goto az second star alingment problem

[the bishop]

Hi,

First time out tonight with a new Skymax 127 on an az goto,

Set everything up right and level!! And everything in the right format!!

In fact treble checked it all, also re the power supply it is a mains Maplins rated 12v (well a bit more) regulated box and leads from flo.

I went for the 2 star alignment as all the posts I have read say it is the best option!

So chose Procyon for number 1 and I moved scope around and got it plum centre in the 25mm supplied ep, I then selected procyon on the hand set pressed enter and was invited to move to and centre it pressed enter and then choose my second star so I went for Arcturus and off it went and moved around toward it, however it was a bit off and though the readout was saying for me to use the keys to move it to the centre of the ep it would not respond at all to any of the up, down, left and right arrow keys that I pressed, so I pressed enter and got the alignment successful, but I knew that Arcturus had not be centred but I could not go back. So I requested the moon and it moved around to it, but it was just out of good ep view and again I could not move scope on the arrow keys.

I re-entered everything again and then tried the 2 star alignment process another 3 times with different stars from Regulus to Dubhe, Pollox to Arcturus and back again to Procyon to Arcturus, each time everything was going well until it came to centring the 2^nd star... it tells me to do it with the arrow keys but it won’t let me move it... and if I do press enter then I get the alignment successful!! But each time it is off just that bit and I can’t move the scope on the key pads at all...

If I power down and start again it does the same as above again.

Am I doing something wrong??

Or is there a problem with the synscan??

This is the first time I have used it and as I say it’s this week new!!

Can anyone help or advise

Many thanks

Gra

[the bishop]

ooops so sorry for the poor spelling its

alignment

[hazegood]

mine does this as well, I think its like a mobile phone keypad lock, on mine pressing any key apart from the arrow keys get them working again, cant find anything in the manual about it though

[brucen]

I can't help with the non functioning keys but I have found that I get better results using the 10mm eyepiece to centre rather than the 25mm. Although it gets close with the 25 the accuracy certainly improves with the 10.

[the bishop]

Hi

Thanks for your experiences,

I have tried the press any key/key pad lock ...???

Well it works!

But that said... with this one it’s not just any Key

I have now through trial and error found that when the direction keys don’t work

if I press Rate + 9 + menu ^ key in that order then it will slew and what’s more it will slew

from then on as and when I want it to!

I have also found that just pressing the Rate key will not work on its own it seems to need all

three key operations one after the other??

Can this be right??

I can’t find anything relating to a keypad lock!! In the destructions

But hey thanks for that... coz at least I can give it a proper try tonight...

if the skies are clear??

As for the view through a 10 mm yep will be a fair bit closer.

Thanks

[hazegood]

^{if you press the rate key it has to be followed by a number then enter, 1 being slowest 9 being fastest, if its set to 1 you wont see any movement nor hear the motors, setting rate to 5 barely moves it either. to set slew rate you press the rate key followed by a number then the enter key. not sure if this si the answer though}

[the bishop]

hi,

i understand what you are saying about the slew rate/speed, and yes anything below

6 is almost a standstill,

What bugs me is the fact that i have to do this sort of "restart" at all...

just to get it to allow movement for the second star alignment.

there is nothing in my instructions about any keypad lock.

As i test i tried "the restart" by pressing the slew rate 4 key and sat holding the button for 20mins

and nothing at all so i pressed key 9 and ^key and off she went???

i beleive its a fault unless you know differently

[Dude_with_the_tube]

First better use the 10mm ep for alignment as that will give you more precise end result.and secondary,your scope functions fine,it's the slew speed what makes you think that your hand controller does not work.for unknown reason when aligning to second star the handset resets or chooses very slow slew speed.this has happened to me a few times.all you do is press "Rate" button and number lets say 9 for the scope to move faster,once you are near to the target,press rate button again and choose the number 4 or 3 for slower slew speed to centre the star in your ep.and that's basically it.after a few times on using your scope it will become a nature to play with the slew speeds.

hope this helps .

I think I forgot to mention that you need to press the "Enter" button aafterwards to confirm the slew speeds or it will not work. To recap,change slew speed by pressing:Rate ,followed by number from 1-9 and followed by Enter.

[ronin]

Have a read through the manual on setting slew rate, there may be information in there. Usually it will default to 1, which is I guess the standard rate that is used to track. So slewing at 1 will result in the view appearing stationary, in reality it doing nothing would result in stars etc drifting out and fairly quick in a 127 as it will have a narrow view.

It will need to be set to 6, 7, 8 or 9 to really be of any use. 9 may be a bit too much for some circumstances. I presume that once set/selected that the manual slew rate does get kept and used the next time.

How long do you wait between pressing the key and deciding that it wasn't doing anything ?

