Lipsmack

Yay! I successfully updated the hc and mc firmware. Clear skies this weekend. Wish me luck. I had an old Mac at work that was running windows 7 thru vmfusion. I found a video online of the same archaic setup. Lol. Thanks for all your help.

I checked the bubble level against three other levels and it may be a tiny bit off than dead center. But it is within the circle marker but just a little off center. I updated the hc and mc firmware. Wish me luck. We have clear skies today.

Thanks. I have kind of wondered lately about that and will check it next time out. I just get a headache thinking Of trying to align with only up and right keys. I’m have anxiety thinking of it. Lol!

I’ve kind of came to the conclusion about the NS+ hand controller upgrade. I am going to borrow a pc and see what I come up with.

I guess I must be complete daft. I don't see in this link how you can install it using a mac. The HCUpdate for a version 4 hand controller is still a windows exe file.

I was wondering if this cable would do the same - avoiding buying two cables to go from 6p6c to serial to serial to usb. Any thoughts? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Domoticz-Raspberry-FR232R-Kaifa-Sagemom-ISKRA-AM550-xs210/dp/B07JW75BZ7/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=6p6c+to+usb&qid=1615681756&sr=8-3

So the make sure I understand you need both. The first one goes from the hand controller to the serial connection on the second cable. And the second cable connects that to the Mac USB. In essence the serial connection on one is male and the other is female and would be in the middle of the cabling rig.

Thank you. I have not been able to find or talk with anyone who actually used a mac and the same hand controller. Always seems to the the nexstar + or a different mount. It got confusing trying to translate the differences in the mounts and scopes. This is my first scope and only one I am familiar with.

Oh wow! This is some food for thought. I ordered the celestron ac adapter just to check. I’ve never thought of using the phone as a simulated telescope. I don’t seem to have too many issues with acquiring alignment. It just seems to be the actual tracking. I’ve only had once that alignment failed several times. Once it got darker and I was able to lock into different stars it worked. My 12v power tank should have plenty of power to power the mount but I am definitely going to try the ac adapter.

I have wondered about that. It has never been upgraded. Unfortunately that hand controller is a serial connection. I don’t have a PC. Always been a Mac person. So I have no clue how to update it. Any advice would be appreciated

One of these day when the clouds clear I hope to test out to get more definitive answers. I think I will order ac adapter and try that. I just started using a 12 v power bank (weego 44). It never uses much power from that bank. The bank barely comes off the first light of a full charge with 3 hours of viewing.

I have tried the 8aa battery pack. But I recently have used a 12 v power bank. I have never tried ac power.

Thanks. We are enduring cloudy days and rain over the weekend. The next time I align I will make a definite note of any particular direction. I think it is drifting out of fov to the left (on a 90° diagonal. All the advice I have gotten here means I need to make more notes on the drift. But until these clouds get out of here I have nothing to lock on. 🤨

Yes. It is on altaz. It was the first things I checked. It is aligning and it is “ticking “ when it is tracking. It just seems to be not tracking correctly. Sorry I misunderstood your first post. I thought you were telling me that I can turn it off. (Use it with no tracking) I reset to factory settings and went back thru settings and manual. My location was set to almost 100 miles away where I purchased the scope. After resetting everything I set my location on the handset to longitude and latitude. And when using the app I have verified that the locations and time is correct. I thought originally the distance of accurate location could be causing it not to track accurately. But it didn’t change anything.

Thanks. The point is I WANT it to track and object. I do have the manual and have searched it many times. But nothing is helping me troubleshoot. That is why I thought I’d try advice from others.

I believe that is the slew rate, not the speed adjustment to keep an object centered in the eyepiece after alignment. I use that to fine tune an object when it is moving out of fov.

Yes I always complete the alignment method and get this message. I very carefully level the mount before I install the ota and double check afterward. The scope does not turn manually in azimuth, but seems easily moved in altitude by hand. Almost too much. But I am not sure if there is any tightening adjustment for that? How do you determine if the ota is correctly balanced?

I believe that only changes the slew rate, not adjust a tracking speed once aligned. The scope is tracking per se but not correctly. Image is moving slowly out of fov.

When using just an eyepiece it is moving out of fov eventually. Especially if viewing large objects like Orion Nebula. Using a 90° diagonal and 25mm eyepiece it will move out of fov to the left. I know the image is flipped horizontally so not sure if that means the tracking is slow or fast depending on rotation of earth. As you can tell I am an extreme novice. I’ve had the scope 10 years and just now really getting into it. I have probably used it more this year than any previous 8. I thought it tracked better than what I am noticing now. Or maybe I just know a littlE more than before. I am not sure how to more accurately balance the scope to helP tracking. Especially if attaching my iPhone and NexYZ adapter to compensate for added weight. thanks for any advice.

How to change the tracking speed on the 127 slt on the 127 slt using nexstar version 4 hand controller or SkySafari/SkyPortal apps. I see the anti backlash adjustment and tracking mode, but not tracking speed. Are you meaning the slew rate speed?

I am using the nexstar version 4 hand controller. I’ve tried skyalign, auto two star, and single star alignment. When I use the iPad sky safari and/or SkyPortal apps only 3 star skyalign is available. Tracking is set to sidereal. No matter what alignment process or controller, same results.

The manual isn’t helping me troubleshoot my 127 slt. I have reset to factory settings but not much help. It doesn’t seem to be tracking at the correct rate. I have made sure the time/date/location/standard time is correct and it’s level and aligned. I made sure the altaz mount is checked using sidereal. This is the mount that came with the scope. I can hear it ticking as it is tracking. But my objects seem to move out of fov. Exposures of 20-30 seconds are showing trails. I tried using the hand controller and tied a SkyPortal WiFi and my phone of iPad for alignment - all verifying current location, date time etc are correct each time. (Using the gps on phone/iPad.) Still same slow tracking. How do I figure out how to adjust the tracking rate if possible.