Mesu e200

[tooth_dr]

After a few final confirmations of details from @steppenwolf and @Jonk and @Skipper Billy I decided to go ahead and order the mount and wedge from Bern at MA.

I was keen on the bent knee pier, but when all was considered, I decided to stick with a standard pier.  SGPro does my meridian flips currently with no issues, and the standard pier is easier to make, and easier to fit into the observatory.

 

For anyone ordering one from Northern Ireland, delivery is a bit of an issue.  The mounts don't come packaged, so this has to be factored into the cost, along with carriage and insurance.  Luckily enough I was able to call in a favour from two friends, one collected it off Bern, and the other is driving it from London to Northern Ireland.

The mount is currently in London in my friends garage, so I haven't seen it yet, but my friend send my a couple of photos (one below).  It should arrive with me in NI on the 10th February.

 

As such I was hoping to make a few preparations prior to arrive, and looking for some answers.

- does anyone have a template/measurements for the wedge base plate so I can adapt a spare pier mounting plate that I have here?

- I have a serial port on my PC, does the Mesu plug directly into this, and is then controlled using software via this cable?

 

I'll probably have more questions once I get the mount, but want to try to get as much ready before it arrives.  I plan to mount it on my current concrete pier temporarily until I build my dome and build a new metal pier.

 

I'll post more updates when the mount arrives.

 

Thanks

Adam.

[Skipper Billy]

Nice !!!!  😉 

Cant help with the cable question as mine has a different version of the SiTech box - sorry!

Lucas Mesu speaks very good English - drop him an email. info@mesu-optics.nl 

[tooth_dr]

13 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

Nice !!!!  😉 

Cant help with the cable question as mine has a different version of the SiTech box - sorry!

Lucas Mesu speaks very good English - drop him an email. info@mesu-optics.nl 

Thanks David. I should do that, he’s been very quick to reply in the past few weeks.

[paul mc c]

No messing about now fella......you deserve that one Adam,going by your images with the neq6.

[Jonk]

You should have received a USB to serial adaptor with the kit, so no reason you can’t use the supplied serial cable directly... just need to set it up (com port) the same way you would with a USB connection.

1 word of warning, if the motors / encoder cables are disconnected on arrival, or disconnected by you, they’re not labelled RA and DEC so you may want to do this asap.

Connecting them incorrectly will result in ‘blinky mode’... yes this is what it’s called so read the manual 😆

[tooth_dr]

Just now, paul mc c said:

No messing about now fella......you deserve that one Adam,going by your images with the neq6.

Thanks Paul. I‘m trying my best, hope I can do it justice. 

[tooth_dr]

2 minutes ago, Jonk said:

You should have received a USB to serial adaptor with the kit, so no reason you can’t use the supplied serial cable directly... just need to set it up (com port) the same way you would with a USB connection.

1 word of warning, if the motors / encoder cables are disconnected on arrival, or disconnected by you, they’re not labelled RA and DEC so you may want to do this asap.

Connecting them incorrectly will result in ‘blinky mode’... yes this is what it’s called so read the manual 😆

Will do that! Thanks Jon 👍🏼

[tooth_dr]

Also wondering where to get 40mm ID sleeves to line my CWs?

[alan potts]

I can only imagine a person that puts out a whole load of really good images is just about to go to another level. Good luck, I know with new gear like this it is needed and I hope everything runs smoothly. I expect you will have bad weather now stopping me seeing your work.

Alan

[tooth_dr]

1 minute ago, alan potts said:

I can only imagine a person that puts out a whole load of really good images is just about to go to another level. Good luck, I know with new gear like this it is needed and I hope everything runs smoothly. I expect you will have bad weather now stopping me seeing your work.

Alan

Thanks Alan.  I'm sure there is a correlation between bad weather and purchases!  Fingers crossed for a few clear night in the future.

[steppenwolf]

Excellent news, Adam - you are in for such a treat. Can’t help with the cable as I have the earlier mount and SiTech controller.

[Xsubmariner]

I believe it was beneficial to align the wedge accurately with NCP first, using the Polemaster. Then when it came to aligning the mount (PA) it was surprisingly easy with the 3 x 12mm bolts.

[newbie alert]

Nice one Adam..

Looks pretty good as it is, you're not going to make it live in a shed are you?

[paul mc c]

On 28/01/2020 at 13:34, tooth_dr said:

Thanks Paul. I‘m trying my best, hope I can do it justice. 

I think you will do ok,going by your images with the neq........😉

Edited January 30, 2020 by paul mc c

[WanderingEye]

On 28/01/2020 at 13:09, tooth_dr said:

After a few final confirmations of details from @steppenwolf and @Jonk and @Skipper Billy I decided to go ahead and order the mount and wedge from Bern at MA.

