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I hate my EQ6 at the moment

mark RD

By mark RD
in Imaging - Discussion

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mark RD

mark RD

Posted
Posted

Been looking like a good night for some imagin all yesterday and after the other night when I cought the double I was eager to get out and try some more.

At about 8.00pm I stared to bring gear out and set up the mount Taking time to make sure I was polar aligned as close as I could get it. By that time it was about 9.00pm.

I then went on to get to focus right and took a few test shots on a few bright stars. I then went to find M32, My target.

Started off at 30sec exposure then managed to take it up to 121 sec after about 15 shots my power pack decided it was a bit hungry and checking on the hand set showed up at about 7volts. after about an hour and a half charge it showed up at about 13 volts so I resumed my work.

But now for some reason the mount was not tracking and all I was getting was star trails, I can't understand why as I did not move the mount. and it still looked good though the polar scope.

Any advice anyone ?????

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Dave Moulton

Dave Moulton

Posted
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Frustrating. I would buy a mains adapter instead of another power pack if you can get near a mains socket, this would ensure that you never have that problem again. I did and never looked back. The trouble with having a backup power tank is that you still have to faff about changing over mid imaging session. I've got 2 powertank batteries, just gathering dust now

Dave

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James

James

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One of these does pretty well for me, the 7A or 10A versions should give plenty of regulated power. You'll need a ring tongued power connecter though.

Mark, if your battery is giving you 7v output then its effectively flat as a pancake and as others have said it'll need a complete charge up taking quite some time. I'm assuming it's a lead acid battery - these don't take well to being run down that far so mains power is probably the way to go if you can... if you can't then as Starflyer says a big battery (I use a 113AH deep cycle battery) will cover pretty much anything you want to put through it.

James

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GazOC

GazOC

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After two, largely self inflicted, nightmare nights with my powertank I bought a mains adapter and havn't had any problems since. I know thats not always an option when observing at a dark site but for a back garden setup an extension lead and plug is well worth thinking about IMHO.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

Posted
Posted

After two, largely self inflicted, nightmare nights with my powertank I bought a mains adapter and havn't had any problems since. I know thats not always an option when observing at a dark site but for a back garden setup an extension lead and plug is well worth thinking about IMHO.

Don't forget to run it all form an RCD protected supply though ...

Billy...

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Greg

Greg

Posted
Posted

Your battery is kaput! That's what caused your mount problems!

Last night I used a 17ah power pack for the mount and another one for the dew heater..The dew heater one was gone in about 3 hours and the one that powered the mount lasted about 6 hours...

If your LED starts flashing your battery is on the way out..

Tonight i'm powering the mount of a 110ah leisure battery and the dew heater off a mains adapter.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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Yep dont let electric leave home without one :undecided:

Sorry for using an abbreviation without expanding and in this case explainign what it was...

SO...

RCD (Or RCCB) is a Residual Current device (or Residual Current Circuit Breaker)

Which is an essential safety device that will cut off the main power supply extremely quickly when there is a fault - in particular current flowing to earth from the mains supply...

Billy...

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Reggie

Reggie

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I've got the celestron power tank and a spare 7ah bat and seperate 2a/4a charger. The celestrons charger takes ages, the one I bought to charge the spare bat takes about 3-4 hours for a full charge.

The celestron tank powers the scope for a good nights session (8hrs) the other bat. is for my dew tapes and is good for 3-4hours at full power so my mileage varies :undecided:

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beamish

beamish

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20-30m ext leads with RCD built in are easily available. As an added safety precaution check your consumer unit too(fusebox) as these days the standard is MCP and RCD and are VERY sensitive.

Even a bulb blowing is enough to trip it out ! :shock: :undecided::)

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mark RD

mark RD

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Thanks for all your help guys I know the EQ6 was power hungry but diffident know it was that bad. Im not really keen on the idea of dragging extension leads out in the dew so I think I will opte for a bigger battery and keep the 12HA 12V as a backup. and charged.

RD

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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I've just realized that by sheer chance I am using a surge protected extension lead. Is this all I need?

Hmmm it might have an overcurrent trip or MCB or a MOV (surge protector) in it but this isn't the same as an RCD and an MCB is basically a resetable fuse a MOV is a metal oxide Varisotr and is designed to clamp volateg spikes....neither of these will offer any "shock" protection

Billy...

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brympton

brympton

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I've just realized that by sheer chance I am using a surge protected extension lead. Is this all I need?

No, the surge protection is designed to protect sensitive equipment from electrical "spikes" not protect you in the event of a short circuit, please get yourself an RCCD plug or socket :undecided:

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