M40

If the front leg is facing North, I set the azimuth adjustment knobs to the mid point, then physically move the lot so that it roughly aligns with Polaris. This means that you have the maximum adjustment on the knobs. After it's aligned, then mark the floor and as you say you can just plonk the mount down in the same spot and its a good timesaver 👌 As far as the altitude scale goes, I just checked, mine is showing 52.5' give or take, whereas if it was accurate it should show 51.8' so treat that as a guide only.

Once you have centered your object and it's tracking ok I would suggest that polar alignment is ok. One thing to try is fit the telescope and weights etc to the mount, then polar align. The weight of the OTA could be causing something to move. Don't know if this would work with the QHY system but every now and then I just do a quick check on the polar scope. I simply line it up with Polaris as bang on the center lines as I can get it, then spin the head. Polaris should remain on the center. This tells me that the polar scope is aligned with the mount. Hope it helps.

There does not "appear" to be any feedback to the controller from head position as you can spin the head numerous times, call it the home position and away it goes so the fixing knobs can be pointing in any direction. What the controller does rely on is that the mount is polar aligned, level and the handset settings are correct. As for the settings, I just look the location info up on the pc, write it down and keep it handy. I have noticed though that between mobile phone apps, the altitude seems to change dramatically between devices so I use the light pollution map for altitude as it seems to be very accurate. One question though, when you align with say Jupiter, does the mount track ok or do you occasionally have to reposition?

I did a couple of things to overcome the lack of observatory challenge. First off I have three locations in the garden marked out with the tripod leg positions. The two on the grassed area I pushed short lengths of 1.5" waste pipe into the ground and filled them with pea shingle, you cannot see these unless you really look, then on the patio area I marked the floor with a permanent marker. These little tricks sped up the tripod positioning immensely. I then moved on and created a pier using a concrete column with a steel top. The steel top is a permanent fixture and is perfectly level but is multi purpose. This transforms from heq5 extension tube fixing plate, to table top mount to sundial mount and it's on the edge of the patio area so swmbo, who is always very positive in making things easier for me, is more than happy with the end result. By using the HEQ5 extension tube, the concrete pier is shorter, not in your face and one 10mm bolt later and the mount is fixed in position. Enjoy

Hello and welcome to the site 👍 I am going to echo what Orange Smartie said and recommend that before you buy anything, measure the diameter of the barrel of your eyepieces. Hopefully they will be 1.25" which is a standard size and opens the door to lots of options. A quick look at the info on Amazon on your telescope and there are some pdf pages available for download, grab them while they are available as they give you lots of info on your telescope i.e. max useable magnification etc. If your eyepieces are 1.25", I would go for something in the 6 - 8mm range i.e. the astro essential 7.5mm eyepiece. Can I also suggest a moon filter. Some people find they are not necessary but they are not expensive and I find the moon to be quite bright without one. A future option is always the astro essentials 1.25" eyepiece set. Don't forget that you are not limited to solar system stuff, living in the South West, you are not too far away from some dark areas and your telescope with the 20mm will be fine for spotting M31 Andromeda. Enjoy.

Try this, at the base of the version 5 handset there is the classic usb printer type port. Connect the handset to mount cable in the usual way, turn on the mount, ensure that the mount works through the handset by driving the mount a touch, set the handset to pc direct mode, plug in the cable between handset and pc, start setup eqascom, set the mount options to auto detect, search for the port in setup eqascom by selecting the binocular button, if setup can't find it at 9600 baud select a different speed and search again. Mine finds it everytime at 9600. If eqmod ascom setup states port not found, that's when I run out of idea's as something else is not quite right; if it finds the port, select ok. Only then start eqascom. Setup eqascom and eqascom are two different programs, the files that you should have are eqascom_setup.vbs and eqascom_run.exe which hopefully downloaded ok. If it is all good at this point, you should be able to drive the mount through eqascom. If you can't get it to work at this stage it will not work with Cart du Ciel or stellarium. Out of interest if you choose to go the eqdir cable route and remove the handset from the system, the ftdi eqdir cable has a chipset in the cable so is not a straightforward piece of wire. £35 for the Lynx astro cable seems expensive but it does work. Let us know how you get on, hopefully at this stage you have not got the big hammer out and smashed it to bits... All the best

Let me point you in the direction of this topic.... Having a quick look through it, it could simply be when you are connecting the usb cable to the handset. Do the useual without the usb cable connected, then switch the handset to pc direct mode, at that point connect the usb cable and do a search for the port in setup eqascom. When you have found the port in setup eqascom, then start eqmod.

Not going to disagree with that, I have downloaded sharpcap but never used it, my excuse is baby steps.....

