pblackwell

4 hours ago, Neil H said:

Hi I have the same problem I can't see Polaris it's behind the roof of next doors house I use this app and can even do polar alignment in the day time it seems to work ok for the tiny cost of £3.09

The app is polaraliner pro it does it all compass , tripod level , mount polar alignment

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=appinventor.ai_kechko.Polaralignment&hl=en_US

Nice one Neil 👍🏻 I think I’ll give that a whirl. Simple to use yes?

8 hours ago, Freddie said:

Give it a go, you may be surprised.

I will, thanks 👍🏻

22 minutes ago, Tomatobro said:

take a look at this....https://www.myastroscience.com/nopolarisalignment

Oh that looks dooable, I’d need to order a small level.

Thanks for that I’ll give it a whirl 😊👍🏻

4 minutes ago, Freddie said:

Have a look into drift aligning.

Hi Freddie, I’ve read about that previously and it seems time consuming and rather difficult. I’m hoping there’s an easier way somehow.

Hi James, unfortunately no I don’t. I have a laptop but no camera 😕

Hi folks,

I want to move my observing location but it means I will not be able to see Polaris to Polar align.

I have a Celestron AVX mount and currently I manually adjust the Azimuth and Latitude to center Polaris for alignment.

Then I use the NexStar+ hand control to do a 2 star align (plus 1 calibration star).

But how can I do the initial Polar alignment without being able to see Polaris?

 Many thanks

Paul

17 hours ago, mikey2000 said:

A quick thought or two - I used to own a sky watcher EQ2...

On occasion, the Big Cog on the RA (the one the motor engaged with) would become loose. It would then appear to be turning with the motor but no longer be connected to the RA worm shaft, hence nothing happened.   It is held tight by a single Philips screw in the centre of the cog.  Tighten it up.    To further check for this cause, disengage the motor and try turning the big cog by hand.  The slow mo handle should rotate with the cog (they are merely opposite ends of the same long shaft).  If the cog is loose, the cog will just turn relatively freely with no apparent effect on the RA.

 

re: stiffness... did you disengage the motor (using that funny metal shape lever near the spring and big cog)?    With the motor still engaged, manual turning is difficult indeed, even if it is not running.

re: jumpiness - the motor cog is held against the big cog by a lightweight spring.  I occasionally had to give it an extra bit of encouragement to mesh properly and sit nicely - just a gentle push after using the funny shaped lever thing to engage.

Hi Mikey2000, I already did all the three things you mentioned but still had the issue. But anyhow, my mount is now in transit to the seller. First time I'm glad its bad weather because will take a few days to get the replacement

I did some more testing and found that even if I disengage the motor drive and manually turn the big gear/cog by hand, sometimes RA moves and sometimes it doesn't.

I also found that when trying to use the RA flexible control cable, there was lots of resistance and it was hard to turn compared to the Dec flexible control cable which was light and smooth when turning.

Contacted the place it was purchased from and explained the issue to them and they're going to replace that part of the mount so happy days!

However, got the feeling it could be that the bearings are buggered and/or needs re-greasing.......guess Ill never know!

Thanks

Paul

11 hours ago, Alan64 said:

If you're up to it, and good at tinkering, disassemble the mount-head, both axes one at a time, and clean out the old factory grease and re-lube with a quality grease.  I use this for all of my astronomical equipment...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Lubricants/Super-Lube-Synthetic-Grease-Syncolon-Multi-Purpose/B000XBH9HI

It's PTFE, or Teflon, based.  There are other greases that can be used as well, and instructions online to help in disassembling.

Thanks Alan, this could well be the case. There's a lot of resistance when using the manual RA flexible control cable, when compared to using the Dec flexible control cable.

Thanks for your reply Dakaar. But I've tried adjusting the T-bar (tightening and loosening) but it still jumps.

Apart from it jumping, nearly all the time the motor turns the large tooth cogged wheel but the RA still doesn't move.

To test I disengaged the motor and turned that large clogged wheel by hand. Sometimes RA will move and sometimes it doesn't. So I don't think it's a motor issue  if when I turn by hand the RA still doesn't move :/

Hello everyone,

Im having an issue with my SkyWatcher EQ2 mount and motor drive.
The drive making a strange 'clunking' noise every 10 seconds or so, and this was accompanied by a big judder that caused the image to dance around.

