Argh I'm going crazy trying to get this NEQ6 to work!

[jjqpr]

Hi guys, this is the 3rd night in a row I've tried to use and polar align my NEQ6 and I'm still not managing it somehow, I thought I had aligned the polar scope polaris circle to polaris tonight but then when I told it to GOTO M42 it was pointing totally the wrong place to orion :S I just can't work out where I'm going so wrong!

Is there a really really really simple guide to setting up as Im so frustrated right now, I can't even get started and Im not even expecting the photos to be amazing but it'd be nice if the scope at least looked in the right direction so I could try!

It didn;'t help that its so hard to see anything through the polar scope, I could see several stars when it was dimmed right down though, but it wasn't that obvious which was actually polaris?! I used google maps on phone and I know where it is visually and at 52degreese (my lat) it looks like the polar scope is pointing at roughly the right angle... I just dont know how to tell exactly which of the several stars is polaris as through the polar scope they all just look like tiny dots about the same brightness...

anyway any help at all would be great! Thanks

[andyboy1970]

Try this - 

[jjqpr]

Hi mate funny enough I watched that the other night, and the one before it about setting the mount up which I followed step by step, great vids.....

but right now I can't seem to even do simple polar alignment Im not even worried about precice polar alignment until I can get it even remotely aligned...I can't help but wonder if Im missing some vital step or something on the mount isn't set up right....or it wasn't actually polaris I was even looking at! Even if it wasn't polaris it must have been fairly close, so why was the GOTO to orion so massively wrong, it wasn't even close to pointing towards orion
 help!

[Mikyg]

I find this explains where polaris is pretty well

[jjqpr]

Hi mate, i think I can visually see polaris and my phone with google skymap confirms it but its really hard to then see it through the polar scope, i turn the LED brightness right down and can see some stars but its hard to then see which is actually polris, i guess being inverted isn;t helping me...once I crack it im sure i'll be fine , is having the scope at 52degreese the best place to start if thats my lat?

[Paul M]

After polar alignment how do you go about Synscan alignment?

If you are so far out on GOTO's then Synscan can't be aligning properly. On 3 star alignment, after you correctly align the first star, Synscan should put you well within the ball park on the 2nd star and just about spot on with the 3rd.

[Tinker1947]

Try the handset option to Polar align, you need to do a 2 Star align once completed the Polar Align option will come up in the handset, this will allow for PA to be done without using the Polar scope....with the 2 star align, line the scope up close to polaris then flip through the offered stars and select one you know and after the scope slews undo the clutches and move it manually to the star then get it centred and lock the clutches, the second star again pick one from the offered list that you know and let it slew then use the handset to centre the star, thats it if it slew well away from the selected star check your location and date is entered correctly in the handset....

[Mikyg]

Yes 52, j just a thought but the problem I had was the declination axis, if the scope is pointing forward I couldn't see through and it's because the scope has to be across so it runs across the polar scope. If u look in the top where u took the black cap off you'll see what I mean. The way I have my set up is the weights are directly in front of my tripod leg so I used a compass so the middle leg was facing north then tilted the scope to 52 degree's then used the alt and side bolts to get it on but the scope needs to be set up like in this video for it to be good. I hope that isn't too confusing, it's just the way I managed it.

[red dwalf]

don`t give up, i had many thimes when i thought i was polar aligned only to find out i was looking at the wring star, had to get my mate to do it for me, when you do spot polaris through the polar scope it is alittle brighter than the other stars around that area, then you know you have it.

[Uranium235]

This can be solved in about 5-10min.

1) Download and install polarfinder.exe  - http://myastroimages.com/Polar_FinderScope_by_Jason_Dale/   - run it. and give it your location details

2) Point the mount roughly at polaris (so you can see it in the polarscope)

3) Looking through the polarscope, rotate the RA axis a little to the left so a level crosshair appears (it matches what is on the polarfinder.exe display)

4) Twiddle the Alt/Az adjusters to put polaris where polarfinder says it should be (and it should be on the circle line that surrounds the polarscope crosshairs) 

5) Rotate the RA axis either way a bit - if polaris stays on the line, youre good to go.

