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New SW 200 PDS and NEQ6 Pro have arrived


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I've had a life long interest in Astronomy and am a relative newbie to observing and an absolute novice when it comes to imaging. However, after much deliberating I finally got permission (with concessions) from  the financial director  and plucked up the courage to order a SW 200PDS and NEQ6 Pro from FLO. The scope and mount arrived the following day (great service from FLO :smiley: ) in 3 boxes and the combined weight was that of a small car :eek:

I was chomping at the bit to get everything unpacked but, alas, a pre arranged visit to my son and daughter-in-law delayed proceedings for 3 days. In the mean time I ordered the replacement Altitude and Azimuth bolts from Astro Developments, as I head read in a number of different forums that these are not up to the job and would bend in no time with the ensuing problem of removing them from the mount. I also paid a visit to Maplins and bought a 13.8V regulated power supply, some 6 amp cable, a couple 4mm banana plugs and a cigar lighter socket.

After returning from our weekend away my first task was to make up a lead with the cigar lighter socket so that I could connect the mount to the power supply. Now it was time to unpack everything. I unpacked the tripod and mount first and quickly assembled them using the centre accessory tray and bolt to secure everything. The Altitude and Azimuth adjustment bolts were not fitted at this point. They do indeed look very flimsy, especially when I compared them side by side with the replacements. These were quickly fitted and then used to set the mount approximately at my local latitude. The clutch of the RA and Dec axis were loosened and the mount slewed manually to check that everything was moving OK and there was no binding and all was OK.

At this point I took a step back to admire the mount and then realised just what a beast this is. I believe the combined weight of the tripod and mount is around 25Kg (not sure if that's with or without the counterweights attached) with the mount itself making up the lions share. I would only describe it as being portable if the distance from the car to the actual observing site is no more than 20 - 30 metres. Any more than this would be a real challenge. I'm fortunate enough to live out in the sticks and we enjoy dark skies, so not a problem for me.

With the mount setup I quickly connected the Synscan controller and powered the mount up. The controller initialised and then displayed the firmware revision, something like 4.3.02. I checked the Synta web site and downloaded the firmware loader and the latest firmware, 4.36.02. Once the firmware was successfully upgraded I tried the slewing controls on the hand set. I had read a number of articles that indicted that these mounts could be quite noisy with lots of crunching  and grinding noises. This particular example did not appear to be afflicted in this way and it slewed very smoothly with only the whine of the motors being noticeable. This was without any load however so might perform differently when the OTA is fitted.

Next I unpacked the OTA and was surprised that it was not as heavy as I expected and was actually quite easy to lift and move around. I quickly attached the tube rings and dovetail to the mount followed by the OTA. I attached the finder scope and bracket and fitted the supplied 28mm 2" eyepiece. A quick read of the manual and view some of the youtube videos that show how to do the initial setup and the counterweights were fitted and the whole rig balanced. Next I loosened of the RA and Dec clutches and slewed everything manually. Everything moves very smoothly and there is no evidence of any binding in any of the axis. Now I tried slewing with the hand controller and once again was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and quiet the whole setup was. No discernible noise other than that of the slewing motors.

Next was what I expected to be the biggest challenge so far, collimation. I have a Cheshire collimator and made up a collimation cap using a 35mm film canister. Quick check of collimation and it was way out :sad: I had seen on other forums that a 32mm M8 washer can be installed between the secondary mirror and the spider. The hole in the washer is large enough for the spring on the centre screw to pass through and rest on the rear of the secondary, while to three adjustments screw bear on the washer reather than the secondary. This means that when the centre screw is slackened off, the secondary can be rotated very smoothly without jumping and grinding that was evident without the washer. The washer was installed and, after around 30 minutes, I was satisfied that the OTA was collimated. 

So, that's the story so far. The next task will be to make sure the polar scope is correctly aligned with the RA axis and then first light!!

I have to say that I am absolutely delighted with everything so far. The quality of the OTA is as expected and corresponds with other members comments about this OTA. The tripod and mount exceed my expectations based on  the experience of others. Some of the post I've read regarding the NEQ6 Pro date back to as early 2009/2010 so I can only assume that Synta have made continuous improvements to the mount over the years. :grin:  :grin: :grin:  

I'll post again after first light which may be some time, the weather in Cumbria at the moment is not looking promising.

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