Gemini Retrofit
I upgraded my standard G-11 to Gemini. I have mixed opinions of the product. I think that the interface is very clunky and not user friendly. I bought it because of its stand-alone capabilities but I find that it is easier using a PC.
The Gemini also has a low tolerance for any type of mechanical problems in your mount, such as tight worm gear mesh. Expect to spend some time tuning your mount. I also had some problems with poor soldering in the power cable.
The Gemini is accurate once you get through the learning curve and properly tune your mount.
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10/16/2009 1:48:39 PM
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good upgrade but some concerns
I installed the upgrade and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. However I am concerned about the longevity of the system with the motors and gears hanging off the mount like they are. The menu system is hard to learn and not intuitive. But it does work accurately.
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10/16/2009 1:48:38 PM
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A fine way to upgrade the G11
I have been a G11 user for many years. I started with visual work, then astrophotography then CCD imaging. The mount itself has always been great. Yearly maintenance was all that was required.
A few years ago I added the Losmandy Digital Setting Circles, which brought the mount up to the next level of usefulness. Gone were the days of hunting down the objects which I wanted to spend more time imaging. I am not saying that star hopping isnt fun (I love it!), but time is of the essence when doing photometry of eclipsing binaries and when trying to find asteroids.
Ok - I was happy for a long while after that... then comes along the GOTO craze. Ok - I was not interested at first. I was still capable of moving the mount myself, and the DSCs made finding the object a lot easier. Often times, though, I still had to search around the sky a bit to center the object on a CCD. That was time consuming.
Enter the Losmandy Gemini system. With its much higher resolution encoders built into the motors, finding a centering an object is much much much (a lot) easier and quicker. Often times, I have the object in the center of the CCD immediately after GOTO.
Installation was not difficult, though I am not afraid to take things apart. Directions for the installation of the motors dis not come with the retrofit kit, but after a few minutes, it became clear as to what went where. Installation took about an hour during daylight hours.
Getting used to the menu system on the hand controller took about 10 minutes. Configuring the system with the date, time, lat, long, etc... took about five minutes. Setting up the tracking speeds took another 5 minutes. Alignment is easy and painless. I do suggest reading the users manual a couple of times and keeping it with you when you first use the mount.
My recommendation: If you are looking to do a major upgrade to your G11: go for it! The Gemini is a fine system. Smooth, accurate, and fun.
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Created on:
10/16/2009 1:48:37 PM
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