6SE turning upside down- help?

[mlp2k]

Just had my first real go at using my 6SE. did a 2 star auto align all seemed to go well. The scope slewed to jupiter then tracked it wonderful views of bands and moon. then I thought I would try looking at some double stars etc. Scope seemed to move ok then it pointed upwards then continued to go through the vertical so it was upside down. Bit of a problem because my baader zoom is quite long and would have knocked on the base if i hadnt removed it quickly. Is this correct behaviour or have i set it up wrong. Im sure i have mounted the OTA correctly the logo on the dovetail the right way up and i have aligned the two pointers when horizontal to balance. As its the first time I have used it with goto is this a fault or correct behaviour?

many thanks

Mike

[LukeSkywatcher]

The Baader zoom is pretty large. I have an 8SE scope and use a Baader zoom with it. To get clearance so you can use the scope at any angle.................you have to clamp the OTA as far forward on the clamp (dovetail) as possible to allow such a big EP as the zoom to have complete clearance.

I hope this makes sense.

[mlp2k]

thanks for the reply Paul

i have a williams optics diagonal too so i dont think it will ever clear. what im trying to understand is is it normal for the scope to go through the vertical and turn upside down?

Mike

[DirkSteele]

Clearance for an Eyepiece is one thing, the scope turning upside down is another....No, that should not have happened. The scope should never move in Altitude past the Zenith (directly overhead in the sky). If the desired object was past the Zenith, the scope should have rotated round in Azimuth direction to place the target in view.

Unless another Stargazers Lounge member has had a similar experience and can advise you, I would suggest attempting to recreate the incident by repeating all the steps (without the EP to avoid risk of damage) and see if you get a repeat performance. GoTo can sometimes have a flutter, but if it repeats, you may have a faulty model. In that case, contact the vendor.

Clear skies,

[knobby]

Isn't that the sort of thing that's caused by power supply being poor or interrupted?

are you using batteries or a power supply... Check the connector?

good luck

[mlp2k]

using a power tank and batteries. its done it a couple of times moves through vertical. Got me worried now!

Mike

[LukeSkywatcher]

Clearance for an Eyepiece is one thing, the scope turning upside down is another....No, that should not have happened. The scope should never move in Altitude past the Zenith (directly overhead in the sky). If the desired object was past the Zenith, the scope should have rotated round in Azimuth direction to place the target in view.

I agree. Its an Alt-AZ scope............................not an EQ.

Have you set it northern latitude instead of southern?. If the scope thinks it it is in Australia.................this could maybe cause it to flip upside down?

I'm just guessing here.

[CSM]

This does sound very odd. With regard to balancing, the 2 pointers that you are referring to would only need to be used if you had a wedge. For balancing use menu, utilities and calibrate goto. For aligning I have just used 1 star align for the past 6 months or so and it seems just as good as the 3 star. If you can find Jupiter I doubt if you have set the lat or long incorrectly.

[moriniboy]

If you enter the date, check which sequence you use, most handsets are US i.e. month then date not UK date then month.

Noticed something similar in a Skywatcher goto a while back

[matsey]

I've got a 6se and as others have said that doesn't sound normal - I'm sure though it'll be a simple setup problem that can be solved.

Others have already suggested checking date/time format - I think checking the location isn't set to somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere is definitely worth a look. As for attaching the scope to the fork arm, you need to have the arm on the left with the scope pointing away from you when it's on the horizontal. You've already said you're using a power tank - maybe check that's fully charged and not faulty - if it's using the batteries as a fall back and they've ran low that could cause erratic behaviour. Other than that I'm a bit stumped too, but do hope you sort it, it's a fab scope.

Ps... I also have a WO diagonal and definitely you need to be careful when pointing near the zenith as it won't clear the mount base - that caught me out in the beginning, it knocks out the alignment and definitely won't do the motors any good!! Now if the scope looks to be going in that direction I keep a really close eye on the base and get ready to cancel movement if it looks like it's getting close.

Hope you sort it soon.

Matsey

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pappy Nick]

Hi Mike ...

My SkyWatcher AltAz Goto did exactly the same thing the other night. I had noticed that the display was flickering earlier on in the evening so I suspect it was the batteries running low. I've got hold of an A.C. adaptor now and I'm hoping that'll fix things.

[mlp2k]

Attached recent photo of upside down scope if it helps, was using goto (forgot the target but i had a successful 2 star auto align). Any suggestions welcome

Mike

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ive spent the last 30 mins looking at my 8SE and comparing your 6SE to my 8SE..........and the issue of upside downness.

The problem (if i am not wrong) seems to be here: On your scope the screw to tighten the tube to the mount is marked in blue, but it should be located within the red circle. So you actually do by all apearances have an upside down scope.

I MAY be wrong, but the image you posted just does not seem right.

