EQ 1 mount alignment confusion

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

i have the named mount above.

have seen countless video's on youtube to get scope parked and polar aligned. i still do not know if scope is set correct even using video's as a guide. it has totaly confused me and i cannot get the damn thing to work, let alone point at a simple target.

i now noticed the RA setting circle ( the larger one ) turns on its own when gripped and turned with fingers ( the mount does not move only the circle). if i use the slow motion knob it moves mount and setting circle.

is there a fool proof super dummies guide to making scope mount work, i have not even had a chance to look through eyepiece and had scope 3 days. everytime the mount confuses me and i end up putting scope away.

i need help and a shrink to keep me from taking it back to the store. cannot get scope to do anything but look cool in the corner of the room.

[swamp thing]

Personally I would forget using it as an equatorial and adjust it so RA and Dec become up, down and side to side movements. Much easier whilst you get used to the scope.

Regards Steve

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

i know it sounds stupid, but how do i do that ?

i have only ever used a table top sized dob. the online vids make it sound so easy, but doing it is very hard.

i have scope locked and pointing north at 51 degree alt. i want to see M42 in orion that will be south east. i relax the RA/DEC and what ever i do the telescope will not point due south east.

i am so stuck and confused, i have even thought about taking telescope off mount and trying to fix it to my photography tripod, but alas i am unable to, even the store made me think it was stupid proof in setting up. but i had to set the mount head up before i even got to put scope on the mount head. spent 2hrs setting up just the mount/scope (building it). had scope 3 days and not even had an eyepiece in it, because i cannot work out how the RA/DEC should work.

[Cornelius Varley]

Have you seen this primer ? A Quick Tour of an EQ Mount - McWiki

Peter

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

once scope is polar aligned why can i not use the AZ part to swing scope around. each video says lock it off.

if i lock it off and try to swing scope using the RA/dec i end up with eyepiece pointing towards the ground. had to put scope away it was stressing me out and giving me chest pains, and i am struggling to pick it up/carry it.

shall try again tomorrow, and if i cannot work it will take it back to the store.

[swamp thing]

once scope is polar aligned why can i not use the AZ part to swing scope around. each video says lock it off.

if i lock it off and try to swing scope using the RA/dec i end up with eyepiece pointing towards the ground. had to put scope away it was stressing me out and giving me chest pains, and i am struggling to pick it up/carry it.

shall try again tomorrow, and if i cannot work it will take it back to the store.

This is what happens with an German EQ you need to loosen the tube cradles and spin the tube inside the cradles until the eyepiece reaches a comfortable viewing position.

It's a royal PITA that's why I would just level the polar shaft and use it as an alt-az

Regards Steve

[rory]

you can set the dec at zero, like flat if you know what i mean. then slightly loosen the lock so you can swing it left-right and up-down without it moving at strange angles. ive done this when trying to get up at the zenith.

apart from that though ,with a bit of practice ,you can move it about even with the declination set on it (about 54 deg) .

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

This is what happens with an German EQ you need to loosen the tube cradles and spin the tube inside the cradles until the eyepiece reaches a comfortable viewing position.

It's a royal PITA that's why I would just level the polar shaft and use it as an alt-az

Regards Steve

can i some how make it into a dob, but keep the extra gubbins on the mount.

am really angry with the store giving idea it was simple and easy. and with skywatcher for the stupid manual that explains stuff in a huge tech way, that a newcomer would find very hard to understand. and then end up selling scope and moving away from astronomy

thats how i feel right now with this stupid mount, it has made £100 into a ornament for my room,

[rory]

okay, i bought a scope with an e/q mount as a newbie. i had no idea,and still to this day dont get or use the setting circles. all i do is move it to rough locations i want to observe and starhop to an object. i have the dec for my location set,and as a habbit i try to point the mount (again very roughly) north.

but i dont need to do this to be honest as i dont really track things for long periods at the moment.

dont get disheartened. once you find a few nice wonders ,youll be away. get used to how the e/q moves about (in daytime if need to)

im still a novice ,so more convincing advice will be along soon.

clear skies...

p.s i never loosen the tube. loosen the diagonal to a required possition.

[magic612]

Which YouTube videos are you watching? People have had very good success at polar aligning after watching mine:

Yes, you'll need to rotate a reflector tube to put the eyepiece at a comfortable position; as rory said, only the diagonal for a refractor. And setting circles aren't something you need to worry about to find things initially - forget about them for now. If you balance the mount and tube (as I demonstrate) you can point the scope anywhere in the sky, and then tracking is much, MUCH easier especially when viewing things like planets at high magnification. Unlock the clutches, point the scope, relock clutches, track with slow motion controls (or motor drive).

