Waldemar

The best option for the situation you describe is an Icron Ranger 2204 (or 2304). This is an USB extender over cat cable also available for optic cable. With a cat 5e or higher cable you can cover a distance of 100 meters, with optic cable 300 meters is the max. Works flawlessly. Plug and Play. The 2304 is capable of USB 3, 2 and 1.1 without any delay. Expensive but it works! Powered USB cables do very often present a lot of problems, especially if you are planning on buying a small pixel cam, because of the amount and speed of sensitive to interference data you need to transport. Another thing: use as short as possible professional USB cables, with double shielding, metal jacket and goldplated contacts. Regards, Waldemar

Yes Mike, ASA is not very open handed with information and manuals. Should be no reason to not buy this incredible piece of technique, but it is a hassle sometimes, to say the least. A lot of knowledgeable people on this forum, though. That helps. The word is out that in early 2016 a new DDM60 maybe launched, more expensive no doubt, but probably worth waiting for... Waldemar

Within AutoSlew on the top bar go to 'drive' then 'servo-settings' then 'balance'. Choose DE subsequently RA. With the + and - button you can change the Amp. scale for fine balancing. Move weights (or scope) untill the red bars are lined up. Regards, Waldemar

Yes that might be the cause, all your settings should on 'epoch now'.

USB cables over 5m always present problems. They loose information due to interference. That may very well be the problem. Use them as short as possible. Repeaters sometimes work but not allways. I use an Icron USB Ranger for long distances. Expensive but no problems with distances up to 100 meters... Ideal! With a glasfibre connection you can even go till 500 meters. http://www.icron.com Waldemar

This sounds like a ground loop. Maybe you can try to change the mains connection of your power unit or your computer, put it in the other way. Simple, but sometimes that is the problem. Do NOT ground the mount! Waldemar

Thank you Gerhard, I still think it is odd, that documents like that are not accessibel through the ASA site. It is also strange that since that document, a lot of things changed in the software without any documentation. I believe some people are smart enough about software to get a grip on it anyway, but for me it is quite a struggle, so I would appreciate some more up-to-date information very much. I do love my DDM60Pro, in spite of the fact that I can not use it to it's fullest potential, due to the lack of info. Best regards, Waldemar

Hello Astrograph, Thank you for your 'inside' insight. I would really appreciate if I could get my hands on an user manual which is written from experience in understandable English. Especialy about the new features and changes in the beta versions. No explanations whatsoever from ASA's side which makes it very hard to work with. Apparantly we just have to guess how it works. The fact that someone comes up with an original ASA document, nobody else heard of, really tells the story... Well, I hope you stay aboard and keep us updated. Thanks again. Best regards, Waldemar

That would be great, Robert

Yes, that is what I would like to know, too...

Thank you Robert, I am not sure yet how happy this makes me... Future will tell, kind of depends on a trade-in program for me. Like George said: Lots to think about! B.R. Waldemar

It would have been no less than logical if the beta testers would have been in formed about this first... kind of a bummer... Waldemar

For me the radial balancing using rolling on two up-side-down aluminum T profiles worked great. No more problems. The scope should not roll in any position. Simple and effective. Well anyway, just my 2cts Regards, Waldemar

"Of course, if there were comprehensive manuals for ASA products I would not need to be asking these questions" there you go! That is pinpointing the problem... Even with my TEC 40 I had the same problems when I attached a heavy focus motor. i.m.h.o. radial balancing is very important to get things working correctly. BR Waldemar

Ok the link did not work. But I meant the Hotech SCA Collimator. Google will help.

This kind of nosepiece would be the solution to center collimators: http://telescopes.net/store/tadt-2-2-inch-sca-t-adapter.htm Or a B aader clicklock maybe. Regards, Waldemar

Man, Ron, you really get a lot of great results and apparently we are not the only ones who think so... Congratulations with your POD and all the other ones! Best Regards and keep the good work going! Waldemar

Thank you!!

That should have worked... no idea what went wrong...

After installation of AS, just put your back-upped files back in the same folder you copied them from. Waldemar

Hi George, Is your mount delivered yet? and how does it perform now? everything solved I hope. Regards, Waldemar

If I understand correctly, all new mounts will be equipped with absolute encoders, which will make at least part of the existing AutoSlew software obsolete. So in order to be able to use new software (AS 2.0) which will be meant for the new generation mounts with absolute encoders, the hardware will need to be upgraded as well. A like situation occurred when ASA changed the encoders on the DDM60 mounts. Since mine was from 2009, they gave me the option to upgrade to the new standard. Of course I used that opportunity and send my mount back to ASA in 2012. My surprise was great when I got it back after only two weeks and found out they did not just change the encoders, but also the electronics and connectors and even provided new cables!! Since that upgrade, I did not have any troubles with my mount except for the build-in USB hub, which I replaced myself with a new one, send by ASA for free... So in my mind there is no doubt that they will do anything in their power to give all existing users an opportunity to upgrade to the latest standards for a more than reasonable investment from users part. Their service is of the same high quality as their products... Waldemar

+1

Please correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I understand the technology, absolute encoders do not need a homefind, they 'know' exactly in which position they are. You only have to tell the software on which co-ordinates on the planet they are. From that moment on, provided the placing of the mount on the planet is not changed, it will always exactly know where it is, no matter if there was a power faillure, moving by hand or whatever. So no more homefinds or position errors. Start up can be performed from any position. So if you have to do a homefind, you do NOT have absolute encoders. Waldemar

Like many said before: the lack of good information and communication is the real bummer. Especially information about new or changed features of the beta updates. I understand ASA's main objective is the professional market and they are not really focussed on the hobbyist market, but since they do sell to that market, they should provide good information so users can get the most out of their equipment. The immediate effect of this attitude is lower sales, for people nowadays do read the fora before buying... The equipment itself is beyond the shadow of a doubt the most advanced in the market, but without the much needed information that may be a negative point. They seem to forget aftersales is at least as important as quality or technical features. I wonder if this is arrogance or ignorance... or maybe just a lack of market awareness... I really hope we can give them at least some insight to the problems we as endusers encounter and they will respond to our needs. Regards, Waldemar