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Paramount ME Installed at University of Glasgow

narrowbandpaul

By narrowbandpaul
in Discussions - Cameras

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narrowbandpaul

narrowbandpaul

Posted
Posted

Hi All

The University of Glasgow have now installed the Paramount ME ordered from Orion Optics back in July.

After the mount arrived, we realised we would need to demolish the existing concrete pier, to avoid zenith issues. We ended up demolishing 38" of concrete and installing a 48" pier from Software Bisque themselves.

The pier was prepared for direct attachment to the residual 8" of concrete on thursday, and on monday, after filing concrete perfectly flat, the pier was secured to the concrete with 4 bolts and the pier was then filled with 100kg of dry sand to dampen any vibrations.

The mount has been connected to the PC, and it works fine. The mount is already roughly polar aligned thanks drawing a north-south line during midday. Exact polar alignment will occur very soon, using T-Point.

Housed on top of the mount is a 16" Meade LX200, secured using custom made CNC machined tube rings from Orion Optics.

This is the mount to end all mounts, and once it is working fully it will be awesome. Shame it is based in a very wet country. Oh well....

Paul

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  • 2 months later...
martintblack

martintblack

Posted
Posted

Hello, I realise this is a bit late however:

Just before Paul takes all the credit for this, he did not install it! I am the one standing at the computer trying to get the software to work. It is working okay, however it is not aligned to finding objects everytime.

We will keep you up to date with any further developments, and if anyone has advice on how to improve the alignment, please let us know!

Martin

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jsandse

jsandse

Posted
Posted

Well you have got a nice mount there.

I am not fortunate enough to have experience with the paramount but the TPoint software is easy to use. (I have a C14 on a CGE mount and have used Tpoint with it for polar alignment and pointing)

Just make sure your mount is balanced before you do your tpoint run.

You will need at least two tpoint runs - one to get the polar alignment correct and the other to get the pointing as accurate as possible

You just need to have some clear skies for your tpoint runs.

In Glasgow that could be a challenge ... ;0)

By the way what are you going to use for guiding if anything - its best to have your target setup installed when doing your tpoint run.

John

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Ad Astra

Ad Astra

Posted
Posted

Superb installation!!! If you have too many clouds up there, you can just put it on the portable tripod and bring it out to the desert to play! :)

Nice to see that the 16 does not look like it overpowers the mount, either!

Dan

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Neil27

Neil27

Posted
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We will keep you up to date with any further developments, and if anyone has advice on how to improve the alignment, please let us know!

Martin

Hi Martin,

Not sure what problems you are having but doing t-point runs are Childs play to do.

I've found software bisque's own website a good resource of information - here is a link to Tom's Corner - a guy who has a lot of knowledge regarding the ME.

Software Bisque

It is explained in more detail than I can recall. When I set-up mine I had accurate pointing to within a few arc minutes within a few hours. Let me know how you get on.

Thanks, Neil.

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martintblack

martintblack

Posted
Posted

Hey

We had a few problems at first getting it set up, clamped down, fitting guide scopes, needing extra weights, computer issues, a bird in the dome; you get the idea! Most of them have been sorted now (the bird left unharmed of its own free will :-) ).

We are yet to do a t-point run! We were trying to get the system as accurate as possible using drift align first. So far the mount makes small movements accurately, but is pretty far off when its over 1/4 of the sky or more. I hadn't realised T-point could help with the polar alignment that well, so shall try to get time for that soon.

We have recently managed to fit a C5 for guiding with, and are now more or less set on the final configuration of everything. What we really need now is a clear night and time away from studying!

Thanks for the help and advice, it is much appreciated.

Martin

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RobH

RobH

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Hey

We have recently managed to fit a C5 for guiding

Martin

Martin.

You're going to have a nightmare trying to guide one SCT with another.

They both suffer from mirror flop, and this is an issue even when guiding an SCT using a refractor, but dealing with mirror flop with a very long FL imaging scope, when having the same issues in the guidescope is a non starter I'm afraid.

The absolute best way to guide a big long FL SCT is by using an off axis guider, that way, any movement of the main mirror is compensated for.

