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Celestron 6SE tracking issue


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I just bought a used Celestron 6SE and seem to be unable to get it to track. I am able to use the skyalign and pick 3 bright objects and get it to confirm alignment but then a message flashes saying "starpointer off"

My scope does not have the starpointer device rather a plain finder scope, then after I am aligned I select Jupiter from the menu it will I slew but it doesn't track.

Does this sound like the mount is not working properly?

One other thing when I go to the tracking menu it always reads "tracking off" I change it to "altaz" but when I exit the screen and go back it is again reading "tracking off"

HELP

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Tracking should be "on" - when I've switched between alt/az and eq it allways saves the setting - but I don't remember pressing anything specifically to save it - have a check of the manual which will probably tell you if "saving a setting" needs anything extra to happen.

I don't get the star pointer message at all on my CPC - possibly cos it has gps inbuilt. :)

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Tracking should be "on" - when I've switched between alt/az and eq it allways saves the setting - but I don't remember pressing anything specifically to save it - have a check of the manual which will probably tell you if "saving a setting" needs anything extra to happen.

I don't get the star pointer message at all on my CPC - possibly cos it has gps inbuilt. :p

Thanks for your response, it gave me an idea that I just tried out, that was see if I could toggle between tracking off and tracking on - alas that was not an option. I did try selecting some of the other options then when I exited the menu and came back in they were still selected, yet whenever I select altaz then exit when I reenter it says tracking off .......... dang.:):(

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Hi there and welcome to SGL :(

That does sound a bit weird.. I'm pretty sure you don't have to do anything to "save" the setting, but I'm happy to check that on my 6SE as well when I get home this evening, if smudgeball doesn't get there first of course :p

Couple of other things maybe to look at... as you've just got the scope from someone else, it might be worth using the "Factory Reset" option in the Utility menu... I'm pretty sure the default tracking mode is "alt-az", so maybe that'll set it back that way? Doing the factory reset will reset your date/time and location co-ordinates though, so you will need to enter those again.

The other thing is checking to make sure you have the latest software versions for the handset and motor control. You can check this in the Utilities-Version menu option via the handset. The latest versions are Motor Contol 2.2.5 and Hand Control 1.1.14. If they are out of date, you can download the latest software here: NexStar 6SE Computerized Telescope (item #11068) / NexStar SE Computerized Telescopes / Telescopes / Products / Celestron.com. You'll need the cable that comes with the scope to connect it to your pc (and possibly a serial to usb converter as well if you don't have a serial port on your computer), and the instructions to do the update are here: How do I program my flash upgradeable hand control? What about motor control upgrades?. I'll confess though this isn't something I've done myself and although it sounds (to me anyway!) a little scary, the instructions do look relatively straight forward. Even so, this may be an option to put off doing until you've exhausted other options.

Hope that helps and you get it working soon, it really is a cracking scope :)

Matsey :(

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One thing I found out was to check which tracking speed is selected. I didn't know (until I had a play with settings :)) that you can change tracking 'speed'. I remember side real...and lunar rates can't remember the others off the top of my head lol....

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Hi computerdeals, I've got home and now had a chance to check changing the tracking mode.

I can confirm that it is saving and remembering the mode when I change it. To change it I'm going to the Tracking... Mode menu, pressing Enter to go to the Mode options, using the up/down buttons (6 and 9 on the keypad) to select the mode, then pressing the Enter button to confirm. That is taking me back to the Mode level (the display screen says "Mode"). If I press Enter again to go back to the Mode options, I can see that it has remembered the option I chose.

Interestingly, this only worked when I had completed a successful alignment process first. When I tried to change the tracking mode immediately after turning it on, but without doing any kind of alignment, the tracking mode was set to "Off" and, like you, if I tried to change it, it wouldn't remember the setting and reverted back to "Off". Doing the alignment first and then changing the mode was working fine though. So that's another thing to check - make sure you have completed a successful alignment first before trying to change the tracking mode.

Hope that helps.. do let us know how you get on :)

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Fabulous, so glad you've got it working :icon_salut::hello2:

Have to say I only found it did that without doing the alignment first when I'd turned the scope back on to double check a menu option for you - and then when it happened my first thought was "oh no, now I've broken my scope as well"!!!

So yey, now you can enjoy your scope properly... just need some clear skies!

Matsey :D

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