Lxd 75 vs eq5 advice wanted .

[Fish]

My trusty lxd 75 has blown its drive card , repair is out of the question , spare parts are not available so my choices are attempt to fit a Skywatcher goto kit to my mount or purchase a new Skywatcher eq5.

My mount handles my 10kg of equipment for visual with no problems at all (C8, moonlight focuser, largest eyepiece and large finder)

Reading the eq5 max is 9kg is a concern  , I thought the Meade mount was essentially a eq5 but the payload is upto 15kg and it handles my 10kg easy so may be not.

So would like advice off folks who use a Skywatcher eq5 with similar set up for observing or have experience of fitting a Skywatcher goto to a meade.

 

[lenscap]

42 minutes ago, Fish said:

so my choices are attempt to fit a Skywatcher goto kit to my mount or purchase a new Skywatcher eq5.

Are you into DIY?

You could build your own Onstep or AstroEQ GoTo system for the Meade mount for around a third of the cost of the Skywatcher kit.

https://groups.io/g/onstep/wiki/home

https://www.astroeq.co.uk/tutorials.php

 

[Rob]

The 75 is better than an EQ5 as it has metal bearings on both axis. This means it can carry 13kg the same as the bresser EXOS2. I'd save and pop the SW goto on there.

 

Regards Rob

[Fish]

Managed to replace the board mosfet that was blown so the mount is back up and running. If anyone ever needs any SI4947ADY  let me know .

Thanks @lenscap I have been looking into onstep and it looks great so Im starting a build to replace the Meade goto . Going for the stm32 blue pill .

[lenscap]

I'm not into imaging so I went the cheap/easy route using an Arduino/Ramps setup controlled

by wifi from my android phone using the Onstep app & SkySafari 6.

I'm delighted with it.

[Fish]

Nice did you do a build blog or forum post on the build? I was going for the ramps board but then found I could easily get a stm32 board which is a nice neat job. Its good to know it works with sky safari as thats my normal software, have you made a hand controler?

[lenscap]

I went for the Arduino/Ramps, DRV8825, WeMos D1 Mini route because it was the cheapest and because there is almost no soldering required.

You just plug the Ramps into the Arduino (I used clones for both), plug 2 DRV's into the Ramps, connect to the wifi module and you're done.

(If I was into AP I might have considered higher spec boards and drivers to give the maximum possible precision.)

I also liked the idea that you can just add another DRV to the Ramps to control an electric focuser & even use it to control a dew shield heater.

I use a 5 inch Android phone as my hand controller. It works well. Some people prefer 6" to 8" tablets for the screen size.

I can see the attraction of having a HC with physical buttons but I thought that the "dumb" HC offers little funtionality for a fair amount of extra effort. The "intelligent" HC seems to about double the cost & work on the electronics but still has no "Planetarium" interface.

I was surprised at the ease of the build. The only time consuming tasks were researching the motors & figuring out the belts & pulleys and mounting brackets.

Since you already have the motors & drive trains in place on your LXD75 about 75% of the job is done before you start.

Good luck.

 

 

[Fish]

No the existing motors are not suitable, the whole lot will go . Wasnt too sure how the phone app would work but think I will try the app before making a hand controller. 

Is it possible to connect your phone with the app and use a tablet (wifi) with Sky Safari ? If thats the case then I would not need the controller.

I have ordered all my bits just waiting for the slow boat to arrive now ?

[lenscap]

18 hours ago, Fish said:

Is it possible to connect your phone with the app and use a tablet (wifi) with Sky Safari ?

I only have one Android device so I can't try that.

I use the Onstep app & SS6 on the same phone. I use the app for 2 or 3 star alignment, then usually SS6 for goto's.

I have dual-controlled the mount by wifi using Onstep on the phone & Cartes du Ciel on a Win 10 laptop at the same time. They work well together so my guess is that your suggestion would work.

[Fish]

Thats great , can use lap top anyway so no problems either way .

[GCushing]

At the request of Dave and Khalid I've assumed worldwide distribution of the STM32 kits. Prices have remained the same and postage to OZ for the complete kit is $15US by USPS 1st Class. Delivery is usually under 10 days. Orders can be made through  http://stmbluepillkits.com

Glad to answer any questions about the kits and other OnStep options. For Great Polaris clones I find it easiest to use these brackets that can be found for $2US