What’s the best way of securing lead to finderscope guider?

[tooth_dr]

Seems like a silly thing to ask, but what’s the simplest way of attaching the lead out of the camera to take the pressure off it and leave it stable?  The camera will exclusively be a guidecam so doesn’t need to come off. But I need to be able to remove the finderscope setup as a whole! Would a right angle USB-B cable be a better idea?

Also is it better to remove the silver springy bolt on the finder bracket and replace with a normal bolt? How does it come off?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[ollypenrice]

Springy and guider should not be found in bed together! 

[paul mc c]

What about a cable tie with the lead attached to the finder bracket.

[tooth_dr]

28 minutes ago, paul mc c said:

What about a cable tie with the lead attached to the finder bracket.

Thought about that, and I don’t mind drilling or screwing clips onto the bracket either. Something sturdy and permanent will do me. 

[Waldemar]

Just use velcro or two sided tape to attach cable guiders like these  https://www.gadgetsformobiledevices.nl/home/105-handige-zelfklevende-kabel-organizers-set-van-10-stuks.html on your scope and you can guide your cable in an easy way just like you wish.

Using a better, more rigid foot and bracket for your guiding scope would not be bad either.

[tooth_dr]

Hi Waldemar. Definitely agree with you. This is actually about 1cm shorter than the standard SW bracket, it’s off a RIGEL finder that I have.  Still doesn’t feel that sturdy. 

I have got some cable guiders off Ikea, Good suggestion!

[Starlight 1]

You can get this in garden centers to hold new trees up with a cane and are adjustable.

[tooth_dr]

3 minutes ago, Starlight 1 said:

You can get this in garden centers to hold new trees up with a cane and are adjustable.

That’s neat! How does it clip together at the other side?

[Waldemar]

You could drill an extra hole in the white bracket, and thread it, so you can have the guider scope attached with two bolts.

If you use pointed internal hex bolts for that, it will be a lot sturdier. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Shopping-On-Alibaba-Com-Hex-Socket_60583986346.html?spm=a2700.7724857.main07.137.160dbce4xERqn3

Instead of the above orange garden thingies, you could also just use a tie-rap if you want to guide the lead along the guiding scope
The garden stuff has a closed ring to guide the canes, so you would have to cut the cable as seen in the picture, which is not a good idea with USB... nor with dew for that matter.

[Starlight 1]

Here a photo taking off.

[Starlight 1]

And its rubber.

[carastro]

That is rather a stiff looking cable, I would have suggested tying it to the finderbracket which is what I do, nothing fancy, just tie it with a piece of cord.  But just wondering whether that cable will bend sufficiently.

Carole 

[Davey-T]

You can get various configurations of USB cables with right angled ends which makes it easier to fix them to the guide scope.

This one is on my Quark

Dave

[tooth_dr]

This is what I ended up with, half an hour messing about with bench drill and taps.  I also bent a piece of aluminium around a small drill bit, to hold the cable snuggly against the holder.  Thanks for all the input on the thread.  The cable is really flexible but may look into a right angle one.

 

[Waldemar]

Well, see?...
With a little bit of ingenuity and DIY you come a long way :-) Good for you!!!

[carastro]

Well done a great solution.  Unfortunately I have to set up and down every time I go to camp so the cable has to be quickly removable. 

Carole 

[tooth_dr]

15 minutes ago, carastro said:

Well done a great solution.  Unfortunately I have to set up and down every time I go to camp so the cable has to be quickly removable. 

Carole 

Thanks Carole. I would just disconnect from the usb hub and wrap it around the finder scope bracket, one less end to plug in.  I intend to use this with different setups.

[tooth_dr]

30 minutes ago, Waldemar said:

Well, see?...
With a little bit of ingenuity and DIY you come a long way :-) Good for you!!!

I didnt want to reinvent the wheel so to speak, good to see a variety of options out there for all levels of handiness!

[tooth_dr]

I bought a finder scope shoe and made this to use with camera and lens. Hopefully this works ok, will be a nice light(ish) setup for widefield imaging. The finderscope bracket is offset because this will allow me to fit two DSLRs on it at the same time as their mounting screw is off set too, or even a small scope of the bigger side.

 

[CrashEd]

Looking good. There's some useful suggestions here that I may have to explore.

[tooth_dr]

First night I’ve had a chance to test focus. My LU070 has the sensor set in about 5mm deeper than the DMK21, but luckily it focuses, with the black locking ring removed from lens end.

 

I am surprised at his good the image looks  it was cloudy tonight so I picked a distant neighbours house. 0.2 versus 2second exposure both look pretty good.

 

 

 

 

[tooth_dr]

Hi Ciaran @Xiga

 

Here is my thread to save me writing it out again!  Again I appreciate the info and links.  I indeed ditched the springy screw, and have it well tightened! The camera is permanently attached to the finderscope.

 

53 minutes ago, Xiga said:

Adam, I also use a Finder-Guider (together with an ancient QHY5 camera) but then I use it with just an 80ED at 510mm FL, and not the 1200mm FL of your 250px! Here's a few tips I've picked up over the course of time:

Ditch the standard Skywatcher Adapter that has the spring-loaded adjustment screw. Look for a pair of rings instead. I think I got mine from ScopeStuff (not sure though!) and I've tightened the screws to within an inch of their life. I don't get any flex (well, not that I can tell anyway!)

Align it as best you can during the day to the centre of your main imaging camera

I keep my QHY5 permanently attached to mine. I don't know if you intend to do the same, but I know it saves me precious minutes in setting up each time. Also means I never have to adjust the focus (one less thing to go wrong)

Here's a useful article that helps calculate the Min Move setting in PHD. I use a value of 0.08 for my setup. I also use 2 second guide exposures  http://www.myastroscience.com/minmoveinphd

I also highly recommend using PHD2 over the original PHD (not sure which one you use). I started out using PHD but have moved on to PHD2 and I haven't looked back since (I still have it installed as a backup in case PHD2 ever gives me trouble, which it hasn't yet - famous last words!). Also, just recently, the latest beta release has a new RA guiding algorithm (PPEC - Predictive PEC) that learns the regular error of the worm gear over the course of the imaging session. I've been using it recently and I've definitely seen a 0.1-0.2" improvement in my RMS error since.

Good luck!

Edited 49 minutes ago by Xiga