NEQ6 Pro, Polarscope - Where are the stars?

[Alveprinsen]

If the bolts are the same as my mount (HEQ5), they work in opposition. To increase altitude you slacken one bolt before tightening the other. To decrease altitude, the same. You must remember to undo one bolt before tightening the other or (as others have said) you risk bending the bolts.

This is very strange. Because the bolt just beneath the polarscope, the one that increases altitude - is rock solid. If I were to increase altitude any more, I'd need a wrench to turn it.

The other bold on the other hand, turns like a charm. It is so loose, its almost "too" loose.

Also, even though the increase-altitude bolt is all the way in there and rock solid, the decrease-altitude bolt can still decrease the altitude with amazing ease....

Have I done something very wrong when first screwing these two bolts into place?

The increase-altitude bolt almost all the way in, and the decrease-altitude bolt so far out, if I twist it a few times it comes off entirely? ......

Alveprinsen.

[SteveA]

Hmmm...

The two bolts do work in opposition, although as you have noted the rear bolt can be screwed out without any resistance as it kind of works to lock the mount in position.

I would advise taking the scope off and the counter weights off and just undo both bolts...just to make sure both are still nice and straight.

Try and do your polar alignment before mounting the scope and weights on the mount....it makes the whole process easier with less weight to move with the bolts. Once you have done this..and after mounting the scope etc. you may need to make some fine adjustments with the bolts...but at this stage you will hopefully have Polaris in the field of view of the polar scope and you will be easily able to judge the adjustments you make...

Good luck!

[themos]

There is a slight risk that doing the Polar Alignment and then putting more weight on the mount will result in a small movement of the axis of the mount.

[dmahon]

While you are messing around with your eq6, I'd recommend two changes to it:

1: (free) make the mount have a north facing leg. Many are shipped with a south facing leg - to change this, just move the little peg on the tripod (remove the mount head) to the other hole.

2: (about 30 quid) replace the bolts with better ones from astro developments (eBay) or modern astronomy.

[Alveprinsen]

Hmmm...

The two bolts do work in opposition, although as you have noted the rear bolt can be screwed out without any resistance as it kind of works to lock the mount in position.

I would advise taking the scope off and the counter weights off and just undo both bolts...just to make sure both are still nice and straight.

Try and do your polar alignment before mounting the scope and weights on the mount....it makes the whole process easier with less weight to move with the bolts. Once you have done this..and after mounting the scope etc. you may need to make some fine adjustments with the bolts...but at this stage you will hopefully have Polaris in the field of view of the polar scope and you will be easily able to judge the adjustments you make...

Good luck!

I've been attempting to polar align without mounting the scope or anything right from the start. 02:45 this morning was my second attempt, and I used the mount connected to the electricity only in order to get the backlight. My goal was simply to find Polaris... A goal which I failed.

I will try again tonight after work if the sky is still clear. I'll unscrew both the bolts, check'em, and screw them both back in.

What still puzzles me though is how I can decrease the altitude of the mount with the decrease-altitude bolt, while the increase-altitude bolt is way in there, rock solid and pretty much unmovable.

If they work in conjunction, you'd think that I was unable to lower the altitude as long as I'm not giving any slack with the increase-altitude bolt....

Weird stuff.

[Alveprinsen]

While you are messing around with your eq6, I'd recommend two changes to it:

1: (free) make the mount have a north facing leg. Many are shipped with a south facing leg - to change this, just move the little peg on the tripod (remove the mount head) to the other hole.

2: (about 30 quid) replace the bolts with better ones from astro developments (eBay) or modern astronomy.

Will do both as soon as I get around to it.

[Alveprinsen]

There is a slight risk that doing the Polar Alignment and then putting more weight on the mount will result in a small movement of the axis of the mount.

Yeah, I know. But for now, my goal will have to be to find Polaris at ALL, and when I am able to propperly polar align using NO scope OR weights, I can move onto polar aligning with the equipment mounted.

Its better to /fail effortlessly, than having to fail with all the heavy gear loaded on the mount.

I plan on ... probably failing again tonight, but hopefully I'll get a step closer to finding that damn star.

[peroni]

What still puzzles me though is how I can decrease the altitude of the mount with the decrease-altitude bolt, while the increase-altitude bolt is way in there, rock solid and pretty much unmovable.

If they work in conjunction, you'd think that I was unable to lower the altitude as long as I'm not giving any slack with the increase-altitude bolt....

Weird stuff.

When I first took delivery of my HEQ5 the altitude adjustment was immovable by hand. This should be possible but it will be stiff.

When I put the bolts in to aid adjustment, they were very very stiff and could not be turned. If I managed to turn them (by wrench) I would have likely bent the bolts.

I spoke to the supplier (FLO :-) ) and they arranged a return as this in their view was a faulty mount.

The replacement arrived and was movable by hand (still stiff as it should be). Adjustment using bolts is now possible.

It sounds like your altitude bolt (hidden behind your NEQ6 badge) is too tight. If you have a brand new mount. Return it.