Only ask as my Meade has a habit of waiting a second or two before actually understanding that I am pressing the key because I actually do want it to move. Seems to be along the line of "I wonder if they do actually want me to move?" I am just about to let go of the key when it decides to have a go at moving as was requested. Have to say damn annoying.

[the bishop]

Hi

Many thanks to

Dude_with_the_tube and Ronin

Yes right finally its clicked re the eyepiece...

my Headmaster used to say I was slow but sure!!

That’s Slow to learn and sure to forget!!

I was wondering if it was a thinking delay as you mention Ronin!

so

I have had another play today and have found this

only by pressing the keys in this order will the scope move

Rate + 9 + ^ + enter

This moves the scope!

Then I can drop the slew speed down for fine positioning

However if I press Rate + any other slew speed button...nothing happens

I sat for a good 10 -15 mins today having pressed key 6 and then slew pressed and got zero movement.

Pressed key 9 Eehaaa off we go.

I am beginning to wonder

Does each handset come with its own built in random quirk?

Is this some form of skywatcher lottery or just down to using low quality Chinese electronics?

My question now is...

Should I be asking for a replacement handset/mount

or is it something I have to live with... as possibly the replacement could be worse??

Thanks

gra

[brucen]

I would ask for a replacement handset as the problem seems to lie there rather than with the mount which just does at it is told. Mine works without having to press any keys, other than the direction keys, and always has done. Having to fiddle with a key sequence in the dark each time I set up would drive me nuts!

[the bishop]

Hi brucen,

Yes It would seem to me that it is a faulty handset and having read as many of the posts as I have been able to find relating to this and or similar

problems it looks like the handsets perhaps have a weakness and can suffer from of range of “glitches” either straight out of the box or over time.

I have to say that having spent the last two days in the front room in the warm and light playing with it I have sort of got a rhythm going however

it is still a bit of a pain, but as you say in the dark and cold this “pain” I feel would only escalate!

I don’t get any of these slew speed problems with my 200 dob

Many thanks

gra

[jambouk]

It sounds like a handset issue. Do you have any mates locally with a handset to just prove another handset drives your mount ok? Where are you in the world?

I guess you could try updating the firmware to exclude that option.

I hope you get it sorted, as the 127 is great.

James

[the bishop]

hi James,

Yep, I also think that it’s a handset problem,

i dont know anyone local with one, all the sheep round here have dobs

I bought the scope from 365astronomy and I have contacted them and they

have been very helpful indeed, the latest is that OVL are sending a courier to take

the handset, cable and mount away on Wednesday,

so I will have to report back later on how that goes.

gra

[hazegood]

Gra, as I said, my hand set does this I would appreciate if could let me know either here or via PM if the replacement solves it, as then I will look into getting mine replaced as well, Thanks, Leigh

[jambouk]

Have you tried to update the firmware? If you have a computer with a serial port this is very easy. Might be worth a try before they take it away.

James

[hazegood]

mines on the 3.34 (latest) firmware. and suffers the same problem, as per my previous posts, I thou8ght I had the answer but seems not, the only thing I have not done is flash the mounts firmware its self, as not sure I can, Leigh

[jambouk]

Ah, ok. Sorry. Sounds like a right pain.

I've clearly been lucky.

Hope you both get it sorted soon.

James

[the bishop]

hi leigh

ok yep no problem as soon as i know i will let you know

OVL did say that a low power input or poor batteries can cause problems

but i have used both a fully charged power tank and a mains maplins regulated 12v

power supply fro FLO and the problem is still present they issued the recall for them to test

it is a right pain though, but as james said it a great scope i love it great fun.

gra

[mariaone]

Exactly what my handset does. Would love to hear if a replacement handset fixes the problem. Or else hammer and new mount will be required

[Dude_with_the_tube]

faulty handset i would say. there should not be any delays at all assuming that your batteries have sufficient juice.All you do is press Rate followed by 1-9 and Enter and you should be able to slew the scope immediately.check the contacts of your wire connecting our scope to battery.weak contact might supply insufficient current and that might also cause the malfunction.

[the bishop]

Hi,

I haven’t used the AA battery option at all...

First off I did try a 12v power tank and when I became aware of the problem

I put it down to that, a reasonable assumption I thought??

But now I’m using a Mains Maplins XM21X PSU regulated DC power supply

It has a Fixed 13.8V regulated supply with an output current of 5A continuous

And with new cables so I’m fairly confident it’s not a power issue,

I have checked the handset to mount leads with a multimeter, and as for the connections,

they look and feel good with nice firm fit.

Handset fault is my conclusion??

Gra.

[hazegood]

Sent you a PM Bishop, Just spoke to Green Witch North where I bought mine, they forwarding the issue to Sky Watcher, and will see what they say. will let you know the respnse

[the bishop]

hi leigh

thanks

I think as they say in this regard " we are not alone" :grin:

gra

[mariaone]

Hi Hazegood could you also let me know the responce from Skywatcher as i am having the same problems