stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

I've been trying to figure out what is making it run, when I align on a star or when it goes to the target. Frustration has me and I'm not letting it get me down. This year started out good but, took a turn. I did finally find me a spc900nc on the cheap and modified it to replace my Star shoot ll usb. I've had runaway issues and learning a newer cam and all sorts of awesome nights when I had no mount to work with "Dob it time" 7 nights of awesome viewing but, my neck is killing me now. I finally narrowed it do to the coil cord on my autostar. Now I'm back up and running and here come the clouds. WOE's me

Singing Swan

Ya'll star shooters have got to learn to do these repairs and modifications in secret and never think about it after you leave the lead lined room you work in.....then you might have half a chance of foolin' Mother Nature. She has fantastical ESP powers ya know.

I'm wondering how the 600+ acre fire in Canada is going to affect viewing in the next few weeks. Looks like it might make things tough for the middle of the country.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

So let's see, you fell (glad you are OK) and it must have buggered up the coiled cable, but now that it's all fixed the weather is coming down on you???
Dang Ronnie, if it weren't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all.
Hang in there, better days are ahead.

Cotondog Loc: Saskatchewan, Canada

Really? I'm sure we Canadians are touched by your concern, and how this devastating fire might "make things tough" on your viewing of the stars and planets.
It is NOT a 600 acre fire. The fire is 848 sq. km (330 sq. miles), which amounts to 210,000 acres, and destroyed a number of communities. The people in those communities have lost everything. Happy viewing!

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I guess I'm not the only one that missed you had taken a dive.
Glad to hear you're doing ok but sorry it took so long to locate your issues.
Good Luck when the skies clear.
Be safe.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

She's just a mean spirited red head that has to have her way.
;)
As to the smoke from the fires, someone's going to get some fantastic sunrise and sunset pictures. Plus the smell of camping without having to fight the bugs.
:shock: :lol: :lol:

This is a link to my smoke album on Flickr. It was pretty heavy here when Arizona tried to burn to the ground a few years ago..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/albuqshutterbug/albums/72157626904279128

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

I guess everyone in the path of the fire and smoke has their own personal issues with it.
My condolences got out to all.
Craig

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Hey Ronnie that little web cam sounds very interesting.
Keep us updated.
Craig

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Wow, Check this pdf file out:
http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/s/spc900nc_00/spc900nc_00_pss_enggb.pdf
And this: http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/cpindex.pl?ctn=SPC900NC/00&hlt=Link_Overview&scy=GB&slg=ENG

So Ronnie, how are you coupling it to your telescope? Through an eyepiece, or modifying?
It sounds like a great camera. :-D

Singing Swan

I'm really sorry for those folks. I, too, have suffered the devastation of a fire taking home and life. I probably should have said miles instead of acres. I saw the scenes from space showing how the smoke from this fire is going all across the continent. There's not a thing I can do to help any of those folks except offer you sympathy and prayers for your recovery and an apology for offending your sensibilities with my misinformation. Happy viewing!

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

Sonny, I fell over on my lxd55 goto mount and the coil power cord is just another issue I've been dealing with since I fell over on the mount and broke off one of my ota Rings . It happened when I was packing up on the night I got the framegrab of the GRS of Jupiter , since then it hasn't been acting right and just got worse. I'm OK bruises and scratches from head first on the driveway but, there were a helluva lot of curse words being broadcasted throughout the neighborhood that night after the fall. It was just not a good ending to such a nice evening . The mount was running because of the cord and wouldn't you know, that's the last thing checked. I had the mount taken apart and everything was in ok shape and I didn't want it to be the encoder wheel motherboard, although the encoder wheel is slightly bent but, my buddy told me to heat it with a hairdryer to flatten it out. I might do it later on , it can read those lil' spaces in the wheel. Your thoughts on this?

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thank You, Singing Swan. I never took your original post as offensive.
Here in California, we have annual fire seasons. And folks get burned out of house and home. I've seen it for 66 years now.
Natural disasters will occur. And the more densely populated the world gets, the more these will effect and become a tragedy for more people. (World population 1900 ~ 1 billion; today ~7 billion.)
Strength is rising above it, recovering from it, and carrying on with life. I had two cousins who were totally wiped out in Mississippi by Hurricane Katrina. The only thing left was the slab of their house. What was all over the news? New Orleans, because it flooded. Mississippi hardly got a minute of coverage, but was far worse.
My cousin's husband, and her little brother came to California and bought RV's to drive back to live in while they rebuilt.
When Mount Saint Helen's popped her cork, we got 1/2 to 3/4's of an inch of volcanic dust in Wyoming, 1000 miles East. We changed air filters in our cars a lot, and cleaned up the layers daily. No big deal. Not worth fret or worries. Just an event in life. Continue to move forward.
A Friend of mine use to say, "Ca-Ca Occurs".
So do you fret, worry, and look at it? Or grab a shovel and pick it up, quietly?
I think you and I are the type to grab that shovel.... ;)
When clouds occur, I just wish for rain and wait. I know there are always brighter days ahead. :)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Wow Ronnie, sounds like a hard tumble.
Encoder wheel, sorry, I'm not familiar with it. But heating anything plastic can lead to the possibilities of worse distortions than before, so proceed with great caution.
I did google it though, and I see what you may be up against. Any possibilities of finding something workable on the web via Ebay, or electronics surplus houses? (Example)
Otherwise, I think I would try to place the wheel between two flat surfaces and apply enough heat to warm the whole assembly(warm to the touch). Then allow it to cool slowly (overnight). Then see how flat it is afterwords.
These are basic suggestions as I don't really know what you may be up against. Just things I have tried in the past to straighten out things.

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

Sonny , Like you said heat it just enough to loosen it up with a hairdryer and I've got it sticking in a hole in a piece of cardboard and as it heats hold it down from underneath so that it's flat until the bend disappears or at least minimizes and let cool . I was so upset , my CNA went online and found me another lxd55 mount head for a great deal {I've got a backup now} . I've already had it modified for my lx200 tripod and finally got it out the other night with the spc900 but, had trouble getting Jupiter in the 5x before it hid behind a tree and it was out performing my old Starshoot that died. I just need another good night to work with it. Thanks Ronnie the tumbler !

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

Craig, after taking the lens and zoom out of it I was out that night testing but, I was having a hard time getting Jupiter with the 5x and worked with sharpcap for a while until Jupiter disappeared behind a tree. It does look as though if I wanted I could do the SC1 mod and use it for long exposure. There's a wealth of info on this awesome lil' cam Craig. I've been trying to get my hands on one for 2 yrs. and finally have my very own. This lil' color cam is pretty darn good it's not a mono cam , I've got one . I can now switch my QHY5-ii mono with the spc900 and do imaging or guiding they both are light and good lil' cams. I've got a 1 1/4' threaded adapter that's made just for the spc900 so it fits in the focuser , barlow or powermate .