Make Your Rig More Reliable - Tips from the Experts + Ghost Mode & Ascom Alpaca
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- Опубликовано: 16 май 2024
- The community partners stepped up and gave some great best practices on how to ensure your rig runs as well as possible! I was guilty myself of not following some of these, and I’m sure you will find a couple that you can improve as well 💪🏼
Pegasus 3’ USB 3.0 - bit.ly/3vCEQkv
Pegasus Plate - bit.ly/3ULXqz1
Pegasus PB - bit.ly/4aot2kR
Primaluce Eagle - bit.ly/3OcRBbx
Primaluce 14” dovetail - bit.ly/480IeT8
Primaluce 19” dovetail - bit.ly/4bkEzCD
Sesto Senso 2 - bit.ly/3Ofx1qM
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Website: www.darkrangersinc.com
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Gear: please use these links!
Main Rig:
Stellarvue 140SVXT
Losmandy G11
Primaluce Eagle 5s - bit.ly/3S9ehdT
PLL Sesto Senso 2 - bit.ly/3Ofx1qM
PLL Alto Flatpanel and motor - bit.ly/3vQGzT2
Second Rig:
SCA 260
Pegasus NYX-101 - bit.ly/3TXN1kM
QHY 600M kit - bit.ly/3SwvuiH
Third Rig:
William Optic Pleiades 111
AM5
2600 MM bit.ly/3KubXes
2600 MC bit.ly/47o8dEY
AM5 Mount bit.ly/44OwDpD
ASIAIR Plus bit.ly/3KwNV2i
ZWO EFW bit.ly/3YoB1cw
ZWO EAF bit.ly/3Oo3cns
ZWO 220MM bit.ly/43ZPflo
Antlia SHO Filters bit.ly/3DLOu4M
Antlia Triband bit.ly/45eFVuX
Antlia ALPT bit.ly/3OsfQlm
ZWO Power Supply bit.ly/43X5ZcW 
Наука
I think it's important for people to be reminded, that the USB 2.0-3.0 has 5Volts and around 500mA in them. Your signal is piggybacking the current in the cable. If the cable is too long, the voltage drops over the distance and your signal is lost along with it. Repeaters can help. My issue was with PHD2 guiding, I noticed a lag of issuing a pulse and the mount receiving the pulse there was a delay, when I was guiding via long USB cables. I switched over to mini pc ever since, that's the best solution.
Shorter larger diameter cables seem to be universally a better option.
Very useful info-thanks! Now to find some better-quality USB cables for my own rigs.
I got rid of all the flat ZWO cables - they suck! Great job on this one - lots of helpful info. Can't wait to try ghost mode. Great content!
Good stuff! Thanks for the effort!
Great and useful video Ryan. Tons of great info. You hit a lot of important points. Thanks so much. Dr B from Manitoba, Canada 🇨🇦
Very good advice indeed. Thanks.
Brilliant, you may have brought to like some of my problems, thank you 🙏
Congrats on the 5000 subs…🥳🥳🥳
Really good info! Great stuff as always!👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it!
Good walkthrough of all the pitfalls. Those PLL Wifi accessories look pretty sweet, too! Thanks!
It’s a no brainer option going forward to increase reliability and use tech that’s been out now for a while now. Just have to find the right accessories that have it and luckily all the PLL stuff does
Great information. I've learned a lot in this 25 minutes like what I feel I'm doing right and things that I could do better.
Same! It was good to learn some new info and be more intentional with my rig setup!
You can get shielded cables so you can run them together. The cables that come with your equipment, normally are the cheapest in the market, not the best. PLL cables are also shielded, so it does help. Make sure your USB cables are rated for fast speeds and have the SS symbol or legend on it. Lastly, besides shielded, use braided cables. This prevents straining and rupture of the copper inside. Use velcro instead of zip ties. Keep it tight enough to hold, but lose enough in case of a pull.
Looks a very nice setup and overall rig Ryan 👍🔭🌌
Cheers Simon
Thank you, Simon. Appreciate you tuning in!
