Nexus & Nexus DSC Owners' Thread

[Captain Scarlet]

I think a good many of us use a Nexus unit or Nexus DSC to control or communicate with our mounts. I can't find a dedicated "owners' thread" so here it is. I use a Nexus DSC to control 2 mounts: an AZ-EQ6 and an AOK Ayoii with encoders.

One very good thing about the Nexus DSC is that it has 60-70 separate catalogues, some huge, which you can tick on or off to guide what you want to show up when you're in the field selecting targets. However, these catalogues are all in "abbreviated name" form on the Nexus DSC screen and it's not possible within the unit, when choosing, to see a description of what, say, the CGCS catalogue actually comprises (this one is a very nice catalogue, actually - Catalogue of Galactic Carbon Stars).

As a first contribution, I thought I might provide a list of all that appear in Serge's latest release, with a brief description of what they are. I've re-sorted them here by category, but within the category they appear in the same order as they would in the Nexus DSC. I’ve also omitted some that are self-explanatory (such as “Sun & Planets”). I hope this is useful. the list is certainly going to help me get the most out of this.

Also, It would be great if other Nexus users might use this thread to discuss issues etc.

Cheers, Magnus

NEXUS DSC CATALOGUES

Clusters (Open and Globular)
Lynga
ACO & ACO S
Abell
Berkeley
Collinder - 471 OCs
Czernik - 45 OCs
Dolidze – 57 OCs
King - 27 OCs?
Melotte – 250 OCs and GCs
Palomar GCs – 15 of the very faintest globs
Pismis – 24 OCs and 2 GCs
Ruprecht – can’t find info
Stock – OCs
Terzan – 11 GCs
Trumpler – 37 OCs

Nebulae (Planetary & Extended)
Abell PNs
Henize -  ?
Kohoutek – hundreds of PNs?
LBN – Lynd’s Bright Nebulae
Minkowski – nearly 200 PNs
Perek-Kohoutek – hundreds
NEXUS-DSC generic PNs (presumably all)
Sharpless – 313 Hii nebulous regions

Galaxies
Arakelian - 621 high-surface-brightness galaxies
Arp – Arp's peculiar galaxies
HCG – Hickson’s Compact Groups
Markarian – high UV galaxies
RFGC – Revised Flat Galaxy Catalogue – 4236 ultra-flat galaxies
UGC – Uppsala General Catalogue of 12,921 Northern Hemisphere galaxies >1’ & mag14.5
UGCA – Addendum to UGC, >400, mostly Southern Hemishpere “a hodgepodge of extra galaxies”
CGCG – Catalogue of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies: compiled by F Zwicky 1961–68, contains 29,418 galaxies and 9,134 galaxy clusters
MCG - Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies, 30,642 up to mag 15
PGC - Principal Galaxies Catalogue: 131,601 galaxies with extra data eg radial velocities and position angles

Other/Misc/Combinations
Barnard – dark regions
Caldwell - 109 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies
ESO – catalogue of observations European Southern Observatory I think
Herschel – (2,521 various objects)
IC – supplement to the NGC list

Stars
Bayer – beta Orionis, etc
Flamsteed – eg 61 Cygni
CGCS – Catalogue of Galactic Carbon Stars
GCVS – General Catalogue of Variable Stars (>52,000 members)
Henry Draper – 225,300 stars with Spectroscopic Classifications
Hipparcos Stars - 118,218 stars charted with the highest precision (Hipparcos satellite)
SAO - (258,944)

 

Double Stars
Burnham
J Herschel
F Struve – Friedrich Struve (not sure what A & B denote)
O Struve – likewise (not sure what (A) represents
ADS – Aitken Double Stars, successor to Burnham, 17180 doubles within 120degs of N Pole
Washington Double Stars – 155,438 systems

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Captain Scarlet

[AstroKeith]

Yes, a dedicated thread could be very useful.

I've created a few special catalogues for myself and other users. DM me for a copy if needed.

1. Abell Galaxy Clusters
2. Milky Way Globular Clusters
3. Vorontsov-Velyaminov Interacting Galaxies
4. Shakhbazian Compact Galaxy Groups

We've also uncovered some bugs in the last few months...

