Nexus manual go to system

[Timebandit]

Hello. With the faulksy Dob build and recently the push to post the manual go to system has certainly got my interest. As people may or may not know I am not a big fan of goto systems due to the set up time, complicated systems and the seemingly go wrong rate with such systems leaving owners frustrated and spending more time setting up or banging there heads against the wall than observing. Therefore the Nexus system may be a way forwards without possible problems for me that seem to occur with the goto systems . Some questions to ask please 

1)  Is the Nexus system available for purchase in the uk or Europe and could you provide a link and current price please. If it's only available to purchase from the states, are there any problem with purchase,postage,import taxes customs ect and what would likely be the problems encountered and the cost of such extras.

2) my understanding is that you load the Nexus software and something like skysafari on a tablet or phone. Does this phone or tablet need to be an iPad,i phone or can it run from an android device. What screen size would be advisable and what are the minimum operating spec of phone or tablet to be able to use Nexus and skysafari or similar.

3) I understand there needs to be two encoder type of devices fitted to the dob mount. Do these need to be drilled or can they be put in place by those extra strength sticky pads (similar to telrad pads).  Do the position of these encoders need to be very accurately applied and  at a certain angle.

4) I take it the signal from the decoder to the tablet/phone device does not need an house type wi fi box to be able to exchange signal, therefore can be used in the field without any problems so to speak.

5) As i do not want to be messing about setting up the scope position , time  ect ect ect ect(I think you get my drift here?)  do you need to get the dob base level, set times ect. Or is it just a matter of getting the dob out ,switch on the phone , switch on decoder and away you go. Obviously you probably have to locate and position some stars. I really really do not want to do more than two stars for this. Therefore can I get two stars in the same constellations and would this still allow Nexus to work accurately . Say I got two stars in Cygnus, would this allow Nexus to work accurately. Or two stars in Cassiopeia , would this allow Nexus system to work accurately. I ask this as I do not want to be searching the sky's for targets to set the system up by as being in the uk half the time when I observe half the sky is full of clouds anyway. can you dictate to Nexus which stars you want to use as your location target to set it up.  What I am trying to achieve with the above question. If Cygnus is overhead ,can I get two stars from Cygnus to set up Nexus and will Nexus then be accurate enough to locate observing targets I wish to see, say in a view of a nagler 20mm at afov of 82degrees.

6)As I am considering using this system on a OOuk 14" has anyone fitted the Nexus system to one of these and how easy was it to fit and run the system. And how effective and accurate was the system, is there any downsides that you can let me know of  .

I think that is the basis of my post of questions for the time being. What I am after in a system is reasonable price , very quick set up time, very easy set up and an accurate system. If Nexus allows this then I will be very interested in this . If not I will carry on going by knowledge.

Thanks for your help in this matter and I will look forward to the answers with interest, and hopefully may help other members also ☺.

 

[faulksy]

here it is fitted to my 00 vx14

this the nexus unit to the left of the tracer battery, and azimuth encoder

no you dont need a hub like at home.

all that happens is, you switch on the nexus and that connects to your device wirelessly. i use a android phone.

you then find 2 objects in the sky idealy seperated by 180* and align, you have to name the stars. and thats it, no noise no fuss but dead accurate all night

heres the link 229$ only takes around 5 days to come, small charges on top customs and carriage i think mine came to around 300 quid, tell serge mike faulks sent you

http://www.astrodevices.com/products/Nexus/Nexus.html

 

[Scooot]

Hi timebandit

You need to get it from Astro Devices in Australia now.

i have a PDF user guide on how to fit the encoders. if you need it I'll pm you.

The scope doesn't need to be level at all, or polar aligned.

once you turn on the nexus, it will appear in your list of wifi connections like any router and you just select it to connect.

open the sky safari app and press connect and the curser on the star chart will then move up and down and around as you move the scope.

To align the scope point it at a star and press align, do the same with another star. Simple as that. You can pick any two stars but the further apart the more accurate it will be although to be honest I've never had a problem. I tend to pick Polaris and then turn the scope some where south east for another.

The beauty of using Sky Safari is that you can highlight observing lists on the screen, either your own or their default lists. You can then easily spot what you want to target, eg here's Tonight's Best highlighted.

