New Tracking Kit - Onstep V4 Pro Unboxing and Installation

[@Esm593]

I have the V3 version and It's spectacular!

[@curronhill2744]

Yes, lets see it in operation!

[@mosesrodriguez1494]

Yes, please post follow up video on operation of upgrade.

[@timothymarshall3855]

Looking forward to seeing the Onstep in action

[@Tres-sSs]

yes, would be great to see it in action. thanks!

[@vtfollett]

Installed this on my CG4. Had a bit of trouble talking to it, and it still requires 2 different programs to boot up. but eventually got it to work with Sky Safari on an IPad. Weather has prevented serious testing, but first results are encouraging. After a few corrections, the system will locate and track objects quite nicely. I’m primarily a visual observer, but hope to get some pictures using this with my 100mm refractor.

[@vtfollett]

I did find a couple things amiss on my kit. The motor cable jackets had been trimmed too far, so the strain relief didn’t grip the cable properly. Fixed with plastic tape. And the bracket for the RA motor needed to be tweaked - bent more - to align the motor shaft and worm gear. It worked out of the box, but made a slight buzz when tracking. The tweak cured that.

[@isiphotography]

Exactly the video I was looking for. I'm very interested to see the setup in action. kind regards from Germany 👍🏻

[@techspot413]

I also would like to see it working

[@stefanfeichtenbock6949]

From my point of view, this is the best equipment you can get for starting astrophotography. After watching your asembly-instructions and - more important - seeing this setup performing in real-life, I am definitely thinking about getting exactly the same setup, that you have in the video. I am really looking forward to see, what images you can take with this rig 👍👍👍

[@k.h.1587]

With a name like on step, I would think it would use stepper motors. If it makes a constant whining sound when slewing, like a cg5, meade LX, or most small goto mounts, it is a servo, if it has a pitch that varies as it ramps up, like an atlas, then they are steppers. Servos require encoders to know where they are, whereas steppers can calculate the number of steps

[@AmatureAstronomer]

I bought a motorized go to tracking conversion kit from Astro-Gadget and configured it to use SynScan off my cell phone. Big improvement on my Celestron CG-4 Mount.

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@3dfxvoodoocards6]

Interesting video

[@YOBEONE]

Excellent discovering. I was sad to not connect this good low price mount with my Asiair. Delivery is on progress. Need your help now to see how to connect it. Thanks

[@BogdanDamian]

@YOBEONE Sure, let me know once the mount is delivered.

[@YOBEONE]

@@BogdanDamian I have bought the mount in 2020. I am waiting for the delivery of the tracking kit onstep V4 pro and remove the original one (no way to connect it with Asiair due to driver). I will follow your future post to connect it.

[@brunocv.4435]

What is the step angle of this servo motor?

[@strat1960s]

Will something like this work for a dobsonian. I know Id have to figure out the gears.

[@BogdanDamian]

@strat1960s In theory, yes. There are pre built kits for dobs as well.

[@videotrexx]

Note that there is no auto-guiding capability for astrophotography.

[@Raimundo3D]

As with every goto system, you need to connect the mount and guide camera to a computer. I own one of these kits and I use auto guiding with it. Do you mean st4 guiding? If so, that's outdated technology. Guiding uses usb only nowadays and st4 is not recommended.

[@FocusAG]

If you use pulse guiding, yes it's possible to guiding with this system. I have the same mount with a OnStep system (actually mine have all of those features plus the ST4 port) and I do auto-guiding without the ST4 port. Actually I find this system one of the best in the market, because you can controll the mount in various ways that don't really necessary to have a cable to do it. This is what I love about it. And it's super precise. I do in my 600s per frame in a 1280mm FL without any problems. Just an example. Mine even have the pre-pec function and a bunch of other things. I really recommend it. A friend of mine, ditched the Losmandy Gemini system of his Losmandy G11 Titan and substituted by one of those. He's happier than ever.

