Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Mesu installation about to commence...

Helen

By Helen
in Discussions - Mounts

Recommended Posts

FLO

FLO

Posted
Posted

I tried to mount an FSQ106 on the Maxguider HD and it wobbled around like a spring loaded banana. That's being polite. It was a no hoper. I consider it totally unfit for purpose but if it was my fault I'll be the first to say sorry. We now use a Cassady T Gad to do the same job and that works perfectly. Chalk and cheese. I really did find the Maxguider so bad that I wondered if I'd missed something. SInce two other well known imagers were here at the time and agreed with me I felt rather better, but who knows? It was also a pig to adjust.

Olly

Olly, the one Helen is using is the one you returned. The very same one :smiley:

We took it to SGL9 and showed it to a number of people there. We mentioned you had returned it (you yourself had already said so here at SGL). Helen was first to claim it but we suggested she test it thoroughly first. She did and has decided to keep it but if she changes her mind we will be here for her, as we were for you. 

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 119
  • Created
  • Last Reply
ncjunk

ncjunk

Posted
Posted

Thanks Steve. Living in Wales it will never be used to its full potential, but I'm hoping that I can instead use the clear skies we do have to their potential (or at least have fun trying!!)

Helen

Haha! I live in the spanish equivalent of wales, I see other imagers getting lots of subs and I've only had a couple of nights all year.

love the "using the clear skies we do have to their full potential"..I'll remember that one.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
FLO

FLO

Posted
Posted

Olly, the one Helen is using is the one you returned. The very same one :smiley:

We took it to SGL9 and showed it to a number of people there. We mentioned you had returned it (you yourself had already said so here at SGL). Helen was first to claim it but we suggested she test it thoroughly first. She did and has decided to keep it but if she changes her mind we will be here for her, as we were for you. 

Olly, you were right!  

Whilst 'bendy banana' is a little OTT it does flex from a certain direction when loaded. Not sure at this stage if the same is true for others but I will contact everyone who has bought one so they can check. 

HTH, 

Steve :smiley:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Ah, I feel a bit better now. My 'banana' analogy was in the context of the extreme rigidity needed to avoid differential flexure. In most contexts it would have been OTT, I agree, but trying to get near perfect guiding is not a normal context, as we all know to our cost!

I very much appreciated your acceptance of my disatisfaction, Steve. You have a great returns policy and I'm sure it stands you in good stead.

Regarding the design of the very effective Cassady T GAD alternative, surely ADM could make something along these lines. It actually strikes me as a simpler design, in fact. The pan motion is just controlled by push-pull bolts working between two flat plates separated by Teflon shims. Two more finger bolts pull these together once adjustment is done. Then the tilt axis is very elegantly done. It just works like a see-saw with opposed bolts at each, very much as you'd expect. The elegant bit is the pivot for the see-saw. It consists of two large ball bearings located in conical recesses machined into the two plates. This is elegant for two reasons. Firstly the conical form of the recesses tends to self centre towards the pivot point. Secondly the pivots are located at each side of the plates so there is no tenedency to rock. (This, I think, was where the Max Guider failed to perform. though I didn't want to take it to bits.) If you pivot the see-saw on a roller it will be likely to rock. The dual ballbearing design means triangles are created betwenn the two balls and the central tightening screw. Triangles don't rock.

The downside of the T GAD is its prodigious weight. There are small mounts out there which couldn't carry it!  :grin:

Olly

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Yes, it was the 'rock' that was the problem Olly.  Given Casady have stopped production there's certainly a gap in the market!

Helen

But I think there are signs of life on their website, still. It might be worth a check. The T GAD does come up second hand on occasion, too. Worth keeping an eye out. Mind you, if you are not imaging with a parallel rig does it really matter for you if the scopes are not perfectly aligned? There will be cone error but no more than is usually the case.

Olly

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...
Helen

Helen

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well it looks like offset tracking is easy to do - it seems to have worked first time for me  :smiley:   Here's a 15 minute sub (unguided).  Comet looks reasonable I think, but would probably benefit from the mount being properly modelled.  That's my next thing to master... and the perhaps try tracking the ISS!

post-374-0-88832900-1408587226_thumb.jpg

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

You need to know the pixel scale before a graph means anything, really. In an OAG at 2.4 metres ad Bin1 our graph looked Himalayan (to quote RobH, I think!!)  In a 400mm guidescope with the guide cam in Bin2 it looks like a ruled line. I once woke up after a doze, looked at the graph and thought, 'Curses, it's hung up.' But no, those straight lines were the guide trace...

Very clever to track on the comet. If it won't take too long, how did you do that?

Olly

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Helen

Helen

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Olly.  To track on a comet you need to use the Offset track under the 'features' tab (from memory!).  I just followed the manual, but its also in the help command.  I got the parameters for the RA and Dec offsets from The Sky and then just plugged the numbers into the appropriate boxes and it worked :smile:  

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Singlin

Singlin

Posted
Posted

Ok progress as follows:

I have been finding the park and unpark feature unreliable but live with it.

Upon reading the instruction a little more carefully I now do the following:

Unpark

Do an "Offset Init"

Pick 2 stars and do an "Just load star no term" on each one.

Click "calc only offset/align"

I am then connected to my PointXP model and the slew are in my 5mm eyepiece.

I find the unpark throws me off a bit so I do the above which takes me a couple of minutes.

  I started to do my first ever ccd image this evening with Olly giving me a target but after focusing my 383 and starting to frame an image the dew set in.

We normally get very little dew here but my decking,scope and especially my secondary mirror are dripping.

I am packing up but happy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Singlin

Singlin

Posted
Posted

Looking promising this evening.

Changed dissident tablets in my 383,cleaned primary and secondary mirrors, hoovered inside of my tube before putting the mirrors back in.

Ready to rock an roll(something is bound to happen)[emoji2]

post-19057-14091578326_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Looking promising this evening.

Changed dissident tablets in my 383,cleaned primary and secondary mirrors, hoovered inside of my tube before putting the mirrors back in.

Ready to rock an roll(something is bound to happen)[emoji2]

attachicon.gifIMG_20140827_182645.jpg

Horrible location. No plastics factory or bright orange tomato tunnels...

:grin: lly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.