Tracking Help wanted

[TCF]

Hi All,   Still new to this and would like some help please,   I seem to be unable to track either the sun or moon on my Celestron Nexstar 6SE fitted with a starsense camera.

I do the alignment using the Solar align fuction and that is fine but after that the mount just doesn't track the sun.  I checked the tracking is on and select solar but still nothing.

Any help would be appreciated. thanks

TCF

Celestron Nexstar 6SE with StarSense, Celestron AVX 6N

[hobsey]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but the starsense won't work during the day because it need to take a photo of the position of the stars for it to work.

Plus I don't think it is a good idea to have the starsense lense pointed at the sun as it will probably melt the insides of it.

[TCF]

Anthony, thanks for that, I am not using the StarSense at all, its just on the Nexstar, the manual on the starsense explains how to do solar alignment without using the starsense and that is what I have done.

But thanks for the advice.

[Lonestar70]

Hi TCF,

I think you will find you need to select 'Siderial' tracking to track the sun... and 'Lunar' for the moon... Solar is for planets as in solar system.

Be very carefull when viewing or imaging the sun... never point the scope or camera directly at it without first fitting a good quality sun filter.

This: - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

or make your own from this: - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/baader-astrosolar-safety-film-nd-50.html

Hope this helps.

Best regards and good luck.

Sandy.

[valleyman]

Don't go anywhere near the sun without a proper filter on the OTA.

You will ruin the scope and it will blind you in less than 1 second

[ronin]

Hi TCF,

I think you will find you need to select 'Siderial' tracking to track the sun... and 'Lunar' for the moon... Solar is for planets as in solar system.

Be very carefull when viewing or imaging the sun... never point the scope or camera directly at it without first fitting a good quality sun filter.

This: - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

or make your own from this: - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/baader-astrosolar-safety-film-nd-50.html

Hope this helps.

Best regards and good luck.

Sandy.

Nope, well not quite Yes or No:

Solar is for the Sun,

Lunar is for the Moon,

Sidereal is for stars and nebula.

Planets are a bit more of a pain, they go at odd rates, and sometimes backwards.

Generally pick Sidereal for them as well, but when they amble off it may not be your fault.

In reality pick Sidereal for the whole lot, the difference is really small.

[ronin]

Sorry:

Tracking - Is there an option to just set the scope up to a default position - on Meades it is Level+North then tell the scope to accept that and no alignment stars? On a Meades you can "do" a 2 star alighment in the day - just say Yes to wherever it points for the 2 alignment stars and it is a happy bunny. Stupid things but it makes solar viewing easy.

An alternative start on yours may be level mount and OTA aimed at Polaris. Polaris being North and angled at whatever your Latitude is.guess about 53 or 54 degrees.

I think you would have to look in the manual (Yes be brave) and read through the Alignment options.

I suspect it is not getting an Aligned Status set in the software and so is not tracking.

In any of these the "alignment" is approximate, so do not expect the sun to remain dead centre for too long.

Once you  goto the Sun and centre it press the PAE option, if it is called that. That should make the accuracy a little better.

[TCF]

Thanks for all the replies, and advice, I am using a proper Celestron solar filter to view the Sun so that part at least is ok.

I am following the StarSense manuals instructions by firstly aligning using Solar align, and the starsense says it's aligned.

After that it just doesn't follow the sun at all, I have tried the sidereal choice also but nothing.

So any further help would be welcome.

TCF

[mcinek82]

Hi, as Ronin mentioned, have you first polar-aligned your scope (I know it may be difficult at daytime)? If you don't, then the tracking feature won't follow the correct planes (ie. it won't be aligned to declination and right ascension or height and azimuth) and even though you point it at sun in the beginning, it will get out of view quickly.

Another reason for faulty tracking may be that the gears of your tracking are loose - check them if you are able to see them.

I guess I can't think of any other reasons. Good luck!

[TCF]

mcinek82

Hi the answer to you question is yes, aligned as per the starsense manual, but only on the Sun, so that may be a factor. The gears seem to be ok but worth a check too, so thanks for that.

TCF