Tracking with a Skywatcher MAK 127

[StevieT55]

Hi all

I am only weeks into playing with my new (and first) telescope. It's a Skywatcher MAK 127 Maksutov-Cassegrain with a Multi-Speed Auto-Tracking Alt-Azimuth Mount.

I am struggling to get the tracking to work, and the manual isn't much help. When apply power sometimes the scope starts to track but this isn't down to me pressing any button sequence. When I press the two tracking buttons, nothing.

i am a total beginner so the answer is probably simple. I will try and attach a picture of my handheld controller

PS tried replacing batteries as I read this was a. Problem when I googled this issue, no joy

Thanks

steviet

[ronin]

The idea is that the mount just tracks at siderial rate as default, you don't do anything once it is aligned and on the target.

What is the purpose of pressing the 2 tracking buttons?

Not sure if you are pressing both at the same time, it reads as if you are.

If you are intending to move the scope from one target to another I suspect that it is moving but at the standard rate which is very slow and so not observable unless looking through the eyepiece. Can you move with that system from one target to another?

Is the scope on a Syntrak mount?

What do the instructions/manual say is the procedure for increasing the rate of movement, if this is possible?

[StevieT55]

Thanks for the advice ronin. Sometimes when I power up (only occasionally) the scope will start to turn very slowly as I would want when I have found an object to track but most often it does nothing. The manual says "when you are ready to track press the guide and slow buttons in combination" so I have tried pressing them together, I have tried first the guide and then the slow and visa versa, but it doesn't track. As I mentioned above I am a total beginner so I may be missing something really obvious or equally misunderstanding something obvious.

You ask if the scope is on a syntrack mount, I'm afraid I don't know. It's not a "go to" or anything clever, just a basic motorised mount. If it helps I have added a picture

Thanks for taking the time to reply

steviet

[ronin]

Pressing the 2 buttons Guide and Slow toggles tracking On or Off.

If it was On it goes to Off, and vice versa.

At a guess it is On (as default) and you are switching it off, so it does as requested and stops tracking.

Manual page 8.

If Tracking is On then all rates are slow, 1x, 4x or 8x none of which are exactly fast, all best described as very slow.

To actually locate anything it seems that you do the following:

Switch Tracking OFF.

Then press Guide or Slow or Fast to move to the target, get the target in the centre, then put Tracking ON.

Then use Guide or Slow or Fast to move to get the object in the centre.

Not then if you press Guide again to make the rate 1x (siderial tracking), think you may have to.

Seems that the only way to know if Tracking is On/Off is to press the Guide+Slow buttons and one of the 3 at the top should flash, probably just once or twice and that appears to mean that Tracking is On. Again Page 8 of the Manual.

The table on Page 7 is incorrect I think the lower row should read "Tracking off", that then matches to text in the shaded box by Fig1.

Those instructions do actually supply the information under Hand Control Operation Page 7+8.

[ronin]

To me the basic test would be:

Power it up indoors and forget any North alignment. (Defaults to Tracking = On)

Press Fast then a direction button and the thing should make a noise and move very slowly.

Press Guide+Slow together, to toggle Tracking.

Press Slow or Fast (not both) and then a direcction button and the scope should move quickly. (Tracking = Off)

Press Guide+Slow together, to toggle Tracking.

One of the buttons at the top should flash. (Tracking = On)

Press Fast and then a direction button and scope moves but slowly.

Press Guide and scope hardly moves at all as it is at the default 1x rate.

That is how I read the operation from the manual.

Give it a try.

Just realised that the Guide/Slow/Fast sets the rate but the direction buttons cause the movement as requested by you.

[StevieT55]

Thanks again for your advice ronin

as I am keen to get the tracking working - the stars move too fast out of sight without it on - I have had the scope set up in my bedroom for over a week and I have been trying a variations of buttons to try and engage tracking. With each variation I leave the scope for about 30 to 60 minutes to see if it moves.

When I press the Guide and Slow the slow button then starts to flash, just as it advises in the manual, but even if I leave the scope for 2 hours, it doesnt track (ie move on its own accord, hopefully I have understood what to expect from tracking). I know it can as very randomly it does this without me touching any buttons from power on. Thanks for the advice to press these together, I have tried all sequences (then eft it to see if it moved), as the manual isnt clear

I appreciate the confirmaction about table 7, I felt that it didnt make sense but wasnt sure. I have tried all the manual slow scan, very slow scan and fast scans - I am beginning to get the hang of these now so thanks agin for the detail. Its just engaging the tracking, nothing seems to make it start. Its good to test this in the bedroom and it is a lot warmer than the garden.

Could it be a faulty handset I wonder?

Cheers

[ronin]

Quick question:

When you have set up the scope indoors do you move it from the position at which it was started at?

Thought is that as it starts at North then there is no movement of anything there.

So the scope does not have to move the track, the position as far as the scope is concerned is the North Celestial pole which does not move.

If so then set it up as you have been doing then set tracking OFF and slew the scope to point more or less South - directly opposite the Start position, then go back to Tracking, press Guide to get 1x and leave it. Hoping that it will then slowly move Left to Right.

[StevieT55]

Ah, thanks you may have a point. I have never actually configured it for North. In my bedroom is always points out the window towards a chimney pot (to set the finder scope). I though as my scope is so basic, that it wouldnt care about North. So it might be where is faces when I start off, it considering this as North and therefore its not tracking anywhere? If I therefore power it up and move the scope it might start to Track back - if this works then I should configure North into the equipment?

This would fit with everything I have seen, it makes sense. Thanks if my understanding is correct I will give that a try.

Thanks very much

[Steep]

I would think that you would have to set North each time you use it unless it is always kept in the same place, otherwise the tracking software doesn't know where it's going or coming from.

[StevieT55]

Thanks very much for all the advice. I will read up on how to set the scope up for North and give it a try tonight and let you know how I get on.

Just signed up to the forum yesterday and already had so much help, I really appreciate it

[StevieT55]

Hi

I gave this a try last night. As i wait about 30 minutes between each test to see if the scope moves it all takes some time.

As per the instructions in the user guide, I powered it up and set the scope altitude to zero and I used the motors to point it to North then I powered off and after about 10 seconds on again, this is how they tell you to set the scope up initially. I then used the motors to drive it to point about 120 degrees away and changed the altitude slightly just so the scope thought I was moving to a star. Ronin, using your advice the motors were working fast at this time. I pressed "Guide" then "Slow" and the "Slow" then flashed (by default it is always one of the bottom two buttons that flashes from poweron, the Cruse button "SET 5"). The motors then moved to the slower Slew rate as stated in your reply above. Everything looked right, yet after 30 mins it is still pointing at the same corner of the room (I can just make out an object through the finder scope to test this.

I repeated the test, this time pressing the Guide and Slow at the same time, but this just lights up all the buttons and the Cruse button "SET 5" remained flashing and the motors didnt change their Slew rate. I left it nevertheless but it didnt track. So I think it must be Guide then Slow one after the other.

I repeated the test in case I set the initial North setup incorrectly, but still nothing.

I am sure I am on the right track here (excuse the pun), as the Slew rate changes, but it just doesnt seem to track.

Cheers

[StevieT55]

Just to offer a short update to this topic although I doubt it will help anyone else with a similar problem as I am unsure what I did to make tracking work.

I tried everything I could think of, and nothing would start tracking so I decided to ring the suppliers but before doing that I thought I should follow the book exactly - and yes this is when it started to work.

the only real difference was instead of randomly pointing north I used the compass and pointed the scope to real North. How the scope could know that this was using the compass instead of a rough northerly direction, I don't know. But now it works every time.

Thanks again for all the help