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Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýTeamViewer is nice for remote support ... but when both devices are on the same local network, VNC is much better.On Aug 27, 2020, at 9:59 AM, Michael Herman <mherman346@...> wrote:
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Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount
Thanks for the pointer to TightVNC, Sonny.? I'll have to try that out! I also am tired of the ads from TeamViewer, and worse it dropping off at around midnight requiring a new login from both computers.? I know I am a person stuck in habits...and TeamViewer became one. Time to upgrade....thanks again. Michael On Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 5:55 AM Sonny Edmonds <sonnyedmonds@...> wrote: In addition to Michael's advice about ground vibrations, and flex of wooden pads, I've always used pavers when going remote. In fact, I have 3 in the basement of our RV where I normally carry my equipment. |
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Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount
Hi Jeff, Wow...your experience with that longitude - sign triggers a few other things to watch for: Yes....the East/West longitude entry is confusing.? The unit boots up and describes E or W longitude.? So you'd think that when you enter that value on the handset, you would see a toggle of E or W.? But you do not... you enter a number only.? ? ?The Gemini-1 manual does not clearly state that you just use a - sign for West hemisphere Longitude.? I think if you change the value in Gemini.net on the Telescope entry panel, it might be clearer.? If you do use Gemini net to make any changes, be aware that you must always? "Send to Gemini"?the PC made entries because that is not automatic.? The Gemini has its own memory and the PC has its own memory and they must be manually synched (though a few checkboxes exist for automatic setting of UTC on connect and ...maybe automatic turn on of PEC on connect.? ).? In general you must Download from Gemini to see it's settings like the Model data, and you just Upload to Gemini also when you make changes.? ?I'll add: the tiny Upload/Download arrow button on the Model area of the Advanced panel does not work. Instead use the big buttons on the bottom right of the Advanced panel to change or reset the Model data.? You can zero the values of the Model, but the Upload tiny button does not work to send that data up to the Gemini.?? Also note that the "." in the location entries is not a decimal point....it is a European punctuation.? That is, consider it a comma "," so you are really entering:? ? ? ? degrees, seconds? Not: ? ? ? ?degrees.fraction Also check the UTC time against a good website, and ensure that is correct.? ? Do not bother with any local time setting.?? Finally, after you make any key location or time entry changes, turn off the Gemini and reboot as Cold Boot to get the new values to take hold in the software.? Your location changes will require a new model anyway. Your RA Titan section has a larger ring gear than the G11 so it's RA pointing accuracy and tracking should be quite dead on after polar alignment.? The G11 DEC section and RA on G11s is similarly excellent.? I'd think your RA PE should be very low too, but perhaps you can someday measure it and report it.?? You should have no fear of autoguiding.? I autoguide my C14EdgeHD on a G11 with no trouble....the Titan should offer even less trouble.?? Final note: walking around.? ?My buddy in the next town away had put a plywood floor in his domed observatory, on which he put his C14 on a Celestron tripod.? He was able to detect optical movement when he'd shift his weight on the plywood.? He eventually drilled holes in the plywood fur the tripod legs and put heavy flagstones under the tripod feet.? When you mentioned plywood pieces under the feet I thought they'd be as good as flagstones.? But anyway...ground can get soft and does transmit vibration so just be in the lookout.? You might just use something like TeamViewer and remotely operate your laptop to start deep sky acquisitions...well away from those tripod legs.?? Enjoy yourself! Michael On Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 12:30 AM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote: When it got dark I tried some modeling. I don¡¯t know the names of hundreds of stars but I know Dubhe is not hanging around the northeast at ten pm. I went back and double checked all the data I had put into the mount. |
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Re: cable din 4 pin
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýUnless of course there¡¯s an external power supply for the camera that supplies all the voltages and only needs a 12V supply. ? D. ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David C. Partridge
Sent: 27 August 2020 06:25 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] cable din 4 pin ? No it won¡¯t fit, and it would NOT work even with an adapter.? The camera requires +12V, ground, -12V and +5V ¨C see appendix A2 of the user manual for the camera ? The power output of the G1 only supplies ground and +12V ? David ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Luis Barneo ? No. My question is not about autoguider connections, is about the electrical power supply. The box has two power connections. One "in", for electrical power supply of 12 V to the box. Next to it there is the "out" connection to supply power to devices. ST-8XE connect through a cable din 5 pins. The true question is if a male cable din 4 pin can fit in a female din? of 5 pins. |
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First successful tryout of my G11T mount
When it got dark I tried some modeling. I don¡¯t know the names of hundreds of stars but I know Dubhe is not hanging around the northeast at ten pm. I went back and double checked all the data I had put into the mount.