[@Pablo.Albino]

Mr Damian, newbie here! Are there any way to control an onestep mount with a MacBook m1?

[@BogdanDamian]

@Pablo.Albino Yes, it should be possible. Although you will need to use Alpaca instead of ASCOM since the latter is limited to Windows.

[@Astrojoey86]

Does it have guiding?

[@BogdanDamian]

@69Tjoey Yes, it has full go-to capabilities

[@Astrojoey86]

@@BogdanDamian goto and guiding is different. Does it have a guide port? To use with guiding software like phd2? I can’t see a guide port on it

[@BogdanDamian]

@69Tjoey The OnStep module doesn't feature physical guiding port. Guiding is done via software e.g. NINA

[@BurningFlame1999]

Like! Bogdan how well can you see galaxies with the 102ed refractor? And how big is the difference between the 102ed and 122mm triplet in DSO, specifically galaxies? Thank you!

[@BogdanDamian]

@BurningFlame1999 In terms of what you can see regarding DSOs, there isn't a big difference between the two. There is however a significant difference in terms of image quality. The views provided by the 122 APO have better colors and contrast. But both have small apertures when compared to 8 or 12" dobs, which is why you won't be able to see faint DSOs with either of them under normal conditions.

[@BurningFlame1999]

@@BogdanDamian I have the Svbony 102ED and from a bortle 6 city I see 8-10 magnitude galaxies like very very faint clouds usually with a brighter core. I was thinking about purchasing the Stellamira 125mm FPL53 APO doublet or the cheaper Svbony 122mm FPL51 APO triplet to be able to see galaxies a little better. I don't like reflectors.

[@BogdanDamian]

@BurningFlame1999 If you plan on using it mostly for visual observations, then go for the SV550 122mm. You won't be able to tell the difference between this one and the Stellamira under Bortle 6 skies. Getting a cheaper 6" doublet like the Skywatcher 150/1200 might also be a good idea for visual observations. The decrease in image quality compared to other two is minimal when taking only visual observations into considerations, but the much larger aperture coming from the SV503 will give you more brightness and contrast.

[@BurningFlame1999]

@@BogdanDamian thank you for your answer. A 150/1200 mm refractor would be very nice but at 9-12 kg it is unfortunately too big and heavy for my mount. The only 150 mm refractor with an acceptable weight would be the Skywatcher 150/750 mm at 6.6 kg but they only sell that one as an achromat, not with FPL51 or FPL53.

[@chrisvandevier959]

Carful .. you can forget about customer service .. I have one that the SA motor will not stop running and all menus in Chinese.. I asked to send back to them On my dime And got no reply … good luck

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

Hi bogdan off topic I just took my dobsonian outside for the second time and noticed it was out of collimation.i managed to correct it in ten minutes which I’m happy about but the focuser is loose and won’t move up and down.ive tried adjusting the silver screws but nothing happens im very frustrated as was looking forward to looking at the moon but have given up.

[@BogdanDamian]

@Stephen-gp8yi Hi Stephen, sorry to hear about your troubles with the focuser. I have a couple of pointers which I hope can help. First, have you tried loosening the focuser lock? Its the thumbscrew on the "belly" of the focuser. Is the focuser stuck all the way out by any chance? If yes it could be that the draw tube might have slipped of the guiding wheels or the gear went of the rack and pinion track. Worst case you will need to take the focuser off and inspect it during daytime. These aren't very complicated and relatively easy serviceable. Let me know how it went.

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

@@BogdanDamian thanks bogdan I watched a 40 second video on KZbin explaining how to fix problem and fixed focuser in seconds.its just you dont get any instructions with new scope.its working fine now but typically rain is forecast tonight!

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

@@BogdanDamian I’ve recently bought some swivel castors for my dob.not sure to use 3 or 4.would using 3 make it unstable?im sure you used all four on your 12 inch dob?

[@BogdanDamian]

@Stephen-gp8yi Yes, I did use 4 on my dob. It seems more stable this way. I never had any issues with this configuration.