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Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:53 pm
by Thefatkitty
Hey realflow,

Not sure if this is going to be of help now; I did this before I read your post on the broken part...:( It was for mounting your dovetail on the other side of the scope and having it line up.

For what it's worth... I'd recommend taking out the primary mirror. It'll be much easier, and you can use some tape to mark the mirror cell and tube so they line up when putting it back together.

To do this, you'll need your dovetail, scope, a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 or what have you piece of paper, some quality painters tape, a ruler and a sharpie or pen or pencil. Also some quality metal drill bits, preferably from about 1/16 or 5/64 to about 3/8". Oh, and a drill....

Image

First, figure out where you want the dovetail to go. Once you've done that, cover that area on the tube with a few strips of painters tape. Put about three to five layers on. The idea here is not only to have a surface you can make a mark on, but also a place for the drill-bit to get some "bite". I know from experience it's hard sometimes to drill a hole on a curved and painted metal surface, and you don't want to use a center-punch on this :lol:
The tape will keep the bit from wandering, trust me.

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Next get your piece of paper. It has natural 90* angles, and it is also flexible. Really Mark?? :lol: So what you want to do is align the short side of the paper with the bottom of your tube, and have it so the long end goes about halfway across your tape on the tube. A picture is worth a billion of my words for sure:

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Next, get your ruler and line it up with the edge of the paper,

Image

and mark a line like so:

Image

Fun stuff. Next, get your dovetail and line up whatever holes you want to use for mounting with the line on the tube so the line in centered in the hole.

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Then, get your writing instrument of choice, and scribble inside the holes while the dovetail is lined up with the line on the tape. You'll end up with the exact place(s) you need to drill your holes, all squared off :D

Image

As a recommendation, I would start with a small drill-bit, and work up from there. Once you have that small "pilot-hole", you're good to go. And go slow with the drill; no need to have it full power as the tube is pretty thin metal.

Once your holes are drilled, tip it so the metal shavings fall out where the mirror cell goes. A shop-vac or even some tape around your hand, sticky side down, will also work for picking up any leftovers in the tube.

I've done this a few times with refractors and reflectors, never had a problem. Trust me though, it's a bit of a challenge on a 60mm; I had to get my daughter to thread the nuts onto the bolts as my hand wouldn't fit into the tube!! :lol:

Alrighty, hope this helps and I'll leave you be :D


All the best,

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:03 pm
by realflow100
All of those images just show a tiny file thumbnail with the text "image" next to it.
What do I do then?

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:42 pm
by Thefatkitty
Odd, works fine here... Anyone else maybe?

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 12:18 am
by JayTee
Images show up fine using Chrome.

JT

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 12:32 am
by Thefatkitty
JayTee wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2020 12:18 am Images show up fine using Chrome.

JT
OK thanks; that's what I'm using. MS Edge works too... :confusion-questionmarks:

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:54 am
by Voyageur
Mark. your images show up fine with Chrome for Android and also on iPad with Safari.

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:25 am
by realflow100
I'm using google chrome. Weird. maybe one of my browser extensions
Could it be i'm on windows 7 and not windows 10? I assume most people are using win10 nowadays with me being an exception in the minority

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:50 am
by Graeme1858
Can you see the images in this link Realflow?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtzUKEWck9gpveI9TLV ... w?e=rjwYdK

They're in the same order as they are in Mark's post.

Regards

Graeme

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:15 pm
by Thefatkitty
Hey Realflow, not sure what's up there... It's just images on one of my domains.

Here's the pics in order as hyperlinks; maybe that helps?

http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/001.jpg
http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/002.jpg
http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/003.jpg
http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/004.jpg
http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/005.jpg
http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/006.jpg
http://thefatkitty.com/tss/0401/007.jpg

If that doesn't work, maybe I can send them to you as a ZIP file. Wasn't trying to cause you any grief either... :icon-redface:

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:19 pm
by Thefatkitty
Graeme1858 wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:50 am Can you see the images in this link Realflow?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtzUKEWck9gpveI9TLV ... w?e=rjwYdK

They're in the same order as they are in Mark's post.

Regards

Graeme
See, this is why I need coffee before posting; then I notice the posts above the one I'm just making... :lol:

Thanks Graeme, hopefully it works for him, and dust my post if you want; it's kinda redundant :lol:

Stay safe!

