AZEQ6 GT set up

[borderfin]

I've got an AZEQ6 which I haven't used because of the weight, but after input from some of you am now looking at having a storage shed with the gear set up in it so I can bring  it out easily in situ. 

I've read in a few places that the AZEQ6 can be tricky to set up.  Does anyone have any tips or comments (other than read the book of words)?

Paul

[jambouk]

Paul, sorry you've not had any replies.

Assembling the mount is pretty straight forwards.

I load and balance the scope. Then polar align using the polar scope; if you are new to equatorial mount just get polaris anywhere in the large circle for the time being, use only the azimuth and elevation knows to do this. You'll have to work out how to be able to look through the polar scope as the weight bar needs to be extended and you need to rotate the declination axis to line up the holes.

Once polar aligned make sure the azimuth and elevation knobs are tight. Then put the scope in the home position; scope pointing roughly at polaris, weights pointing to the ground.

What i then do is turn the mount off, and then back on, else you can get some issues. The s@n review identified this for me.

Once all the handset data is re entered, so a star alignment. Three star alignment is best if you have cone error.

That's pretty much it.

Common errors are:

- inputting data into the handset incorrectly

- not turning the mount off between polar aligning and star aligning

As you get more comfortable with it, move on to doing a better polar alignment with the polar scope, and then the handset polar alignment routine.

Good luck and enjoy.

I'd reherse all of the above in day light. Nothing worse than trying to do this for a first time in the cold and dark.

James

[Ouroboros]

Jambouk's advice looks good to me.

The mount is heavy. So keeping it near the place you're going to set up is a good idea. Lifting it from table height is much easier than from the floor too.

Personally I couldn't lift the mount fully set up. So I break it down and reassemble each time. This is not a big issue I find.

[jambouk]

Home position illustrated below; don't get confused about the difference between "park" and "home". The illustration below is the home position. You can "park" the scope in any position you want, including the home position, but the two terms mean different things.

[osbourne one-nil]

One thing I've discovered with my AZ EQ5 is, in alt-az mode, the scope has to be on the right hand side of the mount as you're looking through it. Really does make quite a big difference! 

I know it says this in the manual, but I'm a moron.