[pvelez (Pete)]

My new (to me - its second hand) STL11kM arrived on Thursday - would have been perfect timing had the sky played nicely.

Its a beautiful combo with the Tak FSQ106. What a big field! I can see I'll have some fun with this set up - though I suspect gradient will be a real issue from Sydney.

I also have a question - does anyone use a ST-4 cable to guide with this camera? I have used a separate cable and guider relay settings in Maxim as the meridian flip in CCDAP5 hasn't worked properly with my other rigs when guiding via Telescope in Maxim.

Testing out the new camera last night, I found my stars were elongated. Looking at the TCS Bisque display in TSX (I use a PMX by the way), it seems that one of the guide relays was constantly activated. This drove the mount continually (but slowly) off target.

Now it may be:

- a dodgy cable
- a setting I have askew somewhere
- a problem with the PMX
- a dicey connection with the camera
- the camera itself.

Of course the clouds rolled in before I could do some proper testing.

I did establish that the internal guide chip happily guided the setup when connected via Telescope in Maxim.

I have connected the cable via a plug inserted into the AO/Scope port.

Has anyone else encountered any issues with this?

Pete