Also most of the time it doesn't even move the RA even though the motor drive is turning the bigger gear/cog. The teeth seem ok on the gear/cog because they do turn but RA doesn't move at all. 

This is a repeatable problem when testing indoors and scope telescope correctly balanced.

What could this be and how can I resolve it?

Many thanks

Paul

4 minutes ago, Marky1973 said:

Didn't see a sausage.... or Mercury... or the flippin' Sun to be honest, what a miserable day.

Hey ho... maybe next time... :-)

He who stares wins dude. Maybe next time (ps - I did reuse that line from a fellow SGL) ?

The hardest thing yet. Took 30mins to locate the sun, then clouds, then had to spend time to relocate. Then tried use a camera for the first time without knowing how the camera works! Then by the time you attach the camera clouds came in, so switch back to wide angle lense. Then sun comes out and takes time to locate. Attach camera and repeat the process all over again! So frustrating and difficult.

Here is my very first attempt at using a camera and first time looking at the sun ?

Best of luck with clear sky's everyone! Sun is out in London at the moment hope it can hold on a few more hours before the promised clouds!

21 hours ago, acharris77 said:

Hey all, with the Transit approaching on May 9th I thought I would get myself prepared. I ordered a sheet of Baader Film from FLO and made a filter for my DSLR 300mm Lens and I used some to make a permanently attached Solar Filter to my scope end cap. The results are below.

Thanks for reading.

Hi, why do you have to do this? I thought you could just cover the entire end of the scope tube, not that end cap? Am I wrong?

Hi LukeSkywatcher,

I can see you do imaging. Can you help me please. My sister dumped her Cannon EOS camera on me (read the manual job).

Can you tell me what settings I should set on my camera in order to try take some pictures of this (ive never used a camera), all advise welcome (lay mans talk though please).

ive booked the day off work so will have time to try and take pictures because of the time the transit takes.

Many thanks

Paul

10 hours ago, BlabyStarGazer said:

Hi Paul,

I've have only ever used  homemade  baader film filters prior to buying a Herschel Wedge, though I still have several in use for cameras as well as 'scopes.  I can only assume that by 'indentations' you are referring to small rucks or creases where the film is not stretched taut to produce a mirror like flatness (?).   If so, then there is nothing to be too concerned about.  My own filters tend to look like that too - a kind of exaggerated version of the image in the link that you posted.  Pin holes are what you need to worry about!  Holding the filter between your eyes and a ( lit ) lightbulb and checking carefully for holes (as you appear to have already done) is the way to check it.  If there are none, I wouldn't worry.  If there are, and the filter was purchased 'new' then it is covered under the Sale of Goods Act and will be replaced/refunded as faulty, but I would expect that to be VERY unlikely to arise.    It IS daunting, using a film filter for the first time, and it's good that you're being careful.  I remember being a bit sureprised when I saw my first film filter - i had expected it to be 'stretched taut' - but they're generally far from it!  Heck, I even got nervous the first time I looked through a Coronado Solarmax 'scope !!

 

Thanks Paul,

Yes the film has creases, but what I did notice were some tiny 'blemishes' or indentations so that's the concern. I've emailed the seller asking is this normal and will wait for their response. Lets see.

Emergency advice please folks!

I've just received a solar filter and on close examination I can see numerous tiny indentations. I've held it up to an inside light and can't see any obvious holes.

Is this normal and expected ? I've never attempted to view the sun and am worried.

I bought this , please advise me. Should I contact the seller or is this quite normal?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/transit-of-mercury-9th-may-2016/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

thanks guys

Paul 

Do what I did Jules. I've booked the day off and told my manager why. If the weather forecast is looking bad the day before, I said I'll come into work and cancel that day off. He's fine with that! 

I've never viewed the sun before, and I ordered this filter yesterday https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

Although a little apprehensive about viewing the sun, I can't wait to try it out!

And, living in London, this will be the first time I'm not hacked off with the light pollution!