A challenging evening!

[Helen]

Things haven't exactly been going smoothly this evening! You know 'one of those nights'!

I managed to get the drivers installed for the QHYPro, it recognised the camera etc. Great, I thought. Then the PC updated itself, rebooted and all of a sudden didn't want to recognise the QHY when plugged into the USB hub - even though nothing had changed. So unplugged it from the hub, attached it directly, reinstalled the drivers and it recognised the camera So far, the only drivers are to go with EZcap or Maxim (there's a beta ascom driver, but I couldn't get that to work). Ezcap isn't the slickest bit of software around... but I did at least manage to get something on screen to focus. Then found the focus point was so far out that I had to reset the autofocus . And then, for no apparent reason the mount decided to start mucking around - turned into alt az tracking then shut down all together. After a lot of muttering and twiddling power cables etc it finally decided to come back to life, but has been slightly temperamental since.

I nearly gave up at that point. But decided to give it another go, but Ezcap won in the end and I decided to give up on the QHY8 and give the H9 a go with the hyperstar.

So unscrewed the hyperstar, only to find to my horror that the secondary holder is rotating too - is this serious??? (it feels it! and it must affect the collimation of the secondary)

Decided to try the hyperstar and H9 and have just taken a few leo triplet subs to test. They are not looking too bad. There appears to be some collimation issues, but I think that can wait until tomorrow now.

Here's the first rough cut of the subs. Any pointers from those who know about hyperstar tuning would be gratefully received!!!

Helen

[Psychobilly]

A bit of a mixed evening your having Helen but the Rough looks pretty darn good...

I seem to be having a reasonable might but only a few hours processing later this morning will tell - still getting data and will do until "dawn" ....

Peter...

[SteveL]

Sorry to hear you had problems with your QHY8Pro... wish I could help.

the slightest use of 3-in-1 oil on the threads (and I do mean an INCREDIBLY small amount) will help the Hyperstar come out without the secondary holder going round and round. 2-3 drops onto kitchen paper, and smear it around the threads in the secondary holder.... very careful doing that! The notch on ths secondray should be pointing to the 3 oclock position btw, so ty and keep it there... yes, moving it will affect collimation when used as an SCT.

Never tighten the HS into the secondary holder beyond a firm feel... dont aim to make it a tight fit. If the temperature drops a lot overnight, it wont come out... many freezing nights I had to bring the OTA in with the HS still attached.

Collimation is out somewhere, you can see it in the shape of the stars lower right. To get somewhere close, take the HS off and visually check the gap betwen the main body and the bit that screws into the secondary holder (i.e the bit that the push-pull screws allow you to adjust). Find something thin that is about that size, and check all the way round that you are close to centered. By eye it may look fine, but unless you have something to measure it against, you wont know.

The alternative is to take the HS and place something bright behind it. the HS sideways so you are looking through that gap. Rotate the HS in your hands while looking through that gap, and look for the gap increasing/decreasing as it rotates.

In both of the above cases, adjust as required.

The push-pull screws come loose (especially the longer thin ones!) as the temperature drops, and you will regularly find them loose after putting it away and taking it back out the next time.

For serious and repeated collimation, you will need CCD Inspector... yes, more cost!

[Helen]

Thanks Peter, hope your processing goes well!

That's really useful info Steve. The screws were loose when it arrived, so I knew it was likely that adjustment would be needed. But because I'd lost so much time with other issues I decided it was too late (ie I was too tired!) to try fiddling. If it clear tonight, that'll be my first job! So hopefully some sharper ones tonight!

Helen

[steppenwolf]

Not a great evening for you, Helen but I have no doubt that you will resolve the issues - good luck!