Mod 1: Creating RA and DEC index marks on the mount. This is just a quick fix until i get the mount head onto the pier - hopefully by the end of next week when the adaptor arrives from Canada.
- I worked on the RA first, using a right angle level on the counterweight bar I determined the position where the bar was vertical, checked the housing on the rear and found the centre of the rear housing.
- Marked the spots on the RA and rear housing with small arrows of masking tape.
- Moving the level to the scope clamp, with it extending out the back, rotated the DEC to level the scope.
- Marked the index spot on the side of the DEC housing and axis cover.
These will be replaced with something more permanent once it is on the pier and PA completed.
the home switches work well - actually you can home anytime you want (aligned or not) via the hand control - just go to 'Telescope'->Goto Home Switch. Its very very useful feature.
With Sharpcap PA you need a 2 degree field of view. I have no problem running it using my imaging camera on my 115mm f5.5 refractor. It does need about 15 stars to solve.
I have got mine pretty close tonight (PA that is), at a little less than 1' off the SCP, before the cloud stopped me again. The benefits of having an observatory, its all sitting there when i get back to it
Re Metaguide, geez if centering a guide star annoys you use PHD.
Sharpcap polar alignment didnt work with the shorttube 80 and QHY5L-ii - at least not in my suburban location. had mostly hot pixels. (it was hot in Melbourne last night, so that didnt help)
I think the frustration with Metaguide was also related to my tube rings and screws - it makes fine adjustment tricky. When I was trying to find guide stars for various targets I had to crank the exposure up to 4 or 5 seconds and that made adjustment a very tedious process. Since I seemed to have PHD2 working better, and I didnt bust a gut on it.
I just powered it up and went through the initial steps. Once i set to the switch position and it moved alittle, it was spot on my RA marks and maybe a half a mm out on the DEC. I adjusted the Dec mark and now they are sync'd with the system.
Set up my observatory location info.
One question Tim, re the time, we are zone 10 i think in the eastern states, which i assume is their short hand for GMT +10?
Glen or Tim,
Great review so far, very informative. Will either of you use EQDIR cable to bypass the handset?
Thanks
Bo
Bo, software is provided with the mount, well a download is, which includes driver/comms/planetarium software that allows the mount and a laptop to connect. You do not need EQDIR but a simple USB cable to provide the connection,
There is another way as well, Sky Safari Pro can wifi connect through the Aux2 port using a Nexus-S or Celestrons Wifi box.
Coming soon is the Plane Wave imaging software for the CGX, due for release on 1 February. This is an integrated control program, like SGP.
Bo, software is provided with the mount, well a download is, which includes driver/comms/planetarium software that allows the mount and a laptop to connect. You do not need EQDIR but a simple USB cable to provide the connection,
There is another way as well, Sky Safari Pro can wifi connect through the Aux2 port using a Nexus-S or Celestrons Wifi box.
Coming soon is the Plane Wave imaging software for the CGX, due for release on 1 February. This is an integrated control program, like SGP.
Sounds like a well thought through integrated package (except the non-Skywatcher connector locations).
Bo, the USB connector on the mount is not for ASCOM or other third party software
, it is for use with the supplied Starry Nights 7, Celestron Special edition, or for upgrading the control firmware of the mount. The mount usb is a B-type on the mount, like a printer usb cable, to an A-type on the pc end.
To control via ASCOM you need to connect through the mini-usb port on the bottom of the Nexstar+ hand controller. So the ASCOM connection uses a mini-usb to standard usb to your computer.
I have had a play with Starry Nights 7 and it is certainly a useful goto planetarium package.
I just powered it up and went through the initial steps. Once i set to the switch position and it moved alittle, it was spot on my RA marks and maybe a half a mm out on the DEC. I adjusted the Dec mark and now they are sync'd with the system.
Set up my observatory location info.
One question Tim, re the time, we are zone 10 i think in the eastern states, which i assume is their short hand for GMT +10?