Everything looked correct except that the scope wasn¡¯t pointing anywhere near where stars should be. finally I realized that even though my longitude numbers were correct I had probably put myself in the wrong hemisphere. My location in Utah is negative 111 degrees, not positive.? As soon as I changed that one thing and finished modeling, I tried the goto. M13, dead center. M57, dead center. Jupiter, dead center, So was Saturn and the Moon. The new mount handled my C14 very? well. Even with higher power eyepieces, there wasn¡¯t much wiggle when I slewed the scope. What little reverberation there was, was gone almost immediately.? So my new mount isn¡¯t just pretty. It also works quite well. The next step is autoguiding. I think I will try that with a smaller scope. ? |
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Re: cable din 4 pin
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýNo it won¡¯t fit, and it would NOT work even with an adapter.? The camera requires +12V, ground, -12V and +5V ¨C see appendix A2 of the user manual for the camera ? The power output of the G1 only supplies ground and +12V ? David ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Luis Barneo ? No. My question is not about autoguider connections, is about the electrical power supply. The box has two power connections. One "in", for electrical power supply of 12 V to the box. Next to it there is the "out" connection to supply power to devices. ST-8XE connect through a cable din 5 pins. The true question is if a male cable din 4 pin can fit in a female din? of 5 pins. |
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Re: worm turn with MUCH difficulty
Hi Tom, Are the worms rotating with difficulty even with the clutches loosened? |
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Moderated
Re: First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!
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Thanks, Michael. I have already experienced the collapsing leg thing. So far, the one thing I prefer about my CGX-L mount is the tripod legs can be locked with minimal effort. Last week when I mounted my C14 on my Losmandy mount for the first time, I kept wondering
why the mount kept getting out of level. The legs were slipping and pushing into the grass. I have a 3/4 inch plywood square at the base of each leg in the photo. I am also cranking down those knobs tighter and almost sitting on the tripod to see if they are
tight enough.
I have had my C14 edge for about a year and I have been using it more than?all my other scopes combined. It is big and awkward to move
around but worth the effort, I think. I have been able?
to get some decent images of various things. When auto guiding was working well, and seeing was good, my C14 pulled out details and color
that surprised me. It, kind of, hooked me on imaging
with the beast. The down side, is how much harder it is to make everything work well. Imaging with my little 80mm refractor seems effortless
by comparison.
I am located in Salt Lake?City, Utah. My neighborhood is heavily light polluted, but an hour drive east or west gets me to, pretty decent,
dark sites.?
I have been working on the back focus spacing. I need to find some way to vary the distance from my scope. I have been using Sony mirrorless
full frame cameras, and they tend to expose any back focus errors, more than I would like.?
I always have fun, especially if I am away from my neighborhood in the desert to the west or mountains to the east. Getting out of town
to do a great hobby can be a wonderful thing, especially
lately.?
If Losmandy was still making the Titan, I think I would have spent the extra cash just for extra stability while using my C14.?
Have a great evening, Michael, and thanks?for all the great information and help!
Jeff
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Michael Herman <mherman346@...>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 8:08 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope! ?
Wow.? Great setup.? I'm not used to seeing a Titan RA axis.??
A few things to?consider:
Be sure your knobs holding the tripod sections in place are quite tight.? My C14's weight was slowly collapsing one leg, though I was sure it was tight... and if I had not caught it...yikes.??
You are in a grassy area.? Be sure your tipod feet are on solid?ground, like large flagstones.??
If using an EdgeHD be aware the back focus is ideally 5.75 inches past the rear lens.? There is not much room for a filter wheel or ADC optic.? If you try to extend your camera focal plane out past that, you can end up with a coma problem.?
The normal SCTs don't have this particular focal plane issue.? But (Newtonians with) a Baader MPC also have the similar back focus constraint (that one is 55mm).? ?The penalties of "coma free" can come at a price.??
(Where are you located? You hinted at Utah, but....)
Have fun!
