Synscan GOTO frustations

[johnrt]

OK installed GOTO upgrade on my newly replaced EQ5 mount and it will simply not behave itself.

Polar aligned & leveled mount. Set up scope in parked position weights down scope pointing north. Turn on synscan - enter location 51 17N 00 19E. Enter date 02/05/2010. Enter time, daylight saving - No. Start from parked - yes

I have tried 1 star alignment on various stars - it slews to where it thinks the star is, misses by a mile. I correct with handset, press enter - alignment successful. Slew to nearby object (I tried with Betelgeuse and M42) it was miles off. Park scope and the OTA returns to a weird position.

2 Star alignment. As above - slew to first star way off. Correct with handset & it enter. 2nd star slew again miles off, correct with handset & hit enter. Alignment failed. Park scope and again it returns to weird position.

3 star alignment is the same as 2 star but again the 3rd star is way off. It has been so far off the scope has ended up pointing at the ground at times. After alignment failed again park command returns the scope to a weird angle.

I also tried unlocking clutches and moving OTA by hand to the designated star to start, but then again 2nd & 3rd slew was miles off.

Halp

[Bobcat]

I've read on the forum here that the date format is supposed to be mm/dd/yyyy...

I'm a newbie too but I think it's worth trying that option

[steppenwolf]

Can you give an indication of where the scope was actually pointing when you chose Betelgeuse as the first star?

[Merlin66]

Next time you try... when you ask it to park let it go to the weird position, undo the clutches and re-set the scope to the c/weight down and pointing to pole.

What happens when you do this?

Sounds like, for some reason the park position is screwed up.

Let us know how you get on.....

Ken

[johnrt]

I've read on the forum here that the date format is supposed to be mm/dd/yyyy...

I'm a newbie too but I think it's worth trying that option

I entered the date as mm/dd/yyyy ie 02/05/2010

The scope was pointing below and to the left of Betelgeuse, scope horizontal to the ground. On the 2 star alignment I used Betelgeuse then Dubhe, the second slew after correction on he first was pointing closer to Pollux/Castor

I corrected the park position each time I parked the scope.

[SteveP]

John

Your settings look OK.

One thing to try is after you have done an unsuccessful 2 star or 3 star alignment, park the scope using the handset at the Home position. Does it finish up in the normal CWD position? If not, then I suspect the mount's Home position is not as you thought and needs to be redefined

HTH

Steve

[steppenwolf]

Is it possible that you have cross wired the RA and DEC motors?

[Cornelius Varley]

Turn on synscan - enter location 51 17N 00 19E.

Did you enter the coordinates in that order? They should be entered 00 19E 51 17N

Peter

[johnrt]

Yes co-ordinates correct.

The controller box out goes to RA in & DEC out goes to DEC in.

[Cornelius Varley]

I suspect that the home position is off then. Park the scope, then switch off and slacken the clutches, then slew the scope manualy so it is pointing north with the counterbalance bar pointing down.

Peter

[johnrt]

I suspect that the home position is off then. Park the scope, then switch off and slacken the clutches, then slew the scope manualy so it is pointing north with the counterbalance bar pointing down.

Peter

I corrected the park position every time, and it would slew back to the same way off position.

I'm really stumped.

[Astro_Baby]

Can I suggest you reset the handset to factory settings. That will make sure theres nothing weird set. My Nexstar 4 had this kind of thing and in the end I reloaded the handset with a new software update and the problem went away. I suspect that somehow the code was corrupted.

[johnrt]

Can I suggest you reset the handset to factory settings. That will make sure theres nothing weird set. My Nexstar 4 had this kind of thing and in the end I reloaded the handset with a new software update and the problem went away. I suspect that somehow the code was corrupted.

I have tried a factory reset without success, same problems persist. I only have macs (no windows in my house) can I reload the handset from my mac?

What do I need? If not can anyone help me?

[omneferuss]

Exact same problems here ! Only tried GoTo three times (weather etc..) and each time the same thing.... utterly useless and obstinately refuses to be corrected by any means applied.

[Merlin66]

I'd love to be able to help... and make your problems go away....

I have the HEQ5pro version with the Synscan V3.25 controller.

Like you I set up the mount and get it polar aligned, well as good as I can... power up and go through the initialisation.