Great video, I worked in electrical and electronic engineering mostly on trouble shooting and inspection and test. This is very sound advice, many of the problems I encountered were ultimately found to be due to poor cable management or sub standard cables or connectors, as the old saying goes buy cheap buy twice. Following the manufacturers recommendations is always a good idea particularly when buying items such as power supplies which if not correctly matched can result in equipment failures, sometimes catastrophic equipment failures. I have one of the older Eagle controllers and I use their 14A PSU, I wouldn't risk using anything else. I don't like those ribbon cables either, far too flimsy.
I would have thought that it wouldn't be too much of a problem to include a monitoring routine within the control software so that if say the focuser failed it would cause an alarm in the same way PHD2 initiates an alarm if the guide star is lost.
Appreciate the feedback glad the video was on the right track!
Cool, unique video with great tips!!!
I’m watching your stretch video right after this! I love GHS but it takes a lot of work for most to get it right.
Awesome, thanks 🖖🏼
Thanks for watching!
Great video. My new favourite channel. I placed an order for NYX- 101. Hope to learn more about the mount from you.
Review coming in the not too distant future next few weeks tops
@@darkrangersinc Great. Thank you so much
Learning to solder your own power cables really helps to reduce the 'bulk'. It's quite cheap and easy, amazon for tools and youtube for instructions. Give it a try!
I’m sure it’s not too bad but then if I have an issue I don’t necessarily want to have the cables blamed for warranty vs using the recommended dedicated cables. The 1.5’ USB3.0 or 2.0 are 2 for under $20 which isn’t bad and then the 3’ are really only needed for the main camera.
Nice Stellarvue 102! That all looks like a primo set-up. All sensible advice.
Thank you! It’s nice when we can make some improvements for not a lot of money or free just by picking up a couple tips!
The 102 is such a high-performing scope. I put it against the 111 at the dark sky site last weekend. Even though it’s technically slower with the reducer at F5.1 vs F4.8 the images still came in brighter with more signal and tighter HFR, and FWHM. I think one thing I’m guilty of forgetting is that the vocal ratio does not take into consideration, glass clarity, and construction quality.
@@darkrangersinc Vic takes a lot of pride in his product. I’ll never sell my 102 raptor.
Really thinking about SV 102 . Can’t wait to see your review Ryan .
Thanks.
Mounting the Eagle (or anything relatively heavy on top) via a saddle is also a great way to fine tune fore / aft balance when setting up. Not important with your harmonic drive mount but for those with mounts that need good balance it’s handy.
That’s actually a great point I didn’t even think about that, probably because of what you just mentioned it being on a harmonic drive lol. You could basically use it as a declination counterweight.
@@darkrangersinc Hah, just had an idea. A counterweight shaped power supply from Pegasus Astro and an Eagle shaped counterweight from PrimaluceLab 😉
What are your thoughts on the Pegasus Power Saddle? I purchased one for my NYX-101 and boxed it up to return the same night. Running through the range of motion (pointing low to the SW), the USB plugs come dangerously close to the mount. Maybe I could have worked the cables around, but I bought the Power Saddle to make my cable management easier!
Ironically, I've heard that it works great with the ZWO AM5, since the puck raises it a little higher.
I thing it’s great you can set limits on the Unity Software with the NYX so it’ll never hit your cables.
Microphone dropout was a nice "feature" :)
Yeah… meant to do… that’s it 😂🤦🏻♂️
Ryan have you tried to run the nyx with alpaca. That would be a helpful video for me. I’m confused on what WiFi these devices are connecting to. I use Starlink out remote and my mesh network at home. My equipment is connect to the mini pc and I connect to the mini pc. I’m so confused lol how this alpaca works
How do you like that Sharpstar? Quality build? good optics? etc. do you have a review of that Sharpstar u are using?
I have a full review of the SCA260
My main recommendation is to forget mounting the PC on the scope, but use a mount with through the mount cabling. That avoids cable snag completely, and I've never had an issue with cable management. I use a 30 amp DC power supply.
That could work for some but wouldn’t work in my case for a couple reasons for one it would limit the mounts you can use and Losmandy for example doesn’t put a USB or cable hub on the actual mount deliberately because USB cables change over time. It would also negate many of the features I love with the Eagle like the “Eye” that monitors SQM conditions, it would also make the altimeter useless, which I like to be able to quickly glance and see how high up on pointing to decide when I want to potentially change to a different target as well as the onboard force gauge to see if I have an issue with guiding if it was related to something bumping the rig or wind.
