CAN I SET UP A CG-5 GT MOUNT WITHOUT A POLARSCOPE

[Matt2011]

Just ordered a new Celestron CG-5 GT mount and would like to ask if its possible to set this mount up without a polarscope and will the Nextstar handset help me with this is meaning with the "ALL STAR POLAR ALIGNMENT" and never had a equatorial mount and are these mounts easy to set up compared to the EQ5 PRO GOTO MOUNTS and is this mount really better than the EQ5 PRO GOTO MOUNT with synscan and how noisy are these motors on the CG-5 GT mount and can anyone describe what it sounds like. My mount should be here tomorrow and using a SKYWATCHER 7AH POWERTANK to power this. I have a Skywatcher 127 BLACK DIAMOND Maksutov Scope. Many Thanks :hello2:

[Psychobilly]

The all star polar alignment should allow you to PA the mount... (at least if it works in a similar way as it does on my wedge mounted CPC)

IIRC ...

You will need to do a rough polar alignment then a 3 star alignment and then the mount will offset star which you will centre rmy adjusting the Alt and Azm adjuster on the mount - you don't use the direction buttons on the handset... you then do a new 3 star alignment...

You may need to do a few iterations and a reticule EP helps a lot... without a reticule EP I found it sometimes helps to defocus the star I found it easier to judge the gap around the "bloated" star than a pinpoint one

Just noticed it's a 127 mak - in which case you will get a ring "dougnut" mode out of focus.. which I found ideal for centering...

Peter...

[Matt2011]

So bascially set the polar axis towards POLARIS and then enter details on the handset and go from there. I have only 2 eyepieces which are the 20mm Skywatcher Super Plossl and the 10mm SP also. Will do the "All Star Polar Alignment" also and when I enter my long/lat how does this have to be entered in the handset. Also is my Skywatcher 7AH Powertank OK for the CG-5 GT with the Nextstar Software. Thanks Psychobilly:)

[Psychobilly]

The closer you can get the initial rough polar alignment the better... if it too far out you could end up with the offset before the adjustment stage moving the star out of the FOV .. especially with a longer FL scope...

IIRC the handset can Report the Polar alignment error so you could check and make the rough adjustments that way... sorry for being a bit vague but my scopes on a pier in the obs so I don't have to do this very often...

If your stuck I could dig out the manual and read through it?

Peter...

[JohnnyD333]

Hi Matt,

I agree with Peter's instructions. When you get your scope, you will notice a dial with a hole on the back of the mount. If you rotate the DEC to the left or right, you will be able to see straight through the mount. This is normally where the polar scope would go. However, Celestron put in the All Star Alignment which will help you get a descent polar alignment without a scope. When you are done doing a 2 star alignment, click undo and your alignment will be complete. Next, click the Align button and scroll down until it says Polar Align. You select this option and the scope will slew to the last star you used to align the scope. Once you align it with the handset, the mount will slew to the star a second time, however, this time you use the Alt/Alz screws to align the star, not the handset. It is also important that you choose a star close to the meridian to align the mount, otherwise the mount will give you a warning about improper alignment. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[Matt2011]

Thanks for that JohnnyD333 and will try that and I new to this and maybe there will be a lot of trial and error along the way but is there 2 stars that you would recommend I try and I am thinking Mizar and maybe Deneb

[Matt2011]

Basically you have to find a star and one found you select and then when you select star 2 the scope will slew to that second star, Is this correct and will hopefully get my chance tomorrow night to do this if its clear. Many Thanks

[JohnnyD333]

The mount will choose the best stars for you. If you are simply aligning, let the mount pick the stars. However, when you are doing this All Star Alignment you need to pick a star near the meridian. Right now, the star Hamal is what I use. I used to use Spica but its out of my FOV now. Anyway, here is what I recommend you do.

1) Choose 2 Star Alignment and let the mount choose the stars.

