First light of the "Medusa"

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SkyHiker United States of America
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First light of the "Medusa"

#1

Post by SkyHiker »


With all that new gear comes the headache of wiring it all up. Until now I had the Pi hanging by its USB-C cable, time to get my act together.

The gear: An ASI2600MC or an ASI2600MM with filter wheel each with a 15 W cooling unit, an electronic focuser, an OAG with a ASI-120 mini, a Pi 4B with 8 GB. I cannot power everything from the Pi anymore so I added a 7-port powered USB-2 hub, and a 12 to 5 V DC converter. It needs to be near the gear so I clamped it with a piece of bicycle tube against the OTA.
IMG_0955.JPG
The name Medusa is because of the wires hanging off it when everything is disconnected. But honestly when it's hooked up it's not too bad. Just 1 12 V wire going up and 1 USB cable going down to the OnStep controller.
IMG_0956.JPG
IMG_0953.JPG
Here's a picture of the camera, the OAG with ASI120 mini and the Paracorr 2 coma corrector.

By having to add a 42 mm male to male for the OAG on both sides it's not quite 55 mm distance anymore but let's see if it makes much difference.

The nice thing about this configuration is that I can power everything up at once from a cigarette lighter socket. This means that I can use it at home from an AC adapter and in the field from a battery.

I have a feeling that I need to work on the electronics a bit more. The Pi does not boot if I have too many things hooked up and gives warnings about low voltage. I may have to add a second 12 to 5 V converter, and may also need to replace the long thin cable that powers everything with a thicker one that has less resistance. The cable that I use is the one that came with my AVX, just meant to power the little guy. Not this.

But, the Pi is running and everything seems to work. I was able to focus the imager and the guider on a remote hill. So, let's see if the autoguider and the electronic focuser work. Never used them before.

I had to fabricate my own bracket for the electronic focuser because the bracket that was provided did not fit. So I made something from sheet metal, and it's a bit wobbly. It should not work because the backlash from the flexure is enormous compared to the little steps. So I may need to stiffen it with some side panels.

But, I'm getting there.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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STEVE333 United States of America
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#2

Post by STEVE333 »


Wow Henk - There are a lot of variables and unknowns in your setup. It should be amazing when you get it all working.

Being old-fashioned I like to change one thing at a time when possible. Of course, when I switched from a DSLR to a mono-camera with filter wheel there were all sorts of things going on at once. Life doesn't always provide us a nice clean path!

Look forward to seeing your first light with the new system.

Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
Telescope + Mount + Guiding: W.O. Star71-ii + iOptron CEM40 EC + Orion Magnificent Mini AutoGuider
Camera: ASI 1600MM Pro + EFW Filter Wheel + Chroma 3nm Siii, Ha, Oiii + ZWO LRGB Filters
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website: www.steveking.pictures
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#3

Post by SkyHiker »


STEVE333 wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 3:53 am Wow Henk - There are a lot of variables and unknowns in your setup. It should be amazing when you get it all working.

Being old-fashioned I like to change one thing at a time when possible. Of course, when I switched from a DSLR to a mono-camera with filter wheel there were all sorts of things going on at once. Life doesn't always provide us a nice clean path!

Look forward to seeing your first light with the new system.

Steve
My night got cut short by a raging storm. I was afraid that it would blow my Losmandy over so I packed it up early.

I just got the focuser working - by entering values manually mostly. The autofocus needs some more study. Probably just a matter of setting the tolerances. This was the main unknown (and I am not done with it yet), the OAG should be straightforward as it's just an autoguider. So long as it can find a star. Configuration is straightforward.

Aside from that, the Medusa is a success. It is easy to disconnect the cables from the gear, take the gear inside then disconnect the remaining two cables and take the Medusa inside. Switching the 2600MM in would require moving the CC and OAG over. If the OAG is a success I will just get a second one because swapping it takes more work than reasonable and they are not that expensive. So I should be able to swap gear easily.

Tomorrow I will see if I can solve the startup power problems. First order is to replace the 12 V power cable with a more heavy duty one.

The camera cooler is labeled 15 W and runs on 12 V that comes straight from the cig socket. The power usage depends on the temperature setting so this is a worst case number.

Everything else runs off the USB hub that is powered by a 15 W 12 to 5 V DC converter. The capacity of the hub is listed as 20 W. If I add everything up I end up with about 18 W (Pi: 6 W, focuser: 6 W, 2600MC: 4.7 W, 120: 1 W, filter wheel: not much). So maybe I need to add that second DC converter in parallel so the hub can provide more power.

The cig lighter should provide 15+18=33 W. The 12 V AC adapter can deliver that easily. So hopefully getting a bigger power cord and adding a second DC converter will fix the low voltage alerts in the Pi.

So Steve, one thing at a time is nice but it rarely happens in a real life work situation. The advantage of adding everything at once is that priority one is to sort out the power supply and wiring problems, which makes it a lot easier to set up when done right.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#4

Post by Graeme1858 »


Nice looking rig Henk.

I hope you get your low voltage alert sorted.

Regards

Graeme
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#5

Post by SkyHiker »


Graeme1858 wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 8:03 am Nice looking rig Henk.

I hope you get your low voltage alert sorted.

Regards

Graeme
I found a solution that works.

