· 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 PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!!       #5693836 - 02/22/13 12:19 AM Attachment (59 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have been playing around with various travel ready rigs suitable for wide field and telephoto photography with DSLR for a while. I started with an original Astrotrac, changed up to a new version with autoguiding and the whole travel pier, wedge and EQ head. I have a Vixen Polarie with PAS and owned a Sightron Nano, but it was DOA and I never got to see what it could do. I purchased a Smart EQ Pro, and found the tripod to be greatly lacking. I own a machine shop, and make a lot of my own stuff, I looked at the tripod with improvement in mind. That quickly changed when I realized I would be making all new parts to fix the deficiencies. I then came up with the idea of making an adaptor to fit it onto a Manfrotto tripod with already great stability. Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5693839 - 02/22/13 12:20 AM Attachment (43 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I did some testing with this and determined that the block that attaches to the declination shaft with two set screws, did not satisfy my OCD. Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5693841 - 02/22/13 12:22 AM Attachment (33 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I then started to add a modular system for attaching various telephoto/DSLR combos that will have widely ranging balance points. Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5693843 - 02/22/13 12:24 AM Attachment (33 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   A long time ago, I made some mini 60 degree dovetail plates for all of my telephoto lenses and camera bodies, thus I made little clamps as well to fit on my ball heads. Since this is intended to be autoguided with the tiny SBIG STi Autoguiding kit, I made a custom mounting for this as well. Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5693845 - 02/22/13 12:26 AM Attachment (47 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This is what the whole rig looks like with a 400mm f5.6 Canon lens, and a 5DII. Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5693847 - 02/22/13 12:27 AM Attachment (35 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here are all of the pieces laying next to each other. Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5693855 - 02/22/13 12:33 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I've had this assembly out under the stars for one evening at -20C, the mount worked fine for about 2 hours till the cold made it freak out. The autoguiding worked 'okay'......I have to figure out the settings for PHD using a 100mm focal length lens. By okay, I mean the mount guided for about an 80% success rate on 5 minute exposures at 400mm FL. I had some weirdness calibrating which I attribute to me not having the settings at optimum. I'm sure once I get these settings nailed, this mount will work great for its intended role. Post Extras:       Astronewb sage Reged: 09/19/11 Loc: Connecticut Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5694401 - 02/22/13 10:31 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Excellent machine work Steve, nothing like a nice pile of alloy chips on the floor. I like your over-under solution for the autoguider, very nice. Looking forward to seeing how it works for you under the stars... Thanks for sharing Paui Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: Astronewb]       #5694433 - 02/22/13 10:54 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Steve, That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing! Post Extras:       CounterWeight Postmaster Reged: 10/05/08 Loc: Cloudyopolis, OR. Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: Raginar]       #5694532 - 02/22/13 11:50 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Agree - very nice work! Post Extras:       PGW Steve Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/03/06 Loc: Winnipeg, Canada Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: CounterWeight]       #5696937 - 02/23/13 04:31 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thank you Gents!! I've got some feedback on the SBIG Yahoo Group and I'm going to try the new settings when the weather cooperates. Post Extras:       s800 member Reged: 03/19/08 Loc: Wisconsin Re: Smart EQ Pro......heavily modified!!! [Re: PGW Steve]       #5697632 - 02/24/13 12:18 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Well done! Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 16 registered and 21 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  Bowmoreman, bilgebay, iceblaze  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 545 Jump to *Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Celestial Events*General Astronomy* -----   Beginners Forum   General Observing and Astronomy   Outreach   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning and Intermediate Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   NEO   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Speciality Forums* -----   Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo   NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) and NEAIC (Northeast Astro Imaging Conference)   AstroArt   Astronomy Clubs and Star Parties   Astronomy Software & Computers   AstroWebsites   Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others   Space Rocks   Stellar Media*Swap and Shop* -----   Shop and Swap Audio Components*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements*International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Forums are now closed.* -----   IYA Archive Info CN Forums Home

Cloudy Nights LLC Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics