Sorry, I meant sky watcher EQ-6: http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro.asp?p=0_10_2_0_0 -David On 8/13/2011 7:56 PM, David Rankin wrote:
Debbie,
Yeah, getting them professionally done is a good idea. I do know the inside of the XSi very well though. I would be glad to mod your camera if that is the model you have (free of charge). I have taken mine apart many times.
There are a few modifications you can do. One replaces the IR cut filter with a Baader astro filter that preserves the auto focus function of the lens's you use. The other just removes the IR cut filter and replaces it with nothing. This makes the auto focus function fail when you are shooting with any lenses for normal purposes. After the modification, you will be stuck with a camera that has a lot of red in the shots. This can be fixed with an external IR filter you put on the lens, or a clip in one (has its own issues with lens compatibility). Another way to fix the color for daytime use is a custom white balance. I found this to work well. The reds are enhanced just a tad, but it is the easiest way to to use the camera after it is modified. I ended up getting two rebels, one for astro work, and one for daytime work.
Regarding the Atlas. I am not sure what others experiences are but yes, they can make some very ugly noises when they are starting and stopping their high speed slews. This noise is coming from the idle gear that is between the gear that drives the worm and the tear attached to the motor. They didn't install any bearings on this gear, just copper washers, so as it starts to speed up, the pressure causes some sort of harmonic vibrations that cause the gear to make some nasty sounds. The mount also makes a very high pitched "shew whit" sound while it is tracking. It is not loud, I find it kind of pleasant.
What I did to fix the nasty start and stop high speed slews sound was to replace the copper washers with Teflon ones. That seems to have done the trick. This is a very well documented problem with the atlas mounts. If you join the Yahoo EQ-G EQ-6 group you will see it comes up a lot. It is not a hard modification, and they say if you don't mind the sound it actually isn't doing any damage to the mount. I am just one of those need to know guys so I tore mine apart.
All in all the Atlas is a great mount. It is pretty much a clone of the Sky Scan EQ-6 that Orion has made changes to. I did hypertune mine and have some instructions I found online for doing so also posted on my site. For the money, you cant beat the atlas's weight capacity and accuracy.
Cheers,
David
On 8/13/2011 6:29 PM, Debbie wrote:
Hi David,
Thanks for the info. I don't think I'd attempt anything like that myself but may have it done by a pro like Gary Honis.
I had a question about your Orion Atlas-G mount. Back in June, my friend had this Orion Atlas mount in his yard. It had this high pitched squeal and it was very noisy. The sound drove his dog nuts. Are those Atlas mounts all that noisy or was that just that particular mount?
Debbie
On Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 6:46 PM, David Rankin<David@rankinstudio.com>wrote:
Hi Debbie,
It is a modified camera. I modified it myself, remove the IR cut filter and also installed a peltier cooling system:
http://www.rankinstudio.com/**dslrmod<http://www.rankinstudio.com/dslrmod>
It has taken a while to get everything functioning well. I have a lot of weight on my Atlas, it took a lot of work to get it to run well. When the wind kicks up all all, my shots are ruined. Eventually I plan on building an observatory and getting the mount on a concrete pier. That should help a lot.
Cheers,
-David
On 8/13/2011 5:29 PM, Debbie wrote:
I love it David. Is that a modified camera? The tracking looks good too. I guess it takes lots of practice to get things right.
Debbie
On Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 1:41 PM, David Rankin<David@rankinstudio.com>** wrote:
Shot this one the other night.
imageViewsIndex=1<http://www.**slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_** itemId=4572&g2_**imageViewsIndex=1<http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4572&g2_imageViewsIndex=1>>
Enjoy!
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