Michael
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020, 6:09 PM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:
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Moderated
Re: First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!
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Thanks, Brian. I think I have the worm gears set at a nice compromise, not too loose, not too noisy. My goal was to get a mount that was sturdier than my Celestron mount so I could do some autoguiding and imaging with my SCT's. I think I have the sturdier part
taken care of. The C14/G11T combination is steadier than my CGX-L for visual. So far, so good!
Jeff
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 7:09 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope! ?
Good luck Jeff!
that is a monster scope, hope it goes well
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 6:09 PM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:
Brian?
Brian Valente
portfolio
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Moderated
Re: First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!
Wow.? Great setup.? I'm not used to seeing a Titan RA axis.?? A few things to?consider: Be sure your knobs holding the tripod sections in place are quite tight.? My C14's weight was slowly collapsing one leg, though I was sure it was tight... and if I had not caught it...yikes.?? You are in a grassy area.? Be sure your tipod feet are on solid?ground, like large flagstones.?? If using an EdgeHD be aware the back focus is ideally 5.75 inches past the rear lens.? There is not much room for a filter wheel or ADC optic.? If you try to extend your camera focal plane out past that, you can end up with a coma problem.? The normal SCTs don't have this particular focal plane issue.? But (Newtonians with) a Baader MPC also have the similar back focus constraint (that one is 55mm).? ?The penalties of "coma free" can come at a price.?? (Where are you located? You hinted at Utah, but....) Have fun! Michael On Wed, Aug 26, 2020, 6:09 PM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:
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Moderated
First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!
I am all set up and ready to go. For the last week, fires in California and Utah have made seeing anything an exercise in futility.? Today, the skies have been blue, instead of brown, and the clouds are supposed to be few and far between. If seeing is decent I hope to get some videos of Jupiter and Saturn. I made two attempts last week and weekend, but even stars directly overhead were dim. Jupiter looked more like a giant Mars, with huge dust storms. I am hoping tonight will be great viewing and videoing. |
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Re: cable din 4 pin
Hi Luis,
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You can't use Gemini power for your ST-8XE. The camera requires a number of voltages that are not available at the Gemini power connector, such as +12v and -12v, as well as +5v and a ground. Gemini only supplies +12 and ground. Regards, ? ? -Paul On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 06:52 PM, Luis Barneo wrote: No. My question is not about autoguider connections, is about the electrical power supply. The box has two power connections. One "in", for electrical power supply of 12 V to the box. Next to it there is the "out" connection to supply power to devices. ST-8XE connect through a cable din 5 pins. The true question is if a male cable din 4 pin can fit in a female din? of 5 pins. |
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Re: cable din 4 pin
No. My question is not about autoguider connections, is about the electrical power supply. The box has two power connections. One "in", for electrical power supply of 12 V to the box. Next to it there is the "out" connection to supply power to devices. ST-8XE connect through a cable din 5 pins. The true question is if a male cable din 4 pin can fit in a female din? of 5 pins.
Luis |
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Re: Gear lash adjustments on my G11t
I have certainly had mounts with far more play than what I have now on my C11T. I have only recently gotten into autoguiding. Since I have been using my SCT¡¯s with long focal length, even with a reducer, any
kind of wind, vibration, or mount instability, has a big impact of guiding. I even try to keep positive thoughts in my head just in case that could mess with my round stars. I appreciate your feedback, Henk. I really? know how well my mount performs, for photography, until the moon goes away, the fires in the western United States die down, and I get a chance to go to my favorite dark site. Have a great week, Henk. Jeff |
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Re: cable din 4 pin
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýThe guider port has six pins, Pin 1 isn¡¯t connected, Pin 2 is common. ? I assume you want to connect the camera as a guide camera?? In which case the guider port is the one you want to use. ? Be aware of the warnings in the manual (section 8.6) about the voltage level differences between the early G1 (with RJ45 motor ports) and the later ones with DIN motor ports. ? David
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Luis Barneo ? Is it possible to connect SBIG ST-8XE? directly to outside port of the box? Gemini 1 throuht a cable din 4 pin or 5 pin? The inside power of the camera has 5 pins, the outside port of the Gemini has 4 pins. |
Timothy Campbell
Michael Herman
David C. Partridge
jeff marston
Paul Kanevsky
Luis Barneo