Finally some clear sky! I managed to do a fair amount of setup on the CGX last night: Using Sharpcap I managed to get the PA down to 11", which given that it is on the tripod which is sitting on the suspended Ply flooring of my observatory, is about as good as I can get it, until I move it onto the pier. Small PA adjustments are just so easy with the CGX (compared to the NEQ6).
Followed up with alignment, initially two star, then one star, and then quick align, returning to Home and powering down between them, just to see the differences that they would make. I don't really like that the software defaults to the western sky stars (where I have some tall trees), and reverting to the menu to switch to an eastern star is a pain. I expect that once I have the mount on the pier, I will nail the PA, and then just use Quick-Align all the time, if any alignment is then required. I was only using the hand controller for these steps and I guess I am spoilt in having a Sky Safari Pro display to actually see where my scope is pointing at all times. I must order the Celetron SkyPortal Wifi dongle today; as alas the Nexus-S will apparently not work with Celestron (according to Serge at Astro Devices).
I did not try Starry Night 7 control as I ran out of time, maybe tonight.
So moving to guiding, I sat the scope on Sirius and launched Metaguide and the ZWO 130mm guide camera. Without changing any of my former mount settings, I did a full calibation and started guiding. It worked, in fact it worked very well, and stayed exactly on the cross hairs for ten minutes. The guide error plot was very smooth.
Moving to Eta Carinae, I started SGP and ran a series of 12 Ha test subs (120s). I had setup Teamviewer so I could run this from inside the house and not risk distrubing the tripod by movement in the observatory. The guide error plot looked excellent, staying below 1, even with my NEQ6 agression settings. So apples to apples, using the same settings, the guide graph was showing less than half the plot variance for the duration of the test. On the NEQ6 it would struggle with the same gear and target, to stay under 1.5-2 with more swings and chasing, especially DEC. Sure I guess this can be expected with a mount with more capacity but the NEQ6 was on a pier and the CGX was on a tripod on a raised floor, with the ocassional puff of breeze. I am impressed.
The plan for tonight, sky permitting, is to seek out a faint narrowband target and run some 5 minute subs initially.
I have processed the test subs from last night and put the resulting image up on Astrobin here:
Hello Everyone,
Just finished setting up my cgx mount.
Tried to do a rough alignment to see if eveything is working ok, put in all the details, location and time, then selected a 2 star alignment. Selected first star in list, pressed enter, ra started moving and dec started moving.
The dec moved somwhere between 25 to 30 degrees to the west and the hand control comes up with a limit switch warning and stops while the ra keeps going.
I tried alignment a couple of times using different stars but this keeps happening.
Long. and Lat. are correct and eq south is selected.
Has anyone had this problem?
Cheers,
Wayne, perhaps the stars you are selecting are not above the horizon or they are below the range of the mount and the limit switches stop it.
Did you set the mount to home switch position? When you first power up it should ask you that. I would recheck the time and position details are entered correctly, and the GMT zone (+10).
Wayne, perhaps the stars you are selecting are not above the horizon or they are below the range of the mount and the limit switches stop it.
Did you set the mount to home switch position? When you first power up it should ask you that. I would recheck the time and position details are entered correctly, and the GMT zone (+10).
The mount home switch is set, time and location is correct and time zone set to +10.
Did a quick align and scope goes to objects on eastern side, checked this with sotware, but when an object is selected on western side the limit switch warning comes up.
Beginning to think it is a software problem.
The mount home switch is set, time and location is correct and time zone set to +10.
Did a quick align and scope goes to objects on eastern side, checked this with sotware, but when an object is selected on western side the limit switch warning comes up.
Beginning to think it is a software problem.
Are you sure the mount head clamp, on the dec axis, is turned around the right way? As packed in the box it is turned backwards and you have to rotate it so that the arrow in the clamp area points towards the south celestrial pole.
had mostly hot pixels. (it was hot in Melbourne last night, so that didnt help)
