Serge doesn't get enough credit for his excellent products, and seems to get far more positive comments on Cloudy Nights and other forums. I have used a couple of his wifi boxes and encoder solutions on my big dob and now on my NEQ6 to make it Sky Safari driven. Good innovative wireless products that interface with a range of planrtarium software apps to make scope driving much easier. I know Serge refuses to get into running advertising threads so consider this an endorsement. Well done Astro Devices.
Just placed my order today for the Nexus DSC, 10K encoders and custom cables (after discussions with Serge) ........ might be able to find some stuff other than the Moon and Jupiter from now on ....
I will be sharing the DSC between the big Dobsonian and the 'other' mount currently being built for me in Japan.
Serge tells me the Nexus can be pre-programmed for up to 5 different mount/encoder combinations and then easily set for whichever mount it is fitted to.
The Nexus is indeed going very well Serge, I haven't needed the Wifi functionality yet. The extension lead I made works well using an inline coupler from Jaycar.
Just making up some personal viewing lists at the moment.
Just had the Nexus DSC porta kit for the Vixen Porta ii mount fitted,Serge fitted it for me this evening ,absolutely amazed with the experience from watching it being fitted to seeing what it can do ,it fits so seamlessly to the mount unlike some of the other brands of encoders out there ,connects wirelessly to SkySafari as well which i thought was impressive ,can't wait to give it a go Friday night weather permitting and give Serge 10/10 for an amazing product,will post some pics later in the week
Just needs something now to attach the DSC to the porta head and it will be perfect ,no good at stuff like that but if anyone out there has any good ideas on how to make something to fit it or could make something and pay them I would appreciate any input,it's the only thing that is really letting it down
Andrew, here is my solution to fitting the Nexus to the TOA.
A piece of 3mm aluminium plate cut, drilled, bent, painted and attached to a Baader Quick Release finder bracket which is mounted to the tube counterweight ring......
( will also make a bracket to mount it to the T-Rex now that I have the TSA to cater for.. )
I also made a mount for the big scope on a pole attached to the rocker box...
Just a note on the Nexus DSC now that I have had some time to use it..... it is brilliant !!!!
I actually do my alignments using a Nagler 22mmT4 or a Delos 14mm,
I just locate the star, then defocus it till it fills about a third of the field of view and centre it ... 2 stars 90º apart,
from then on everything is pretty well spot on....
Just had the Nexus DSC porta kit for the Vixen Porta ii mount fitted,Serge fitted it for me this evening ,absolutely amazed with the experience from watching it being fitted to seeing what it can do ,it fits so seamlessly to the mount unlike some of the other brands of encoders out there ,connects wirelessly to SkySafari as well which i thought was impressive ,can't wait to give it a go Friday night weather permitting and give Serge 10/10 for an amazing product,will post some pics later in the week
I have had something made by Alex (mental4astro) and looks perfect ,should not be long before i take delivery but the really cool thing about it is that it's the first production one he has made,I have pics of it and think Alex has nailed it IMO but being his intellectual property will not post them ,but if permission granted when i get it and set it up on the mount with scope etc will do.
Hi Col
The Nexus is fantastic ,was just missing something to cradle the handset but looks like that's fixed now.
Andrew, here is my solution for attaching a red dot finder that may also give you some ideas to work with.
My motivation for this bracket was the absence of any way of attaching the red dot finder to the Zeiss spotting scope. The set up gets a lot of terrestrial use during the day, then simply attach the red dot finder and I have a complete grab and go setup for night time cruising.
The bracket is a piece of 3mm aluminium bent with appropriate holes. A cradle similar to Kunama's elegantly executed one would sit happily where I have my red dot finder.
You can see I have incorporated a handle too, but from one of your photos it looks as though you already have this covered.
Cheers
Steve
Ps, having trouble loading multiple images, so hopefully this one tells the story well enough
Thanks Col ,I think Alex has done a great job with this ,it is just what was needed ,don't have to sit it in the tray anymore ,it was a pain in the rear end
