Leewfc

Yeah lol I'd taken all the caps off. Easy mistake to make i know. I forgot to take cap off polar scope other night 15 mins later i realised why I couldn't see polaris. 😂🤣

I managed to work it last night. I joined the sharpcap forum and had some feedback from admin on there. Apparently if you hold control on keyboard whilst opening sharpcap and whilst opening the camera it wipes all previous settings. I also downloaded beta version as it has a live view. Worked a treat last night. Thanks everyone for your help. 

Anyone else got any suggestions please? Tonight may be my last night for a few days to try and solve this issue thanks

2 minutes ago, knobby said:

Should be ok ... Try mid gain and about 1.5 seconds, works on mine 

I've tried everything just cant get anything on images. just a black screen. 

Hello hope everyone is safe and well? I require some help and advice please as I'm having some issues. I am currently using a ZWO 60MM guide scope with the ASI120mm, now when I use them with phd2 I can get some stars in focus quite easily. Yet when I open sharp cap I've got a black screen tried changing the gain and exposure but still cant seem to pick up anything. I want to use sharp cap for polar alignment so does anyone have any suggestions please? does anyone have the same setup and have the settings for me to try? I'm starting to think there's a setting somewhere within sharp cap that is wrong. Any advice is greatly appreciated TIA. 

Brill thanks

10 minutes ago, Stu said:

I did too Jeremy and found that they didn’t tighten up enough to keep everything rigid. Allen bolts may be slightly less convenient but a better solution still I think.

As long as I can access them easy enough I can put a screwdriver with an Allen key insert in obsy and use that each time to secure and demount. Are they easy enough to access and reach

1 minute ago, JeremyS said:

The EQ head is attached to the pillar with 3 hex screws. You could replace with no-tools screws but it’s still not that convenient I’m afraid

Does anyone have any suggestions on no tool screw bolts that would fit this that they have purchased and used for this please? Where are the screws positioned are they easily accessible? Also still need the support legs measurements if anyone has them so I can work out how much space I would save compared to the tripod. THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP

Im thinking of buying one of these to put in my observatory. I don't leave my equipment in there due to security and the area I live in. Does the mount head attach and remove easily enough? Like on the tripod it just screws on with the accessories tray bolt. Or once its attached you need tools to remove it at the end of the night? Also anyone who has one can you tell me the length of the support legs please? Obviously with the tripod legs they stick out quite far. I need something solid but with a smaller footprint so can move round obsy with more ease and without tripping thanks. 

7 hours ago, Gzigmont said:

Hi folks,

 

Newbie here.  Back into astronomy after a 40 year period without a scope.  Wife got me a nice beginner reflector - Celestron 130eq.  I am aware of its limitations.  Scope came with Starry Night software, which is nice, but I probably won't bring my MacBook outside.  Looking for a good app to use on the iPhone and iPad to get coordinates.  I used to do this completely manually back in high school, by having a halfway decent knowledge of the sky.  I'm sure a lot will come back, but a nice app will be helpful.  I am aware that this telescope and mount cannot be controlled by the computer or smartphone, but it will be nice to have.  Any other tips on using this particular piece of equipment would be helpful too.

 

Thanks in advance,

Greg

Hi Greg I currently use synscaninit 2.1. Great little app. Gives you your coordinates from phone GPS. Also gives you polar allignment details along with everything needed to be entered on most handsets. Hope this helps 👍

40 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

It was added as a point of information in case that was a future choice you may have been considering.

 

When connecting a serial port you need to specify the port number & baud rate. On older connections using an eqdir cable this was normally 9600 but the onboard usb port expects a higher value (115200 I think). 

Thanks for all your advice and info really appreciated. I'll order a printer lead cable like you said cheaper and see how I get on. Thanks again

3 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

Only issue with the usb printer style lead direct to the mount is whether the cable comes out too easily. On the plus side the serial/usb conversion is done by the mount and should be supported by Skywatcher for ages, the leads are cheaper and the baud rate is faster  (if that helps).

There is currently an issue for the Asiair Pro which is awaiting an update to connect with the built in usb for the latest versions of this mount but works with older eqdir cables.

I haven't got the asi air I'm using a pc in my observatory to run the mount.

2 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

Only issue with the usb printer style lead direct to the mount is whether the cable comes out too easily. On the plus side the serial/usb conversion is done by the mount and should be supported by Skywatcher for ages, the leads are cheaper and the baud rate is faster  (if that helps).

