steviebee

Had the same problem last week on my nexstar 6se. Brand new baader clicklock first time using it it stuck. Had to remove the clicklock and diagonal and bring them in. It released after a few minutes of trying. Weather was not cold. In my box now and reluctant to use it. 

5 hours ago, doublevodka said:

I vote for a rename, instead of astronomers we should be called cloud dodgers 🤣 Hopefully the fluffy grey things [removed word] off so you can give it a go, sadly living in Wales I spend more time cursing the clouds than observing 🌧

l managed about 45 mins before they rolled in. Did as you suggested and all seems to be OK. Thank you.

Double vodka, thank you l will give that a go tonight. Looking good here at the moment but l can see a band of grey fluffy stuff heading my way lol.

3 hours ago, doublevodka said:

The astronomers curse! 

Have a look here - https://nexstarsite.com/AlignmentFAQ.htm and specifically here for Solar System Align - https://nexstarsite.com/AlignmentFAQ.htm  which may be a bit more helpful

 

 

The solar align method you sent the link to is the method l have been using. Finder scope first them eyepiece, but posters on a Celestron site have said that is wrong and it is Eyepiece first. l have the CPC800 and l use solar align and always centre  the finder first. Totally confused now. 

On 04/10/2021 at 08:06, doublevodka said:

I completely missed that, will teach me for skim reading 🤦‍♂️

I believe most Nexstar handsets have a "Rate" button on the bottom right, if you haven't got this all working already and are still having issues with slewing it will be worth pressing that and then say 6 on the handset, you should definitely see some movement then, it could well be that the mount is defaulting to a very low slew speed such as 1, where you will hardly notice any movement

For any Nexstar related oddities I usually recommend taking a look at www.nexstarsite.com as there is some really useful info, certainly helped me out loads when starting off with my 4SE

No problem. l have been unable to get out due to the weather but l asked the question on another site and 2 or 3 people said the instructions for Solar align were wrong. No chance tonight either as the sky is full of big Grey things and its threatening to rain.

On 30/09/2021 at 14:12, doublevodka said:

By the symptoms described I'd be almost certain it was power related, what are you running it from?

A fully charged Skywatcher power pack.

On 30/09/2021 at 21:28, oscar_camilleri said:

The instructions are wrong. Ignore the finder scope bit. You can locate via the finder however also make sure the object is also visible in the eyepiece , than press enter. Then finetune the allingment to make sure the object is in the centre of the eyepiece and hit align 

Thank you l will give that ago.

22 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

While the printed instructions could be better drafted, what they actually mean is : enter the required parameters, get the desired object somewhere in the eyepiece field, press ENTER, centre the object in the eyepiece field, press ALIGN.

Note that a CPC800 has negligible backlash, apparently because of spring-loaded worms etc, but a SE mount has quite a lot.

If the slew speed is accidentally set to a low rate, nothing will appear to be happening if you press the slew buttons.  The slew speed should initially default to a high rate, and then change to a lower rate for the final aligning on ENTER being pressed.

If you think Nexstar is hard to use, try getting a Skywatcher Synscan to work. 🙁

As mentioned above, there is a big change of focus between near terrestrial objects, and astro objects.

Thanks cosmic Geoff l will give that a go. O yes l know what you mean about Synscan. l had 2 scopes with it and just gave up lol.

6 hours ago, michael8554 said:

If I've understood that correctly, that's in the wrong order:

GoTo Jupiter.

Centre in the eyepiece.

Enter.

THEN align the Finder.

Check Jupiter is still centred in the eyepiece and Finder.

Michael

Just re checked the procedure and it says finder first as l have been doing. lt is going to centre the object in this case Jupiter in the eyepiece that it wont slew. l need to get out and have another go unfortunately the clouds are saying no. Here is the instructions. Or perhaps l am reading it wrong? 

Thanks everyone l think it may have been sorted. Human error lol.

6 hours ago, michael8554 said:

If I've understood that correctly, that's in the wrong order:

GoTo Jupiter.

Centre in the eyepiece.

Enter.

THEN align the Finder.

Check Jupiter is still centred in the eyepiece and Finder.

Michael

I'm a donut. Thank you Michael for that l  misread the instructions. Must be my age lol. I wouldn't mind so much but l do the solar align on my CPC800 no problem. 

