Celestron 11" - Counter Weights?

[Astrobod]

I have a Celestron 11" Nextstar GPS, it's about  8 years old and works fine.  I've recently upgraded to 2" Crayford fine focuser and 2" Badder diagonal and it's seriously back end heavy.  This is going to put extra strain on the motors / gears.  Wonder what solutions there are to attaching counter weights to the corrector plate end of the tube.  Any advise would be helpful.

Ron

[nicoscy]

Plenty of options here:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/index.php/cat/c136_Mount-Acc----Counterweights.html

[Astrobod]

Thanks Nicos, I've got a 3" Celestron dovetail on the tube, so have bought the Farpoint Counterweight system, works fine, thanks 

[nicoscy]

Thanks Nicos, I've got a 3" Celestron dovetail on the tube, so have bought the Farpoint Counterweight system, works fine, thanks 

The good thing about Teleskop Service and Astroshop.eu is that they pack a really wide selection of accessories and their shipping within EU is extremely reasonable!

[Astrobod]

I'd like to try controlling my Nexstar 11 GPS from a laptop using  an RS-232 cable.  Celestron say you can use  "popular software" to control it, any ideas what they mean or what would work.

Ron

[nicoscy]

Hi Ron,

You need to download and install Nexremote on your computer. It's under the software category in the link. What this does is that it creates a virtual Nexstar controller on your laptop so you can avoid using your physical controller.

If you would like to control your telescope (after you perform alignment) from Stellarium, see this great video of how to link Stellarium to Nextstar virtual controller.

[Dave In Vermont]

If you need to install drivers to create a virtual-serial port with a RS-232, here's a link to the right site to download - even though it's Meade and not Celestron:

http://www.meade.com/support/software-firmware/

There has been a lot of counterfit versions of this around, so be careful where you get it from as the parent company is now booby-trapping their downloads to defeat the counterfitters. The version you like need will be on the lower right.

Clear Skies,

Dave

[nicoscy]

Ron,

Another piece of software which is quite nice to use. Say you are imaging at very long focal lengths and you want to ensure that your object of interest (could be a lunar crater for example) stays dead center.

You can make subtle corrections to the mount with this.

[Astrobod]

Thanks Dave & Nicos for the advise and the web links.  I've just got a RS-232 cable from 365Astronomy, so will download Nexremote and have a go,

Ron