There is currently an issue for the Asiair Pro which is awaiting an update to connect with the built in usb for the latest versions of this mount but works with older eqdir cables.

printer lead usb has faster baud rate sorry? 

9 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

I have the older version NEQ6PRO.

One of the benefits of the latest mount is that it effectively has a EQDir module built into the mount.

you can use a standard printer USB to connect and bypass the handcontroller.

EQmod should see the connection (I think you have to set a higher Baud rate) and your off and running.

I use EQMOD with CdC to run my NEQ6PRO, C11, spectrograph set up.

 

So I should be fine running from usb printer lead? I just don't want to spend money on a longer printer lead then find i would be better using the direct usb cables that are sold. Werent sure if there was any difference in performance or would both do the job just as well. Thank you

Thanks for everyone's help. I run some updates on hand controller and mount gears and reset everything to factory settings. Checked polaris in centre test and rotated 180 degrees. Was perfectly centred didnt move a bit. I then did the moving polaris to circles and placed on centre track rotated and it stayed perfect. I polar alligned and re entered the details in controller and moved onto star alignment. Did the 2 star and everything was perfect so must have been a software issue or something in the data that reset cleared. Thanks again for everyone's help. 

On 17/02/2021 at 18:25, AngHor said:

I have a SkyWatcher AZ-EQ5 mount. It’s all working fine, except I have an issue with alignment. This applies whether I’m in EQ or Alt-Az mode.

I set it up using  one or two star align without problems.
However if I use the handset to GoTo another object, I usually need to do fine tuning adjustments to centre on the new object. But the mount disregards these adjustments, so if I use the GoTo system to centre on a nearby object, or revisit the original object a second time, it’s still off by the same amount.
How do I tell the mount that I have centred on the new object and that it should now be aligned with that object ? 
My iOptron MiniTower has a feature that does exactly this – once set up correctly and aligned, for each new object I go to there is an “ALIGN” option, and if I use this it now knows the correct position. Can I do this with SkyWatcher and Synscan ?

Thanks. Angelo

I had a similar issue with my EQ6r mount last week. Really frustrating! After a few people on here giving me some tips and a friend of mine spending a few hours on the phone I tried a few things. So I did a factory reset to clear all stored data to ensure nothing was pushing the mount out. I then updated the hand controller software and updated the mount gears software on skywatcher website. Then I went back to basics with the polar alignment so I did the test of putting polaris in centre of reticle (cross in centre) rotated 180 degrees checking polaris stayed smack central and didn't drift off. Once I knew that the axis were aligned correctly I went to the next test. For the second test I placed polaris into the circles using the middle circle track. Unlocked my RA clutch and rotated to see if polaris stayed on that circle and rotated like a train round a track without drifting. Once I knew that was accurate I rechecked the polar allignment position for my polar app unlocked clutches got everything facing back north. Turned the mount off and back on then I entered all the details as shown on synscanit and went for 2 star allignment. Everything was perfect for me last night. Good luck hope you sort it. 👍

I've got the latest model of eq6r pro mount. It comes with the printer style usb port on the mount head. I'm looking to connect using ascom and eqmod to my pc to lose the hand controller. I was wondering peoples thoughts.... should I go with the printer lead or should I use a USB direct cable. Are there any differences between the leads in terms of performance. Can someone recommend the exact lead and what software do you all recommend? I've heard stellarium but are there anymore? Cheers 

57 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

This might be the cause of the problem then - the Lat and Long you are using is pretty much Kenilworth Castle. 

 

ill take a look at that thank you

2 hours ago, Skipper Billy said:

Your signature doesn't give your location but your lat and long gives somewhere near University of Warwick / South West Coventry.

Does that sound about right ??? Incorrect Lat and Long can give spurious errors like the ones you describe.

Im walsall in the west midlands Coventry is about an hour away from me. I've just used the ones given from my phones location which I guess would be correct? If not how would I check these accurately thanks 👍

7 hours ago, symmetal said:

Your Mel Maz display indicates that the polar alignment is over 1 degree out in azimuth which is about two thirds the diameter of the polar alignment circle. The circle is about 1.5 degrees in diameter. As you say the polar clock doesn't have to set with 0 at the top as long as you judge where Polaris would be on a clock face, if you assume the 0 is at the top and 6 is at the bottom. You've done the 180 degree rotation test and the object in the centre didn't move so your polar scope reticule is correctly aligned with the centre of the mount RA axis.

