· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Mounts Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) kwits member Reged: 12/02/08 Loc: Louisiana, USA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: MtnGoat]       #2806956 - 12/15/08 04:47 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I plan to use a Wireless USB hub as a communications link between my AutoStar 497 at the telescope end to my PC. I am also looking for a USB amplifier that can extend the range beyond the standard 30 feet limit. Post Extras:       kwits member Reged: 12/02/08 Loc: Louisiana, USA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: MtnGoat]       #2827605 - 12/27/08 02:04 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I hope everyone has had a safe and blessed, Merry Christmas this year and thank you sincerely for all of your feedback on this discussion thread. Well, I finally have all of my hardware together now since I am finally back home from a 4 month, work assignment. I have a question about configuring the AutoStar 497 for my SkyView EQ Deluxe GEM. There are several options listed for the LXD55/75 but I am unsure of the best for my GEM's configuration using the 492 DS drive system. Here are the options listed for the latest firmware load (43Eg): 127 Ac 152 Ac 6 new 8 new 10 New 8 SC Edited by kwits (12/28/08 02:41 PM) Post Extras:       MtnGoat Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/18/07 Loc: Columbia Gorge, WA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: kwits]       #2829193 - 12/28/08 03:58 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The only thing that may differ may be aiming restrictions for the various sizes of OTA's. Since you're running an entirely different GEM, I don't think it matters much. Just pick one and start from there. One thing I did need to do in addition to gear ratio changes to get the LXD parameters to drive my 4504 mount was to reverse the polarity of one of the gear ratios, I think it was the RA drive. First order of bidness...figure out how to get those motors mounted and coupled. After that, sorting out the gear ratios and signs shouldn't be too bad. Post Extras:       kwits member Reged: 12/02/08 Loc: Louisiana, USA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: MtnGoat]       #2829496 - 12/28/08 07:11 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks for your feedback. I have my AutoStar 497 connected to my laptop's USB port via a RS232 converter adapter; I installed the latest Meade driver to support this connection. I have Meade's AutoStar Suite v5.0 installed and it works great while my AutoStar is connected via its 505 cable but not when emulating a virtual port like COM10. The ASU finds the virtual port with no problem but the Suite throws an error. Have you observed this issue under your setup? Post Extras:       MtnGoat Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/18/07 Loc: Columbia Gorge, WA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: kwits]       #2830722 - 12/29/08 01:23 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have had serious issues trying to use virtual ports to get Envisage/Drizzle guiding to interface to Autostar Suite for guiding. I have no problem at all connecting to the scope from the suite, but I have not yet been successful in getting Envisage to connect. I've tried numerous COM ports, virtual ports, and internal IP sockets....nothing works. Edited by MtnGoat (12/29/08 01:23 PM) Post Extras:       kwits member Reged: 12/02/08 Loc: Louisiana, USA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: MtnGoat]       #2830789 - 12/29/08 02:00 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I use Windows XP Professional (SP-3) on my laptop and the Meade Serial to USB driver is installed with no flagged conditions as COM10. It does not make any sense for the ASU to auto-detect this port with no problem while the Suite throws an error. I have sent an email to Meade on this issue. Post Extras:       kwits member Reged: 12/02/08 Loc: Louisiana, USA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: kwits]       #2830957 - 12/29/08 03:04 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I just found a fix for using the AutoStar 497 with AutoStar Suite via a USB connection by setting the telescope protocol for Network. Read this website for details! http://www.weasner.com/etx/autostar/2008/remote.html Post Extras:       kwits member Reged: 12/02/08 Loc: Louisiana, USA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: kwits]       #2881004 - 01/22/09 12:09 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I hope you are well. Right before I was able to bring my new GEM mod online, I noticed that I had significant damage to my RA gear and minor damage to my DEC gear. Evidently, during my trial run, the worm gear jumped its teeth alignment with its respective round gear. I am not sure what caused this failure. I greased the gear assemblies with lithium grease. Evidently, when I reassembled the worm gear box and mounted my drive assembly, the teeth were not in proper alignment or maybe there was a balancing issue. My GEM is at a machinist shop now for assessment. I am planning on having the round gears turned 180 degrees so the damaged area will most likely not be used. Another option is to repair the gears which I believe will be expensive if I cannot replace them entirely from a vendor. 1. Have you observed this issue under your previous setup? 2. Do you know how many teeth are for the DEC and RA round gears? Post Extras:       MtnGoat Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/18/07 Loc: Columbia Gorge, WA Re: Orion SkyView EQ Deluxe for astrophotography [Re: kwits]       #2944696 - 02/23/09 12:05 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Just refound the thread. I finally got my mount and am working on the GOTO as of last night. I had to remove the DEC assembly as it was binding...the DEC head would not turn relative to the DEC gear. The usual chinese finger puzzle of getting these things apart...there is a hex screw next to the DEC clutch knob that you remove, to get access to another set screw on the inner collar. You need to rotate the head while peeking through the hole to find the second screw. Undo this screw, then put the outer one back in and use it to fix the inner collar in place. At this point the dec head unscrews, shaft and all, from the end collar. Turned out a piece of grit had snuck into the *very* closely machined bearing surfaces between shaft and gear. It gouged up the gear bearing surface a bit in addition to locking it in place. I hit it with some 2000 grit emery paper, then retouched the inner and outer gear bearing surfaces. Everything came out nice and smooth, they really did a pretty nice job of close tolerances on this, when the shaft is in place there is no sideplay or wiggle that I can see, very nice for non ball bearing bushing style bearings. I am also impressed by the nice large diameter worms. My other issue is someone was reefing too hard on the worm screw locking bolts and pretty much tore through the thin metal in the mount holes. They're supposed to be slots to allow moving the worm block in and out a bit, mine are huge holes with barely enough left to even have enough for the bolts to tighten on. I'm fabricating a small piece of aluminum to redo the mounting plate. I counted teeth on the DEC axis and came up with 120 teeth. haven't done the RA yet, I suspect it is 144 teeth but read somewhere it was 142. Not sure I believe that, it's an odd number in a world of standardized gears for this use, I suspect someone counted wrong. You shouldn't need a machinist to turn the gear around for you, it spins inside the housing relative to everything when the worm block is removed. You can just turn it around to the good side yourself, and this should work just fine since the DEC axis will always remain within 90 degrees of where it starts at German North/home. Edited by MtnGoat (02/23/09 12:08 PM) Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 35 registered and 24 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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