Nexus DSC, latest version is 1.4.14, fixes.....

• Affected by last years gps clock rollover.
• Crashes if trying to do 2 star alignment from SkySafari
• Wifi pasword not recognised after 1.1.12 upgrade.
• Wifi stuck on ch1, despite display showing it otherwise.

Nexus DSC Pro, latest version is 1.1.20, provides.....

• Various enhancements and corrections for users accessing some of the more obscure LX200 commands available.
• Unlike the Nexus DSC, the Pro has difficulty in supporting multiple wifi clients. Not often a problem but affects some advanced users. May help by using wifi ch6.

Also, not widely known. Using SkySafari or similar to do the initial 2 star alignment, the Nexus DSC Align Set up must be "2 star w/o Alt ref"

As you might have guessed, I am definitely an advanced user! Many of the recent changes Serge has put in are to enable a plate-solver to align and sync. We've been enhancing the LX200 features over wifi so that ServoCat users can do more (ServoCat uses both the Serial and USB ports). I have a telescope simulator that I can run 24/7 which allows me to develop and test perhaps more thoroughly than other users. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by AstroKeith

[josefk]

Hi Magnus,

I think you could add (Nexus DSC Pro):

- SAO (258,944 entries)

- Herschel (2521 entries).

Cheers

[Captain Scarlet]

Thanks Keith. Yes my Nexus DSC (non-pro) has a few bugs too. It was supplied in March 2020 IIRC with firmware 1.3.9h . I use it to control my AZ-EQ6, and with that it’s mostly fine but occasionally goes berserk. I think there was a new firmware release a few months ago, to 1.4.8 then 1.4.11, which I upgraded to, but it introduced lots more problems for controlling the AZ-EQ6 in AZ mode to the extent of making it unusable. I’ve had to revert to 1.3.9h . Serge did try to call me a few weeks ago after I emailed him but I missed the call. I should try again to get in touch.

@AstroKeith what do your Version numbers refer to? My Nexus DSC is 1.3.9 or 1.4.x, perhaps the 1.1.x are for the pro?

Magnus

Edited February 20, 2023 by Captain Scarlet

[Captain Scarlet]

24 minutes ago, josefk said:

Hi Magnus,

I think you could add (Nexus DSC Pro):

- SAO (258,944 entries)

- Herschel (2521 entries).

Cheers

Thanks, I'd omitted the SAO catalogue as I know what it is, so in first incarnation of the list I didn't bother including it (I created the list just for my own edification to begin with, then thought it might be useful for others). I've added it. The Herschel (2521), as far as I can tell it's a combination of Clusters and Nebulae? Just so I know where to put them as an edit.

[josefk]

6 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Thanks, I'd omitted the SAO catalogue as I know what it is, so in first incarnation of the list I didn't bother including it (I created the list just for my own edification to begin with, then thought it might be useful for others). I've added it. The Herschel (2521), as far as I can tell it's a combination of Clusters and Nebulae? Just so I know where to put them as an edit.

it's a full liquorice allsorts so probably Other/Misc in your categories...

[AstroKeith]

27 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Thanks Keith. Yes my Nexus DSC (non-pro) has a few bugs too. It was supplied in March 2020 IIRC with firmware 1.3.9h . I use it to control my AZ-EQ6, and with that it’s mostly fine but occasionally goes berserk. I think there was a new firmware release a few months ago, to 1.4.8 then 1.4.11, which I upgraded to, but it introduced lots more problems for controlling the AZ-EQ6 in AZ mode to the extent of making it unusable. I’ve had to revert to 1.3.9h . Serge did try to call me a few weeks ago after I emailed him but I missed the call. I should try again to get in touch.

@AstroKeith what do your Version numbers refer to? My Nexus DSC is 1.3.9 or 1.4.x, perhaps the 1.1.x are for the pro?

Magnus

Sorry - I half combined the numbers!

So the Nexus DSC latest is 1.4.14
The DSC Pro is  1.1.20

No excuses for Serge's updates (but I know he has been super busy and distracted)

Attached!