[JKB]

Ive spent the last 30 mins looking at my 8SE and comparing your 6SE to my 8SE..........and the issue of upside downness.

The problem (if i am not wrong) seems to be here: On your scope the screw to tighten the tube to the mount is marked in blue, but it should be located within the red circle. So you actually do by all apearances have an upside down scope.

I MAY be wrong, but the image you posted just does not seem right.

Hi I agree. Seems tube is mounted 180 deg out?

Jamie

[knobby]

Looks ok to me ...

My 4se

The screw to tighten dovetail is at the bottom which is why you cant see it in my picture .

Just make sure the two arrows align with each other on the mount, if they do then it looks OK to me.

but I could be wrong of course

[Ags]

Ive spent the last 30 mins looking at my 8SE and comparing your 6SE to my 8SE..........and the issue of upside downness.

The problem (if i am not wrong) seems to be here: On your scope the screw to tighten the tube to the mount is marked in blue, but it should be located within the red circle. So you actually do by all apearances have an upside down scope.

I MAY be wrong, but the image you posted just does not seem right.

I don't think that is the problem.

I've deliberately swapped the bolt to be on the top with my 4SE to make it easier to remove the scope and attach my camera. I've been using it for months with the bolt on top without any upside-downing.

[mlp2k]

i think i agree with knobby, the photo i posted shows whats happening i.e the scope has moved upside down. when i mounted the scope i ensured the index markers were aligned with the knurled doveltail screw underneath the scope as per the instructions. so to be clear this photo shows the problem ,not how it normally looks ,its moved through the vertical hence you can see the tightening screw you have highlighted in red normally this is underneath when horizontal. correct me if im wrong but this screw should be underneath the scope when the scope is horizontal not on top which is what you are suggesting Paul if I had the screw in your blue highlighted position. thanks for all the comments and help guys but im still no wiser!

Mike

[Ags]

As far as I understand it the position of the bolt makes no difference - that is my experience with my top-bolt setup. I think the encoders just measure the rotational offset, they don't I think have a notion of a 'home' position.

[matsey]

Having thought about it some more myself, I agree with Ags that it shouldn't make a difference which way up it starts - thinking logically, as soon as you've got the scope pointed upwards at the first alignment star, the mount will know which was up it is then anyway... I think?!

Sorry, you may have already checked this (but I can't see confirmation so thought I'd mention it again) - have you made sure you've got the date/time in correctly (mm/dd/yyyy - daylight savings set to 'no') and also that you've got your location set correctly as well (particularly that it's not set to a southern hemisphere location) ?

If you have checked those things, and presuming it's a new scope, maybe it's worth giving the supplier a ring to see what they say? What's happening to your scope is definitely not normal, it's certainly never happened like that to me in the 18 months I've had the 6SE.

Other than that, maybe see if someone from your local astro club can pop round and have a look (or you take it there?) - perhaps having someone watch what you're doing setting it up will be able to spot what the problem is.

Good luck, really hope you get to the bottom of it soon and can get on with doing what you should be doing with your scope - enjoying those beautiful night skies

Matsey

PS.... just thought of one other thing - could you check the Tracking Mode is set to Alt-Az as well? That should be accessible via the Menu option, then it's one of the top level options. Maybe it's somehow been set to one of the EQ modes?

[Pappy Nick]

Just thought I'd add that ditching the battery pack and using an AC adaptor has sorted out my SW Synscan. So I'm fairly sure it was the batteries.

HTH

[LukeSkywatcher]

The screw to tighten dovetail is at the bottom which is why you cant see it in my picture .

On the 8SE, it is on the top which caused my confusion.

I'm sure my 8SE without an EP in place could and would do a full rotation backwards and assume an upside down position as in the image in the OP. I just have never tried it. I would think that before that happens, the scope would rotate in the AZ motion rather then the Alt.

[mlp2k]

That's wh

The screw to tighten dovetail is at the bottom which is why you cant see it in my picture .

On the 8SE, it is on the top which caused my confusion.

I'm sure my 8SE without an EP in place could and would do a full rotation backwards and assume an upside down position as in the image in the OP. I just have never tried it. I would think that before that happens, the scope would rotate in the AZ motion rather then the Alt.

Thats what I thought but no, mine uses the alt rather than the az to get to the goto position

mike

[LukeSkywatcher]

That's wh

Thats what I thought but no, mine uses the alt rather than the az to get to the goto position

mike

Problem solved.

[mlp2k]

Problem identified, but not solved I need to stop it using the alt! Any ideas

mike

[x6gas]

Given that you successfully aligned the scope and then was able to GoTo and track Jupiter I don't think it is a date/time/location/setup issue.

I have, though, had similar wierdness on my CGEM...

My suggestion would be to do a factory reset of the mount (which you can do via the handset). You then have to enter your location etc all over again but that solved my problem. If the issue persists then give the dealer a call...