OBSERVATORY & EQUIPMENT

 

 

 

Observatory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well… that is the result after negotiations with my wife Silvina. Actually more than an observatory is just a site with a Pier at the border of the swimming pool in my backyard. Although the location is a bit risky, it is a convenient place for the rig.

 

The pier is placed directly in the basement. There are a bunch of people who used to build a block of cement below undergraound, that was tIMAGE

VIXEN GPDX - SKY SENSOR 2000 REVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I first started working with the Synta EQ3 mount. The performance was not bad. Nevertheless it was time consuming at the time for searching targets. Not only time... sometimes my back was a bit stressed because twisted positions for star hopping search.

Having a GOTO mount is quite convenient because you can put all your efforts in imaging and also helps to keep your back and in my case the mood in a good stage. I still want to improve the EQ3 with the Orion IntelliScope. It works with the EQ5 however have to check if it is compatible with the EQ3.

The decision of picking up the Vixen GPDX and not other GOTO mount (e.g. Sphinx, Losmandy G8) was mainly because its simplicity. Unfortunately in Argentina we have almost no kind of support for main trademarks and if there is any, they are extremely expensive. So the idea was to have something that in case of failure, it is possible to replace it easily. In the mentioned sense the GPDX components work independently which means for example if a MT4 (motor) breaks, I will be able to replace it for a new one. Same goes to the other components like gears. There is the obvious exception of the Sky Sensor 2000.

Assembly and Instruction Manual

The Mount and the SS2K manual are reasonable understandable and after a few goes with the equipment you will get quickly familiarized with its functions. 

Load Capacity

The mount is able to carry 22 pounds or roughly 10 kilograms. Because the arguments placed in the first paragraph I tried no to force the mount and use it at almost 70% of its weight capacity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKY SENSOR 2000: Tracking with and without PEC

The GPDX is not a high end mount but for the type of work I am doing right now, it behaves under expectations. With the drift alignment achieved, the mount provides a reasonable tracking for the C8 (at f6.3) and the Canon DSRL setup. Something like 60 seconds without PEC and 90 seconds with PEC enable.

It’s important to know that once the PEC is set the mounts have to be moved with the motors. Any manual movement will ruin the synchronicity with the gears and the computer and a new PEC should have to be done. To record the PEC you have to be relaxed because the whole cycle last 10 minutes.

For tracking purposes I found that adding some extra weigh in the east side of the mount is a good idea in order to force the gears a bit and make the tracking more stable.

Pointing Accuracy – for visual purposes and Astrophotography

With only one star alignment the mount is able to cross the sky and point an object within 2 degrees. Probably a good backlash adjustment will improve the pointing performance. The SS2K has a list of Reference Stars which are useful for the first alignment. For visual observation is fairly enough

For astrophotography some more accuracy is needed. To place the object into the CCD or the CMOS, a second nearby star has to be used. The reference star catalogue is not enough. However there is a SAO catalogue for stars below 4th magnitude. Getting a star in a radius of 10/15 degrees is enough to place the object into the 750 x 580 CCD pixel array. Quite impressive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MT4 Motors

Each motor can be used either for RA or DEC. The MT4 are quite smooth when they are trucking. For GOTO operations it has several speeds. The RA goes relative smooth but the DEC motor is a bit loudly. To decrease the noise you can low the speed down.

Assembling the DEC motor is pretty easy. There are understandable sheet of papers that can guide you without any problem. The RA motor is a bit more difficult but with a bit of patience it can be done.

Some important things regarding the MT4 

Try no to place the gears too tight. They should run fine without excessive pressure.

Both gears have to be at the same level. Try to get a metal ruler to measure them.  

Check for time to time the screws of the gears. Usually they tend to loosen. Its better to tight them in an illuminated room than in the dark.

More info coming soon...