Celestron 6se HELP!

[guv]

Rather than start a new thread on the exact same problems, I'll ask here if it's ok?

I bought my SE6 secondhand from eBay April last year. I've not had much chance to play and only ever used without GOTO but decided last week that I'd give it another go.

I do have a power pack, though was using a brand new set of AAs in this attempt.

Im actually now wondering if it's faulty. We did go through all the setup alignments but each time it failed.

I noticed location being mentioned. I can't even get that up as an option? (though I do recall it asking for longitude on one attempt!). I did take it along to a local club ho I was sure would have it up and running in no time, but alas that didn't happen, but probably mostly down to the fact I have no finder scope (it didn't come with one) and only having a 12.5 eye piece with me!)

Anyway......

If I select align on initialising, I am presented with time. Should this save and be automatic? I ask because I just set it, switched the telescope off and found it still had the same time set 30 minutes later. Anyway, next was "Select one daylight saving" I am unure what That should be or what universal time is!

In short, what is advertised as a foolproof easy setup, I'm finding it to be nothing like it!

I notice mention of software / firmware upgrades. How do you find out whats installed and how to update?

[guv]

Further to the above and the SE6 GOTO 3 object setup.

How does it know what objects has just been used?

I could understand how it can auto configure if the objects are ones it has told you to findhave you have told it...... But I can't get me head round how it can configure with the objects being an unknown entity.

[baggywrinkle]

By entering the correct time, latitude and longitude the software then the mount knows where it is in the world, with that it has already worked out what stars are in that sky and when you point at one, two or three of them from the azimuth and altitude that gets entered when you have pressed the 'align' button it knows what stars they are.

Good piece of software and better in some ways than SyncScan which I also use, SyncScan just tells you which stars it can use ignoring the fact that as much as 50% of them might not be visible due to some obstruction (tree, building etc) being in the way.

[Steve_meg]

Well from my experiences the telescope will fail most, if not all, the time if on batteries or more importantly location.

Now I'm going on complete memory, but you select the menu- telescope setup- time and location. If you do get really stuck let me know and I'll get the telescope out and go through it.

Without the correct location you have got much chance.

In regards to the time, yes everytime you turn it on it reverts to the last time you input. This is really stupid and annoying.

Lastly, I prefer to use the manual two star align. Then select two stars not to close to each other, vega, spica. Works much better

[Oddsocks]

Universal time is G.M.T.

You haven't set up a location in your profile so I don't know what time zone you're in, here in the UK we are currently on "Summertime" so that is known as "Daylight Saving" in the international english used on the Celestron hand controller.

For the UK at the moment just enter the current time and select "Daylight Saving". Once the clocks go back in the Autumn then enter the current time and no Daylight Saving.

The first time you set up a 6SE from scratch it asks you to input a location and it remembers this the next time you switch on so if you observe from a new location you need to either select a new location from the US list if in the States or use the International Cities list if anywhere else in the world or enter your longitude or latitude and save it as a custom site.

You can use Google Maps to find the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site if you want to be exact but it really is not necessary.

The alignment routine does not need to know "exactly" where you are to work, you can choose a city up to fifty miles away from where you are and it will adjust accordingly but get the time wrong or choose the wrong star during alignment and it will fail.

You won't be able to set up the Sky Align if the location and time is wrong, while it is possible the handset software could be updated it is unlikely that this is the reason for failure, it is more often due to centring on the wrong object during Sky Align and this is easy to get wrong if you use an eyepiece with a small field of view. You would find it easier to align if you get a replacement red dot finder to make the rough alignment and then fine tune using the eyepiece if you need super accurate go-to's.

Anyway...

Here is the link to the 6SE instruction manual at the Celestron site, Sky Align instructions begin at the top of page 12:

http://www.celestron...811069manua.pdf

This is a PDF document and will need a free copy of ADOBE reader if you don't have it on your PC

Here is a link to the ADOBE reader download page:

http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/

And finally here is a link to the Celestron web site, support page where you will find downloads and updates for the 6SE:

http://www.celestron...port3/index.php

[guv]

Thanks for your replies guys. I did spot the comments posted previously regarding batteries. I only used them last time because my power pack didn't seem to get charged despite being put on charge overnight. (I expect these things do die eventually - but it's only been used once since I bought it!)

