First clear night = total disaster

[bcfcciderhead]

Well it was my first clear night since i got my EQ5 and i'm at a nice dark site but what a complete disaster.

First of polar alignment- how do you find polaris in the polar scope? that was hard enough but think i found it in the end, did not get it all lined up in the little circle etc (hard to see the markings on the scope anyway) but i had it in the polar scope, led to believe that should be enough for visual use with the GOTO.

Next of 2 star alignment with the GOTO- Done this many times with my AZ mount with no problems, date,time, long/lat inputs all ok, then when i select my first star the scope goes no where near, no matter what star i select the scope wants to go find the slugs on the ground or goes in the opposite direction.

I then have a message "RA 48degree offset"......? or something like that.

Turned off then on to try again but the same thing, i then gave up and gutted.

I know this is all user error but unsure to what i have done wrong,

It must be -

1 Polar Alignment

2 GOTO inputs.....happy with these as i done this a number of times with good results

3 Have i put the scope in the correct way? sounds silly but as you look in the polar finder scope should the open end of the scope be to your left or right?, i was shown but must have forgot:o

If this was the case thinking of it the scope would be even more out.

Have i bitten of more then i can chew?

only ever used a AZ mount and Dob in the past

Any clues?

[Photosbykev]

1. You need to rotate the mount in RA so that the small circle is correctly positioned on the 'clock face' for the time and location you are setting up at and then use the Alt Az bolts to position Polaris in the circle. If you can't see the reticule shine a small torch around the end of the polarscope to back illuminate it.

2. No idea I don't play with Goto.

3. you need to rotate the scope 90 degrees only to align the hole in the shaft so you can view through the polar scope. Once you've set the PA rotate the scope back 90 degrees so that it is pointing towards Polaris with the centre weights downwards, this is your home position.

[bcfcciderhead]

You could be on to something there Kev,

I did rotate the scope so the hole in the shaft was open but then i don't think (come to think of it pretty sure i did'nt) rotate the scope back...........what a complete idiot:o

Would doing this cause me so much grief?....i guess so:iamwithstupid:

[Photosbykev]

You could be on to something there Kev,

I did rotate the scope so the hole in the shaft was open but then i don't think (come to think of it pretty sure i did'nt) rotate the scope back...........what a complete idiot:o

Would doing this cause me so much grief?....i guess so:iamwithstupid:

Yup it will put you 90 degrees out It's easily done and yup I've done it lol. Now I use a checksheet with every step listed.

[bcfcciderhead]

Thanks Kev that does seem about right with where the GOTO stopped the scope,

a check list looks like a job for tomorrow, thanks for the help

[JamesM]

Dave one extra suggestion, and that is before going through the alignment procedure (2 star or 3) Press the escape button and go to the utilities menu (button 3) and request the mount to park the scope in the 'home' position. Once completed, unlock RA clutch and ensure scope is pointing straight up in relation to the mount, then secure the clutch again. It might be that when you press 'home' it moves the scope to a perpendicular position anyway but its worth making sure that the scope and the program assume the same starting point. This then is the true start position and when the scope moves to your first selected alignment star, undo both clutches and move the scope manually to get that star in the centre of the eyepiece and then tighten up the clutches. Proceed to the next alignment star and centre using the handset to perform the final adjustments as you would normally - this procedure makes for very accurate location of objects through your observing session.

James

[sbooder]

Date format, may make it look at ground, remember it is American format mm/dd/yyyy also the format for Lon/Lat. It is worth checking out Dion's

tutorial on this.

[661-pete]

Can't offer any advice on the GOTO, but I agree that being quite sure your polar scope is pointing at Polaris and not some other star can be a problem - especially if the polar scope doesn't have a wide field of view (I don't know what the EQ5 is like, in that respect). I believe I have on occasion tried to polar-align on Kochab in mistake for Polaris - because it's of similar brightness and only a few degrees away in the sky!

If all else fails, squatting on the ground and peering up at the bottom of your RA axis, seeing if it does point roughly at the tip of Ursa Minor's tail - maybe that should fix it...

