Help with synscan handset

[Charlie_132 32]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a sw synscan handset to go with my heritage virtuoso mount, to turn it into a goto telescope, as I couldnt get the tracking to work on the main mount, but I cant get the goto to work. Ive tried everything....

I ll just run through what I have done..

Leveled the mount

Put the 25mm eyepiece in and aimed the telescope at polaris and centered it in the eyepiece.

Tightened the clutches.

Switched the power on.

Set latitude to 000 12 W 51 54 N           (Even tried 000 10W  51 53W from itouchmap.com)

Set the correct date the american way.

Put timezone as +00:00

Entered the correct time by using a internet clock.

Pressed yes to daylight saving.

I then go into the 2 star align and have tried aligning with polaris then archturus. This didnt work, so I switched it off and manually moved the telescope back to polaris then tried aligning with vega and archturus. Neither worked.

The handset says alignment sucsessful, but then when I select to view a object, I am about 1 inch away from the object - using the 25mm eyepiece which is pretty useless when using the goto.....

One other thing, when i start the alignment and select the 2 star alignment, then the star I was to use first, the handset says slew to _____ use the arrows on the handset to centre star, the buttons dont work, so I am using the buttons on the mount itself.

Any advice on what to do to sort this out would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[oldpink 749]

is it possible the SW is mismatched to the heritage mount
I know Celestron have similar handsets but different software so most likely not compatible

[Charlie_132 32]

I dont think thats the case, because it says this in the product info on flo:

The Virtuoso mount can also be upgraded to full Go-To operation (finds thousands of celestial targets automatically) by purchasing a Synscan AZ Go-To handset and cable.

[Cornelius Varley 2,362]

You may need to increase the slew rate to see the mount move. Press button 2 and then button 9, this will increase the slew rate to the maximum. To obtain a slow slew rate prees button 2 again and the one of the other numbered buttons , 1 is the slowest 9 the fastest. I assume that you have the latest firmware revision in the handset (v 3.35) or the older AZ firmware ?

[Lonestar70 207]

Hi,

The vituoso mount is an alt/az mount and the Synscan handset is possibly set up for EQ mounts... what firmware version does the handset show when powered up?

You will possibly need to re-flash the handset with the latest ALT/AZ firmware downloadable from the SW website.

http://ca.skywatcher.com/_english/05_service/01_download.php?ccid=9

You need the AZ one... AZ Synscan Firmware V 3.08... second one on list.

You will also need to download the firmware loader... V 3.0

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Sandy.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Lonestar70

[Cornelius Varley 2,362]

Hi,

The vituoso mount is an alt/az mount and the Synscan handset is probably set up for EQ mounts.

You will probably need to re-flash the handset with the latest ALT/AZ firmware downloadable from the SW website.

http://ca.skywatcher.com/_english/05_service/01_download.php?ccid=9

You need the AZ one... AZ Synscan Firmware V 3.08... second one on list.

You will also need to download the firmware loader... V 3.0

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Sandy.

The firmware at the top of the list works on all the Synscan Goto mounts, EQ and AZ.

[Charlie_132 32]

Thanks for the quick replies.

When I power up the handset it says skynscan az v03.09

You may need to increase the slew rate to see the mount move. Press button 2 and then button 9, this will increase the slew rate to the maximum. To obtain a slow slew rate prees button 2 again and the one of the other numbered buttons , 1 is the slowest 9 the fastest. I assume that you have the latest firmware revision in the handset (v 3.35) or the older AZ firmware ?

The handset moves the mount up until the screen tells me to centre the star

[itmo 95]

Umm. try to always approach the targets from the same direction. my mount always does this "end around" move when apparoaching  a goto target to make sure it doesnt suffer from imperfections in the transmission. When you are approaching  a star for alignment, do this same move, the same direction every time. Cant remember if it was "up and right" or whatever . observe your mount do the move and do the same move .

[Charlie_132 32]

I think I have been doing that, I may of understood you wrong, but if you mean using the direction pad on the mount of the vituoso the same in the same way that the motors move it to the stars being aligned, I have been doing that. Not sure if that makes sense!

The main reason for me wanting to get the goto to work is so that I can do planetary imaging without the planet floating across the screen within 10 seconds, and so that I can spend more time observing galaxys and clusters without having to hunt for them for a long time then spend another 15minutes trying to work out if im actually looking at the right thing!
 

Really want to get this problem sorted out, anywho, im off to bed now so I'll check this thread tomorrow evening after work

[Thalestris24 2,629]

Hello all,

 

I recently purchased a sw synscan handset to go with my heritage virtuoso mount, to turn it into a goto telescope, as I couldnt get the tracking to work on the main mount, but I cant get the goto to work. Ive tried everything....

 

I ll just run through what I have done..

 

Leveled the mount

Put the 25mm eyepiece in and aimed the telescope at polaris and centered it in the eyepiece.

Tightened the clutches.

Switched the power on.

Set latitude to 000 12 W 51 54 N           (Even tried 000 10W  51 53W from itouchmap.com)

Set the correct date the american way.

Put timezone as +00:00

Entered the correct time by using a internet clock.

Pressed yes to daylight saving.

 

I then go into the 2 star align and have tried aligning with polaris then archturus. This didnt work, so I switched it off and manually moved the telescope back to polaris then tried aligning with vega and archturus. Neither worked.

 

The handset says alignment sucsessful, but then when I select to view a object, I am about 1 inch away from the object - using the 25mm eyepiece which is pretty useless when using the goto.....

 

One other thing, when i start the alignment and select the 2 star alignment, then the star I was to use first, the handset says slew to _____ use the arrows on the handset to centre star, the buttons dont work, so I am using the buttons on the mount itself.

