I owned an Argo Navis for a few years, using it on an 8" Celestron dob and on an 8" Meade LX50. I loved the AN. Then I sold the dob, and moved the LX50 out of its forks onto a SkyWatcher HEQ5Pro mount. So I sold the Argo Navis at the urging of my wife. That was a few years ago now.
About a year ago, I got a 12" SkyWatcher Collapsible Dob. And now I've ordered a brand new Argo Navis to put on to it! Can't wait!
Has anybody else used an Argo Navis on the Sky Watcher Collapsible Dobs? Any pitfalls?
My brand new Argo Navis arrived Monday. Thanks Gary!!
I've now made a "Bunnings Stalk" similar to that suggested in http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=375810#post375810. I used a standard extension pole from the paint section with a pull pin to allow height adjustment and a Pro-edge paint trimmer with an adjustable knuckle to allow the angle to be adjusted. These two ideas came from Garin on the Argo Navis Yahoo support group.
Now all I need is for the clouds to go away and some free time at night. Can't wait!!!
Noel
It is always great to hear that when a customer loves their Argo Navis they come
back a second time. Thank you and we appreciate your support.
Thanks for the photos and I see you have installed the SkyWatcher Dob encoder kit
and look good to go. The "Bunning's" stalk is nicely executed as well! I note the
metal clips you used along the length of the pole to both affix it to the side of the
rocker and which double to help dress the cable. These are most clearly seen in
your last photo. Did you also source these from your local Bunnings and do
you have a handle on what they were called? It is always great to be able to point
people to solutions such as these.
Once again, thanks for purchasing an Argo Navis again!
Thanks for your comments Gary. Yes I did get the metal clips from Bunnings too. I have thrown the pack away, and I can't remember what they were called.... no, wait... I've found the receipt. They are listed as (quoting exactly what's on the receipt) "CLIP TOOLS SIDDONS 30MM CD4 VIC0030" at $5.97 for a pack of 4, if that is any help. They were clips for hanging brooms and tools from. I was just lucky they were 30 mm ones which was just the size of the paint extension pole. The three clips hold the pole quite firmly, but I can still remove it if I have to. And yes, they do provide a nice place for the cables to run through.
I'm hoping tonight's the night I can finally get the telescope out and test it out.
Regards,
Noel
Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
Hi Noel,
Thanks for the post.
It is always great to hear that when a customer loves their Argo Navis they come
back a second time. Thank you and we appreciate your support.
Thanks for the photos and I see you have installed the SkyWatcher Dob encoder kit
and look good to go. The "Bunning's" stalk is nicely executed as well! I note the
metal clips you used along the length of the pole to both affix it to the side of the
rocker and which double to help dress the cable. These are most clearly seen in
your last photo. Did you also source these from your local Bunnings and do
you have a handle on what they were called? It is always great to be able to point
people to solutions such as these.
Once again, thanks for purchasing an Argo Navis again!
Thanks for your comments Gary. Yes I did get the metal clips from Bunnings too. I have thrown the pack away, and I can't remember what they were called.... no, wait... I've found the receipt. They are listed as (quoting exactly what's on the receipt) "CLIP TOOLS SIDDONS 30MM CD4 VIC0030" at $5.97 for a pack of 4, if that is any help. They were clips for hanging brooms and tools from. I was just lucky they were 30 mm ones which was just the size of the paint extension pole.
Thanks Noel,
By posting that information here, anyone who wants to improvise their own stalk knows
they can walk into a Bunnings and likely find those style of clips as well. Great stuff.
At last I got a night when I could try out the Argo Navis. Just after twilight, I did the align. (That took a while to get right because I was trying to remember how to set the FIX ALT REF. So I took my laptop outside to look up the manual, but forgot I had been using it on battery previously. It lasted just long enough to read the relevant section, and work out the rest.) I aligned on Antares and Acrux, had a look at the Blue Planetary NGC 3918. Then it was left on while other family things were done - dinner, time with my daughter, putting her to bed, etc. Finally, I came out about 12:30, and selected M4 and M80, both of which appeared within a 15mm eyepiece. Great stuff. Then I looked at NGC 5128, but the moon was too bright and it was washed out. I tried some other things before going to Neptune. Beautiful. Then I left it and came out about 3:30 to look at Jupiter and Uranus, but the AA batteries in the Argo Navis had run down, so I just had a look at Jupiter and its one equatorial band, then called it a night. Now to wait for a better night without the moon. But I am very pleased with the Argo Navis and how well it works. Thanks Gary for a great device!
Better get some top quality lithium AAs, or better still, power from a 12V sealed lead acid battery (instructions in the manual and cable available from Wildcard Innovations http://www.wildcard-innovations.com...._describe.html ). As it gets cooler and you will want the LCD heater coming on, you'll need plenty of power. The right size battery will ride happily on your base.