With practice, that can be done in a matter of 2 or 3 min.

However, all of the above depends on whether your polarscope is correctly aligned in the first place (mine was already done when I brought it).

Edit: use Stellarium to help you pick out polaris - or just use the old fashioned way via the plough. But I can assure you that after a couple of seasons you will still know its general location (even when its cloudy!)

[Steve Ward]

Polar alignment has nothing to do with the Synscan Alignment .... !

You need to go back to the manual and make sure that you are entering your Location , Date and Time in the correct formats ... 

[Charic]

I bet Charlie Messier could only have dreamt that today's modern electronic wizardry and gizmo's could have aligned his 4" reflector to such critical preciseness  so that he wouldn't have to nudge his telescope every now and then?

I became adept at setting up my GEM  straight away, and if correctly sited for my next session, there was little else to align. Apart from aiming, rotation, balancing all night long. That alone was too much messing around for simple observations. Hence my need and recommendations for the Dobsonian type mount.

Don't get me wrong, should I steer towards astrophotography in the future, I know what to expect. Some folk pick it up quickly, others don't, but a good part of the trouble is understanding the process. Once the process is mastered, it becomes second nature. I do believe the manuals could be better written in some cases, and like in navigation, a single digit can put your system miles off.

I hope you get sorted soon. EQ's should be stamped with a RISK OF STRESS WARNING IMHO!

[red dwalf]

EQ's should be stamped with a RISK OF STRESS WARNING IMHO!

here, here

[jjqpr]

You guys are amazing I knew I was doing something daft...I wasn't star aligning as I don't have my scope on the mount...so can I just star align looking through the dslr lens? I am still not sure I'm looking at polarid or some other star through the polar scope but yes 3 star aligning should help(!)

So:

1) when 3 star aligning can i just look through the dslr or use live view as I have no scope/finder scope on the mount

2) are there 3 recommended star choices to align to when going for m42

THANKS again guys I feel like an idiot and so frustrated I have to wait until tomorrow now!

[Steve Ward]

99% of Alignment errors are caused by incorrectly entered information to the mount ... 

If the mount points in entirely the wrong direction when attempting a Go-To operation then you have either entered the Date in the wrong format , the Co-ordinates of your location in the wrong format or back to front , or forgotten about GMT/BST.

Either of these can send the mount slewing in completely the wrong direction.

3-Star Alignment is in the most part unnecessary , a 2-Star set-up is all I have ever done .

Yes you can align using the Liveview screen on the camera , no different to looking through an eye-piece.

Go back to the manual and recheck the formats required regarding location and date , it's all in there. 

[andyman]

Technology eh....so glad i went for a dob if i had to faff about like that it would end up in the next county

[red dwalf]

You guys are amazing I knew I was doing something daft...I wasn't star aligning as I don't have my scope on the mount...so can I just star align looking through the dslr lens? I am still not sure I'm looking at polarid or some other star through the polar scope but yes 3 star aligning should help(!)

So:

1) when 3 star aligning can i just look through the dslr or use live view as I have no scope/finder scope on the mount

2) are there 3 recommended star choices to align to when going for m42

THANKS again guys I feel like an idiot and so frustrated I have to wait until tomorrow now!

if i was goimg to image m42 i wouldn`t bother with a 2 or three star alignment, i would slew to a star near m42 center on the sync it and then slew over to m42, if your using a dlsr then it will be in the frame, might need alittle centering, i then use PHD to guide and i`m away for the night. done just that tonight on M51, taking darks now.

when you get it working correctly it`s a great thing but understanding how it all works is difficult on your own.

[Charic]

if i was goimg to image m42 i wouldn`t bother with a 2 or three star alignment, i would slew to a star near m42 center on the sync it and then slew over to m42, if your using a dlsr then it will be in the frame, might need alittle centering, i then use PHD to guide and i`m away for the night. done just that tonight on M51, taking darks now.

when you get it working correctly it`s a great thing but understanding how it all works is difficult on your own.