I haven’t had any cables get caught or snagged in many years since probably the first time I ever set up a rig and had no clue what I was doing. I had one get pulled out. As long as you are having good cable and using some of the tools I mentioned to take up any additional slack. It’s very easy to quickly make a rig pretty snag proof.
I also really like having the ability to control the rig remotely via Wi-Fi and I wouldn’t want to have to be tethered via cables to the rig.
So for all of those reasons, it wouldn’t be an option for me, but I’m sure for some people it can work
Enjoying your videos, one small request: chapters. Especially useful in videos like this.
RUclips does it automatically I don’t exactly how long it takes. Is that what you mean where it breaks the videos up and gives each section a title on the timeline you can scroll to?
In this one I did give a timestamp in the intro to get to the quick tips around 13 min. For folks wanting to skip the build portion.
Just looked back and it looks like it’s about two weeks. What specifically are you looking for?
Oh well I've watched the whole thing, skipped through stuff that wasn't for me, but there has to be a way to add chapters (based on topics) as most videos i tend to watch come out with those at upload. Just a convenience thing, no biggie either way really. Keep up the interesting videos, like the style of these.
How is the performance of NYX 101 compared to AM5. I saw your comment in Nico's channel saying you prefer NYX 101 over AM5.
50% more capacity and better and more importantly more consistent guiding. You can get the same low number on both. But the average is going to be lower on the Pegasus. I find the guiding moves around a lot more with the AM5. I also trust the quality of Pegasus and their custom service more.
The NYX 101 is probably with the most carrying capacity of all the strainwave mounts. It's up to 66lbs with a counterweight and 44 without.
@@Neanderthal75Yeah…but it’s also $1,000 more than something that is already super expensive
Hey, newbie here. Why should you avoid plugging your devices into the mini-computer's USB ports? I get for power-hungry devices, that this causes issues. But what about the main camera? it has its own power-supply. Wouldn't a dedicated USB port on your PC then be a benefit as it doesn't need to share the bandwidth?
Many USB accessories are using USB for power and communication. Also high quality power boxes have better more solid connections that are more durable and better handle those types of devices. It’s what they are purpose built for and what’s recommended by the folks that make them.
@@darkrangersinc makes sense. Thanks for the answer.
Join our growing Community for additional help and support including 1 on 1 time.
www.patreon.com/DarkRangersInc?
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I cant use USB3 cables, it interferes with the WiFi and GPS reception on my Eagle 5 Pro when I connect my ZWO ASI2600 Duo..
I don’t have that experience with either of my Eagles. I use USB3 on both. How do you connect your camera to the Eagle to communicate? Have you tried another camera that doesn’t have two cameras wedged into one?
@@darkrangersinc It has done it to all my Eagles with this new camera and my old 533MC. I am using USB3 cables from Amazon. Aren't you using those special ones?
@@darkrangersinc Filippo was not surprised when I told him.
I just got 2 of those pretty red cables, be here for the weekend so I can test them.@@darkrangersinc
@@peterleveillee1321 yeah if you’re not using shielded or insulated cables, then that isn’t surprising USB 3.0 is the one you have to watch out for the most and the one that you don’t want to combine with a bunch of other cables. The Pegasus ones have some good insulation and shielding and fairly good pricing.
The problem with a lot of the stuff that Amazon sells is it’s not made for our specific industry and while it’s convenient and less expensive, it often doesn’t give us the best results
Every time I watch your videos my wallet hides.
This one was cheap I swear haha! Couple cables tops 🤣
I like your video it's very informative thankyou. But I'm not keen on the silly pictures that pop up a lot.
Thanks for the positive comment!
Half way through the video till you got to the point in the heading of the video. I recommend you adjust to get to the point faster or change the heading. Also, good cables should be shielded
Willing to edit the content for me? The video was on how to put the rig together reliably and I started with the physical install then approached the electronic component. Basically building the rig from the ground up.
I’m happy with the flow of the episode and it seems like every other comment was positive and helpful. But if you’re willing to edit my free content, I’m happy to take on the help towards improvement, it would be super helpful and appreciated!