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 7:20 am
by realflow100
I can see the images fine when i open the jpg links in new tabs. Weird

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:52 pm
by realflow100
I managed to flip the dovetail adapter to the opposite side of the telescope tube. now it mounts right-side-up and facing the correct way and can use it with the star tracker :D
it seems very unhappy having a camera attached though. have to connect the dovetail to the 3rd notch so the camera is not pulling the telescope down forwards!

I attached it by drilling holes for the dovetail bracket screws to go through and wident them by twirling a pair of pliers in the holes for a minute so the screws would fit through (didnt have right size drill bit) and it works

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 2:04 am
by realflow100
I'm still having an issue!

No matter WHAT I DO it will NOT keep tracking anything properly.
theres so much trailing its insane.
I only got one non-trailed frame out of 21 frames out of sheer luck and random chance

I have tried aligning to target on different targets. and 2 star alignment on various stars. and it just refuses to stay aligned!

everything is input correctly. time and date. and location. and everything. the tripod is level.

I even balanced the camera perfectly so its not putting any pressure on the gears up or down vertically. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS THING??

im only at 250mm focal length on a 1.6 crop sensor. and I cant seem to get any useful images.

I'm at a loss why i'm struggling so much to get any non-trailing images.

Image

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 4:03 am
by Thefatkitty
I'm not an expert, but from the looks of it, your tracking is good, but it looks like the mount might not be able to handle the weight of the camera. It might be slowing your mount down... Not sure what your mount is rated for weight-wise, but I'm sure someone with more experience in this area will chime in :D

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 4:37 am
by realflow100
i had better tracking with a much heavier 4-inch dob telescope mounted to it along with the camera and completely unbalanced so it was putting a lot of stress on the gears. and was able to capture some pretty good images with an ACCEPTABLE amount of trailing

but now i'm having issues with it perfectly balanced. and a small light weight lens attached. its way lighter and having a lot of issues
its rated for 11lb and i'm under half of that AND its balanced so theres no extra stress on the gears.

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:53 am
by Graeme1858
realflow100 wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 4:37 am i had better tracking with a much heavier 4-inch dob telescope mounted to it along with the camera

I thought this thread was all about the 4" reflector attached to the mount? Was that image above taken using just the camera on the bracket you showed on your other thread?

Regards

Graeme

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:00 am
by JayTee
After all the attempts you've made at trying to get this mount to behave, I'm beginning to believe the mount itself may be defective. If you bought it new, then it is still under warranty. I would call the manufacturer and see what they suggest what your remedy options are.

JT

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:03 am
by realflow100
yes that image was taken using the camera on the bracket in the other thread.
I should start a new thread on this sorry.

i bought it new for 99$ on amazon. soon after i bought it. the price jumped up to 270$ (no idea why) the other similar models are also priced around 270$ to 300$
so i'm not sure why im struggling so much when its quite expensive normally.

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:10 am
by yobbo89
realflow100 wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:11 pm No it works fine with a refractor but not my dob telescope. the only way I can mount it with the "eyepiece" facing upright and not at the ground is mounting it backwards so it faces the opposite way that the refractor does.
and I cant align it like that. it doesnt cooporate

it doesnt work if i rotate it the other way so the eyepiece is facing up and accessible.

I cant use it like this. and it wont work if i rotate it around to face backwards and re-tighten the clutch knob. it just doesnt work. cant align properly. it just rotates and flips the telescope 180 degrees to face AWAY from what i want to point at.
This completely normal ,infact every astronomer should atleast have a mechanics trolley in their kitbag, nah i'm joking !
s-l1600.jpg
i'm not familiar with the scope or mount but my best bet is that you need to mount a dove bar on the direct opposite side of the focuser that way the eyepiece sticks outwards instead of underside or on top, obviously the best solution would be a mounting bar and rings for the scope so it can be rotated while using it in awkward positions .
images.jpg
images.jpg (4.83 KiB) Viewed 5211 times

Re: ioptron smartstar 8500 dob telescope mounts backwards. cant align

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:03 pm
by realflow100
Yeah I already fixed that thought. I took it off unscrewed it and put it on the opposite side already by drilling holes in the telescope.
I put the dovetail bracket on the telescope and used it as a guide to get the holes started with a pointy metal object to "scribe" some little divets to get the drill bit started.
it worked and my telescope can face the correct way now