On Nov 7, 2020, at 8:56 AM, Terri Zittritsch <theresamarie11@...> wrote:

Dale, thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response and information... like you, the focuser is my biggest concern, second is dew control. I like the Dew Busters capability and will have to take a look at the manual for the Pegasus.

The auto-dew feature on the UPBv2 is a bit ham-fisted at the moment, but it will get some improvements according to Evan of Pegasus.

I was also contemplating a Dew Buster as well before getting this, with the Dew Buster's auto-dew logic and that it places thermocouples up where the dew straps are to take the OTA temperatures and base its power level on that. The UPBv2 is different in that it has its own temperature+humidity sensor but it's not near the optics (although you can place it wherever its length of cable allows you); it's very much reflective of the ambient air around the OTA, not the temperature /of/ the OTA.

But really, in the end that doesn't seem to matter. The UPBv2 seems to ramp up the dew strap power output early enough such that dewing has never been a problem. Like I mentioned before, I'll set my rig up in the afternoon and just let it chill until it's time to start imaging later in the night. I just set the auto-dew to on and go about my day, have dinner, play with the kid, wrestle him to bed, clean up, and finally when it's astro-dark and I can turn my attention back to imaging, the dew heaters are already on with power output in accordance with the how close ambient temperature is to converging with the dewpoint.

I say it's ham-fisted in that it's very coarse in its incremental ramp up, and it seems sometimes that it will ramp up too fast and drive the dew straps at higher outputs that is really necessary for the conditions. One tactic is to let it auto-dew early in the evening, then turn the feature off and manually set the power output for each strap in accordance with your own intuition. The next version of the UPBv2 control app will have a new "Auto-Dew Aggressiveness" setting which will let you control this more. It's already available in an update to their smaller PPA product, and Evan at Pegasus says that it'll appear in a UPBv2 update soon as well. For what it's worth, I use Dew-Not and Kendrick straps, and the dewing levels I experience are typical of what you'd find in a mid-Atlantic suburban environment.

/dale

Dale, thank you again, I think I’ll give it a try. 

terri

Personally, I am not fond of putting anything on the OTA. I think it's messier this way especially with a through-the-mount cabling mount. See pictures of my setup with TEC 160FL and A-P1100GTOAE mount at:

https://peternagy.smugmug.com/Telescopes/Current-Equipment/

The only things I have on OTA is ADM 15" dovetail ( https://www.admaccessories.com/product/dup15ap-d-series-universal-dovetail-bar-15-long-3-5-spacing/ ) and a carrying handle ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049A9GEI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) to easily carry and mount the scope. I attach the following to CP4:

Optec Focus Boss II hub
Ethernet 5 port switch
Pegasuspowered USB hub

Notice my pictures do not yet show Pegasus powered USB hub. The devices are attached with pretty strong but easily removable adhesive tapes.

I route USB and power cables through the mount and it's a very nice clean setup. Having many things mounted on OTA almost defeats the purpose of having through the mount cabling. Also, having junk on OTA can upset the balance because they add weight.

Bottom line, A-P1100GTO mount made the cable management so much easier and cleaner that you don't need to put junk on OTA.

Peter

Hi Terri,

Thanks for the pic! How long have you had your Mach2? Do you like it? 

I'm also an EE and I like to tinker too. The Pegasus is very interesting but not within my budget this month as I need to write the last check for the 130GTX. The only issue I see with the Pegasus is I will not be able to use the 12V output for the Mini PC. Currently, I use a laptop and the mini PCs I have been looking at are all higher end so they require 19V inputs and not 12V. I mentioned this to Pegasus and asked them if they would consider adding a 19V output option on a future rev of the box. Not sure how common of an issue this is?

Thanks again,
Alex

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the pictures and information. Your setup definitely adds another potential option to the mix and it does eliminate any issues with adding weight to the scope. Also, I noticed you use a QHY PoleMaster? How do you like it? I just purchased one for my AP 1100GTO mount. I'm hoping it speeds up and improves my polar alignments.

Thanks again,
Alex

Hi Alex,

The only issue I see with the Pegasus is I will not be able to use the 12V output
for the Mini PC

By "Mini PC", do you mean an Intel NUC?

While they often use 19V input, they will work with 12V provided the power source can provide enough current.

-Ray Gralak
Author of PEMPro
Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): https://www.astro-physics.com/apcc-pro
Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver

-----Original Message-----
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io [mailto:main@ap-gto.groups.io] On Behalf Of alex@...
Sent: Sunday, November 8, 2020 6:38 PM
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Manage Cables Which Plate to Use for Top Mount Hardware?

Hi Terri,

Thanks for the pic! How long have you had your Mach2? Do you like it?

I'm also an EE and I like to tinker too. The Pegasus is very interesting but not within my budget this month as I need to
write the last check for the 130GTX. The only issue I see with the Pegasus is I will not be able to use the 12V output
for the Mini PC. Currently, I use a laptop and the mini PCs I have been looking at are all higher end so they require
19V inputs and not 12V. I mentioned this to Pegasus and asked them if they would consider adding a 19V output
option on a future rev of the box. Not sure how common of an issue this is?

Thanks again,
Alex

I have a Pegasus UPBv2, and a Minix N42C-4 on my travel scope and a Minix J50C-4 on my main observatory scope. They’ve been upgraded with larger SSD drives.

