Not that EM200 again..

[ollypenrice]

Yes, I'm afraid so. This very expensive mount has yet to finish a photo. For those of you wise enough not to have read my earlier posts on this subject this Takahashi mount works for a while and then stops responding to the guider or suddenly goes off on a trip of its own inventing.

When it works it works very well. Polar alignment is a peach and the tracking is excellent - for about a third of a picture then it goes belly up for the night.

I wanted to be able to offer a dead reliable platform by spending an eye-watering sum. I have been fifty percent successful! These mounts, everyone says, 'just work.' Well this one 'just doesn't work' and that is that. Sorry folks. We will get a great mount going by hook or by crook.

Now negotiating with the supplier. (I was disgusted that the French/European importer was unable to tell me how to achieve the right chip spacing for the reducer on our FSQ so I went eleswhere for the mount.)

Olly

[russ]

What a nightmare Olly, really hope you get it sorted soon.

[Ben Ritchie]

What's the difference in price between the EM200 and a used 1200GTO Olly? The latter really is a "just work" mount with anything you throw on it.

[NickH]

I agree Olly...was discussing AP's again last night with John Slinn and his wife.

We've had a shed load of grief with a Losmandy Titan in Spain too (took almost a year to solve in total), whereas the EQ6's just kept on working....and I specced an AP for that project too...but the waiting list and the fact that it was looking like a 3600 rather than the 1200 stopped that one..

[ollypenrice]

Thanks.

Good question, Ben. However, getting a straight refund might be a real battle and I wouldn't want to fall out with the supplier who really has been great over this and also in helping me over the years. It is a problem for him too, of course.

An AP Mach 1 would do fine since very long focal length imaging is not something that is top of our list. Anything that will take a 10 inch SCT will do provided it has razor sharp guiding.

Losmandy don't seem to be able to get it right all the time as you suggest, Nick.

Roll on the iOptron IEQ45 if it is good.

My EQ sixes are fine usually, but not super accurate every night. They rarely fail to stop me getting an image but very long narrowband exposures are not realistic at a metre. I'm never really sure why they are sometimes great and sometimes only so-so. I want to offer something better if I can, especially for the TEC 140. The Tak FSQ is short enough and fast enough to make few demands on its mount.

Olly

[Ben Ritchie]

The Mach1 is really nice, but once you've shipped it from upstate IL there's really not a huge price difference between that and a 1200, which has huge capacity and great performance - mine was sub-arcsecond with PEC turned on. Only real reason for the Mach1 is if you need portability, although carrying the 1200 isn't too bad.

Been there and got the T-shirt with Losmandy...

My EQ sixes are fine usually, but not super accurate every night. They rarely fail to stop me getting an image but very long narrowband exposures are not realistic at a metre. I'm never really sure why they are sometimes great and sometimes only so-so. I want to offer something better if I can, especially for the TEC 140. The Tak FSQ is short enough and fast enough to make few demands on its mount.

I have a very similar experience with mine, good mount and great value for money, but mine's not fully comfortable with guided imaging at 1m focal length. Never really examined why in detail, had enough of that with my G11

[NickH]

Olly, it's not like this is just a hobby, it's a business, and the grief we had with the Titan stopped us doing a lot this year...and required several flights by Ninian to fix.. thankfully all sorted (ish) now, but never again IMHO

So I would not worry about upsetting the supplier, if it aint fit for purpose, it aint fit!

[Ben Ritchie]

I'm very much in agreement with Nick, when you're paying the price of a reasonable used car for a mount then you should expect it to power up and work flawlessly.

[SteveP]

Hi Olly

I hope you get the EM200 working soon.

My own experience with the European distributor's customer service was also less than acceptable. Unfortunately my 2 year old FSQ needed a new front lens (ouch!) and OU refused to get involved even though I was paying for the repair/shipping etc since the scope had been bought 2nd hand. Fortunately, a quick email to the US distributor sorted everytning out and he put me in direct contact with Tak Japan who repaired the scope quickly and returned it to the UK. Well, it's currently in transit.

Good luck with resolving your issue

Steve

[NickH]

I'm very much in agreement with Nick, when you're paying the price of a reasonable used car for a mount then you should expect it to power up and work flawlessly.

Which is what the EQ6's have done since day 1. And the temperatures we were hitting mid summer were close on 52 degrees c on site at midday, and they still worked..solar tracking in the day and then DSO's at night

[Rossco72]

Sorry to hear of your troubles again Olly. It's so irritating when you pay a premium price and get sub-standard service and by all accounts a sub-standard piece of kit.

Are you in contact with Tak directly and do they realise that their distributer is rubbishing their name?

[davew]

Hi Olly,

I just can't believe this. I feel a bit guilty now praising the mount.

The upside is that you've found the Polar scope really is as good as people say. But look at all the downsides !

After some head scratching all I can suggest is swapping out the cables from the guide camera and to the mount to see if there is a damaged lead / plug. That's assuming all else in the system is well. I imagine you've tried most things by now. Have you used Chuck's plugin to reset all parameters ? It's a nightmare trying to change settings on the handset.

