EQ6-R owners club

[Stub Mandrel]

On 21/08/2020 at 15:41, kookoo_gr said:

al?

 

That looks pretty typical, maybe a little high. The right-hand trace isn't as straight as I'd expect, usually I see just little kink near the start with my HEQ5 rather than the gradual change.

[mercandrea]

5 hours ago, Greg Shaw said:

What a cool idea, I have noticed when I have been balancing my scope it can be bit stiff in certain locations as I rotate the scope around to check balance.

I had a look on Amazon and the meter that Cuiv uses is £35. I also found this one for £22 which is AC/DC and has good reviews. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meterk-Multimeter-Capacitance-Resistance-Temperature/dp/B073Y162BZ/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=clamp+meter&qid=1598252676&sr=8-5#customerReviews

Looks like this will be the next tool to add to the kit

Hi Greg I was looking at the same clampmeter on amazon, just be careful though, the £22 one measures dc voltage but not dc current according to the description so not suitable. Easy to miss.  Hope I got to you before you put your order in!

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, mercandrea said:

Hi Greg I was looking at the same clampmeter on amazon, just be careful though, the £22 one measures dc voltage but not dc current according to the description so not suitable. Easy to miss.  Hope I got to you before you put your order in!

I think that's true of all clamp meters. The clamp part works like a transformer to measure high currents so can only be used for AC.

[discardedastro]

48 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I think that's true of all clamp meters. The clamp part works like a transformer to measure high currents so can only be used for AC.

You can get DC-capable clamp meters, but they tend to be a bit more high-end (we have some DC current probes for our portable oscilloscope at work, for instance - now I think of it, might be interesting to see what the current waveform looks like on a mount in motion). I've not seen any for <£150 - I think we paid about £300 a probe from Rohde & Schwarz.

I've actually done this test without any load on the mount using the ammeter built into the Nevada power supply I use, but as part of adjusting my backlash/worm gears - I could just use that for balancing. It's analogue so a bit harder to read but otherwise easy enough to use, and already inline in the right place.

Edited August 24, 2020 by discardedastro

[Greg Shaw]

My new Guide Cam and scope arrived today. Skywatcher 50ED and Altair GPCAM2 130M.

I've been looking at setting everything up and initially had the guide cam connected directly to the mount using the ST4 ports, but then read that its better to connect the mount to the laptop directly rather than going through the camera.

Ordered a Lynx Astro FTDI EQDIR USB cable from FLO to then realise my mount has the additional USB port....oops. Luckily its been refunded. Now I can get a nice long USB cable from amazon!

Edited August 26, 2020 by Greg Shaw

[Dinglem]

@Greg Shaw why not get a quality one with your refund https://www.firstlightoptics.com/lindy/lindy-cromo-usb20-a-to-b-cable.html

[Professor2112]

So earlier this week I snagged one of these beauties. Just waiting on it to arrive now! I intend to use it to image with an 8” Edge HD with the ZWO OAG for guiding. I was one of those people that got a scope without really understanding the fundamentals of astrophotography. So needless to say the CPC1100 on a wedge with guidescope was a heck of a bear to wrestle, although I did have some success with that setup. I still do have one question remaining about this mount though, with my last scope I was able to plug it straight into my 750w power inverter I had connected to my car and it would run fine, but I’ve heard with this mount a good power supply is needed, so I’m wondering if this same setup is going to be enough or not?  This is the exact inverter I’m using currently.  Will it work plugged into that? If not, what would I need to run off a car as I have to travel to my imaging location? 
 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-750-Watts-Portable-Slim-Inverter-with-Digital-Display-and-Multiple-USB-and-AC-Ports/154263894?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=2897&&adid=22222222228049013905&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=147093315270&wl4=pla-260363528108&wl5=9001695&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=154263894&veh=sem&gclid=Cj0KCQjws536BRDTARIsANeUZ58vsWnWbnveFaQ2pfUMMc7pHxMbk-ao_Fy-rUkQSJ4ZnHTUdfehytcaAlbeEALw_wcB

[Pryce]

Hey guys! 

Quick question.  

 

Would the EQ6-R handle a 250P-DS, Evoguide+Guidecam and a EOS 550D camera or should I limit myself to the 200P-DS? 

[bottletopburly]

12 minutes ago, Pryce said:

Hey guys! 

Quick question.  

 

Would the EQ6-R handle a 250P-DS, Evoguide+Guidecam and a EOS 550D camera or should I limit myself to the 200P-DS? 

yes

[Greg Shaw]

Hi Guys

So it looks like tonight will be the first proper night to test the scope and mount out. 
 

I have read in the manual to extend the legs fully. But this will make the scope too high to view anything using the eyepiece. For my height it would be better the keep the legs at the standard height.