When you're accurately polar aligned you should be able to look through the polar scope and rotate the mount in RA and Polaris should stay on the polar reticule circle as the circle rotates. With a 1 degree azimuth error as you've indicated Polaris would shoot off the circle as soon as you rotate the mount RA axis just a little. It's worth checking that before you do a two or three star alignment to see where the problem lies. You can make small mount azi and alt adjustments while rotating the RA axis to try and get Polaris to stay closer to the circle if you wish. If Polaris stays on the circle while rotating RA then your polar alignment is very good and a one star alignment is all that's needed to have good gotos. The two star alignment corrects your gotos when you're not perfectly polar aligned.

Have you tried just a two star alignment. I've read reports where a three star alignment can seem to give worse results than a two star alignment for your Goto accuracy. The third star is to correct any cone error, (scope optical axis not parallel to RA axis), but it's normally fairly small in most setups and can be ignored to start with.  It may be worth using the handset Setup menu option to delete any stored alignment values, particularly cone error, as if you do a two star alignment after a three star alignment, I believe it asks if you want to apply stored cone error values.

Alan

Cheers Alan ill give that a go. So how is the best way to complete the RA test with polaris around the circle? 

2 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

I agree with @symmetal Many people will say that PA has little or no effect on GoTo accuracy. My experience is that it definitely does, the more accurate your PA the more accurate your pointing accuracy. Do you suffer from cone error? If not, or it is very small, do not do a 3rd star alignment, it serves no purpose 1 or 2 is enough. I would concentrate on PA if you are confident that all data inputted into the handset is correct. Also, are you starting from an accurate home position after PA ? Counterweight down, scope pointing North

I'll try the PA test with RA axis next time I'm out. Then I'll check the cone error. I'm going to also do a factory reset and update firmware if there's an update. Thanks for all your help. If anyone does have any more ideas please let me know so I can try everything in one clear night. 

11 minutes ago, symmetal said:

Betelgeuse is 22 degrees from Sirius and a one hour error in the time setting on your handset puts you off by 15 degrees so Dave's suggestion looks a likely answer. 🙂

Alan

Edit Assuming you're in the UK and your location is input correctly you need Time Zone set to 0, and Daylight Saving set to No which I assume your SynscanInit is displaying.

Yes synscaninit shows the following. I've also popped the image of what the handset was showing the alignment details as.... once aligned it says alignment poor. I've tried everything relooked at the polar allignment to check that. I've re entered all the details into handset. My polar clock doesn't show exactly 0 and 6 top and bottom but I always put the dot exactly as shows on app I use. Dont know if the reticle makes much difference I was told not as long as I put the dot in correct spot as showed on app. Thanks everyone for your help

12 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Have you altered the time back from BST to GMT ?

Dave

I usually follow through the information on the hand controller and enter exactly what shows on my app on my phone Synscaninit 2.1. Would that cover that part or would I have to change elsewhere in settings? thanks

Hi hope everyone is safe and well? I'm in some desperate need of some help. I purchased my mount in June and due to the lack of clear nights I've not had many opportunities to use all of my new equipment fully. First few times I used my equipment I learnt how to balance my new mount and learnt the polar alignment process. Then I started to learn the 3 star alignment process and first few times the objects selected didn't appear to be far off. Just recently I've had 2 or 3 nights where I appear to be some distance from the selected object. I have tried doing a reset of the PAE data but still continue to be some distance from the selected targets even on the 3rd star alignment surely this isn't correct? I've rechecked my alignment process and looks good to me including the test to check object in centre of cross hairs rotate 180 and object remains slap bang central. only thing left for me to try next clear night is a full factory reset of hand controller but I'm getting really frustrated as you can imagine with wasting time setting up to not take many steps forward. Has anyone suffered similar issues? If so how did you overcome this. For example I selected Sirius the other night and ended up pointing halfway between Betelgeuse and Sirius on third alignment. I've also got an A to Z go to 200p synscan and when I first used this the accuracy was really good so I cant understand why I'm so far off with this newer equipment. Please any help or advice is massively appreciated. TIA 

2 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

You can unlock the clutch on the RA axis and rotate the RA to match your polar scope 0 to where you want it.

SharpCap Pro is worth investing, it easy to get accurate polar alignment and saves getting wet knees.

So it doesn't make any difference if the scope and mount are not directly pointing straight up. Just to clarify your saying turn r.a to get the 0 dial at the top then do the polar allignment and use the scope from that position to do star allignment? Being a beginner I thought the scope had to be in starting position with scope facing directly straight and up. Thanks for your help

This is my polar scope with polaris set that matches with polar clock app I used to show i think I got this right.