I'm running out of ideas and you must be running out of patience. So sorry to hear all this.

Dave.

[ollypenrice]

Hi Olly,

I just can't believe this. I feel a bit guilty now praising the mount.

The upside is that you've found the Polar scope really is as good as people say. But look at all the downsides !

After some head scratching all I can suggest is swapping out the cables from the guide camera and to the mount to see if there is a damaged lead / plug. That's assuming all else in the system is well. I imagine you've tried most things by now. Have you used Chuck's plugin to reset all parameters ? It's a nightmare trying to change settings on the handset.

I'm running out of ideas and you must be running out of patience. So sorry to hear all this.

Dave.

Well Dave, last night I swapped the little guide cable adapter (Shoestring Astronomy) - as I have tried pre-repair to no avail - and the darned mount ran really well all night! I won't say it was perfect but I never dropped a sub on an all-nighter. What I find odd is that if I switch off the Dec guiding it sits there good as gold for 2-3 minutes and then quite suddenly begins to lose it and dec drift sets in fast.

However, using a manually set Dec backlash instead of AstroArt's 'auto' it runs sweetly in Dec and supernaturally well in RA once just the right out-of-balance is achieved.

Current project is a big mosaic and once, when I came to slew to the next panel, it again spontanesly slewed on two axes rather than the one I was applying. I checked that the autoguider was off this time and it was. I suspect the little handbox may be the culprit, sending unwanted signals from time to time.

So last night was a good night. Phew.

Olly

[davew]

Sounds like an intermittent spurious signal that's for sure.

Have you tried an email to TNR ? Fred may have an answer. I realise you didn't buy it from them but they do seem helpful to the whole world not just the USA. They may suggest a phone call !

It is showing it can do it but you need to be able to switch on and walk away.

I can't yet get my head round why you send one signal and it reacts as if you've sent two.

As usual, keep us informed if you would. People need to know the bad as well as the good.

Dave.

[Ogri]

"Sounds like an intermittent spurious signal that's for sure."

Just a thought, it's not picking up an intermittent spurious signal from something/somewhere else, is it?

A friend lost a nice radio controlled model aircraft like this once, as it 'got confused' and taken over by a CB radio (I think it was).

eta: is there an option/extension for a longer or shorter lead for the handset? It might be working as an aerial and picking up a harmonic?

eta2: a 'quick and dirty' cheap test might be to place the handset and a fair amount of the cable into a metal box (biscuit tin type thing) once it is set up and running, and see what happens.

Nick made a good point with this too "You've got stable mains/recitifiers/UPS's?". Not sure what the situation is with you in France, but I know the mains supply in most of Spain is all over the place (getting that way here in this part of the UK too - God help us if we get more unreliable 'windfarms', those 'smartmeter' load shifters and interferers, and lose so much of our base power generation as is planned).

[NickH]

You've got stable mains/recitifiers/UPS's?

DaveW, I think recommending a mount of this calibre is a good thing, I hope that Olly's is just a one off. The Titan in Spain should on paper have been perfect too.., and I know one person who's blown three Paramounts... you get them from time to time

[ollypenrice]

Interesting point about the mains and an aerial effect. I will try the tin box. I am running the mount on a computer 24 volt transformer and whenever I test it it gives squack on 24 volts on the multimeter, never varying from that exact reading. I will try it on a 12 volt battery just for the sake of it, though. While I was having my fun a visiting NJP (pop it in yer pocket and stroll away!!) was running like a train on our mains, as do all other mounts that visit, including EM200s. No one has reported a problem and that can be eight mounts running simultaneously if we get a big gang in.

Too be continued, but last night was great.

Olly

[Ben Ritchie]

DaveW, I think recommending a mount of this calibre is a good thing, I hope that Olly's is just a one off. The Titan in Spain should on paper have been perfect too.., and I know one person who's blown three Paramounts... you get them from time to time

There are always one-offs, failures etc., but as you go up in price the service you get should make it a small inconvenience. AP's break, but call AP and you can talk to Roland or the bloke who made your mount. TNR offer great service for Tak too, but I think in Europe it's a bit more patchy.

Losmandy, well, once I eventually got a reply it was to tell me there was no such thing as the problem I was reporting, despite me including a Fourier periodogram showing it Fix-it-yerself was my experience there.

[davew]

Well you've made me feel better !

If it is the handset, try running without it. I'm sure you tried that the last time. Nudge from the laptop ?

If it runs on 12 / 24 volts is it a Temma 2 or Temma 2M ? If the latest 2M it should run on 12v. The 2M has new motors / board ??

Still thinking,

Dave.

[ollypenrice]

I did run without the handset pre repair and once it made a difference but only once. Intermittent problems are a killer for defeating this approach. Same with motorbike electrics!

Olly

[Erwin Kats]

get a ddm, its included with less problems

i hope you will get it running properly, under the skies were you stay its just amazing