NexusDSC_release_1.4.14.zip NexusDSCPro_FW_1.1.20.zip

[Captain Scarlet]

12 minutes ago, AstroKeith said:

Sorry - I half combined the numbers!

So the Nexus DSC latest is 1.4.14
The DSC Pro is  1.1.20

No excuses for Serge's updates (but I know he has been super busy and distracted)

Attached!

NexusDSC_release_1.4.14.zip 1.18 MB · 0 downloads NexusDSCPro_FW_1.1.20.zip 463.67 kB · 1 download

Thanks Keith I'll have a go at 1.4.14 and see what I find...

[AstroKeith]

A general point on Wifi.

Change your Nexus DSC SSID to something unique to you. Especially important if you are ever near another one!
Set your password.

Set the channel number to 1,6 or 11, The 2.4G wifi is a broad signal. Using these channels avoids overlaps

If you are having wifi problems, get a wifi scanner APP and see what else is near you and what channel they are using. Avoid them!

SkySafari, which is commonly used, handles the wifi connection in a particular way. It creates a socket connection for each command. Opening and closing a 'socket' is good TCP/IP practice generally, but not perhaps when so many individual commands are being sent - ie 10Hz update rate!

The upshot of this is that the wifi client (tablet, computer, etc) opens a new port each time, port number being incremented by 1. Some port numbers are reserved and there is a top limit to the number (65535). If it reaches 65535 then the machine should start again at the lowest allowed number, usually in blocks. Some machines seem to mess this up. This explains some of those 'lost connections' that start appearing half way through a session. It's not a Nexus fault. You just have to restart the client machine.

This opening and closing of the socket, leads to potential loss of connection if another nexus is nearby with the same original SSID. The client tries and usually fails to connect to the wrong Nexus! Hence, change your SSID!

At Kelling Heath, I can usually see about 15-20 Nexus DSC wifi APs. Many are still on original SSID and password!

[AstroKeith]

I'm keeping these posts separated into topics!

The Nexus DSC comes with a nice charging cable. USB to 5.5/2.1mm.

It is meant to plug into the Nexus DSC 5.5/2.1 jack socket, and then a USB charger. Make sure it's capable of 2.4A or so. Sometimes the charging LED go off and on. This is the charging circuit coping with a hot battery!

It can sometimes charge much faster if you use a 12V charger. You will need a different cable! 

Don't do what a few others have done - reverse the supplied cable by mistake and feed 12V into the Nexus DSC USB port.

[Captain Scarlet]

Does anyone use their Nexus DSC or DSC pro to control their AZ-EQ6 in alt-az mode? I’d be very interested to hear of your experiences. I’m finding it simply doesn’t work for this mount.

I had a session last night where during the afternoon I’d updated Nexus DSC firmware to the latest version, and it was still unusable (like all the 1.4.x versions I’ve tried so far). I found myself having to revert ”in the field” to the 3-year-old firmware 1.3.9h with which it was supplied, after which it was more or less fine again.

Magnus

[AstroKeith]

38 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Does anyone use their Nexus DSC or DSC pro to control their AZ-EQ6 in alt-az mode? I’d be very interested to hear of your experiences. I’m finding it simply doesn’t work for this mount.

I had a session last night where during the afternoon I’d updated Nexus DSC firmware to the latest version, and it was still unusable (like all the 1.4.x versions I’ve tried so far). I found myself having to revert ”in the field” to the 3-year-old firmware 1.3.9h with which it was supplied, after which it was more or less fine again.

Magnus

Definitely a question for Serge!

[Stephenstargazer]

On 20/02/2023 at 17:40, AstroKeith said:

Don't do what a few others have done - reverse the supplied cable by mistake and feed 12V into the Nexus DSC USB port.

Yep! The day I unpacked my DSC I put tape over the USB socket and now it has a silicone plug. It would be so easy to forget and plug in a phone charger 😖

I think this topic will be very useful. I have been using DSC on two push to mounts, but now my Rowan AZ100 has motors and I am waiting to make that connection when software is out. Until then my DSC will stay on the older version. (My grasp of IT is limited to following instuctions.)