........for everyone, no matter what the subject!

[Tinker1947]

........for everyone, no matter what the subject!

I do this method myself, but the Op probably doesn't have guiding or EQMod running, and i don't think you can sync with just the handset plugged in...???

[andyboy1970]

Quick, silly thought but - Have you focused the polar scope??

[jjqpr]

Quick, silly thought but - Have you focused the polar scope??

Hi guys, thanks for the replies, this morning I had another think and Im not sure the star alignment will help, unless I'm missing something, if its way out trying to find orion how will it do the star alignment, presumably it'd be way out for that as well??

Firstly no I don't have any guiding/pdh type stuff set up yet.

I have tried focussing the polar scope i could see through it clearly at day time, is it just turning the eye piece round to focus yeah?

Lastly i THINK my handset is set up correctly, the date, time, daylight saving set to "no" , timezone set to +0.00gmt, maybe its the lat/long i did wrong...

Say my lat/long were as follows (i've changed these after reading forum advice not to post exact figures!)

Latitude = 52.9999, Longitude = -2.9999

Lat    = 52 degrees,   9.9 minutes   North

Long = 2 degrees,   99.9 minutes   West

what would I enter into the handset, I assumed 002deg99'W 52deg09'N would that be about right or am I doing something stupid there?

[Tinker1947]

Point the scope at Polaris, thats the weights pointing down and the scope roughly pointing North, look in Stellarium and find a star that'd close off to the right a bit Capella might work, now just tell the scope to go to Capella, if it goes the wrong way then your settings are wrong if it goes close to where Capella would be then your settings are right, you can do this now in daylight as the positions are rough and you don't need to see the star's....Good luck....

[jjqpr]

Thanks Tinker I will try that this afternoon if it stops raining! anything I can do in the day time will hopefully help reduce the chances of another stressful night tonight! Did I enter the location right using the numbers I posted above?

[steppenwolf]

Even a rough polar alignment will see the NEQ6 pointing pretty accurately towards numerous objects using the GoTo system and a 1 or 2 star alignment. When you say it is 'way out', how far is way out? There are 360 degrees in a full rotation of the night sky, roughly how many degree out are we talking about (roughly)  - to make this simpler to calculate, 1/4 of the sky is 90 degrees etc.

Most alignment issues are to do with incorrect data entry. Have you input the date in American format mm/dd/yy NOT UK format dd/mm/yy ? Have entered your time in 24 hour format?

Latitude = 52.9999, Longitude = -2.9999
Lat    = 52 degrees,   9.9 minutes   North
Long = 2 degrees,   99.9 minutes   West

These figures are incorrect if that really is a decimal point in the first line. Can you please PM me the village/town that you live in?

[jjqpr]

Even a rough polar alignment will see the NEQ6 pointing pretty accurately towards numerous objects using the GoTo system and a 1 or 2 star alignment. When you say it is 'way out', how far is way out? There are 360 degrees in a full rotation of the night sky, roughly how many degree out are we talking about (roughly)  - to make this simpler to calculate, 1/4 of the sky is 90 degrees etc.

Most alignment issues are to do with incorrect data entry. Have you input the date in American format mm/dd/yy NOT UK format dd/mm/yy ? Have entered your time in 24 hour format?

Latitude = 52.9999, Longitude = -2.9999

Lat    = 52 degrees,   9.9 minutes   North

Long = 2 degrees,   99.9 minutes   West

These figures are incorrect if that really is a decimal point in the first line. Can you please PM me the village/town that you live in?

Hi Steve, I will PM you now. Those figures are changed from the actual ones like I say but maybe I have done something wrong... I would say its somewhere between 45-90 degrees out when I told it to goto orion....and I think the camera would be pointing into the ground or straight up lol...it was totally out anyway, I'll have to try a daytime test as suggested and see the results and take some photos to show you.