I still haven't seen any mention of location or cities, though I have input the exact coordinates as obtained from dishfinder.com so from what has been said, the lack of alignment may have just been done to that. So that's 2 things Celestron seem to have messed up on two simple things. Batteries that can't work properly and mount fixing problems for a finder scope. (see my other thread)

Anyway, as long as my battery tank thing gets charged, I will have a further attempt, though I'm guessing until I get that red dot finder, it may be in vane.

I will post up once I do have another try!

[guv]

Damn.... It also looks like my power pack has failed. I'm not 100% sure I'm using the correct plug pack, though it does show its charging. Been on for a day and still zero charge to be used. It's only 1 year old.... But has only been actually used and charged once. It should last longer than that shouldn't it?

Im guessing I need to get into B&Q where I bought it from and check what the plug looks like and maybe buy again to check it is actually working.

[CSM]

The power pack may be completely ok. Once my power pack is completely charged the green light which shows that it is full goes off. So I switch it off then wait a few seconds. Switch it back on again and the green light glows for a few seconds and then goes off again. It is fully charged. And you should recharge it after every use.

As for alignment I have sometimes had just as good alignment using 1 star. Indeed, nowadays I tend to use one star then go to a bright star near where I want to observe, sync on that and then GOTO my desired object.

[m37]

Hi mate. I have the Skywatcher Synscan AZ goto which looks similar to yours and I'm pretty new to this lark too. Couple of tips which I've found out over the last couple of weeks...

2 star align is for Alt Az mounts like ours, 3 star is for equatorial mounts as it corrects something called cone error which we don't have to worry about. Skywatcher even removed 3 star when you are connected to an Alt Az mount because it mucks up alignment on this type of mount.

Keep charging your jumpstarter after every session - apparently this helps keep the battery in good condition. And don't let it run into the red.

Make sure none of your cables is hindering the scope's movement and make sure you have room around the mount to move without kicking it!

Use lat and long coordinates which you can find for your exact location on the internet. Use the Degree Minute Second format and not decimal coordinates.

Make sure you put them in the right way round (mine is W then N whereas most sites give them in N then W order).

Set date, set time zone to 00:00 and Daylight saving to Yes. In October this will be set to No when BST finishes.

Level the mount. According to Skywatcher this doesn't need to be done for 2 star align but I've had more success when it is level.

Align your finderscope as accurately as you can. Best done roughly in daytime (BUT DON'T GO NEAR THE SUN!!!) on a far away object, then fine tune it on a star at night.

I always do a rough align using two far apart stars, finding out what they are first so I can select them in the handset quickly, using just my finder. You're not magnifying as much with a finder so it is less accurate but is easier to see where you are in the sky when you're learning how to set up. This is probably close enough to get you started and once you are finding things consistently in the finderscope you can stick in increasingly powerful eyepieces and really fine tune it using the precision feature of your handset. I went from finderscope, then 20mm eyepiece, then 10mm eyepiece, then 10mm with 2x barlow.

Do your alignment as quickly as possible. The longer between the two stars, the less accurate it is. You will get quicker!!! After just a couple of weeks I can get set up and accurately aligned in about 10 minutes. I go out and practise even when seeing conditions are not good enough to see anything but you can see a couple of bright stars.

Oh, and a motorised focus thingy is brilliant if your budget will allow.

good luck and persevere, this is a really rewarding hobby.

[CSM]

Do your alignment as quickly as possible. The longer between the two stars, the less accurate it is

This may be true of the SynScan but it isn't with the Celestron Sky Align. To quote from Michael Swanson's, 'The NexStar User's Guide',

In a test of this statement, I started an alignment, centered the first star, then waited one hour before centering the second star. This cause no problems: Goto and tracking behaved normally. Obvious the hand control keeps track of the amount of time between centering one star and the next and incorporates this factor into its calculations.

So take your time and make sure that it is actually centered. A 12.5mm reticule eyepiece is a very good investment for doing this.