I was keen on the bent knee pier, but when all was considered, I decided to stick with a standard pier.  SGPro does my meridian flips currently with no issues, and the standard pier is easier to make, and easier to fit into the observatory.

 

For anyone ordering one from Northern Ireland, delivery is a bit of an issue.  The mounts don't come packaged, so this has to be factored into the cost, along with carriage and insurance.  Luckily enough I was able to call in a favour from two friends, one collected it off Bern, and the other is driving it from London to Northern Ireland.

The mount is currently in London in my friends garage, so I haven't seen it yet, but my friend send my a couple of photos (one below).  It should arrive with me in NI on the 10th February.

 

As such I was hoping to make a few preparations prior to arrive, and looking for some answers.

- does anyone have a template/measurements for the wedge base plate so I can adapt a spare pier mounting plate that I have here?

- I have a serial port on my PC, does the Mesu plug directly into this, and is then controlled using software via this cable?

 

I'll probably have more questions once I get the mount, but want to try to get as much ready before it arrives.  I plan to mount it on my current concrete pier temporarily until I build my dome and build a new metal pier.

 

I'll post more updates when the mount arrives.

 

Thanks

Adam.

The mounts done come packaged... 😮😮. So how do they come, completely naked as in the picture, and they have to be collected from MA, so how do they get to Bern at MA...??

[Jonk]

Bern travels to Mesu to collect them in small batches depending on orders. I can’t imagine he sells more than a handful at a time.

Shipping crates for direct delivery can be arranged with Lucas if you wanted one, and this all adds to the cost.

[Skipper Billy]

On 28/01/2020 at 13:42, tooth_dr said:

Also wondering where to get 40mm ID sleeves to line my CWs?

Not sure what you mean ??

[tooth_dr]

4 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

Not sure what you mean ??

Sorry David my question was very vague. I plan to bore our my current counterweight to 40mm but then Jonk suggested they could marr the Mesu shaft.  So I thought a plastic liner would work.

Im trying to source 40mm ID sleeves 

[tooth_dr]

59 minutes ago, WanderingEye said:

The mounts done come packaged... 😮😮. So how do they come, completely naked as in the picture, and they have to be collected from MA, so how do they get to Bern at MA...??

I don’t actually know how they come but Bern said he wound provide modest packaging to get it home safely, so probably a bit of bubble wrap and a cardboard box?? 

There was the option of purchasing delivery packaging as Jonk says, but it wasn’t really necessary in my case, and the cost was not insignificant.

 

 

[Skipper Billy]

55 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Sorry David my question was very vague. I plan to bore our my current counterweight to 40mm but then Jonk suggested they could marr the Mesu shaft.  So I thought a plastic liner would work.

Im trying to source 40mm ID sleeves 

I dont know what grade the stainless is that the shaft is made of but its very hard and would probably survive a missile attack without damage!

If its useful I have huge heat-shrink tubing - you could slide a length over the shaft and shrink it down with a heatgun / blowtorch (gently!) and if its not right just slit it with a sharp knife and pull it off ?

Let me know if you want a piece sticking in the post.

[tooth_dr]

2 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

I dont know what grade the stainless is that the shaft is made of but its very hard and would probably survive a missile attack without damage!

If its useful I have huge heat-shrink tubing - you could slide a length over the shaft and shrink it down with a heatgun / blowtorch (gently!) and if its not right just slit it with a sharp knife and pull it off ?

Let me know if you want a piece sticking in the post.

Thanks David!  I have nylon tipped bolts, so may be not worry about it at all, I'm not overly concerned about a few marks on the CW shaft.

[Xsubmariner]

You may want to check your counterweight shaft diameter before you bore out your weights. I believe the ones Bernard currently has are up to 40.5mm same as the one I received. My Geoptik weights had to be drilled out to make them fit.

[tooth_dr]

27 minutes ago, Xsubmariner said:

You may want to check your counterweight shaft diameter before you bore out your weights. I believe the ones Bernard currently has are up to 40.5mm same as the one I received. My Geoptik weights had to be drilled out to make them fit.

Thanks for that info.  I have assumed it would be 40mm.  @Jonk ordered his in November, and mine is the last of this 'batch' so I think it should be 40mm too.  But I'll check first, that would be sensible  

[Jonk]

2 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

I have assumed it would be 40mm.

Never assume anything! Do you have some callipers? A steel rule might work across the diameter wt the end of the shaft.

[tomato]

The Mk 1 shaft is 40 mm OD, you don’t want or need your weights to be an interference fit on the shaft. Just make sure your counterweight pinch bolts are tipped with PTFE or something similar to avoid marking the the shaft.