Thanks for the replies. I use a skywatcher power pack which was fully charged. Also the proper celestron dew shield was used and l left it plenty of time to cool down and it was leveled up. The GPS unit was connected and reading right. I done the first slew to line the finder up with Jupiter pressed enter. Used the controller to slew to line the eyepiece up and it did not move. Also forgot to say the bottom line on the hand set was just a bunch of letters nothing readable. Update. l have just checked the focus in day light. lt was so far out it made my wrist ache winding it in lol. How the heck that happened Heaven knows as l am the only one allowed to touch the scope.  So thats sorted. Now it is getting the alignment sorted. l do have the 6SE's big brother the CPC800 and have no problems with just using the Solar align, mind you that is in France. l am sure it is just human error but what l did not understand is why it would not slew to line up the eyepiece after l did the finder and pressed enter. Even though it would not slew to line the eyepiece up l pressed align anyway and sent it to M31 and the scope headed off in the right direction although l probably would not have been able to see it in a 10" as l have Bortle 7 skies. l will persevere tonight weather permitting. Wont give up on it yet as l had a good session with it last week even though l only used it manually on Jupiter and Saturn. Also just using the controller to manually move the scope last night was OK but no focus. l will get it sorted especially with the help from this forum. Thanks again.

Set up my new Nexstar 6SE for only the second time in the 3 weeks l have owned it. l have very limited views but can see Jupiter and Saturn clearly. scope and Telrad had been set up in daylight so should be good. So l did the Solar align. Lined up the Telrad and pressed enter then tried to slew to get Jupiter in the eyepiece and it did not slew. Only way l could get it to slew was to turn it off then on again. On one occasion it was jumpy while slewing. So decide to line up manually on Jupiter and could not get it to focus. Tried different eyepieces 25 and 40mm just a white blob in the centre. Neither the scope or eyepieces had dewed up. First time l used it was manually i.e slewed in the hand set not using align and it was perfect. l will try again in daylight and if no joy back it goes. Any suggestions? It has not been knocked or dropped. 

Just got the Nexstar 6SE. Very easy to set up. l only have a small garden with limited views and Bortle 7 skies. Jupiter was beautiful in the supplied 25mm eyepiece. Tried my 10mm Hyperion and it sat on the tightening knobs of the supplied 1 1/4 diagonal. Going to give it another go tonight with a 2" diagonal and Baader clicklock. Really impressed so far and nice and portable. l have 2 young grandchildren my wife and l look after during the day so l set up a bit at a time. 

6 minutes ago, russ said:

Just replied to the other "what planetary eyepiece" thread. Hyperion is nice as an allrounder in a slow scope. About on a par with the BST Starguider. For best planetary detail and excellent eye relief, the Vixen SLV gets my vote. I have the 10mm Hyperion and 10mm SLV, the Vixen is simply sharper. I always pull more detail with the Vixen. I keep the Hyperion for deepsky as the 50deg field of view of the Vixen is claustrophobic. 

Thank you, l will look into those.

Just treated myself to the Nexstar 6SE and was after advice on a good eyepiece for viewing planets.  l rather like the Baader Hyperion's and have the 21 and 10mm and was wondering if the 8mm or 5mm would be better. l wear glasses so need good eye relief.  Budget up to the £100 mark. Thank you  in advance for any advice given

l'm gobsmacked Trevor, l really am.

There you go.

1 hour ago, Trevor Matthews said:

Just seen some drum stools recommended on the forum.

Hi Trevor l use an ironing board chair. You can pick them up for under £30. Had mine about 4 years now does the job for me.

Just pressed the button on a Telrad from FLO for my Nexstar 6SE. 

On 09/09/2021 at 11:03, Trevor Matthews said:

Would it be the same size as the 8SE?

I will be dusting the 3D printers off over the weekend, happy to print one off for you and post it out.

Focus knob has just arrived and fits perfectly. Thank you so much Trevor.

Thank you Trevor, much appreciated.

regards.

Steve.

Sorry Trevor looks like bit of finger blight with my last post. lt should say 'Wow thats great let me know what l owe you'.  

S

24 minutes ago, Trevor Matthews said:

Had some time to get the gear out and cleaned off.

Updated all the software and actually found a 6SE focus knob file.

That is printing as I write this.

Should see the finished item in about an hours time.

Wow thats great, let me know l owe u

1 hour ago, Trevor Matthews said:

Would it be the same size as the 8SE?

I will be dusting the 3D printers off over the weekend, happy to print one off for you and post it out.

That would be very kind of you Trevor, thank you.