Vixen Great Polaris mount SynScan upgrade

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The new SynScan GoTo upgrade for my old faithful Vixen Great Polaris mount arrived today. The previous, cheaper Sky-Watcher stepper-motor controller had given up the ghost just after I found my 27th comet. The controller has burnt out twice in five years,  along with one of the stepper  motors, not good at all, so I decided to get the SynScan upgrade for the EQ-5. These motors and controller make a much sturdier impression, and should make interfacing with the PC much easier. The kit arrived today, and was easily mounted. 

 

The only drawback is that the plastic housing of the RA motor doesn't quite fit the rather beefy housing of the Great Polaris mount. A little gap appears, which I will probably deal with with a little duck tape. Overall, the impression is good, and I am particularly glad to see the back of the flimsy plugs for the motors, which were held in place by thin strips of printed circuit board. The one on the DEC motor in particular could very easily snap off, leaving the (still functional) plug dangling on a piece of wire. 

[Alan White]

Nice upgrade Michael, certainly better than the other set you had.

As you say the basic drive set leaves quality behind price and is very liable to damage, I had one of those on a GP2 a few years back.

The synscan does look better, but the housing does let it down.

[John]

That looks an improvement over the dual axis set Michael.

I spent a couple of hours playing around with my GP mount this afternoon (which is a Celestron branded one like yours). I have a Meade LXD55 drive set and controller somewhere which is supposed to fit on the GP's, EQ5, LXD55 etc so I might have a go at fitting that in place of the Synta dual axis set that is currently on there. Trouble is, I don't want or need GOTO. I would like a neater set of motors though.

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

15 minutes ago, John said:

That looks an improvement over the dual axis set Michael.

I spent a couple of hours playing around with my GP mount this afternoon (which is a Celestron branded one like yours). I have a Meade LXD55 drive set and controller somewhere which is supposed to fit on the GP's, EQ5, LXD55 etc so I might have a go at fitting that in place of the Synta dual axis set that is currently on there. Trouble is, I don't want or need GOTO. I would like a neater set of motors though.

 

I am not a great fan of goto either, but you can just trawl around (release clutch, use the finder to get to roughly the right point, engage clutch, and use RA and Dec controls to get to the right point).

[AdeKing]

I had fitted the EQ5 motors to my recently acquired GP, but didn't like them when they were fitted to the EQ5 so removed them as soon as I could find a replacement.

I now have some MT1s and a DD-1 controller, but I think the Dec stepper driver has burnt out so I need to sort it, though I have to confess that having seen your post, the Synscan GoTo kit from my EQ5 is looking appealing.

[ShrewView]

Nice job.

I put the same synscan set on my vixen SP. Agree the plastic is a bit flimsy but has lasted ok and it works fine, although pretty noisy when slewing. So I too tend to just find stuff manually and then let it track from there.

[mikeDnight]

Michael,

Does this system do away with manual override all together? I notice you have no manual control knobs.

[AdeKing]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Michael,

Does this system do away with manual override all together? I notice you have no manual control knobs.

I know I'm not Michael but yes it does remove the option for the manual slo-motion controls Mike.

I think that if you really wanted them and were willing to modify the plastic housings for the RA and DEC motors with a hole saw you might be able to cut holes for the clutches supplied with the dual axis motors you already have.

However, the Synscan handset has a simple tracking mode that you can use to avoid the alignment routine.

Then the mount will track at whatever rate you select (solar, lunar, siderial, etc) and you can control the mount with the direction buttons as with the standard tracking motors.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Indeed, there is no real option to put the manual controls back on. I don't mind, really. I started using the controls on the RA-DEC handset I had more than the knobs anyway

[OldGringoTx]

Finally found a person running the old GP equatorial and was wondering how the drive is holding up after two years of service?

I’ve been away from the hobby for several years and was thinking about picking it up again as I’m now retired. 
 

TIA

OldGringo

[Dave_D]

20 hours ago, OldGringoTx said:

Finally found a person running the old GP equatorial and was wondering how the drive is holding up after two years of service?

I’ve been away from the hobby for several years and was thinking about picking it up again as I’m now retired. 
 

TIA

OldGringo

dunno about Michael, but I've had the synscan on my GP for 8 years now and it's still going strong

 

[OldGringoTx]

Thanks Dave. I’ll have to do more investigating on the full capabilities of the  SynScan. Scope, mount, and original Celestron motor drive have been in hibernation for almost 20 years. No idea as to whether the old drive is still functional but there’s only one way to find out. 

[Celerondon]

On 16/07/2022 at 09:32, OldGringoTx said:

Thanks Dave. I’ll have to do more investigating on the full capabilities of the  SynScan. Scope, mount, and original Celestron motor drive have been in hibernation for almost 20 years. No idea as to whether the old drive is still functional but there’s only one way to find out. 

Did you ever restart your system?  I read your post and immediately thought that you might need to service that mount after such a long hibernation.  Sometimes the grease gets old and rather petrified after a few years.