Wait a minute - "Qld" - OK, you'll need the power to drive a personal cooling fan for the observer
I do have the power cable and a couple 12v batteries. It was just a first run to make sure that everything was working properly and that the alignment and setup was good enough to last the night. When a moonless clear night comes, I won't be jeopardising the night by relying on AAs only!
And I am looking forward to taking the setup to Qld Astrofest.
Noel
Quote:
Originally Posted by erick
Ain't it marvellous, Noel?
Better get some top quality lithium AAs, or better still, power from a 12V sealed lead acid battery (instructions in the manual and cable available from Wildcard Innovations http://www.wildcard-innovations.com...._describe.html ). As it gets cooler and you will want the LCD heater coming on, you'll need plenty of power. The right size battery will ride happily on your base.
Wait a minute - "Qld" - OK, you'll need the power to drive a personal cooling fan for the observer
I was wondering if anyone had experianced something similar to my problems I encountered the other night.
I did my usual set up but could not get it up and working.
I checked a few things and found when I checked the alt encoder angle
set up shows 90*parking the scope after trying to locate ,back at 90*, showed 79* or sometimes 96*.
Anyone have any ideas, Only thing I've done recently was silicon the the encoder cables into the mounting pole , I was thinking maybe a cable switch , but would that wouldn't change the angle readings intermitantly would it ?
I was wondering if anyone had experianced something similar to my problems I encountered the other night.
I did my usual set up but could not get it up and working.
I checked a few things and found when I checked the alt encoder angle
set up shows 90*parking the scope after trying to locate ,back at 90*, showed 79* or sometimes 96*.
Anyone have any ideas, Only thing I've done recently was silicon the the encoder cables into the mounting pole , I was thinking maybe a cable switch , but would that wouldn't change the angle readings intermitantly would it ?
cheers graham
Hi Graham,
The first thing I would check is that the grub screw on the altitude encoder shaft is tight. You need a little allen key to re tighten it. I would then perform the Daytime encoder test as explained in the user manual. Not sure what page because I dont have a manual with me.
I was wondering if anyone had experianced something similar to my problems I encountered the other night.
I did my usual set up but could not get it up and working.
I checked a few things and found when I checked the alt encoder angle
set up shows 90*parking the scope after trying to locate ,back at 90*, showed 79* or sometimes 96*.
Anyone have any ideas, Only thing I've done recently was silicon the the encoder cables into the mounting pole , I was thinking maybe a cable switch , but would that wouldn't change the angle readings intermitantly would it ?
cheers graham
Hi Graham,
Thanks for the post.
Firstly thanks to John B for the follow-up which is exactly as I would recommend.
Look for any possible slippage in the encoder coupling.
With regards cables, exercise the mount in Alt whilst watching the display in
MODE ENCODER and see if there is any apparent hesitation as the numbers
tick over. Also watch carefully for any ALT ENCODER ERR message which
is an indication that there has been a state change violation in one of the
encoder outputs, possibly from an intermittent open circuit on one of the wires
on your Alt encoder cable.
I've been thinking over what you suggested for a few days now John
and there is something a little differant recently I've noticed about my encoder alt encoder shaft in that its a tight fit into its mounting sleeve
,it used to be an easy fit.
I did have a counterweight go for a little slide recently in my mirror box (where my alt encoder is stored I hope it didn't hit the encoder pin ?
Though the tight fit might just be a little surface stuff on the brass sleeve it fits into as it didn't get used much with the wet weather earlier in the year.
And as I've tidied up my cableing recently I'll check all the that and see if I havn't pinched something along the way as well.
It was quite late the other night when this all unfolded, I was convinced I was miss identifing kaus australis through the trees for a while ,
but eventually found the alt encoder angle wasn't holding .
Hello,
This is my first post in these foums, excuse my english, I'm spanish. Recently I bought a second hand Argo Navis was installed on a Meade LightBridge 16 ". I have to say I got in touch with Gary in order to clarify some doubts, their responses were always fast and detailed.
I think that his customer service is simply excellent.
Finally I have adapted the system in my dobson 16 "f5 self built test pending in the open field.
Hello,
This is my first post in these foums, excuse my english, I'm spanish. Recently I bought a second hand Argo Navis was installed on a Meade LightBridge 16 ". I have to say I got in touch with Gary in order to clarify some doubts, their responses were always fast and detailed.
I think that his customer service is simply excellent.
Finally I have adapted the system in my dobson 16 "f5 self built test pending in the open field.
Victor Martinez
Hi Victor,
Thanks for your post, your kind words which are very much appreciated
and greetings to you there in beautiful Spain.
Argo Navis on Synta SkyWatcher Collapsible Dob