The GOTO appears to work for me....

I've got to think, if your settings (date/ time/ location) are correct then it can only be that somehow the initial "park/ home" position is not being correctly identified.

When I mess around with the mount, I sometimes have to re-set it by disengaging the clutches and manually repositioning the scope to the Park position..... this always seems to work for me....

It's not rocket science... the mounting and the controller is pretty dumb and needs a correct "starting point" to work out where it is and where you want it to move...

As I said I don't know what the real problem is at the moment, but it can't be a show stopper and once the solution is found in might be one of those Doh!!! moments. Don't give up.

Ken

[Breakintheclouds]

John,

Whereabouts are you? If you're at all near another SGLer with a SynScan scope then I'm sure they'd be happy to set up side-by-side and try to work things out. If you're anywhere near Wiltshire, then I'd certainly be happy to help.

Ian

[Astro_Baby]

Agree Ian - I am in Redhill Surrey and would be happy to try and help. Theres clearly something amiss. Mine has thrown a hissy fit once and refused to align to anything and to this day I have no idea why. Rest of the time its perfect.

Another questiopn - you may have answered already - I assume the scope is POlar aligned ok before you start. Synscan needs a half decent Polar Alignment and I have found the more accurate the alignment the better off you are with Synscan.

As I say - if you anyweher near me I am happy to help.

[DIYASTRO]

I am looking to convert to goto myself but as you are finding, seems fraught with frustrations!

Just one long shot, it is the HEQ5 motors that you have and not the eq6 I think they have different gear ratio systems.

We are all hanging on waiting for a successful conclusion to your problem You are not alone!

Boyd

[Glider]

The observatory coordinates need to be long then lat, you say you used lat then long in an earlier post.

The date is, as you have used it mm/dd/yyyy.

Mine does what you describe now and again. If it does I use the utility function to park the scope, but don't turn it off yet. I usually notice that it is noticably off the park position. I loosen the clutches and put it in the park postion by hand. Lock the clutches. Now turn the mount off. Now turn the mount back on and try again, select start from park at the appropriate point. Works for me.

Also, have you used the correct time zone (+0) and daylight saving is off.

[johnrt]

Daylight saving is set to no & time zone is +0. Although I quoted the co-ordinates wrong in the post above they are entered in the handset correctly.

I thought maybe it could be an issue with motors not installed correctly causing it to slew in the wrong directions, but I don't see how it could be any different?

What connection wires would I need to reload the firmware?

[Cornelius Varley]

The goto kit should have come with a RS232 - RJ11 cable. Unfortunately for you the software for updating the firmware is windows only.

Peter

[Merlin66]

You can quickly confirm that the motors are OK by just using the Synscan arrow buttons with a slew setting of 8 - the directions of travel should be obvious and match your RA/ Dec arrows.

[johnrt]

I have bought a serial - usb adapter but can't get my virtual install of windows to recognise it, so re-loading the software on to the handet is going to have to wait until I can borrow a laptop.

I have however successfully connected up my mount to my mac using the usb - serial cable and Equinox 6. I can issue slew commands and track objects. I have also got eqinox to connect up to Starmap pro on my iphone which has built in GPS and will provide a more accurate skymap for equinox. (I need to be within a wireless network to have this working though)

The software also registers the changes in scope direction when I issue commands from the synscan handset.

I am hoping that this is going to help me get to the bottom of my problems with the GOTO system. Fingers crossed I can get some more accurate results from the computer based system.

I assume to align up computer based scope control it's a simple task of issuing a slew to an object and then releasing the clutches to center the ojeect in the field of view and you're good to go?

Just out of interest what does the PAE function do on the synscan handset?

[Astro_Baby]

aha - I think I may know what your problem is - some early versions of Synscan - less than V3.25 have a bug. If you enter the time zone at +0 it doesnt interpret time correctly. Try setting the time zone as -0.

I saw this on a thread ages ago. I reflashed mine to 3.25 as soon as I got the upgrade so I never saw this problem.

Test it out and see.

[Astro_Baby]

PAE is Precision Area Enhancement - basically it imporves accuracy for one area of the sky. You select an object, slew the scope to it and once you have centred it perfectly you press a key combination - cant remember which one - which gives Synscan a kind of precision fix on an object and its surrounding area of sky.