Chris, that link (the one Peter gave us) seems to be for a cable with USB at one end and a flat connector of some sort at the other. The one you need has an RJ45 connector at the mount end. Have a look at Shoestring Astronomy's site for their USB2EQ5 cable: http://www.store.shoestringastronomy...roducts_eq.htm
Mine worked when I connected it yesterday in Win 7 (32 Bit). Can't vouch for other OSs.
Peter
Yes Peter - you will need to cut off the flat connector and attach an RJ45 connector as per the wiring on the EQMOD site. The link I posted is the 3.3V version of the FTDI USB-Serial TTL 5V cable most of us have been using with the EQ6. If you can attach the right connector you can make it for a little over $18. Dontronics is in Melbourne and very good to deal with in my experience.
If the scope is pointing west, be careful how far you engage the dec clutch lever. If you lower it too far and then go east it will foul on the motor/worm box.
If the scope is pointing west, be careful how far you engage the dec clutch lever. If you lower it too far and then go east it will foul on the motor/worm box.
It's still slewing but home is miles away from where it should be and you can't just move the scope to the approx point cos of the encoders.
Tomorrow is another day, I'll plug the handset in and see if it homes.
Damn cold out there tonight
The Synscan has an auto-home sensing routine for the EQ8 that might be worth a try. Not sure how it works but it slews in both axes on both sides of the CWD position to establish the right position.
If the scope is pointing west, be careful how far you engage the dec clutch lever. If you lower it too far and then go east it will foul on the motor/worm box.
Really horrible noises come out of it.
This is another design fault.
I'd agree with you there. I had to go and have a play though as it has been slewing without a hitch for me. I can't clamp mine down that far - maybe yours needs adjusting (Not an excuse - it should never be possible to hit). And dont forget that they only need to be lightly clamped, its better to let them slip in the event of tube strike or cable snag and with encoders you don't loose the alignment.
I had rather hoped that they programmed it like the Servocat on my dob which stops if the motors are turning but the encoders are not changing. I guess I'll have to tell them about that one...
I am a plonker. I had my lat settings 20 mins out!
Ok, i fixed that, did a one star align and headed for saturn. Now we're talking. Good to less than 5 arc mins and despite that fact that i have not aligned the plate on the OTA yet.
Best bit is, that it slews to the same position every time after that.
Hmmm
Hanging a 14" SCT from the EQ8 is certainly very impressive!!
Tandum - did you get the chance to do more testing?
Can't find an on-line manual but:
The EQ8 mount is equipped with auxiliary encoders on both the R.A. axis and Dec. axis. Therefore, the mount can keep tracking its current position even when a user unlocks the clutches and rotates the mount in R.A. axis and Dec. axis manually. With this feature, a user can manually operate the mount anytime without worrying about losing the mount’s alignment status. When the user wants to operate the mount with the SynScan hand control again, no alignment is required and all that is needed to be done is to re-lock the clutches.
This feature can be enabled or disabled on the SynScan hand controller.
Happy to say I fired mine up last night for the first time.
I'm using a Shoestring Astronomy USB2EQ5 cable to run from the PC via EQMOD and MaximDL. I have managed to fit a FLI focuser, Tak .73 reducer, Precise Parts adapter to get the right backfocus (72.2mm for that), a TrueTech FW and Apogee Alta U8300 within the available backfocus of my BabyQ - but ONLY just. Guiding by a piggyback modified finder scope with a QHY5.
I had a helluva time getting the rig balanced. It still is not balanced but it's a good as I can get it. The balance problem is caused by both RA and Dec motors, worms etc hanging off to the east side of the mount so unless you counter that weight somehow, it can never stay put in any location. Those east-side weights will always pull it out of whack. But I have gone down that counterbalance road by hanging my HitecAstro Mount Hub Pro on a short plate out to the right side. Not fixed but better.
The connection PC to mount is seamless. No issues in making a connection. Although for some reason, Maxim seemed to send a signal to EQMOD telling it to stop tracking after I stopped the guide scope to change targets. Odd but not fatal.
It calibrated fine and tracked fine too. After a few pulses to settle down, the graph was bouncing along at about .25 pixel above and below the line with 5 second subs. It held that well.
I didn't do the Synscan polar alignment routine. Instead I just did a drift alignment and the guiding results seem to say that this worked pretty well. Goto moves are good but not perfect. They all fell within 5-10 arcminutes of dead centre - all well within a plate-solving with Maxim and a quick re-center to get it bang in the crosshairs.
Too much moon last night for the LRGB filters I have on that FW so any serious imaging will have to wait a few nights but all indications so far are that the mount will be a good investment.
I had a helluva time getting the rig balanced. It still is not balanced but it's a good as I can get it. The balance problem is caused by both RA and Dec motors, worms etc hanging off to the east side of the mount so unless you counter that weight somehow,...
Chris has the polar scope. I guess that it perfects the balance, waiting on his report!
Here's those pics of the polar scope you wanted Dave. It came with the mount and indeed weighs 900 grams. The slight imbalance doesn't seem to worry guiding on the mount for me. I've added a pic of maxim guiding through an OAG at about 1.2 meters. I'm still chasing power and frosting issues here.
I just realised, there are no dust caps for this polar scope