I know that the scope has a mirror lock, but these are only partially effective.

Rob.

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jsandse

jsandse

Posted
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Erm I haven't found mirror flop problems on my C14 problematic but I do use a refractor for guiding.

Granted an OAG is often best for guiding - if you can find a guide star that is....I know I have tried...sometimes I am lucky...sometimes not. There is also the problem with vignetting on the edge of field if you are using a focal reducer - makes those guide stars even harder to find.

If the C5 causes problems get a cheap refractor I use a skywatcher 102mm F5. I use PHD and ascom for guiding they are simple and they work a treat.

I'd strongly advise getting a focal reducer for your scope to bring it down to F6 or 7 - it'll make things a lot easier for long exposure photography, photometry or spectroscopy - presumably you'll be using the scope for scientific purposes.

With you first Tpoint run you start by pointing to stars close together eg go round the stars in the plough or something like that, Tpoint learns the mistakes of the mount and builds up a model for the mount as you do more stars the pointing gets more and more accurate. When you are happy with your first run 20-50 stars TPoint will tell you how far out your polar alignment is and you can just correct for this using the adjustment knobs on the mount.

Then do another tpoint run to confirm your polar alignment and give you a new pointing model - and thats it - off you go!

Then you'll just have guiding to sort out.

cheers

John

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FraserClarke

FraserClarke

Posted
Posted
We are yet to do a t-point run! We were trying to get the system as accurate as possible using drift align first. So far the mount makes small movements accurately, but is pretty far off when its over 1/4 of the sky or more. I hadn't realised T-point could help with the polar alignment that well, so shall try to get time for that soon.

T-point is the way to go. It's so integrated with the Paramount that it even tells you how many turns of the adjustment knobs you need to make to correct the alignment :)

With a run of about 100 stars, we have our Paramounts pointing to about 40-arcseconds across the whole sky.

Should take you about 1/2 a night once you're into your stride.

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RobH

RobH

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Erm I haven't found mirror flop problems on my C14 problematic but I do use a refractor for guiding.

John

I did have issues on occasion with my 14 inch LX200 John, but most of the time it was OK. The problem only showed up when crossing the meridian (it was fork mounted).

You won't get that problem with the Paramount as they stop tracking at the meridian I believe.

I used a TAL100 for my guidescope.

When running the 14 at F6.3, I used a 0.5x focal reducer with the Tal, and when running at F10, I also used the Tal at F10.

Cheers

Rob

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syd_malicious

syd_malicious

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Hey

We had a few problems at first getting it set up, clamped down, fitting guide scopes, needing extra weights, computer issues, a bird in the dome; you get the idea! Most of them have been sorted now (the bird left unharmed of its own free will :-) ).

We are yet to do a t-point run! We were trying to get the system as accurate as possible using drift align first. So far the mount makes small movements accurately, but is pretty far off when its over 1/4 of the sky or more. I hadn't realised T-point could help with the polar alignment that well, so shall try to get time for that soon.

We have recently managed to fit a C5 for guiding with, and are now more or less set on the final configuration of everything. What we really need now is a clear night and time away from studying!

Thanks for the help and advice, it is much appreciated.

Martin

A few comments:-

Guiding. As said above I really wouldn't guide with a C5; I wouldn't trust the mirror not to move.

Alignment. I don't know what Image capture software you are using but I would thoroughly endorse AAGware's T-point mapper as it is quick and accurate; it needs either CCDsoft (included with the Paramount) or Maxim DL both in combination with Pinpoint from DC3 Dreams.

You have to be very careful about which terms to add to the model as these can really throw off the alignment process. You should read the Bisque website forums for advice and there is a PDF on there somewhere that takes a very logical pathway through defining terms.

Once you have a reasonable model - initial alignment probably only needs 20 or so points (the manual is a bit misleading) subsequent runs to refine the pointing need more points. T-point does tell you exactly how much to alter the alt-az setting of the mount to achieve the correction needed. Also make sure you are going for the refracted and not true pole (covered in the manual).

I am not familiar with your OTA but if it has a mirrir lock you must engage it otherwise hysteresis from mirror flop will make the model inaccurate.

Paul

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