 

 

Any advice on what to do to sort this out would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

Hi I'm not familiar with it at all... but I noticed you entered the time from an internet clock. I suspect that must have been already BST rather than universal time. So when you then said yes to daylight saving time then that would have altered the time by an hour - hence the error.

Hope that helps

Louise

[Carina Lass 302]

polaris is not the north celestial pole, check with your polar scope, it is a little way off - you also need to get it in the correct orientation - stellarium will show you the angle from polaris to the pole - and don't forget the polar scope is upside down and backwards.

[Sandancer10 200]

Hi, I think you may also have a problem with your Polar Alignment. I don't know if your mount has a Polar Scope, but if not not it may be useful to get one as you need to have very good alignment to be able to track DSO etc without too much drift. If you already have the PS then you need to Polar Align through that as doing it through the eyepiece is not accurate enough.

[Thalestris24 2,629]

Hi, I think you may also have a problem with your Polar Alignment. I don't know if your mount has a Polar Scope, but if not not it may be useful to get one as you need to have very good alignment to be able to track DSO etc without too much drift. If you already have the PS then you need to Polar Align through that as doing it through the eyepiece is not accurate enough.

The OP has an Alt-Az mount with a synscan goto upgrade! Just thought I'd say to save confusing them!

[Cornelius Varley 2,362]

Thanks for the quick replies.

When I power up the handset it says skynscan az v03.09

The handset moves the mount up until the screen tells me to centre the star

You need to reflash the handset with firmware version 3.35. The version you have 3.09 is for the All view mount, so this might be giving you problems.

[Charlie_132 32]

Thanks again for all your replies

You need to reflash the handset with firmware version 3.35. The version you have 3.09 is for the All view mount, so this might be giving you problems.

How do I go about doing this ?

Do I need to buy any special wires ?

[Cornelius Varley 2,362]

You will need the firmware downloader program available from the Skywatcher website and the serial data cable, which you might have received with your handset. If not you can obtain the cable from from all goof=d astro retailers http://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/serial-cable-for-skywatcher-and-celestron-mounts.html . You might also need a usb/rs232 adapter to connect the cable to your computer if it doesn't have a serial port. The instructions on how to reflash the handset are in the manual  http://ca.skywatcher.com/upfiles/en_download_caty01367276646.pdf . This manual covers all versions of the EQ and AZ goto mounts. There are also some videos on youtube which cover the subject.

[valleyman 490]

I may be wrong but I don't think you have to have the scope pointing to the North star.

It should be Pointing North but set Horizontal ie 0 degrees on the Alt scale.

Then switch the power on.

[Lonestar70 207]

The firmware at the top of the list works on all the Synscan Goto mounts, EQ and AZ.

 I stand corrected Peter, I thought the only combined one was for the AZ EQ6GT.

Presumably then the V3.35 auto detects which type of mount you are connected to and only displays/asks for the appropriate info, since I see no ALT/AZ stuff with my HEQ5 using this version... not that I use the handset much as I use EQMOD.

Sorry for any confussion this may have caused.

Charlie,

 How do I go about doing this ?

Do I need to buy any special wires ?

You will need the serial update cable for the handset (should have got this with the handset) and a usb/serial adaptor if you don't have an RS232 serial port on your PC.

Best Regards.

Sandy.

[Cornelius Varley 2,362]

I may be wrong but I don't think you have to have the scope pointing to the North star.

It should be Pointing North but set Horizontal ie 0 degrees on the Alt scale.

Then switch the power on.

The AZ mount doesn't even need that, the only requirement is for the mount to be set up level (the telescope can be pointing anywhere to start with). The alignment only starts when the operator slews the mount to the first star. After the first star has been centred the handset then takes over and slews to the second alignment star.

[Carina Lass 302]

Riht - I missed that it was an Alt /Az

[Tums 137]

Hi Charlie, I have recently had similar issues, and found the upgrading the firmware to be a pain to start. I had a serial/ USB, but bought another one for about £4, but hat didn't work either. I've found you get what you pay for. after buying a £10 one everything loaded fine

here's the eBay link for the one I bought, if you need it.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm?itemId=191114332417

[bruno 46]

 as mentioned above you need to get a serial to usb adapter, then if you go to the SW website firstly look for the firmware uploader ( you only have to do this once )

then also as mentioned in an earlier part you  need to download the latest firmware version (v 3.35 ) then plug your hand set with the lead that came with it and connect it to the serial /usb and plug it in to the computer the hand set should light up then look for through the menu for upgrading the firmware open  up the firmware uploader on the computer then there is a button  press that then it should find the firmware that you downloaded and upload it to your handset

save the uploader program on your desktop and rename synscan hope this helps  

[Owmuchonomy 2,337]

as mentioned above you need to get a serial to usb adapter, then if you go to the SW website firstly look for the firmware uploader ( you only have to do this once )

then also as mentioned in an earlier part you need to download the latest firmware version (v 3.35 ) then plug your hand set with the lead that came with it and connect it to the serial /usb and plug it in to the computer the hand set should light up then look for through the menu for upgrading the firmware open up the firmware uploader on the computer then there is a button press that then it should find the firmware that you downloaded and upload it to your handset

save the uploader program on your desktop and rename synscan hope this helps

...and you need to power up your handset directly using the DC input in the base.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bruno 46]

thanks for that owmuch  couldnt remember if the pc powered up the h/set or not, it was a while ago since i did mine

[Owmuchonomy 2,337]

thanks for that owmuch couldnt remember if the pc powered up the h/set or not, it was a while ago since i did mine

Redid mine today because the named star list stopped working. Seems fine now; just setting up.

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