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Old 05-07-2015, 10:41 AM
garymck (Gary)
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Modding a G11

Hi,

I thought I'd post a couple of mods I have done to my G11.

It was originally a G11 G1 that I purchased second (third?) hand through IIS.
It has an Ovision worm fitted. After purchase, I found after a lot of testing that the shaft on the dec motor was bent and would need replacing. I had a look at the price of new motors and decided I would check other options. I was also en couraged to do this because I really really really hated the G1, and having tried a G2 was of similar opinion.

I ended up finding this site:
http://www.astroeq.co.uk/tutorials.php
Purchased the controller for around $200

went to:http://www.omc-stepperonline.com/
and bought some Nema17 steppers and some couplers

Made some brackets to mount the motors, tuned some parameters and now have a fully EQMod compatible mount that slews at 900x has the motor directly connected to the worm - so no transfer gear / gearbox noise.

Works beautifully for less than the cost of a single replacement Losmandy motor!

The next irritation was the RA axis hitting the motors - couldn't even get to the meridian. Looked at Losmandy extender at $480 from Bintel ughh!

Got 3 pieces of 12mm mdf, glued them together, sanded them round on a disc sander, bought 4 stainless cap screws, cut them to length, drilled holes with bench drill, primed and painted, assembled. Result I can now image anywhere without motors hitting. Cost $6 for the cap screws - already had the mdf, glue and paint.

Pics below.

Hope this might help others on a budget....

cheers
Gary

PS anyone know what a G1 drive/hand controller etc is worth to sell?
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  #2  
Old 05-07-2015, 05:52 PM
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wasyoungonce (Brendan)
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Hi Gary I do like your work, good stuff indeed.

There was a thread on Losmandy and Gemini yahoo forums about RA extenders, with a bias weight groove. Dave partridge asked for EOI for RA extenders....all up cost GBP item cost was 60 GBP and DEL 23.55GBP...which is ~ $173 AU dollars. They are made and on their way now! Well mine is.

During discussions, apparently Losmandy also have some similar RA extenders made in their stocks, not the new type, older ones made similar to this, quite cheap apparently.

Anyway thought I'd mention this for interest sake.
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  #3  
Old 06-07-2015, 10:39 AM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Wow! That's something new. So you have to use a specific controller with that motor? You can't use it with a Gemini box, correct?
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Old 06-07-2015, 03:16 PM
garymck (Gary)
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The Gemini uses servo motors, The Astroeq controller uses steppers - just like Skywatcher motors....

The steppers cost $14US each + freight. The Losmandy motors are $289 each from Bintel +$49 each for a gearbox....

Cheaper to buy motors and controller than buy 1 motor /gerarbox from Bintel...

Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb View Post
Wow! That's something new. So you have to use a specific controller with that motor? You can't use it with a Gemini box, correct?
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Old 06-07-2015, 03:22 PM
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multiweb (Marc)
ze frogginator

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Quote:
Originally Posted by garymck View Post
The Gemini uses servo motors, The Astroeq controller uses steppers - just like Skywatcher motors....

The steppers cost $14US each + freight. The Losmandy motors are $289 each from Bintel +$49 each for a gearbox....

Cheaper to buy motors and controller than buy 1 motor /gerarbox from Bintel...

Gary
Do you get the same resolution with your direct drive?
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  #6  
Old 06-07-2015, 05:07 PM
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AlexN
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This Is great info.. I'm in the process of planning to build a mount and have quite a few nema17 motors lying around. Might make myself something ore sophisticated than originally planned.
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  #7  
Old 30-01-2017, 01:28 PM
AstroRick3372 (Rick)
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Hi Gary,

I'm very happy to see someone has used the AstroEQ system on their Losmandy G-11. I really want to do the same to my G-11 and not spend the big $$ on a Gemini II system.

I would like to know what model of NEMA 17 Steppers you used? Were they a high torque rated motor? Did they have a specific amp rating? Step resolution?

Any info you have from your experience would be a massive help. Also, how does your system track/ GOTO? Is it accurate?

thanks in advance

Rick
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  #8  
Old 30-01-2017, 02:40 PM
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bojan
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Location: Mt Waverley, VIC
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AstroEQ is good..
And so is OnStep.. works with or without PC, with or without guiding.. with or without android mobile phone or tablet. (I have OnStep (running on Arduino Mega) on my EQ6, now fitting AstroEQ (also on Ardiono Mega) on my LXD75)
I have NEMA17 400spr 1A motors on both mounts.

Last edited by bojan; 30-01-2017 at 03:25 PM.
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  #9  
Old 30-01-2017, 04:03 PM
el_draco (Rom)
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Hilarious read... Great innovation. I'd be interested to see how your tracking goes.
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