Synscan equatorial mount motor and star alignment

[Lewis H]

I bought a Goto upgrade kit for my eq5 skywatcher mount after finally having enough money to do so, and after setting it up and taking it outside I encountered a few problems, and although they are probably being caused by me being unfamiliar and slightly confused, I thought it would be a good idea to share them to be on the safe side. 

Firstly, after entering what I believe to be the correct longitude, latitude, date & time etc. and asked it to slew to Vega, it pointed at the floor. Then when I tried to use the arrows to manually direct it to the first star, the motor wouldn't let me point the telescope more than about 45 degrees upwards, but it still let me slew it in every other direction. The same thing happened when I tried to align it with the second star. I have no idea what is causing it, is it possible that I have entered incorrect data, or is it broken? Any response would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

[Steve Ward]

You need to recheck your inputted info , more than likely to be the need to input the time in US format , i.e. MM,DD,YY.

[ronin]

You seem to not mention performing any actual alignment,

You say you entered data then asked the scope to go to Vega.

You need to go through the alignment process before asking it to go anywhere.

The problem is that any data item can be wrong, and all you have said is you entered what you believe to be correct data.

Chances are that Long/Lat is the wrong way round, or that you entered the date in UK format not US.

If it went in as UK then yeatersay the scope thought it was June 8th not August 6th.

I assume that DST was answered as Yes or On (whatever response the scope expects).

Was the Longitude displayed as "000  nn" ?

For London I would expect a value of 0 for the degree value and this would therefore be "000"

What timezone went in ? Should be 0 or UTC.

There is also likely a "preferred" start position. Generally get the mount as level as possible.

The problem from this end is:

I have no idea what data you actually supplied.

The post reads that you did no actual alignment for the goto to work.

[Lewis H]

I made sure that the date was in US format, the longitude was 000 10' and latitude was 51 37' with the time zone at 0 and daylight saving was no. The alignment I tried to perform was a 2-star alignment, which is why I was pointing it at Vega.

[Steve Ward]

Daylight saving needs to be "Yes" as we are in BST not GMT.

Did you enter the Long/Lat the right way round ... ?

[Lewis H]

Thanks Steve, I'll make sure to turn daylight saving to 'Yes', but I am pretty sure that I entered longitude and latitude correctly.

[Cornelius Varley]

I made sure that the date was in US format, the longitude was 000 10' and latitude was 51 37' with the time zone at 0 and daylight saving was no. The alignment I tried to perform was a 2-star alignment, which is why I was pointing it at Vega.

Daylight saving should be yes. Also ensure that you select the correct E/W N/S when setting the coordinates.

[Steve Ward]

I assume that as you've just added the upgrade kit that you've had the mount aligned in the past , i.e pointing North with the latitude set roughly to 52 degrees ... ?

[Lewis H]

Yes I've had the mount for a few months now and have the correct setup for it

[m37]

Not sure how advanced your knowledge is so apologies if this is too simplistic, but I found this awesome for every aspect of EQ5 setup.

cheers

Chris

[Fogagen]

Hope you got this sorted. If not, and if it's the Pro upgrade, have you got the cables from the control box fitted the right way round? It sounds like you're getting everything else right so this is just a thought.

Rob

[Cornelius Varley]

Check that the gears are installed in the correct order, apparently it is possible to get this wrong.. If the the gears are in the incorrect order the gears ratios will be incorrect and the mount will not slew by the correct amount.