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New Setup - Side by Side mounting.

Ant

By Ant
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Ant

Ant

Posted
Posted

Finally getting my setup somewhere near where I want to be.

HEQ5PRO, with the ED80 F6.9 and 150 F5 side by side.

I'm not sure if I should respray the 150P red to match the ED80 or White to match the mount or leave as is...

There were more wires than you could poke a stick at, went to Maplin today and bought 10m of "Spiral cable wrap" Took a while to get everything all neat and tidy , but this is a million times better that it was.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Data cable and power cable shouldn't be run together, not sure if that's right or not.But decided not to take the risk. The only wires included in the loom are power cables. So there is power to the Dew controller, from there to the dew straps, power to the mount, power for the 300D. All wires to the Ciggy 4 in extension box and down to the power station are in the loom.

It looks all neat and tidy now. :shocked:

6182_normal.jpeg

(click to enlarge)

Ant

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Black Shuck

Black Shuck

Posted
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The cable wrap is certainly a good idea. I get fed up with untangling cables in the dark. No matter how neat they start off they always end up in a knot! Not sure about the data/power cable interference though?

The set up looks very nice. I have yearnings for an ED80 after seeing through Tony's (mightymonoped) at one of our local get togethers!!!

Perhaps the 150P need to be white - would be a very patriotic colour scheme!!! :shocked:

Have fun!

Cheers

Bill£ :cat: :cat:

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Ant

Ant

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Didn't think of Red, White and Blue - I like the sound of that! :shocked: The cable tidy was only £2.70 and I have loads left! If it's of interest I used the 8mm one.

Regarding the dovetail, I tried to explain that to Grant earlier and didn't do too well.

It's an old fashioned dovetail plate that is much thicker and wider (but no longer) than the large Skywatcher dovetail.

I believe it comes from the 150 / EQ5 of a few years ago (certainly nothing like the current dovetails). I do have my eye on one from FLO, but that's a little way away yet.

This isn't quite finished yet, as I have over size rings to drill and thread for the ED80 guide scope. Oh and a 2" focuser on it's way.

I'll take pic's of the dovetail tomorrow if your interested!

Ant

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Pauln

Pauln

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I'm sure I read somewhere that Data cable and power cable shouldn't be run together.

Ant

There can be a problem with data and power together if the data cable is unshielded and the power cable runs a high voltage. It can be more of a problem with long data cables too, when the signal can be weak and prone to interference.

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Ant

Ant

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Now need to re-visit the Autoguiding thread and see if I can get my head around pulse guiding...

I cannot afford the CCD route yet mate. I have two more things on my shopping list - a new laptop and an entry level CCD. So I'll be sticking to the SPC900 webcam for guiding and the 300D for imaging.

Ant

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barkis

barkis

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A very eyecatching rig you have built up there Ant. I'm sure you will have a lot of success with it, once you have all you need in place. It's more satisfying when you get all you need after a wait due to lack of funds. I've been there. Just an addition to the Patriot theme, why not stick a Union flag on the pier, together with an SGL Logo. :shocked:

Ron.

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Ant

Ant

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I don't know exactly Karlo, but from the position of the counter weights I'd estimate that it's roughly the same as a stand alone 8" F5 Skywatcher reflector. (if that helps).

Ant

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Kai

Kai

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Ant, just out of interest, what sort of weight are you looking at with the 150 and the ED80 ? ( kinda wondering if I might get away with side-by-side Cape and ZS66)

Karlo

Karlo

I use a Ed80 and a 8 inch Sct on my Heq5 pro with no problems, i just had to add a extra counterweight

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markcol

markcol

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Nice setup Ant! Tend to agree with the others about the colours...

I should imagine mains a.c. would be more of an issue with the data cables than 12v d.c.

cheers

Mark

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Ant

Ant

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OK the colours will stay as they are! MY wife actually agrees that they look good as they are...

Here are a few more pic's now that I have drilled and tapped the over size tube rings. Might need bigger ones...!

6309_normal.jpeg

(click to enlarge)

This one is to show the side by side bar. It will be upgraded but serves it's purpose. For the record, if you are going to use the holes already tapped on the top of the rings you need to re drill the holes (I used a 6mm drill bit) and then tapped the hole to M8.

I need to buy some nice bolts, but again that can wait. The soft pads cost around £2.50 from Focus Do It All, they are nail on felt pads used to protect wood floors from chair legs. The M8 bolts sit quite nicely inside the hollow metal bits that are supposed to be nailed into the wood chair legs.

6310_normal.jpeg

(click to enlarge)

Cheers

Ant

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ngc2403

ngc2403

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hello ant,

that setup looks petty good and the colours are fine. i would of thought that it makes thing easier to describe everything they are different colours.

one question i have is, do the two scopes not want to drag down on the side with the newt on it? as it is heavier and there don't seem to be much remove for moving it back and forth?

My setup will hopefully be piggy back but i need another counter weight first cos the 10'' f/4 newt is too big to put a 80mm on top of with the two weights.

i found out though that the GOTO was good even unbalanced to an accuracy of less than 15' (1/2 FOV from 52o 9.7mm EP @ 1000mm focal length ) one night one any part of the sky (over 3 hrs ), so perhaps the balance is not so important after all :shocked:

ally

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Ant

Ant

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Hi Ali,

Yeah I am a little concerned about the weight balance, but I have unlocked both axis and spun the scope(s) around in all the positions that I thought it might end up in and there was no unintended movement if you know what I mean.

But I do have plan to buy this http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=WOvixenDovetailLong

which will give me loads more sideways movement..

Cheers

Ant

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