Happy Birthday to me......:P

[Screwdriverone]

Hi All,

A corker of a day weather wise, I think the next few days will also be clear so YAY!

Just wanted to wish myself a happy birthday here, a lot of friends on Facebook have already done so and I have had a few PM's here too, so thanks.

Present wise, I got a GPUSB2 to HEQ5Pro cable allowing me to directly control the mount without the hand controller, so I am keen to see what performance and power this will give me as I think the controller has been a bottleneck with PHD so far.

Also got a FCUSB focus controller so I can remotely drive my skywatcher electric focuser from the PC, rather than use the hand controller.

So, no new glass but a couple of techy toys to use and take up more USB ports on the PC.....

I normally get an IIS birthday post, but not sure why the Emotiqueen hasnt generated one.....sniff....so I thought I would create my own....:D A bit of self promotion I spose....

Cheers

Chris

[Larryp]

Glad you got some goodies, Chris-have a good one!:)

[DJT]

:birthday:

Congrats Chris, may your birthday gadgets by forever easy to use and not generate any compatability issues whatsoever :thumbsup:

[acropolite]

Happy Birthday Chris, have a good one:cheers:

[mozzie]

have a good one chris...glad to see you've had a cracker of a day.....

[sheeny]

Happy Birthday Chris!

Al.

[RobF]

Happy Birthday Chris, and all the best with the new toys! :thumbsup: :cool:

[DavidU]

:thumbsup::D

[RB]

Happy Birthday buddy.
Hope you had a great day.

We'll have to enjoy a virtual beer or two untill we meet again.

:cheers: :birthday: :party2: :rockband:

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Laurie :)



Looking good so far David! Cheers!



Thanks Phil :D



Cheers Peter, thanks mate





Thank you Rob. Fingers crossed so far.



:D



Just cracked a REAL beer as a celebration, thanks Andrew!

Cheers

Chris

[Screwdriverone]

Well Well Well.....its a NEW record!

I have just set up my scope, connected it, installed the new FCUSB focus controller and the USBEQ5 direct cable ALL via a USB hub which is connected by ONE, count it ONE! USB cable to the Laptop.....Even the Atik and the DBK cameras are connected to the hub.

NO DRIVER ISSUES, NO CONFLICTS, ALL WORKING, ALL THROUGH 1 USB port to the laptop!!!!!:eyepop:

It's unheard of!!!!!!!!! :shrug:

I can slew the scope using Stellarium Scope and EQmod, I can take pics using both cameras, I can set the focuser ALL THROUGH 1 cable!!!!!!

Unbelievable????

Question is: should I put the cameras directly into the PC just to avoid congestion on the bus or will it all work via one usb port???? Any advice here from anyone who may have had issues or done the same?

That question aside....I just cracked a beer to celebrate. It ALL works! First GO and only took 20 mins from start to finish!

Someone must like me up there......?

Edit: And now I have the gamepad working through ASCOM also......:) :) :) :)

Cheers

Chris

[astroron]

Happy Birthday for the second Time Chris;)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[gary]

Happy Birthday Chris and it was really great to meet you at Lostock.

Best regards

Gary

[mithrandir]

Happy Birthday Chris. You might even get some sucker holes tonight.

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Ron, beep, next time you go past....:P



You too Gary! Thanks for the chat too. :D



Thanks Andrew, the moon is washing it all out, but it's pretty clear. Might give tomorrow night a go as Thursday is a freebie :)

Cheers

Chris

[Rod771]

WOW! everything working straight up! Gotta love that!

I was out under that beautiful sky last night, I noticed a firmware update for my hand controller, I thought, good! This may iron out some bugs:) ...... But no! :mad2: After the update the HC and alignmaster decided they didn't want to talk to each other :bashcomp: Chucked the Laptop back inside slewed over and checked out Saturn for 30 mins.

You know what they say, if its not broken .........

So does this mean you'll be sitting inside controlling the scope?
This is my goal before it gets too cold, just the focusing holding me back at the moment.

Looks good for he next couple of nights, enjoy the new gear mate.

Happy Birthday :cheers:

[Draco]

Happy Birthday Chris

[Ross G]

Happy Birthday Chris.

You got some great "toys"...you are so lucky.

Good luck with them and hope you had a great day.

Ross.

[graham.hobart]

Great birthday wishes Chris!
Must be a birthday gnome that sorted out the seamless technology upgrade. As you said-"unheard of"!!!
Have another one for me dude!!
Cheers
Graham.

[cybereye]

Happy Birthday Chris!! :thumbsup:

[faaarwest2k]

Happy Birthday!

[Ric]

All the best Chris

Hope it was a great day.

Happy birthday.

[Jen]

Sorry Chris I'm a bit late I've been a little slack lately :rolleyes:

:birthday::birthday::birthday:
:birthday::birthday::birthday:
:birthday::birthday::birthday:
Hope you had a great day Chris xoxo
:cheers::cheers::cheers:
:juggle::juggle::juggle:
:cool::cool::cool:
:face::face:
:astron::astron:
:D:D

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Jen and everyone,

Had a few bevvies after the last post that night and forgot to check on this thread. :D hic.....

Still enjoying the toys, the USBEQ5 cable makes everything so easy now, dont have to power up the handset and fiddle faddle around, I now drive the scope in small movements with the computer xbox type controller for any slewing on the fly. I have graduated to fully fledged tank commander now.

Hee hee.....

Thanks to everyone for all the lovely birthday wishes, and for taking the time to stop by and comment. :D

Cheers

Chris

[danielsun]

Hey, great stuff Chris. Happy Birthday and hope you had a cracker!:thumbsup:
Great to hear you have got your focus controller and all running with no issues.:thumbsup:

Cheers Daniel.

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Daniel, It was a good day.

The USB focus control works great, as evidenced in the Saturn I got on the 24th. So easy to control from the PC and I dont get the wobbles from the old hand controller.

Cheers

Chris