1) I replaced the flimsy cig lighter power cable with a light power cable wired into the OnStep power connector
2) This allowed me to get rid of the 4-port cig lighter hub that fed OnStep and the rest that may also have power constraints
3) I cut up a USB cable to provide power directly from the DC converter to the Pi instead of taking it from the USB hub

I don't know what made the difference but I can now boot the Pi without problems.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#6

Post by TheButcher »


That is Awesome Henk! Can't wait to see some images!
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#7

Post by Greenman »


Wow, some project Henk, good luck with the finishing touches. I too await first light, probably not as much as you do 👍
Cheers,

Tony.

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Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#8

Post by SkyHiker »


Last night I had another go and the Medusa worked fine as expected. Easy to set up and connect. Looks clean once connected. Boots up and talks to everything. No unexpected reboots.

Learned more about the multiple new pieces of gear. This time I managed to get the electronic focuser to autofocus. Then I tried using Ekos to polar align for the first time. It was unable to plate solve the FOV no matter what I tried. I wasn't going to use it my DSLR for PA for the short time so I went on without.

Next up was the OAG. While still near Polaris I found some stars and was able to get a sharper focus with the ASI120 mini, using the helical focuser. It was not far off because I practiced it in the daytime.

Then I moved to a target somewhere NE to plate solve. Failure again just like with the PA routine. After trying numerous times I started looking through the options tab. As it turned out, it was set to small star angles or something like that. I set it to the default and finally I could plate solve again without a problem, on multiple targets. Not sure how it lost the default option. It must have been me. I bet the PA would have worked now too.

I finally locked on to M101 and decided to take some images. I only had a faint double, or triple star so it seemed, in the FOV at 2 seconds. I went with it. The guiding was horrible, 5" RMS total was the best I got. Changing the gains helped a bit. I suppose I got punished for not polar aligning. There were spikes in DEC all in the same direction. Later on I loved the target to a place with a better guide star but it did not make much difference. Oh well keep practicing. This star was also stretched so there is something wrong with the OAG optics.

Nevertheless it was all working. I stacked M101 in DSS and it was not bad for the short time but not worth posting. Nice colors, the stars were round.

Next time I'll try running off a battery in preparation for the Kaibab Lodge star party in June. The gear is no longer new, I know how to use it. Next up is getting the dang RMS down to 1" or less. It means debugging the spring loaded worms. There are several ways of dealing with including making it fixed again when I start imaging. I'll get there.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#9

Post by STEVE333 »


Thanks for sharing your journey with us Henk. Good luck with getting the guiding tamed.

Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
Telescope + Mount + Guiding: W.O. Star71-ii + iOptron CEM40 EC + Orion Magnificent Mini AutoGuider
Camera: ASI 1600MM Pro + EFW Filter Wheel + Chroma 3nm Siii, Ha, Oiii + ZWO LRGB Filters
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website: www.steveking.pictures
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#10

Post by Juno16 »


That is one ominous and awesome looking rig Henk!

Thanks for sharing your setup and looking forward to seeing some images. You have an awesome setup. I cannot imagine taking on a setup task like this!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
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Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#11

Post by SkyHiker »


Just to show where I'm at, here's a Pinwheel from almost an hour integration time.
m101_gimp_dss_gimp_wlpg_small.jpg
While far from perfect, I could never have achieved this with a DSLR.

I spent a lot of time getting the Ekos polar alignment working and failed so this was without doing PA. The problem was that plate solving with the 2600 did not work. Eventually I hooked up my SSAG and plate solved with it, which always works. Then I went back and found that ASTAP worked for the 2600 and that astrometry.net gave errors that I don't understand. Next time I'll try ASTAP.

I also spent a lot of time focusing and found that I have too much backlash. I suspected this because I made a sheet metal bracket for the electronic focuser since the one provided did not fit. It flops around too much, I need to make it much stiffer. Something to do for the weekend.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#12

Post by STEVE333 »


Congratulations Henk - The stars look pretty round to my eyes. All you need is more time on target.

Kudos on your progress so far.

Too much backlash can be a real pain, so, improved bracket sounds like a good investment of time. Good luck.

Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
Telescope + Mount + Guiding: W.O. Star71-ii + iOptron CEM40 EC + Orion Magnificent Mini AutoGuider
Camera: ASI 1600MM Pro + EFW Filter Wheel + Chroma 3nm Siii, Ha, Oiii + ZWO LRGB Filters
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website: www.steveking.pictures
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Re: First light of the "Medusa"

#13

Post by SkyHiker »


STEVE333 wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 8:28 pm Congratulations Henk - The stars look pretty round to my eyes. All you need is more time on target.

Kudos on your progress so far.

Too much backlash can be a real pain, so, improved bracket sounds like a good investment of time. Good luck.

Steve
Thanks Steve

I'm in over my head on new projects though. I just got a Redcat 51 that I want to use with my AVX. I configured another Pi 2B with Astroberry and need need to splice a serial cable into it to talk to the AVX hand controller. I used to use the AVX just with the hand controller and ST4 with lin_guider on a Pi for guiding but being able to do plate solving etcetera makes it useful to step it up a bit. The spending is a bit abnormal for me but if I go all in I may as well do it before I go on my Kaibab Lodge astro trip. No CFO here besides myself!
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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