If you don't have a look at this page. Astro baby has some useful advice.

Using excess force on your adjustment bolts will cause you much greater problems if you bend them and then cannot remove them from the mount. Be very careful here!

[IanL]

On my mount the bottom bolt is always a lot harder to turn than the top one even if you unscrew the top bolt a long way to ensure it is not blocking movement (which you should do). I have replacement bolts and they're not bent. Conversely, wven when the bottom bolt is tight against the mount head (i.e. lifting it), a small tweak of the opposing bolt with no force will still move the head downwards.

I think it is just a result of the mechanical design of the altitude adjustment, which isn't really optimal for higher latitudes (i.e. above about 40 degrees North or South). There are other threads on here where people have modified the part of the mount that the bottom screw pushes on; drilling a shallow hole for it to sit in is one solution, and others have made custom wedge-like fittings that reduce the angle that the screw bears on the face of the surface.

You should definitely be able to adjust the mount without resorting to tools however, provided you have loosened off the top bolt a bit first. Most likely the pivot point is too tight. Behind one of the plastic caps there is a large central bolt surrounded by three other allen-head bolts which press on a pressure plate to keep the mount head stiff. You don't want the whole weight of the mount head, OTA and other equipment bearing on just the two altitude adjustment screws so the pivot has to be fairly stiff, but equally if it is so stiff you cannot adjust to PA, then that is no good either.

I think some people take off the plastic cover and replace the allen-head bolts with ones they can adjust by hand, so they can slacken the pivot a bit to PA, then tighten it again before putting on the OTA and weights.

[Jessun]

I'd need a wrench to do it.

Please don't . There are long threads on here on how to repair a mount that had pieces snapping off inside...

Proceed with care... How are the bolts anyways? Dead straight if you remove them?

/Jesper

[m.tweedy]

just a thought re the polarscope. I had to focus mine by turning the black end as it was so far out of focus for my eye i could not see anything. Do not unscrew it so much the end falls off.

[Alveprinsen]

Please don't . There are long threads on here on how to repair a mount that had pieces snapping off inside...

Proceed with care... How are the bolts anyways? Dead straight if you remove them?

One of the bolts was bent to hell, so I had to remove it.

Borrowed some tools from work, and was able to detatch the mount from its base after prying off the NEQ6 PRo logo and latitute plaque. I had to hack-saw the thing off, and screw it through the hole.

Replacements are ordered from Astro Developments.... Now all I can do is wait...

And I've had sooo clear skies the past few days. The streetlights outside my house has even been broken, so its been pitch black.... A good time to not use the scope because of one single crappy bolt..

[SteveA]

At least you have got to the bottom of the problem....and lucky you managed to remove it, I think others have had less success when attempting this themselves....

Hope you get the replacement bolts through quickly...

Regards

Steve

[sonof007]

Hi, I had the same excited feeling setting up my NEQ Pro only to discover I could not see through the mount. It was clear through the scope but had 2 other issues. The Red Light in the scope was far to bright, I cannot find anything about turning this down like others mention,looked in everyplace I can on the handset, so if anybody can help be great. I had to turn the power off and work with a small torch over the end to see the dial in the Polar scope, the other issue was Focusing of the polar scope. I happened to stumble elsewhere that the polar scope needs focusingl. Hey presto I seestars and have just successfully Polar aligned for the first time, very pleased. All thanks to info on here and this feed. Thanks.

[Tinker1947]

There is a option to dim the red LED in the handset, why not use the option to align the PA using the handset and uses a normal star not Polaris, handy if you have a Telrad so you know which way to wind the bendy bolts ect....save all that bending to see through the polar scope....

[sonof007]

Hi Tinker1947, I have researched the dimming issue om the internet and it appears thie option to dim polar scope light is only an option on some handests/mounts and not all of them . Even with the firmware totally updated if its not built in the motherboard to be dimmed then basically you are out of luck. Have no choice but to switch off the mount to alighn and use a torch. Ridiculous why put a red light in the polarscope that is a million miles to bright ? Have no idea how to use the controller PA but will look into that. For now at least I have managed to focus and see / align using the polar scope once I sussed out had no choice but to turn mount off to turn the light off. unless anybody knows different. be very happy to hear from them . If you ask me SkyWatcher should replce the circuit boards in thos affected.

[Tinker1947]

My mount is a NEQ6 about 2 years old, it has the dimming option, the PA without using Polaris is the latest firmware upgrade, does require a 2 or 3 star alignment first then the polar alignment run through  a couple of time it get more accurate each time......

[orlando]

Having only recently bought an NEQ6 Pro mount, I also suffered from the polarscope LED far too bright.

With the LED on, it was impossible to see any stars.

I found that it can be adjusted via the handset Setup menu -

Choose menu: Setup Mode> scroll down to Handset Setting> go into that menu and scroll down to Polarscope LED, here you can adjust the brightness of the LED.

The Synscan firmware version is 3.28

Hope this helps someone