I was wondering what do you do, do you just set it to a comfortable height?

I have a 150PDS scope.

Thanks 

 

[discardedastro]

23 minutes ago, Greg Shaw said:

Hi Guys

So it looks like tonight will be the first proper night to test the scope and mount out. 
 

I have read in the manual to extend the legs fully. But this will make the scope too high to view anything using the eyepiece. For my height it would be better the keep the legs at the standard height.

I was wondering what do you do, do you just set it to a comfortable height?

I have a 150PDS scope.

Thanks 

 

Yep - just set it as required. But do make sure the legs are splayed out fully, which is I think what the manual is trying to say.

[OJ87]

On 29/08/2020 at 17:18, Pryce said:

Hey guys! 

Quick question.  

 

Would the EQ6-R handle a 250P-DS, Evoguide+Guidecam and a EOS 550D camera or should I limit myself to the 200P-DS? 

Yes, but needs some skill to balance it. Till now I couldn’t get over 900” subs, but i think the limitation comes from using a guiding  scope, but anyway I’m waiting for the OAG to come and see if it get more. I’m Also using a 10” Newtonian, ASI 1600mm, automated Filter wheel , autofocuser, and of course a come corrector. 
i know a guy using a 12” Newtonian and getting such long shots. But he has the NEQ-6 , almost the same load capacity as the EQ6R. 

 If you go for the 10” , you’ll need to buy additional 5kg counterweight, cause the two comes with the mount are not enough to balance it.

 

[Pryce]

20 minutes ago, OJ87 said:

 If you go for the 10” , you’ll need to buy additional 5kg counterweight, cause the two comes with the mount are not enough to balance it.

Aye aye,  I could just pull the 5kg weight from my EQ3-2. 
But I ended up buying the Evostar 72ED first(I know, I'm all over the place 🤣) so I can start with some of the larger and brighter DSOs.
250PDS is on the list, but I suspect that I'll have my hands full with the larger targets for a while, so the 250 is probably some months down the road.  Though, I still have my 150P and I guess I can make that work as well.

[OJ87]

On 01/09/2020 at 12:59, KevS said:

They are a bit thin on the ground at the moment. FLO are quoting 40-60 days lead time. 

It almost everything now. I waited two months for the ZWO OAG and still waiting for the ultra narrowband Filter SII( I ordered it in April) 

[OJ87]

On 01/09/2020 at 05:13, Pryce said:

Aye aye,  I could just pull the 5kg weight from my EQ3-2. 
But I ended up buying the Evostar 72ED first(I know, I'm all over the place 🤣) so I can start with some of the larger and brighter DSOs.
250PDS is on the list, but I suspect that I'll have my hands full with the larger targets for a while, so the 250 is probably some months down the road.  Though, I still have my 150P and I guess I can make that work as well.

The 72ED is Not bad choice at all.  I’m actually considering a second telescope for wide field. 

[billhinge]

Same here, I'm waiting over a month on a camera, extension tubes, focuser etc 

I bought several bits of good stuff second hand inc EQ6-R, TMB refractor and filters, but new stuff ordered from Germany arrived in a week (twice)

[Greg Shaw]

On 24/08/2020 at 18:39, discardedastro said:

You can get DC-capable clamp meters, but they tend to be a bit more high-end (we have some DC current probes for our portable oscilloscope at work, for instance - now I think of it, might be interesting to see what the current waveform looks like on a mount in motion). I've not seen any for <£150 - I think we paid about £300 a probe from Rohde & Schwarz.

I've actually done this test without any load on the mount using the ammeter built into the Nevada power supply I use, but as part of adjusting my backlash/worm gears - I could just use that for balancing. It's analogue so a bit harder to read but otherwise easy enough to use, and already inline in the right place.

Returning back to the clamp meter question. So are we saying the ones of Amazon for £35 are no good? That was the same meter Cuiv used in his video though?!

I actually had a power meter in the house which was suggested by Craigt82 and tried that. With it set to Amps I was able to follow the steps in the video and get the save amperage moving the OTA both directions in the RA and Dec. Will see how the PHD2 look if its clear enough tonight.

This was the power meter i used https://www.amazon.co.uk/230V-250V-Monitor-Consumption-Calculator-Analyzer/dp/B07FZZ17ZY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=socket+power+monitor&qid=1599299816&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyUUVFRkU0U0hXRzgmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA0MzMwMjcxN1pMODdCMTUyWDlBJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwOTMxNjcyR1RUNDUxSzE4S08md2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Greg Shaw

[discardedastro]

2 minutes ago, Greg Shaw said:

Returning back to the clamp meter question. So are we saying the ones of Amazon for £35 are no good? That was the same meter Cuiv used in his video though?!