No need to use it as an alt-az. That will just make it more difficult to track objects at high power, like planets and such. PM me if you still have questions.

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

Which YouTube videos are you watching? People have had very good success at polar aligning after watching mine:

Yes, you'll need to rotate a reflector tube to put the eyepiece at a comfortable position; as rory said, only the diagonal for a refractor. And setting circles aren't something you need to worry about to find things initially - forget about them for now. If you balance the mount and tube (as I demonstrate) you can point the scope anywhere in the sky, and then tracking is much, MUCH easier especially when viewing things like planets at high magnification. Unlock the clutches, point the scope, relock clutches, track with slow motion controls (or motor drive).

No need to use it as an alt-az. That will just make it more difficult to track objects at high power, like planets and such. PM me if you still have questions.

i used yours and it got confusing when you set up mount then move mount and scope to north. i viewed the other popular one and he confused me more with the lock AZ. and you both do not mention anything about newton's maybe requiring the tube adjustment for eyepiece aligning and that was my problem. otherwise both movies explain well how to align mount.

now i just have to remember to twist the tube till the eyepiece can be seen through, and not flail around on the floor like a gymnast.

my major problem is i am stuck indoors, and so cannot see polaris, so am using a known astro app to roughly align mount/scope by placing mobile onto rear of mount and moving alt/az till polaris is center screen. is there a better way than this ?

[rory]

it does not need to be lined with polaris exactly for general zipping around the sky.

are you planning on photography ?

[Tinker1947]

I'm in Snettisham, Norfolk, if your close enough you can pop over to my place and i can show you how its done, i have a eq1 and neq6 so should be able to give you a nudge in the right direction, PM me if you can get here....

[magic612]

i used yours and it got confusing when you set up mount then move mount and scope to north.

Because I am curious, how so? Polaris is in the north. The mount must be aligned (somewhat closely) with the northern celestial pole (about 1 degree off of Polaris). SOME eq mounts have an azimuth clutch, where the tripod legs do not need to be manually picked up and moved; others do not have this, and the entire assembly must be moved and turned. I did my best to show what many viewers might experience. I can't account for every single type of mount out there, obviously.

and you both do not mention anything about newton's maybe requiring the tube adjustment for eyepiece aligning and that was my problem.

My apologies; again, there are many different types of telescopes out there, and many different ways of attaching them, rotating them, etc. If I had gone over even several of these, it would have added time to the video - it was long enough as it was. I went with the assumption that most telescope manuals would point out how to do this - if the telescope company manuals do not describe this, I'd fault them, to be honest.

I simply tried to make a thorough, complete video of how to generically get rough polar alignment, because using an eq mount in alt-az mode just seems counterintuitive to me. So I wanted to help people understand the very basics of how to set one up.

my major problem is i am stuck indoors, and so cannot see polaris, so am using a known astro app to roughly align mount/scope by placing mobile onto rear of mount and moving alt/az till polaris is center screen. is there a better way than this ?

As rory said, it doesn't have to be perfect or all that close unless you are doing astrophotography. Sometimes I don't even go through the steps I show when I set up my mounts - I just generally point it north and start observing. I may have to adjust the fine controls a bit more, but when the altitude is already set and if the tripod is close to level and pretty close to aiming north, that's good enough for most visual observing.

When I am going out for longer observing, I'll spend the 2 minutes or so it takes to get it "close" to the north celestial pole, usually by gettting Polaris in the field of the main scope, and that will serve me for the rest of the night.

I hope that is helpful for you.

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

it does not need to be lined with polaris exactly for general zipping around the sky.

are you planning on photography ?

yes both CCD and DSLR mounted ontop of scope.

going to get the dual motors and hopeful to mod the battery box so i can use my dads jump starter unit. if not get the SW powerpack.

hopeful i will be ok in summer time when the nights are warm, but am just getting over a heart attack and have an op soon so am housebound till at the very least summertime and hence only the small windowsill to view from.

[rory]

i see, sorry to hear of your health issue. okay so with photography you'll need to be well aligned for long exposure's of dso's. thats not my bag at all ,so i'll not pretend otherwise. perhaps planets would be a good starter ?

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

Because I am curious, how so? Polaris is in the north. The mount must be aligned (somewhat closely) with the northern celestial pole (about 1 degree off of Polaris). SOME eq mounts have an azimuth clutch, where the tripod legs do not need to be manually picked up and moved; others do not have this, and the entire assembly must be moved and turned. I did my best to show what many viewers might experience. I can't account for every single type of mount out there, obviously.

