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Scope Not Targeting Well

Astrosurf

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Owmuchonomy

Owmuchonomy

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Hi Alex. Nigel may well be right about the three star alignment as I purposely haven't upgraded the software as the version I have works perfectly. I'm sticking to two star, same side of the meridian. Also I use an illuminated reticle EP which was a freebie with my finder guider from Altair. It helps a lot.

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Astrosurf

Astrosurf

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OK, I've just checked the stability of the mount and it rocks a little in RA but I can't move it with the clutch tight. But in Dec it's a whole different kettle of trouble. It rocks more than RA and I can move Dec with just one hand on my 200P. If I have any probs with guiding, it's always dec.

Who do I call??  :huh:

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lensman57

lensman57

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OK, I've just checked the stability of the mount and it rocks a little in RA but I can't move it with the clutch tight. But in Dec it's a whole different kettle of trouble. It rocks more than RA and I can move Dec with just one hand on my 200P. If I have any probs with guiding, it's always dec.

Who do I call??  :huh:

Read Astro Baby's instructions on adjusting the DEC and RA axis. These are done by a push pull action using a couple of grub screws though one of them is hidden under the power panel which is a very easy job to remove by just one screw.

A.G

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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PAE is not really like PEC. All it does is reset the parameters of the planetarium model in the handset. It's a very, very good idea to use it. Don't slew to your target, slew to a bright star near your target, find and centre the bright star using the camera and, ideally, a virtual reticle in your capture software  (once you start mauling the setup, pulling it around to put cameras in and out, you're going to lose everything) and then recentre and from there make the short hop to your target. I would do absolutely all your aligning using the camera. Taking it in and out is an absolute no-no. Imaging is an all-camera operation. 

I totally agree with Rob on palaver-riddled alignment programmes. When they work they work. Like a lot of software...

Olly

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Astrosurf

Astrosurf

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Phew, sounds simple! It's just a case of getting the darned star in my field of view. I'll get a reticule EP. There's Seben 12.5mm one I might be interested in.

I'll try to do 2-star align more accurately, and possibly do it a second time if I feel the need. I'll only choose stars on the same side of the meridian as the target.

Attach ATIK then go to a nearby star. But if one isn't nearby that's bright enough, what should I do??

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sbooder

sbooder

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As I said before, try the worm retaining nut before jumping in and adjusting the mesh, the float becomes loose way before the mesh does.

And Olly, I know PAE is not really like PEC, but who wants to use PEC with a temp setup?  When I say it is like a sort of PEC I only meant it improves performance.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Phew, sounds simple! It's just a case of getting the darned star in my field of view. I'll get a reticule EP. There's Seben 12.5mm one I might be interested in.

I'll try to do 2-star align more accurately, and possibly do it a second time if I feel the need. I'll only choose stars on the same side of the meridian as the target.

Attach ATIK then go to a nearby star. But if one isn't nearby that's bright enough, what should I do??

Why use an eyepiece at all? I wouldn't dream of it. Use the camera to centre your stars. I suppose you could use a reticle EP to ensure good alignment of your finder but my cameras never come out of the setups.

Olly

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P4ul

P4ul

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Hi, if you go to "show time" in utility menu it will be there. I use a sidereal time app or you can google it to get the current time for your area. Check they both tally up . the app I use is called "sidereal clock". Let me know if you get stuck. PS. You can check this indoors.

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Nathan_Pembs

Nathan_Pembs

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Why use an eyepiece at all? I wouldn't dream of it. Use the camera to centre your stars. I suppose you could use a reticle EP to ensure good alignment of your finder but my cameras never come out of the setups.

Olly

I should really try this next time I'm out imaging, I always use an EP so it'll be interesting to see if there's an improvement with camera only :)

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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The problem is Olly we're mobile, our group meets at a disused airfield that's about 20 miles away for Alex, leaving cameras attached to scopes and humping them in and out of cars is asking for trouble.

Mel

Sure, I can see that the camea can't live on the scope but I'm wondering if, once set up, all the alignments might not best be done with the camera?

Olly

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carastro

carastro

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I must say I do normally do all my alignments on camera rather than the eyepiece, but Alex's problem is her chip is so small that she will have a job to find it -  hence this post.

Alex do you have a camera with a larger FOV you could use for the alignment part as I think on camera that would be more accurate than using an eyepiece.  For instance, what are you using for guiding?

I have a finderguider and with a QHY5 camera, the FOV is very wide, I would often not see the alignment star in my imaging camera, but I can see it on my guide camera and can then adjust.  Get the guide camera aligned with the imaging camera and you should find this much easier.  I used to use an ST80 and the QHY5 but the FOV is much narrower and I feel my alignments have been made so much easier since I went over to finderguider.  Even if this is not your guiding system, if might be still worth putting a camera in the back of the finderscope.  

My other thought is how accurate is your home position?  i.e. are the scopes pointing at polaris and the counterweight dead central and down.

Carole 

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Astrosurf

Astrosurf

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Thanks Carole and Earl. I hadn't thought of using the guidecam. I also use a finder-guider with a QHY5. I've never thought of its FOV before. For the 200P, I must sort out the finder shoe as it's not that tight and can move laterally. I'll have a go at fixing it better and aligning it with the scope. For the Megrez, the William Optics shoe seems a lot sturdier. I'll see how that lines up too.

The 200P finderscope rings are a bit naff though. Can you recommend a better holder?

I've used Dion Heap's tutorial on ensuring I have an accurate park position marked on my RA and dec axes.

I'll load up PHD2 now!

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carastro

carastro

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The 200P finderscope rings are a bit naff though. Can you recommend a better holder?

This is my set finder guider set up with some mini guide rings mounted onto an aluminium bar, I changed from the Finder bracket as I was getting a bit of flexure and bought these from the USA, now I see some-one is advertising a set of these mini rings in SGL Classifieds:

Finderguider%2Bmounted%2B2.jpg

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