I must admit that I leave the handset in the chain as I use the handset to carry out star alignment.

As I understand it, there are two methods of connecting the HEQ5 to a pc, the first is direct connection between pc and mount using an ftdi eqdir cable and the second is connecting via the synscan handset. If you are connecting with the handset in the system, the handset must be set to pc direct mode. This is found within the utility menu of the handset. Once set, hit the find com port in eqmod and it should...... allegedly .... find the port. Hope it helps.

Hello and welcome to the site 👍 According to the light polution map, Long Mynd is in what is called a Bortle 4 area. This in itself is very good and would give a good view of the night sky on a clear night. If however you drive 40ish miles west into Wales, somewhere like Llangurig, you are then in a bortle 3 area. This would give you very good views of the night sky. As vlaiv said, you will not see the same as the pictures in magazines etc but on a clear night, the sky will be superb.

Just had a quick search and it looks like you can get usb - usb high speed isolator devices at about £60 a go. Ouch. I will keep looking.

This is not a good thing to read, hopefully the insurance will cover part of it at least. I must admit I have had concerns over usb hubs and the various connected devices. I have noticed that the usb hub must be powered off last or the last device to be powered feeds all connected and I have been more than a little concerned about burning things out. All the best.

Hello zcjp, the Meade pack looks an nice grab and go kit👌 I looked at the virtuoso the other day, that looks quite interesting too. Of the two, I think personally I would opt for the 114P. Slightly better numbers, no real cool down to worry about, dew not so much of a problem and as a table top, the eyepiece for an adult is where you would want it, maybe not so much for little ones though. All the best and let us know what you choose.

Hello HyFy, I am pretty sure where ever your Fathers telescopes land they will be cherished. You should be able to post pictures of them easily enough, but people are only too willing to offer help if needed. All the best and welcome to the site.

Very nice, very modern. How are you raising the pier? Is it powered?

Hello and welcome to the site 👍 any questions, ask away there are plenty of very clever people on here that will be able to help.

Hello 0rcrest, welcome to the site, 3 scopes so far you are doomed like the rest of us 👍

Hello CBear and welcome to the site. I am going to side with Tiny Clanger on this one and suggest the ST80 on the AZ3 mount. I have never used or owned one but looking through the reviews they seem spot on. We all know our own children/grandchildren; one of our 9 year old grandchildren loved looking but not setting up, the 14 year old grandchild was all over it and was into EAA in a big way, you could not throw enough technical stuff and star stuff at him. So there is the thing, you need something simple to set up and use, hence the suggestion of the ST80, they have the look and feel of a proper telescope so that won't disappoint, simple to use, little maintenance and they won't break the bank. All the best and hope it helps.

Hello Robbie and welcome back to the site 👍 Looks to me that with your range of telescopes, you are well on your way down that long road

Hello and welcome to the site 👍

Hello and welcome to the site 👍

Hello TheTeenThatLovesAstronomy, hope you don't mind if I give you a couple of pointers. Go to the First Light Optics website, select telescopes and then select skywatcher. I am not suggesting that you buy a skywatcher or that you buy from FLO, but I am offering it as a guide. When you look at the menu page you will see a whole range of telescopes listed, have a look through them as it will start to give you an understanding into what a Dob, a refractor and a reflector is. At the top of this page there is a heading called resources, if you select it, then select Astronomy tools, then select field of view then poke in different types of telescopes with different types of eyepieces and different solar system objects etc. What you will get is an idea of what is possible in terms of size not what you will get without a lot of additional bits and bobs and quite a few hours under your belt. You have a great budget so you have a great deal of choice, have a good look around, see what others are using. Enjoy and keep us up to speed.

First time I saw the milky way was in mid Wales, telescope didn't get out of the car, I just stood and looked. I like the idea of a couple of filters on 10x50's as Robertl said, great idea. So I think my choice would be a comfy chair, a pair of binoculars and a shopping list of things to look for. Have a great holiday.

Hello Harry and welcome to the site. As others have said, leave it to acclimatise if you are taking it from inside to outside and try it during the day so you can see what you are doing. Stick in the weakest eyepiece you have (your 40mm) and try to focus on the furthest point you can see. One little thing you could do so you know roughly where you are in the focusing range is fully turn the focuser knob in one direction, then fully turn it the other way. Count the number of turns you make so you know where you are in the scheme of things. If you find you still can't focus with the focuser wound out as far as it will go, stick in a diagonal or a couple of spacers and try again. Out of interest, have you found the resources/astronomy tools at the top of the page? Find the field of view, stick in the telescope and your 40mm eyepiece, select visual and the moon and it should show that you can focus on the whole of the moon, I would definitely use the moon filter. Hope it helps and let us know how you get on.