2) Click the Undo button after aligning the second star, completing the alignment

3) Click the Align button and choose Alignment Stars

4) Use Hamal or any star near the meridian (Stellarium will show you many)

5) Now choose Polar Align and it will use your last star for alignment

6) Follow the steps Peter and I stated earlier

Once you are polar aligned, reset the mount and do the alignment over. I have seen other opinions on this but for me it works. When you polar align you are moving the mount head itself in Alt/Alz, so it stays in place even if you unlock the RA and DEC clutches. The reason I do this is now I can do a more accurate Go-To alignment by using the 2 Star alignment and adding in 4 extra calibration stars (it will ask if you want to add more when the 2 star alignment is done). There is quite a bit going on here but once you use the mount a few times you will get the hang of it. Good Luck:)

[JohnnyD333]

And hopefully you have clear skies, its snowing where I live and its a bummer.

[Matt2011]

My CG-5 mount has just arrived and its a nice sunny day also so may take the box outside to the gardnen and set up outside if the grass is not to wet after last night rain lol. Gonna make a video and post on You Tube about the new mount while I am opening it but see how it goes. Won't need to bring the OTA out yet but gonna see if i can set this up and wow its really heavy this mount trying to bring it in from my doorstep earlier.

[Matt2011]

Its all set up and I am finding it difficult and not sure how to enter the lat/long and which do you put in first and I live in Hele Torquay, I enter time but do not have seconds on my watch so i just enter 0 for seconds but how do i use this handset just as a tracking handset where I can move the scope UP DOWN LEFT AND RIGHT with the arrow keys on the nexstar! Thanks

[brantuk]

For your first session just degrees will do to start with - just put zeros for hours and mins - it won't come from your watch in any event. When you want to get more accurate try this site which gives it you in both formats:

Lat - Long Finder: This page helps you find Latitude and Longitude

Main thing on this occasion is to point the mount towards the pole star - just visually will do - it'll be a couple of degrees off to the left of magnetic north (as per a regular compass). Use the pointer stars on the plough to find it.

You should then get enough accuracy for the goto to work in a low power eyepiece 20mm or above

[JohnnyD333]

The manual lists your coordinates but Brantuk's link should give you the closest readings for Lat/Long. Dont worry about seconds when entering the time, just enter the time on your watch or phone.

The movement of a telescope on an EQ mount is not the traditional up down left right. Your telescope is moving in RA and DEC, so your best bet is to watch your scope and push the arrow buttons to see the direction it goes. This is another reason why having Go-To will save you lots of problems. My recommendation is to make sure your scope is working properly and to Align it before you start observing.

[Matt2011]

Thanks Guys, Basically set up the mount and got the spirit level on the CG-5 GT mount level and got it pointing NORTH and did not touch the settings circles but placed the OTA (TUBE) on the mount and actually tightened the bolt and checked the mount was pointing NORTH. Soon as it was dark I switched Nexstar on and entered TIME and entered 21.50 which it was and for seconds 00 as I do not know what the seconds are as my watch and phone don't have em but as soon as i entered time I enetered DATE in USA format 10, 28. 11 and then on the Nextstar I got Daylight Saving so pressed Enter and then said Standard Time but have tried selecting both at different times and then I select 2 star alignment and chose Capella and the scope slewed but went no where near this star. I have the polar axis facing towards polaris and I use the screws which control the RA and Dec to point the scope and polar axis in the same direction as polaris but not getting anywhere. Also I am finding that I am not getting the option to enter my long/lat but only see this option appear once and entered my details but to no avail. Feel like replacing the mount already as its very complicated but will have another go. Thanks

[Matt2011]

Thanks Brantuk, Will go out this evening and try that and clicked on the link and those cordinates should be fine and is there a reason why the Nextstar doesn't always show me the option for putting the cordinates in the handset and at what stage do I press ALIGN and UNDO in the set up and also what is the UTILITIES function do also. Will try again tonight and some of the blck paint on the mount tripiod base where you sit the mount on had come off and is that natural or would it be cause I am tightening the screws on to tight. Is it just the POLAR AXIS that has to be pointed to POLARIS or the tube as well and you know you have the 2 arrows near the RA and DEC screws do they always have to pointing towards each other when you move the screws to move the mount//pola axis towards polaris or do they have to be pointing at teach other always. Thanks All

[JohnnyD333]

Don't get discouraged, you made it this far and you will get it working right.

