NEQ6 SynTrek and Polar Scope Illumination

[jonathan]

I'm sure it's been asked before, but for the life of me I can't seem to find anything specific to the NEQ6.

I have the SynTrek handset which apparently has no control for the polar scope illumination, I don't even know if the electronics for it are present in the mount (there is no mention of it anywhere in the documentation or specification).

So, what are my chances for lighting up the illuminator? I assume disassembling the mount and wiring the LED up to a POT is probably going to be the simplest solution, but I don't want to do that at least until the warranty has expired, and would prefer not to do it at all really. I'm not going to go to all the trouble of an EQMOD just for polar scope illumination, it sounds like a lot of work and extra equipment.

I'm considering a simple red LED on the end of a rod that I can poke into the polar scope hole as a quick and easy solution, no disassembly required; all I want to do is be able to see those black lines against the black sky through the polar scope (genius design, really).

[Quatermass]

My solution was to use a christmas led decoration with its neat battery pack just cut down the little red star and taped it above the polar scope works great

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[jonathan]

Thanks to Astro_Baby I have now learned that the polar scope on my NEQ6 does indeed illuminate while the power is on, something that I never thought to try while polar-aligning (why would I want the mount to be tracking while I'm trying to align it?)

Mystery solved... we shall see how I get on the next time I am out then.

Thank you, Astro_Baby!

[Uplooker]

just reading the thread from your original post and i was thinking "what sort of NEQ6 have you got? It has got an illuminated polar scope!" Glad you sorted it.

Slightly off topic, but I once was unable to see Polaris through the polar scope or anything else for that matter, messed about for ages, then discovered that I needed to rotate the scope in Dec to get the "holes" in the mount lined up that allow you to see anything through the polar scope:icon_confused: What an idiot!

Ian

[Tinker1947]

The Polar scope lighting works with the mount on off switch, the mount default to no tracking when switched on, so it won't move while you align it, to make it track go into "SETUP" then some place in there is a "SOLAR TRACKING" click that and it will start to track.

[jonathan]

Slightly off topic, but I once was unable to see Polaris through the polar scope or anything else for that matter, messed about for ages, then discovered that I needed to rotate the scope in Dec to get the "holes" in the mount lined up that allow you to see anything through the polar scope:icon_confused: What an idiot!

Ian

Oh yes, and extend the weight pole thingy as well