Hi Alex,

PoleMaster works great. I use SharpCap Pro instead of QHY PoleMaster software. I find SharpCap Pro easier to operate because it has built-in plate solver and uses ASCOM mount driver so it knows exactly where the mount is pointing to. SharpCap Pro is a yearly subscription and costs 10 British Pounds a year and totally worth it. Polar alignment appears to be quite accurate with PoleMaster and SharpCap Pro.

https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/

Peter

Hi All.

Just a note regarding using the Pegasus Astro UPBV2 to replace the Optec Focuser controller. I have the Optec QuickSync FT40 on a Starlight Instruments FTF#3545 Feather Touch Focuser on the TEC 140. I attempted to use the UPBV2 to replace the FocusLynx controller for the FT40 focus motor and although it worked, I found it had a few issues:

1. The UPBV2 does not have the fine-tuning options that I have with the Optec FocusLynx Controller/Software. For example, there does not appear to be anyway to set the UPBV2 to use High Torque vs High Speed like I can with the FocusLynx software. I use the High Torque setting to help prevent slippage of the focuser with my the heavy QUADTCC focal reducer + ATIK EFW2 + ATIK 16200 camera combination. 

2. I created my own FT40 CAT5 control cable following the schematic in the UPBV2 manual for the Starlight HSM35. Although the UPBV2 does work with the FT40, it makes a loud "chatter" noise when racking the focuser in and out using the FT40. I worried this might damage the FT40 over time. I also worried i might not get as accurate step sizes for the auto focus routine with this chatter. I don't know if this was a real problem or not, but I dd not have this issue when using the FocusLynx controller.  

Due to these concerns, I ended up going back and using the FocusLynx controller rather than using the UPBV2 as the focuser controller. I still use the UPBV2 for Power and USB connection control which does help eliminate some of the clutter as I don't need a separate power block and USB hub on top of the OTA.

 

I also don't use the UPBV2 for controlling my dew heaters just because I have been told not to use the same power supply for Dew Heaters and Camera due to the potential for short voltage dips/spikes that can occur when the dew heaters kick on and off. I use a 30 Amp Powerwerx PS for my Imaging chain, so not sure how much of an issue I would have with the Dew Heaters and Camera on the same circuit. However, to eliminate any potential issues I keep the Dew Heaters on their own PS and Dew Heater Controller. 

I am currently just using an ADM Dovetail bar on top of the TEC 140 as a mount for the UPBV2 and the FocusLynx controller. I don’t put the Dew Heater controller on top of my scope because it is on a separate PS and the leads for the dew heaters are long enough to run through my Mach1 back to the Dew Heater controller that I have mounted on my pier. To attach the accessories to the dovetail bar, I use “heavy duty” Velcro. This allows me to take them on and off as needed. The Velcro does a pretty good job of holding everything in place. The ADM dovetail does add some additional weight to the top of the OTA, but the Mach1 seems to handle it just fine.

 

Just thought I would pass this along my experience using the UPBV2 in case anyone might find it useful.

 

Clear Skies.
Andrew J

Hi Ray,

Yes, I meant the high end Intel NUCs and also other mini computers which are very similar.  For instance, you can get AMD processors in a similar form factor as the Intel based NUCs. 

What I did not know is you could get away with 12V for the units that specify 19V if you supply enough current. Thank you for this info! From memory, I think some of the 19V based mini computers required 3A of current?  Need to double check this figure, but if true, then the Pegasus can supply enough current (Roughly 5A) at 12V.

Best,
Alex

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for the information and the links! It is helpful knowing what works before you buy.

Right now, I still use a laptop with my setup and if necessary I can run the laptop from one of my LiFeO4 batteries via a DC/AC sine wave converter. Basically, I plug my laptop power brick into the DC/AC converter. This is not the most efficient method to run the laptop but I have plenty of battery cycles to spare for an average evenings run.

Best,
Alex

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the info and the link to SharpCap Pro. I plan on checking out the software in the next day or two and I will likely subscribe, particularly with the low cost of the software.

Best,
Alex

Hi Peter,

I just noticed you can tweak SharpCapPro using Python scripting if necessary. This is great as I like to program in Python.

Best,
Alex

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for highlighting your experience with the focus controllers, dew heaters, etc. This is helpful, particularly if I run into the same issues with the built in focuser. Short term, I still plan on using the Focuser Boss II and associated software.

Best,
Alex

Hi Alex, I'll provide another thumbs up on the Polemaster.. it does fantastic polar alignment, and if you have a portable setup where you can mark where your tripod goes night after night (same position), your setup is a matter of a 5 minutes of so for polar align.  Mine is incredibly fast as my tripod stays leveled and I have very little adjustment to do.    I have not gone the modeling route yet, so still guide and have to deal with RA corrections, but DEC is very stable.    I put my eagle tripod legs on those 3 wheeled furniture dollies and roll it out and place it on marks I've painted in my drive.   At the end of the night all I do is lift one leg at a time onto the dollies and roll it back into the garage.   

Hi Alex

Make that 3 thumbs up for the Polemaster.  Gets you polar aligned in minutes using SharpCap which I think is better than the QHY software.  If you want to keep it attached to the 1100GTO like I did, just get the holder from ADM and place it on the dovetail and connect it to your hub. 

Hi Terri,

Thanks for the info. I need to get some furniture dollies to move my equipment with and mark the position as you did to speed up polar alignment.

Best,
Alex

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for the endorsement of PoleMaster and SharpCap. I purchased the Pro edition of SharpCap yesterday and I have a dovetail holder I purchased from Opt for the PoleMaster. I'm looking forward to trying out the new system once I get my scope. Hopefully within a week or two.

Best,
Alex