting to see how far you can push it. Though I'm VERY VERY interested to see your results with the C11. That is my next upgrade scope and the EQ8 is on the short list for the mount upgrade.

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