You can only set the Longitude on the handset. You are at 3 degrees. To enter this, turn the handset on and hit enter until it says the time. Next, hit undo and it will bring up the longitude. Enter 003*31' 0" (3 degrees basically) and hit enter. It will save this from now on until you change it again.

To change the latitude, you are at 50 degrees. If you look at the mount there is a round Celestron symbol with two big screws on the opposite ends. If you look on the other side of the mount there is a scale instead of the Celestron symbol. You need to adjust the mount with the two big screws until the arrow is on 50 degrees. Now you latitude is set.

The last part is what I believe is causing most of your problems. Pointing the mount north is not aligning it with Polaris. You need to look through the polar scope hole through the mount and make sure Polaris can be seen through it. That is the hole with the dial I talked about earlier. You have to turn the telescope sideways to see directly through this hole. Move your scope until Polaris is in that hole. If you dont do this you will have a very hard time aligning the scope. The All Star Alignment feature is to avoid drift alignment for astrophotographers who need perfect polar alignment. It does not replace these steps.

You must remember that you are aligning your mount, not the telescope. When you point to polaris, you wont see it in your scope, you need to see it through your mount.

When you get all this going, you will still need to align the scope with the handset (its always a little off the first 2 alignment stars) but you should see them with your finderscope. I agree that doing all this seems like quite a pain in the ***, but once you get it right it is very much worth it and you wont regret your purchase. Good luck:)

[Matt2011]

Thanks JohnnyDDD and yeah its certainly a lot of trial and error, I will have a go when I come home from work at 8pm. Will make sure that the mount is sideways so I can see Polaris through the mount and how do I point my scope/mount high in the sky and do i use the 2 screws RA & DEC to do this and also how do you select the international setting for time meaning UK and think you mentioned I don't need to put the seconds in but I have no seconds on my watch or phone anway mate. once I have seen polaris through the mount then do I press ENTER and enter time and date and then UNDO or UNDO or UNDO after I put time and after that will it tell me to put the LONG/LAT in. MANY THANKS MATT

[JohnnyD333]

As soon as the time comes up, hit UNDO, and your longitude settings will pop up. Latitude must be done manually with the scale on the side of the mount and the 2 metal screws sticking out. The RA and DEC axis is easily lined up with the arrow stickers on the mount. Remember, unlike a traditional tripod setup, an EQ mount rotates in RA and DEC. So, if you want to point straight up you cannot simply point the scope up. The scope will basically be sideways to look straight up. When you get everything set up, punch in the star Vega and you will see what I mean.

[Chris Rowland]

People were complaining about having to set the latitude and longitude every time when they hadn't moved so once it's set it is bypassed. You can get to it by pressing UNDO at the appropriate time, close to the beginning I think.

Everything with learning how to use these scopes is more difficult outside in the dark so it's well worth practising in the light with the manual. Just accept the position the scope goes to when it moves to the alignment stars. Once you have played/practised with the mount a bit it will all become natural.

There's no need to be super accurate with polar alignment to start with. Within a few degrees will be fine. Once a three or more star alignment is done the scope will move to the position of objects quite accurately in spite of the polar alignment error. The polar misalignment will give drift but it won't be so fast that you can't follow an object visually.

The AllStar polar alignment is good and there's no need to use Polaris, in fact a star near the meridian and not too high will be better.

If you don't have enough adjustment range in azimuth just move the tripod.

Errors in the starting position will only affect where the scope thinks the alignment stars are, once it's aligned on them pointing will be as good as the alignment on this was.

The only thing it's worth taking care with is getting the stars aligned consistently. I use a cheap home made reticle EP and always finish the move to the star using the same HC buttons (right and up).

Hope this helps,

Chris