EQ6 issues

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Last night I had some issues with the EQ6 being silly. Specifically the goto was miles off, as in not even in the finder 'scope after a one star align then go from Vega to Shedir. I'd had a power issue when I changed over to a Maplin mains doodah as the power plug didn't fit as well as the plug on the jump start pack even though they look exactly the same and the plug works fine in the HEQ5 and the Atik camera. I changed back to the jump start unit and it didn't get better.

During some tests I tried the goto, heading for stars and M31, as I can see them through the big Tal finder, but it didn't like it. The goto was no good at all. I did several alignment routines, using different stars but none worked. I tried a two star, again with no joy.

Usually a one star alignment works perfectly as the mount is well polar aligned. The IC1805 was done (see deep sky section for image) on the mount just tracking at 330 second subs with almost no trailing and excellent frame registration after an hour. The trailing I put down to PEC as the stars were still roughly where they ought to be after one hour.

(click to enlarge)

This is a composite of two images taken one hour apart stacked to show the drift. I don't think its too bad, certainly not bad enough to screw the alignment.

The oddest thing was, after a failed goto to M31, I hit the info key. This reports what you are looking at after a manual movement of the 'scope by looking it up in the database. NGC 752 it said! Goto'd M31 again and the mount didn't move, just beeped. How odd is that? these two are almost 15 degrees apart.

Next step is to swap the handset over, if that's possible, to see where the problem lies. Are they the same item, the EQ6 and HEQ5 goto handsets?

Tips, clues, new swearwords and anything else all gladly received.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[SteveL]

15 degrees... is the time set ok on the mount/hand controller?

(Of course, it could be just having a bad day)

[steppenwolf]

There have been some reported issues with the cold effecting these mounts AND hand controllers but the latter seems unlikely here as the cold handset fault can result in failure to initialise at all. Did the motor drive sound at all 'laboured'? I am thinking here in terms of the cold tightening up some of the freedom of movement in the mount bearings - although again, colder than it has been it may be but I wouldn't have thought cold enough to cause problems like this - You're not in Canada are you?

15 degrees is a huge error and the incorrect correlation between the 'info' and the subsequent 'GoTo' that you mention would indicate a hand controller fault of some kind. There is no reason why an HEQ5 hand controller should not be used on an EQ6 to cross reference the problem.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Thanks Steves

SteveL - that's what I though at first - its slipped an hour. But its not in the RA direction so its not the hour thing. Good try though.

Steppenwolf - the mount isn't that new and it wasn't that cold. There is no difference in the whirring noise from other days, it just doesn't go where it should. I've read about the grease freezing solid thing - I don't think its that as I bought it from the Chief Engineer at Ambermile. If there had been any issues mechanically with it, they would have been sorted immediately by Arthur.

The oddest bit is that it didn't remember where it just said it had gone. It said it had got to M31 but reported that it was elsewhere, then another slew to M31 didn't move it one iota.

I'll try the other handset on it tonight (oh beggar - going out) or tomorrow (oh beggar - cloudy) or whenever. If it really gets too cloudy I could attempt to see where the goto goes using the upsetting circles, that's going to be a laugh!

The upside is, if its the handset, I need the newer faster replacement.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[The Warthog]

As a Network Administrator in a Microsoft world, I would probably try reinstalling the software in the handset before I did anything else. Either that or turn it off, and turn it on again.

The idea of these things freezing up in the cold gives me some pause, as I've been scoping the got version of the EQ5 (4). I was out one evening last winter and the zoom ep on my small scope froze solid. We don't kid around about cold here.

[Whippy]

We don't kid around about cold here.

Ah yes, when you say it's cold where you are, you mean it!

Tony..

[Albedo 0.39]

Hi KK

I have to agree with Warthog.

When you had the problems with the power supply, it's possible that the hand control got spiked.

It may be ok tomorrow (after a long reset) or you could try to reinstall / update the software in the handset.

Hope you get it sorted.

David

[MikeP]

KK,

At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs ... I could not get my EQ6 goto to work when I first got it. It stayed that way until I did a park, switched off, moved the OTA manually to where it should be parked and then switched on again. One star and two star alignment worked fine after that (never tried three star). That was with version 3.10 installed.

So, I agree with Warthog too, but suggest you throw in the extra on/park/off step.

