Disastrous First Night with HEQ5 Pro Synscan

[Fordos Moon]

http://wasnet.co.uk/

Thanks Steve, have sent them an email!

[red dwalf]

when putting the longitude latitude settings in, if it`s 1 you need to enter this as 001w and 052n if i remember correctly

[Fordos Moon]

when putting the longitude latitude settings in, if it`s 1 you need to enter this as 001w and 052n if i remember correctly

Jeepers!! I have a feeling you may have solved something major for me there as I put in 51.0806 N and 1.8249 W. If it is as you say no wonder the mount went in totally random directions!

[Richie092]

Richie it's a nightmare isn't it?! (Cant see video link attached?)

The sheer excitement of a clear sky and a shed load of new kit only to be outfoxed by technical issues! The Stargazers Lounge should have a hit squad dotted around the country that can come and do set ups for people for a small fee / case of beer!

Let me know how you progress!

I have resent it in a PM, I can see it on my screen but using a MAC not sure if that affects things.

It is a nightmare but great fun, nothing good comes easy.

[Grotemobile]

As vigdis VZ said ,the mount must me facing

north & level.I use Juipter as a alinement

position.I have a job telling one star from

another.My scope is the C11 & was a right

pain in the neck to get it sorted out.

I have drilled holes in my patio so i

dont go through that again.Spent more time trying

to get it going, than using the ruddy thing.

I feel your pain.I have read the manual so many

times.You will get it sorted, in the end.Dont reach

for the sledge hammer just yet.You are not alone.

Steve.

[Fordos Moon]

Thanks Steve, I definately had it facing north, might recheck the level bit tonight when Im out there trying to find the tiny grub screw lol! I wont be beaten! (Not yet!)

[Cornelius Varley]

Thanks fellas.

On the subject of position to enter on to the Synscan my app says I am 51.0806 N and 1.8249 W. So on the screen itself I am rounding and inputting 1.82W and 51.08 N, Im not getting that wrong am I?!

I will now attempt to find my local club!

Your coordinates should should be entered into the handset in the following format and order 001 49 W , 51 05 N. The handset requires the coordinates in degrees and minutes, mobile phones etc tend to give this information in decimal units so the minutes part of the coordinate has to be below 60 otherwise the handset will not work.

[Astrosurf]

I had the same problems. I found, as people have said here, that the power is crucial. I was using a Maplins mains lead which was atrocious and my mount would suddenly lose tracking. I now use a 17ah 3-in-one jump-starter and find that fine. Others, who run lots of stuff, use batteries but I don't know what to do with those! If you can run your mount from the mains, I think this is the one I use. I'm not at home to check and can't remember!:

http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/Celestron_-_SkyWatcher_Compatible_12v_Mains_Power_Supply.html

I use Google Earth to get my co-ords and just round up or down the seconds.

I too use Astrobaby's guide and have never tried anything else as I'm never sure I fully understand, but when I get things to work it's great.

Have you got a magnet to see if you can trap your little screw?!

I'm not very techie and need to use the scope regularly to get competent, but you can PM me your phone number and I can give you a buzz. I live near Buckingham so not many miles away. I hope to use the scope this week so it'll be fresh in my memory!

Alexxx

[Fordos Moon]

Thanks Alexxx thats of great help. I have actually got one of those adaptors that takes the cigarette lighter thing at one end and then plugs into the wall, would there be any harm in trying that with the HEQ5 before purchasing the power supply from your link?

Could it do any harm / blow up everything?!

[Fordos Moon]

This one:

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=42702

[Astrosurf]

I'm not an expert on electrical things so I wouldn't want to say! I'm sure people will suggest other, cheaper options than the Skywatcher.

See the portable power supply discussion here:

[Fordos Moon]

The more I read about powering my mount on top of these problems the closer I am getting to just purchasing the Skywatcher unit for peace of mind!

[Astrosurf]

That was exactly the way I felt! I'm so jealous of people who understand electrics. It really does make life so much easier. I'm often gobsmacked at the amount of leads coming out of and into the scopes of some imagers, with all their adaptors, batteries etc. I only have a few when I autoguide and that's enough for me! I have two batteries for my laptop rather than to try and connect it and all the other equipment up into one or more external batteries!

[Ant]

I use a Maplins 10amp Bench supply - and then run everything off of that.

The lead for the handset on the HEQ5 is a completely bog standard Network lead that you have connected to your PC at work (Cat5). When I needed a really long lead I just borrowed a really long one (10m) from work

Generally the home position is unimportant - but it is better to have the home position as close as possible aiming at the NCP. So the counter weights pointing down and the scope pointing up.

I know I said it earlier and a number of other people have as well, but you cannot underestimate the importance of a decent power lead / supply for the PRO mounts.

Ant

[Fordos Moon]

Thanks guys, I've been chatting to the Magnificent Martin from FLO about it too and I'm checking the lead by plugging it into my car tonight and seeing if the red light stops flashing. If it does then its the Maplin's box and I'll be taking it back to them and they can rammit.

I've got a cigarette lighter to mains adaptor. But I think although I am no electrician, as a person with moderate intelligence I'm not going to risk my mount by connecting it up using that.

It might just have to be that SW at least I can then put my energies into learning how to work my mount rather than getting power to the thing!

[Astrosurf]

Good old FLO. Best of luck!

[dph1nm]

I ran with a slow flash on HEQ5 for years (from a power pack) without any problem. But if it starts flashing quickly then you really don't have enough power. You can check the voltage from the handset under the Utilites section. If it drops below about 11.5V then I reckon you might struggle.

For polar alignment, note that the handset gives you the polar clock position of polaris i.e. you pretend the polar scope is a clock face and put polaris on the circle where the hour hand would be.

NigelM

[Astrosurf]

Very useful!

[Fordos Moon]

Just come in from the cold guys and guess what? It all worked!!! I am very happy! Polar alignment? Boom can see Polaris as clear as day and thanks to that software i put it right where it should be in its orbit around North! Slow blinking red light but handset and slewing worked a treat for 2 star alignment with a minor direction key adjustment getting them spot on! Now time to test and so went for M31 and the moon and BOOM bang on target again (not BOOM explosion)! Even put my DSLR and experimented with ISOs and stuff! What a fantastic evening!!

I want to thank you all for your help, encouragement and patience!! What a great result!!

[Astrosurf]

Brilliant! I remember how happy I felt when it worked for the first time. It's a lovely feeling. Now let's see your images!

[Fordos Moon]

They will come, got to read up on camera now!!

[red dwalf]

Isn't it great when it works.

[Fordos Moon]

Fantastic!!

[Steve Ward]

Good to hear you're back on track . . . happy hunting .

Steve.

[VigdisVZ]

Thanks guys, I've been chatting to the Magnificent Martin from FLO about it too and I'm checking the lead by plugging it into my car tonight and seeing if the red light stops flashing.

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