Heq5 Syntrek won't move

[engstrom]

I hope someone can help but I bought an Heq5 Syntrek last week but only got the power pack ( 12v from Halfords) charged fully this morning.

I put the mount on the tripod, made sure the RA and Dec locks were loosened and attached power and hand set. When I turn power on I hear a small click from the mount but there is no movement. I try some commands on the handset and I can hear some noises (high-pitched) from inside the body of the mount but it doesn't move in the slightest.

Am I missing something? Can I just plonk it on, connect it up and expect it to work?

Hopefully it's not faulty already :-(

[Revs]

You have to have your clutches locked. When you lock the locking levers, it doesn't lock the RA/Dec so it won't move. It engages the RA/Dec with the drive gears

[lukebl]

If it's just tracking, then it'll only move imperceptibly (i.e. 1 rotation in a sidereal day). The high-pitched noises are a sign that it's probably working fine. They all do that when tracking at normal speed. You need to slew it at full rate to be able to see it actually move.

[brantuk]

I don't know the mount at all but if you remove a cover from the motor housing you can check if all the cogs are properly engaged. But as Revs indicates - the clutches need to be tight for regular movement. Takes seconds to get used to - though it does sound wierd if you're new to scopes lol

[Revs]

Have you sussed out how to select 800x slew. You'll know when you have cos it takes a full second to spin up to full speed once you press the slew button.

[engstrom]

Heh. Maybe it was working after all. I turned tracking off then set slew speed to 800x and it started to respond to they keypad. It's crazy that all other speeds seem imperceptible but then again you are paying for a precision-engineered piece of kit. Thanks guys for sorting me out. :-)

[Revs]

Glad you sorted it

At normal 1x the RA moves 1 deg every 4 mins, so yeah, very hard to spot

[The Stoat]

There are two gromits you can remove on the one of the sides which expose the motor shaft, you should be able to see those move even at normal tracking speed.

[sparky81]

I'm having the same problem. Can anyone tell me how to switch the tracking off so I can slew at a faster rate? Sorry for the daft question I never used a motorised mount before!

Thanks

[Ant]

You do not have to turn the tracking off to slew at x800.

The handset has 9 different slew speeds, when you first turn the mount on the slew speed will be quite low - so it'll be hard to see actual movement.

GO into the handset menus and change the slew speed to 9 (sorry I've loaned my handset out to TJ so cannot tell you the exact buttons you need to push), then the mount will track the sky - but when you puch the direction buttons it will zoom of in whichever direction you've pressed.

Cheers

Ant

[bcfcciderhead]

You don't have to turn the tracking off as Ant says,

If you press button "2" (rate) and then any other number for a speed, 1 is slow upto 9 very fast.

If i need to move the scope about manualy i tend to use 6-8.

If you try watching it move without a scope you will have a job to see it move below number 5, it is slow, but when looking in a EP at a planet you will notice it move.

If you hear the motor making a slight noise when nothing is being pressed it is the mount tracking, which is slow.

Hope this helps

[Macavity]

Dug out the Syntrek manual for you.

http://www.skywatcher.com/swtsupport/Instruction_Manuals/SynTrek%20040805V1.pdf

Might print of a page or two myself... to stick on obsy. wall.

[sparky81]

thanks for the replies, yep motors are making a slight noise so think the tracking is working fine. Still struggling with fast slewing as I have the small handset syntrek model, highest number is 5?

Struggling with this, eqmod is going to be interesting!

[sparky81]

Dug out the Syntrek manual for you.

http://www.skywatcher.com/swtsupport/Instruction_Manuals/SynTrek%20040805V1.pdf

Might print of a page or two myself... to stick on obsy. wall.

That Sorted it, thank you:icon_salut: but now the cloud rolls in

thanks for your help everyone.