Mike

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Thanks for the input guys. Mine's the old non-uploadable type, so if it got spiked, its probably dead. Haven't found a reset on the handset yet, I'll have a look. My only hope is that a day of being switched off will let it get better.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Andrew*]

KK, haven't you read the thread about the polar axis changing? http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,16821.0.html

Duh!! :tongue3:

Andrew

[steppenwolf]

As you have the old non-flashable version like mine, I can confirm that there is no handcontroller reset as such. A swap of the 2 handcontrollers that you do have should sort out if it is a handcontroller problem or not. It could, of course, be a problem on the main control board within the mount but here, the EQ6 and HEQ5 are not board swappable. Someone mentioned that you had a PSU problem so it may well be worth checking that your location is still stored correctly and that you have the correct setting for 'Daylight Saving' as 15 degrees rather conveniently equates to 1 hour!!

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

An update on this one.

This afternoon I did a daylight alignment by pretending it was night and accepting the alignment star straight away on a 1 star alignment. Using the upsetting circles and some sticky tape I discovered that the goto was working OK as close as I could tell from the scales. It was certainly within a degree of bang on, so it appears to be working. To double check I swapped the handsets over and the result was the same.

I checked that the location was still the same and both handsets are set to the same location, so that doesn't appear to be the problem.

Now I just need to wait for some stars to arrive and see what happens.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[jcm]

It sounds as though you have got things sorted. The only problems I have had with my HEQ5 was when I put the day/month in the wrong places , low power - fine once I bought a 7A PSU and sometimes 3 star alignment for some reason did not work. I suppose we have to put up with some gremlins when working with "cutting edge" technology

John

[daz]

KK

Wondered how you got on with this, as I now have the same issue (running 3.12)

My lat position was incorrect - I had it showing as 0,30 EAST when it should've been WEST. Having corrected that, with the daylight saving set to YES, it was out - by 1 hour of RA.

With DS turned off, the go-to was doing what it should be!

I did have a low power on the battery pack and then switched over the big beastie that could run a small town, but no difference.

Any thoughts??

(On a plus side, got to look through the TAL 200K - mucho impressed )

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

I'm not sure if its mended totally, as the goto doesn't get the target on the chip. It does get it close to the middle of a 25mm eyepiece though, so its not a long way out, could just need realigning. Another possibility is cone error where the 'scope doesn't sit right in the dovetail mount, aiming too high or low in the parked position. Next job is to try a three star align (if I can get it to let me pick 3 stars that aren't up a tree or in my bedroom) which should get rid of the cone error (according to the book), and yet another go at drift aligning. The last drift align using a Toucam kept the drift away in both runs (south and west) for more than 5 minutes, so its not a long way out.

Is that the Crayford focuser version of the Tal, or the older one BTW Daz?

Kaptain Klevtsov

[geoff_k]

KK

I get problems with my HEQ5 which I am trying to diagnose.

The go-tos are off a bit and sometimes without warning it will decide that an object is in a completely different part of the sky and the scope can end up in facing in the wrong direction and pointing at the ground. This is not amusing when you have 10 inch reflector.

Dampness is as much a problem as cold. I am trying to get hold of something called Aquastop to spray the various circuit boards. The Maplin power supply may also be a problem, so I am trying a different one. Also a heating pad to stick to the hand controller is something else to investigate.

I also intend to go back to earlier versions of the firmware if the above doesn't work. If I can't solve it, it will be time to speak nicely to OVL.

EQMod which allows you to bypass the handset completely is another option I have seen mentioned, but I don't know a lot about it.

Geoff

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

That could be because its flipping as the target crosses the meridian. My HEQ5 and EQ6 like to keep the counterweights lower than the 'scope and if the mount gets so that the weights are higher it flips over. Quite a nuisance if you are imaging at the time and haven't sorted all your wires properly. If the meridian isn't where it thinks it is, this could be a problem. You do power up the 'scope with it pointing at the pole don't you? If you have the newer version, there are different park options, which might be the culprit. If you start in the wrong park position, it might work out that the meridian is not where it's supposed to be.

Kaptain klevtsov

[geoff_k]

KK

Know what you mean, but in this case I think not. The first and second targets were about 6 degrees apart and on the same side of the meridian.

I'm not the only who has reported this problem, but as always, finding the cause is not simple given that you can't always get outside and test it.

Geoff

[steppenwolf]

EQMod which allows you to bypass the handset completely is another option I have seen mentioned, but I don't know a lot about it.

Geoff, you may find the following article on my website of some interest, although it mentions EQ6, it works with the HEQ5 as well and for that matter would work with KK's un-flashable version as the hand controller is taken completely out of the equation:- http://home2.btconnect.com/astro-site/controlling_the_eq6_mount_direct.htm