 

[Stephenstargazer]

There is beta software out for test from Astro Devices and Rowan to allow DSC devices to control the optional motor set on an AZ100. Neither is released yet, but it may not take long.

The AZ100 is added as an optional motor controller to select in DSC/Pro serial connections. 

Discussion on AZ100 Mount Owners Thread. 

[Mutley]

I'm thinking about getting a Nexus II as a replacement for the sky-commander on my Dob , and also hitching up to an eq6-r pro. Just to get a nicer interface through sky-safari. I've read on here about various problems pairing Nexus with az-eq6 , anyone know if I should expect the same thing with an eq6? I don't relish the idea of the combination going a bit berserk on me

[Elara]

Thank you for creating this dedicated thread - very helpful!

I’m the new owner of N. DSC Pro with encoders for a VAMO Traveller Mount (hereinafter VTM).

My skill set runs to following instructions ( mainly) and it took me a while to work out how to fit some encoder parts onto the VTM, as the IFU seemed to skip things. I may email Serge, who, prior to purchase (from Astrograph and FLO) was very helpful. I originally thought of buying direct but the savings were minimal.

This N.DSC Pro is firmware version 1.1.24 dated April 2023.

Hopefully I’ll get chance to mount a scope on the VMT in the next few days and try things out!

[AstroKeith]

3 minutes ago, Elara said:

Thank you for creating this dedicated thread - very helpful!

I’m the new owner of N. DSC Pro with encoders for a VAMO Traveller Mount (hereinafter VTM).

My skill set runs to following instructions ( mainly) and it took me a while to work out how to fit some encoder parts onto the VTM, as the IFU seemed to skip things. I may email Serge, who, prior to purchase (from Astrograph and FLO) was very helpful. I originally thought of buying direct but the savings were minimal.

This N.DSC Pro is firmware version 1.1.24 dated April 2023.

Hopefully I’ll get chance to mount a scope on the VMT in the next few days and try things out!

 

Welcome to the thread - nice shiny Nexus Pro!

[Elara]

It may be that I’m missing something ( very possible with me!)  but I’m having difficulties getting the encoder disks to remain tight in both Alt and Az configuration. No matter how many turns of the Allen key, each disk seems to remain ‘loose’, making alignment impossible.

The instructions didn’t show how each individual component fitted together, so I assume I’ve got that bit right?

Has anyone else had this problem and if so, any suggested solutions are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

(An email has gone off to Serge also.)

[AstroKeith]

8 minutes ago, Elara said:

It may be that I’m missing something ( very possible with me!)  but I’m having difficulties getting the encoder disks to remain tight in both Alt and Az configuration. No matter how many turns of the Allen key, each disk seems to remain ‘loose’, making alignment impossible.

The instructions didn’t show how each individual component fitted together, so I assume I’ve got that bit right?

Has anyone else had this problem and if so, any suggested solutions are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

(An email has gone off to Serge also.)

 

What telescope and kit type do you have?

[Elara]

100/800 f8 refractor 

VAMO Traveller Mount 

Gitzo tripod 

[AstroKeith]

OK, try this

Before inserting the assembly in your top photo into the mount, wind the screw in so the white 'cone' is just starting to grip the inside of the black part. Insert into housing and try tightening the screw. If it still dosent tighten, then remove and wind the screw in to give more grip. Try again.

[Elara]

Thank you for this, it’s what I’ve been trying but with no success. I’m wondering whether the white chamfered discs are just too wide in diameter to successfully expand the inner enough to create the interference fit necessary?

I’ll drop FLO a line too and await on Serge for his input.

Cheers!

[AstroKeith]

Is the metal female part slipping in the white disc? When you continue to tighten - can you tell what is slipping?

[Elara]

No, I wouldn’t call it ‘slipping’ unless I misunderstand your point. The female part isn’t opening out at all,  as far as I can tell, therefore my theory on the diam. of the white disk being the problem?  

[AstroKeith]

The female metal part has to grip the white disk strong enough such that it doesnt rotate when the screw is rotated.