Hello, my name is Tony and I'm from lower NY.? I just purchased a new-to-me mount yesterday morning and have since converted it to onstep, and just completed my bench testing.? I've been running OnStep for a while now on other mounts, but I'm new to Losmandy hardware.? My father owns a G811 and has been trying to get me onboard for a while now.? Glad to have finally made it.

--

Hello Tony, please tell us more about Onstep on the G11. Did it bolt on and work right out of the box, or did you have to do some troubleshooting?
-Bill

I came from an OnStep mount to a Gemini-2.??

While the mount I was using with OnStep was a very cheap EQ3-class mount, I'm finding the Gemini-2 is better in most ways.? The ASCOM driver is far more stable.? I'm seeing far better pointing accuracy and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Gemini-2 system allows the pointing model to be refined by adding additional stars to the model after the initial alignment.? OnStep doesn't seem to allow that, as I asked that question to the OnStep group (and ended up finding my answer in the source code):??https://onstep.groups.io/g/main/topic/82448650#33088

Advantages of OnStep:? cheap.? Good for tinkers but steer clear if you don't like to tinker.? Less concerns around long-term support since the system is open source (but *not* the ASCOM driver!).? And integration with an Android phone app (though it is glitchy as communication issues completely freeze up the UI!!).??

Hi Brian, Nice to meet you.? I've heard quite a bit about you from dear ol' dad, thanks for helping him out so much over the last year or so.

Bill, my interpretation of OnStep is completely DIY.? Everything is a custom one-off job.? The brains are a cheap Wemos R1 arduino board and a CNC Shield v3 board to hold the stepper motor drivers.? The motors are some 400 step .9? motors off ebay.? I'm using 3D printed brackets and rigid couplers to mount the motors to the worms directly, no further gear reduction than? the 1:360 of the worm wheels.? At 1/64 microstepping, I have a final resolution of about .14 arc-sec per step, and a max slew rate of around 2.4?/second.? Not speedy, but no too annoyingly slow either.? I also did a very inexpensive RA extension mod using 1-1/4" aluminum standoffs and a 3D printed housing to dress it up.? When I purchased? the mount, I knew the Gemini 1 control had been damaged, and is fairly pricy to replace.? The Onstep system ran about $60 worth of parts and about 10 to 12 hours worth of design and fabrication time.

I have two other mounts, one being my fathers heavy old Meade LXD-650 which was converted to onstep.? It used 1:2.25 belt reduction and 180t worms for a similar final resolution to the G11, and in extremely good conditions I've had it guiding 30+ lbs of OTA and gear as low as .40 arc-sec rms. And I also have an Explore Scientific EXOS2-GT PMC-8, which is very similar to onstep, but on a lighter weight eq5/super polaris chassis.


Here's the worm and coupler.? I originally wanted to use a flexible helical coupler, but turning it down to 5/8 proved to be a challenge.? Instead I used a rigid coupler and let the shaft center the motor and mount before snugging it down.? Pardon my mess.


Here are the stepper motors and 3D printed Brackets.? The zipties are a bit of a eyesore, but otherwise looks OK.


This is the RA extension, using cheap aluminum standoffs from amazon.? It wont quick disconnect like the Losmandy, but it gives me plenty of clearance for the motors.??

Here's the finished mount.? I hope to give it a shakedown run early this evening before? the clouds roll in.



Papagordygrapes, your concerns about OnStep are spot on.? Its certainly made for those who like to tinker.? For visual use, I could see it being troublesome.? I don't use a hand controller, and the android app is indeed prone to lag.? However for imaging, OnStep seems much more well suited.? With good polar alignment, my go-tos have been excellent (with my previous mounts), however I typically plate solve for perfect centering anyway.? While the ASCOM driver will crash under certain situations, like attempting to manually enter coordinates below the horizon, these are uncommon and easily avoidable.? It otherwise seems fairly stable once you get a good routine going.? But you are correct, it's not nearly as polished or mature as a commercial product like the Gemini system.? However for that matter, Explore Scientific's PMC-Eight system isn't any better than OnStep and is prone to similar annoyances, though none of which are dealbreakers for me.

Thanks all, and clear skies.

-Tony

?

I feel that for the 492 user OnStep can be a big improvement. It eliminates the gearhead backlash and low resolution of the stock motor's 15°?step angle. And they already have the needed hand control for non-goto use. Moving to goto only requires adding the Smart Hand Control, $25 as a kit, $40 assembled. With used 492 circuit boards going for $150, an OnStep conversion is a bargain.

Here's something I'm working on.



From the left two NEMA 17 0.9° step angle motors ($11 each) the SHC and a what I'm calling The ESPduino/Hujer controller. The controller consists of a ESPduino and Roman Hujer's. The ESPduino is??powered. Supports goto, guiding, RTC, WiFi, BT, SHC and PEC with one additional function for OneWire, status LED, status2 LED, reticle LED or tone.?Roman remodified?the MaxESP3?pins to squeeze more out of ESPDuino.

I'm planning to sell the controller assembled less the drivers, WiFi and RTC for $25 and $35 with the WiFi and RTC for $35. LV8729 Drivers, which are fine for the 492 user are $5 each. What his means is that for a a user whose 492 has expired the outlay of about $60 and and some printed brackets they can have a improved, modern, modular, easy to repair control system and the ability to flirt with goto.

Hi George,
? ? I am a new user with a G11 with the 492 digital drive.? I am fine with how the mount tracks, but would like goto so I can find dimmer DSO's that I can't find easily visually.? In your post above, did you say that I can buy a new hand control that would give me goto with just the stock stepper motors that I have now?? I was hoping not to have to tinker with new motors, new connections to the worm, etc.? If this were a "reversable" item that I could undo later and sell as a stock G11,? I would love to move to OnStep.? Otherwise, I am not mechanically inclined to do much tinkering.? Thanks for your help.? ?Dom?

--

开云体育

Hi Dom,