[bcfcciderhead]

Thanks for all the help and advice guys, you all made some good points there which i may have missed.

I think my biggest problem was that i did'nt put the scope back 90 degrees after trying to polar align the mount (after exposing the hole in the mount shaft), if like 661-pete said i did use polaris.

Will also try what you said JBM 1165 if still having problems

Thanks again guys

[Moonshane]

I know nothing about EQ mounts / polar alignment but have fallen foul of the desire to try out brand new set ups in a remote / better place and failing miserably. as a result, I now always ensure that I have sussed the workings of any gear at home first before venturing out - it can lead to a lot of frustration as you found

hope you get it all sorted as you have a great set up.

[AztecastroMcJ]

i've recently upgraded from alt az mount to cg5 eq mount, so i can understand how u are feeling

had few problems at 1st aswell, put everything in correct i was asked but scope was slewing opposite way to star selected,

after 1hr of swearing and reentering data etc i gave up and chose 1star alignment then slewed to star and aligned that way

then once i calmed down abit i decided to check other settings on hand controller

under tracking setting in handset menu there is EQ North and EQ South setting which by default was set to EQ South on mine once i changed this to EQ North scope slews the correct way,

this should be verified at set up but isn't for some annoying reason, so u need to find it in handset menu to change manually

could be worth checking ?

James

[bcfcciderhead]

Did not know this James, cheers.

Should be set correct as i bought this set up of a guy from here (BlackKnight) who has been using it problem free, but will check just in case.

Hi Moonshane, well i had a few days "playing" and getting use to all the parts before i used it and thought i had a rough understanding to get me going.......how wrong was i!!.

Still think the problem lies with me NOT putting the scope back 90 degrees after polar alignment...........can't believe i did this, did'nt give it a thought, will be making a check list later.

[Moonshane]

the good thing is that it's the daft mistakes like this that make you look into something in detail, resulting in a good recall of how to do it right and also now you'll never forget.

[Earl]

My images from last night were not good, but i was processing at 2 am... not really a good idea.

with a Full moon it is to be expected that there will be issues with none narrowband imaging, so i know that will cause problems.

But I am pleased to report that all hardware performed well, everything was good

[davy999]

You could be on to something there Kev,

I did rotate the scope so the hole in the shaft was open but then i don't think (come to think of it pretty sure i did'nt) rotate the scope back...........what a complete idiot:o

Would doing this cause me so much grief?....i guess so:iamwithstupid:

I did exactly that on Saturday, and alignment failed, but as I was only doing the moon I just slewed to it and it tracked perfectly.

<note to self> dont be a muppet next time!

[JoLo]

I have found that setting the home position as a first step to be beneficial for both polar alignment and GoTo alignment. Move the RA to perpendicular (no OTA or weights on the mount) and place a level on the counterweight shaft. Adjust to level and move the setting circle to 6 hr. Now, place the level on the DEC line (your OTA saddle), level, and set the circle to your latitude. Now move both back to the 0 position and you will be perfectly "homed". Park the scope, turn off the power, and restart at true home.

[spaceboy]

check other settings on hand controller

under tracking setting in handset menu there is EQ North and EQ South setting which by default was set to EQ South on mine once i changed this to EQ North scope slews the correct way,

This is what came to my mind when reading the first post.

[bcfcciderhead]

Just been trying to find that setting and don't seem to have it, just have these....in tracking sub menu-tracking mode:sidereal rate/stop tracking/pec + sidereal/solar rate/lunar rate/.

handset settings i just have lcd contrast & beep volume.

Been in i think all menu's and nothing about EQ north or south

It is running on version 03.26 (h.c. firmware)

motor controller ver 02.02.02

h.c hardware ver 03.06

database ver 03.26

[g0ibi]

Try the Astroshed videos on setting up, polar alignment etc, they are brilliant! I did my checksheet from these vids! Works a treat!

[bcfcciderhead]

Hi, Yeah been over the video's there and last night was much better, all moving in the right direction, but still the GOTO was out but i think i know what i done wrong.......did not add an hour for BST.

I'l get there, each night gets better