 

[faulksy]

to add to what you asked the time is already set because you are using your phone. location is set as well because your phone has gps. dead simple as richard says

[jag32]

I have a VX14 with a Nexus DSC unit but no encoders. Where can I get encoders for the OOUK don't mount?

[Scooot]

Hi I bought mine from US Digital a long time ago but Serge at Astro Devices will be able to tell you if you email them. 

http://www.astrodevices.com/Products/NexusII/index.html

They might have some European retailers listed on their site, but I can’t look now 

[jag32]

Thanks

[alanjgreen]

On 24/08/2016 at 16:41, Timebandit said:

Thanks for your help in this matter and I will look forward to the answers with interest, and hopefully may help other members also ☺.

1)  Is the Nexus system available for purchase in the uk or Europe and could you provide a link and current price please. If it's only available to purchase from the states, are there any problem with purchase,postage,import taxes customs ect and what would likely be the problems encountered and the cost of such extras.

Alan> You need to buy it direct from Australia. I did this and no issues. You have to pay UK customs charges. It took just over 1 week from order to delivery at my UK address

2) my understanding is that you load the Nexus software and something like skysafari on a tablet or phone. Does this phone or tablet need to be an iPad,i phone or can it run from an android device. What screen size would be advisable and what are the minimum operating spec of phone or tablet to be able to use Nexus and skysafari or similar.

Alan> No this is incorrect. If you use sky safari then no other software is needed. Nexus do make an app but this is instead of sky safari rather than "as well as"

3) I understand there needs to be two encoder type of devices fitted to the dob mount. Do these need to be drilled or can they be put in place by those extra strength sticky pads (similar to telrad pads).  Do the position of these encoders need to be very accurately applied and  at a certain angle.

Alan> David Lukehurst installed mine. Yes you need to drill. Accurate angle = no. Encoders just sent clicks to the Nexus unit as you move the scope. If you buy 10K encoders then this means that a 360 degree circle is 10,000 clicks. Any fraction of that circle can be calculated based on the number of clicks. Nexus basically just sends this click info to sky safari and sky safari plots out the movement on the screen. There is nothing clever to it really!

You can buy encoders with different numbers of clicks 8K, 10K, 32K. The more clicks the more accuracy and the greater the price. 10K encoders are plenty accurate if you dont want to spend on the latest 32K encoders. Mine are 10K encoders and I have had no issues.

4) I take it the signal from the decoder to the tablet/phone device does not need an house type wi fi box to be able to exchange signal, therefore can be used in the field without any problems so to speak.

Alan> The nexus unit generates a wifi network. You connect to this network with your phone/ipad. You need to stay in range of your scope to pick up the signal.

5) As i do not want to be messing about setting up the scope position , time  ect ect ect ect(I think you get my drift here?)  do you need to get the dob base level, set times ect. Or is it just a matter of getting the dob out ,switch on the phone , switch on decoder and away you go. Obviously you probably have to locate and position some stars.

Alan> You turn on Nexus, connect the ipad to the network. Choose a star in sky safari then point at it, click "Align". Choose a 2nd star in sky safari then point at it, click "Align" = Done.

6)As I am considering using this system on a OOuk 14" has anyone fitted the Nexus system to one of these and how easy was it to fit and run the system. And how effective and accurate was the system, is there any downsides that you can let me know of  .

Alan> None, its brilliant. I have been using mine for 18months now with no issues.

 

Here are some links:

Firstly, here is the Nexus that I use

http://www.astrodevices.com/Products/Nexus/Nexus.html

http://www.astrodevices.com/shop/index.php?product/page/6/Nexus

(I picked this one because it runs on 12V and I needed that for my 12V battery, the newer unit runs on 5V so this may or may not be a problem for you?)

 

AstroDevices make and supply encoder kits for many scopes in their shop, here is the link

http://www.astrodevices.com/shop/index.php?catalog/category/encoder+kits/name/1

 

Email Serge (the guy at AstroDevices with all your requirements, he will make up all the leads you need and quote you a price), he is a really helpful guy and always answers emails when Australia wake up!

 

HTH, Alan