So long as they support DC current measurement and you separate out the conductors in the cable to measure, you should be OK. You'll probably get more accurate measurement with a shunt, though. Measuring power on the input might be OK with long periods of movement but the PSU may hide small variations (full of capacitors, etc).

With a couple of 12V sockets it'd be easy enough to wire up something like https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Multimeter-Droking-6-5-100V-Voltmeter-Detector/dp/B07WR3PRTV/ and measure current that way. Might also be a handy inline box to have if you run off batteries, given it can measure watt-hours.

A fun project might be to make a little box which has a current shunt and a mount control output - it would be pretty easy to automate the measurement routine and do the calculations, showing an indicator for how to adjust. Hum...

[CraigT82]

This is how I did mine, made a little video for YouTube. The balance after doing this does seem better than just doing it by feel.  This method obviously useless for battery powered mounts

 

[CraigT82]

19 minutes ago, discardedastro said:

PSU may hide small variations (full of capacitors, etc

This could be advantageous, so that the reading isn't dancing all over the place? I think the absolute current value isn't important, just the value of one way relative to rhe value of the other way

[discardedastro]

1 hour ago, CraigT82 said:

This could be advantageous, so that the reading isn't dancing all over the place? I think the absolute current value isn't important, just the value of one way relative to rhe value of the other way

Perhaps - though with constant motor motion, you shouldn't see huge variation in current anyway. The most interesting bit of the current/time graph should be the start, though, where the motors are getting things moving at the "worst case" position of the mechanical system, force-wise. I'm going to wire up something and borrow work's scope to have a proper look I think. However, having said all that, I'm sure it'll get you pretty close, and may well beat careful manual adjustment.

[Greg Shaw]

Excellent Craig

This was exactly what I was seeing as well when I tested this morning. There was a residual 0.044 A on my meter but when the mount moved it would go up to 0.119 A, so could easily see if there was a difference. The setup looked to be well balanced afterwards.

[Greg Shaw]

Just finished creating a way of attaching my new USB hud to the mount. Got the idea from Chris Wright's image a few posts back.

Was trying to decide on what the best approach would be to fit the hub to the mount and looked around the forum. I spotted that Chris Wright had used velcro straps on the one of the mount legs, which looked very tidy and also meant no sticky residue from using velcro strips directly on the mount. After some searching I found these on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C42T75U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had to cut the straps slightly so that there was enough velcro exposed for the hub, but leaving enough for a good fitting.

Some really good and strong velcro from ebay was then attached to the back of the hub. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VELCRO-Brand-Heavy-Duty-Stick-On-ULTRA-MATE-Self-Adhesive-Tape-50mm-Width/282279028203?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=581338557363&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

All fitted and holding well. I used a spare strap to hold the Hub's main USB & power cable to the mount leg to prevent them accidentally being pulled out.

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Greg Shaw

[mercandrea]

1 hour ago, Greg Shaw said:

Just finished creating a way of attaching my new USB hud to the mount. Got the idea from Chris Wright's image a few posts back.

Was trying to decide on what the best approach would be to fit the hub to the mount and looked around the forum. I spotted that Chris Wright had used velcro straps on the one of the mount legs, which looked very tidy and also meant no sticky residue from using velcro strips directly on the mount. After some searching I found these on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C42T75U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had to cut the straps slightly so that there was enough velcro exposed for the hub, but leaving enough for a good fitting.

Some really good and strong velcro from ebay was then attached to the back of the hub. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VELCRO-Brand-Heavy-Duty-Stick-On-ULTRA-MATE-Self-Adhesive-Tape-50mm-Width/282279028203?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=581338557363&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

All fitted and holding well. I used a spare strap to hold the Hub's main USB & power cable to the mount leg to prevent them accidentally being pulled out.

 

I spied this in the earlier post too and am planning something similar.  I'm also taking nervous steps towards having my setup permanently outside though so might try to fashion some sort of housing for my hub and raspberry pi that attaches to the tripod legs or the accessory tray. Currently they live in an old recycling box that sits between the tripod legs, keeps them out of the weather ok but the cables snag occasionally having everything so close to ground. 

 

[kookoo_gr]

17 hours ago, mercandrea said:

I spied this in the earlier post too and am planning something similar.  I'm also taking nervous steps towards having my setup permanently outside though so might try to fashion some sort of housing for my hub and raspberry pi that attaches to the tripod legs or the accessory tray. Currently they live in an old recycling box that sits between the tripod legs, keeps them out of the weather ok but the cables snag occasionally having everything so close to ground. 

 

Wouldn't it be better if you placed the hub,pi, power supply on top of the scope? You will save a lot of space, cables and they will be far better protected form the weather and any accidents with cable snagging when placed at the legs