Eq2 RA drive

[DaveGarland]

Can anyone tell me if it's worth getting the multi speed RA drive for a Skywaycher EQ2 tripod? Does it track accurately?

Thanks for any advice

[DaveGarland]

Ooo, also any tips on setting and using the dials on the tripod would be gratefully received as the manual doesn't seem to be working for me. Obviously I'm a total beginner!

[jonathan]

I'm sure if you search online you should find some good blogs and websites dedicated to setting up an EQ mount, and I assume you mean the dials on the mount not the tripod (the mount is the heavy turny bit with the counterweights).

You need to know your Latitude (http://www.whatsmygps.com) and set this on the mount once for the location you'll be using the mount according to the instructions (this is what you might consider the elevation - pointing the mount at the celestial pole), I'm pretty new to this too but from what I can gather that's all you really need to do to get going as far as dial setting goes. I think you can finely calibrate your dials if you want to according to known co-ordinates of stars but this probably isn't necessary on an EQ2. Rotate the mount (might be easiest to just pick the whole thing up, tripod and all) to point at the celestial pole (pretty much directly North), make sure it's reasonably level (adjust leg length if not) and you should be good to go. Once you have pointed and elevated the mount then leave it - do not rotate or adjust the elevation again, from this point onwards use only the RA and DEC controls to point the telescope.

[DaveGarland]

I'm ok with everything up to and including the polar alignment, but when setting the dial for RA I get confused. I'm supposed to point the scope at a star with known coordinates and then turn the dial on the tripod to match these coordinates. However when I tighten the dial it simply moves along with the pointer as I move the scope!

I'm obviously missing something obvious and will be kicking myself when I spot it.

[jonathan]

It sounds like what you're doing is fine-tuning the dials, I didn't do this with my EQ1 and I found the co-ordinates to be not too bad (general area of what I wanted to find).

Not sure exactly what you've done to slacken the dials, if anything; on the EQ1 the RA dial turns freely by hand but not when the RA control is turned, the DEC appears to be glued in place. Check that the pointers are not touching the dials and perhaps apply some blu-tac or a small amount of superglue to hold the dials in place? Seek more advice before doing anything drastic!

[jonathan]

Ach, you know what? I got this completely wrong! Showing my newbieness. On the EQ1 the RA dial DOES move with the telescope, it's the pointer that's fixed to the mount and does not move. I guess the trick is to set the RA dial and not touch it (mine is easily moved with fingers, it's not stiff at all, but moves in time with the telescope).