My apologies; again, there are many different types of telescopes out there, and many different ways of attaching them, rotating them, etc. If I had gone over even several of these, it would have added time to the video - it was long enough as it was. I went with the assumption that most telescope manuals would point out how to do this - if the telescope company manuals do not describe this, I'd fault them, to be honest.

I simply tried to make a thorough, complete video of how to generically get rough polar alignment, because using an eq mount in alt-az mode just seems counterintuitive to me. So I wanted to help people understand the very basics of how to set one up.

As rory said, it doesn't have to be perfect or all that close unless you are doing astrophotography. Sometimes I don't even go through the steps I show when I set up my mounts - I just generally point it north and start observing. I may have to adjust the fine controls a bit more, but when the altitude is already set and if the tripod is close to level and pretty close to aiming north, that's good enough for most visual observing.

When I am going out for longer observing, I'll spend the 2 minutes or so it takes to get it "close" to the north celestial pole, usually by gettting Polaris in the field of the main scope, and that will serve me for the rest of the night.

I hope that is helpful for you.

1 : you done well i just became puzzled when you picked up the mount after setting it up. i thought you had it already pointing north , silly me.

2 : no need for apologies, i am more miffed at SW for this info not in the manual, and at myself for becoming stressed over a simple thing.

i have a DSLR and have shot M42 with my long 300mm lens. but also converted a webcam and used this with my table dob. i am hooked on the digital side of astronomy and the results they can give.

this is only my second scope so going to try and push it to the limits and beyond.

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

i see, sorry to hear of your health issue. okay so with photography you'll need to be well aligned for long exposure's of dso's. thats not my bag at all ,so i'll not pretend otherwise. perhaps planets would be a good starter ?

have the moon nearly mastered.

just jupiter + its moons , mars and saturn and its rings.

i am more a DSO man, and when i have clear skys i am straining at the 76mm and 10mm eyepiece at M42.

my niece and godson are the planet lovers, they think it is amazing but i have not shown them a nebula/galaxy yet, asi would not get the scopes back lol.

[Balder]

Don't give up TC. I found the McWiki one very good (after I'd got my head around it)

Yes it's a bit of a PITA having to loosen the tube when the eyepiece is on the underside, or you can't swing it enough to one side and end up "flipping" to the other side (4th picture down on McWiki's page)

But when it's done,

Seeing as you can't see Polaris...compass maybe to align the mount? Then just set the angle of dangle to 51°

I just went half blind looking at the moon! The motor on the SW works nicely. M42, Andromeda Galaxy & Jupiter have stayed nicely in the finder

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

yes i am getting the hang of it now, but i use the wrong slowmo sometimes.

would be nice if scope rings had some sort of bearing mounts so the scope could be rotated in the mounting rings.

Have not purchased any motors yet, not sure if i should get the dual motor package or the single motor.

scope has been covered at all times, i removed it today and have found a larger amount of dirt/dust on the main mirror now i have to try and clean it. am starting to hate SW products. my 76mm came in the same state, covered in dirt and a lump of grease on mirror.

[bullettooth]

i got my 1st scope at christmas and was a bit confused at how it worked and turned etc, but i found that messing about with it during the day really helped me understand its movements.

im glad to hear your getting used to it it does take time. good luck with it and i wish you well.

[Astro Imp]

I have been following this thread with interest and am pleased to see you're getting the idea.

Like everything handling unfamiliar equipment can be confusing but as they say practice makes perfect.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Balder]

yes i am getting the hang of it now, but i use the wrong slowmo sometimes.

Practice

would be nice if scope rings had some sort of bearing mounts so the scope could be rotated in the mounting rings.

but then if you lob a camera etc on the balance of the tube goes out the window. I did ponder a very large Jubilee clip or similar on the tube

Have not purchased any motors yet, not sure if i should get the dual motor package or the single motor.

I'm only a n00bie, but the single works just fine

scope has been covered at all times, i removed it today and have found a larger amount of dirt/dust on the main mirror now i have to try and clean it. am starting to hate SW products. my 76mm came in the same state, covered in dirt and a lump of grease on mirror.

Dust happens. I cleaned mine when I got it - 2nd hand. now dusty again. Lives with it's cap on when indoors, #### happens when you do "stuff"

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

after setting up mount and a fixing the tube rings, i cannot find any information on how tight to clamp the tube rings.

is there a rule of them on how tight you should have them ie: tighten till tube cannot be rotated in rings, or so tube can rotate but under pressure.

i do not want to have them to tight they deform the tubes shape.

[bullettooth]

i'd say just tight enough for it not to move. should untighten slightly to rotate the scope in the rings if needed.