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Old 11-11-2015, 09:54 PM
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RKenning (Robert)
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Time zone settings

I had my first try at setting up my EdgeHD 8" and vx mount tonight. While going through the setup of the Nexstar hand control I noticed that the time zone setting for my Adelaide location could not be set at +10.5. I can either go +10 or +11.
Will this create tracking accuracy problems?
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Old 11-11-2015, 10:08 PM
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doppler (Rick)
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Hi Robert, here's a link to a recent thread about this issue.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=138961
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Old 12-11-2015, 09:13 AM
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RKenning (Robert)
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Hi Rick,
Thanks for that link. I tried to do a search for time zone but just got a white page and no results. I guess a handset upgrade is in order.
Cheers-Rob
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Old 12-11-2015, 02:04 PM
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RKenning (Robert)
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Just an appendage to this topic. I have just acquired a new ASUS i5 Win 10 laptop. I need to get a USB to RS 232 male cable to connect to the Nexstar+ supplied cable for the handset. I have been told there may be issues with Win 10 with these cables. Is there anyone who can confirm connectivity issues and resolutions.
Many Thanks. Rob
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Old 12-11-2015, 04:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RKenning View Post
Just an appendage to this topic. I have just acquired a new ASUS i5 Win 10 laptop. I need to get a USB to RS 232 male cable to connect to the Nexstar+ supplied cable for the handset. I have been told there may be issues with Win 10 with these cables. Is there anyone who can confirm connectivity issues and resolutions.
Many Thanks. Rob
Hi Rob,
Not sure about Win10, but for a similar upgrade I was doing,
I had all sorts of problems with Windows 8, so would expect even more with Win10.

Eventually, I downloaded a new driver utility from the JayCar site.

It confirmed that the chipset I had in my usb/serial cable was one that was not compatible with Windows 8.
(seems it is a Prolific cable, if that makes a difference, likely purchased from JayCar by the previous owner)

At last, this explained it.

So I copied all the files (and new jaycar driver) onto my Windows 7 Notepad and the upgrade went though successfully.

Alternatively, I think you can use the Jaycar utility to identify what new usb/serial interface to buy for the operating system you are using.?
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Old 12-11-2015, 04:26 PM
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RKenning (Robert)
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Hi Allan, Thanks for that info. In the meantime, I googled the problem and found this fix for the USB -Serial problem. It stems partly from cheap chinese knockoff chips in the cables. I'll check out the Jaycar site and do some more research.

Cheers -Rob

http://www.ifamilysoftware.com/news37.html
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Old 25-11-2015, 09:43 PM
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RKenning (Robert)
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Just a follow-up post. I received my 'plugable' serial to USB cable today and set about interfacing the mount to Stellarium. I had the mount facing south and alt at 35º using mobile phone apps. Plugging in the cable to the win10 laptop triggered a driver download. The cable set itself to com3 and I set the virtual port to com2. Reticle showed up in stellarium almost bang on scp. I slewed around to a few daytime stars and it worked flawless. I tried a 'two star align' and it came up with sao stars (this is using the virtual handset program on the laptop). The handset on the mount gives me actual star names to aim at. I guess I will have to make a handy list of prominent stars and their sao catalog numbers. It all adds to the learning I guess. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next clear night to test it all out. It is raining at the moment with raging bushfires burning in the north. I hope the Stockport Observatory remains unaffected. A couple of nights ago I had a good night looking at the moon and trying out all my eyepieces in the Celestron kit. They all looked pretty nice to me, but the eye relief is pretty short in the smaller EP's. I'm happy with it as a startup kit though.
At around 4 am I got hit with dew, so I packed it in for the night, and today, I have ordered a dew hood. Having a great time with my kit and hope we all get clear skies in the next few days. Cheers-Rob
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Old 26-11-2015, 08:40 AM
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Dew

Hi Rob - I'm in H'dene, too.

A dew hood will be ok in summer, but for other times you'll definitely need heater straps to deal with the prolific dew - I'm about 1 km from Minno Creek & without heater straps on the corrector plate, Telrad, eyepiece & both ends of the finder scope, things get drippy PDQ!

Kendrick supply good quality gear at reasonable prices.

http://www.kendrickastro.com/

Dean

Last edited by deanm; 26-11-2015 at 06:42 PM. Reason: 'primary mirror' changed to 'corrector plate': my duh!
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Old 26-11-2015, 02:43 PM
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Hi Dean,
I'm just up from the fire station not far from Minno creek. I have been perusing the dew heater options and might get an EP heater band and an OTA heater plus a 4 channel controller. I plan to take my kit up toward Mannum and set up for the evening so I want to be ready for the dreaded dew fall. Until I get the heaters, could I take a fan out and run that to ward off the dew?
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Old 26-11-2015, 04:12 PM
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Rob - you're on the ball!

A fan is really only useful for equilibrating your OTA to ambient temps, otherwise it's just blowing more damp air around!

A mini (12V) hair dryer will help keep your optics clear, but use lots of battery juice rapidly.

I had a near-disaster camped out above the Murray at Swan Reach:

"I'm with Alexander: drove out to dark site to camp out overnight on a cliff high above the Murray River, intending to video the 2012 Transit of Venus C1-4 contacts.

The next such transit isn't until 2117, so last chance!

I had no idea that so much moisture would arise from the river: in the morning, just before the start of the C1+C2 transit events, my dew heater battery gasped its last & through the streaming water, I couldn't make out the Sun, let alone Venus!

(Got C3+C4 later in the afternoon as the sun dried everything out: phew!)

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ht=worst+stuff
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