EQ5 Synscan setup

[Alienfox]

I have been trying to setup my EQ5 synscan for the last few nights with no luck, I have read the manual, and watched 5 or 6 youtube videos on how to do it, but everytime I try to so a 2 star alignment the damn thing points in the oposite direction?

I have set to north and I know that thats ok because I have setup my EQ3 with motor drives without any problems, cant use the polarscope because of a back problem, made worse by lying on the floor in the garden a few nights back trying to set the alignment.

So today I thought I would give the alignment a rest and try to get the thing hooked up to my laptop, 6 hours later they still wont tallk to each other, I know I am old but I have a background in IT, so at this point I am wondering is just me or the mount?

Any help would be appreciated, before I jump off the roof as this is starting to become a bit of a problem with the other half, bad temper, money pit etc.

[acharris77]

Hey, I have only had this mount for a month and I am having some issues with it, but with help from here and a few videos I have eliminated most of them.

First thing to check, if the scope is going the opposite way is have you got the date entered as MM / DD / YYYY ? I made this mistake on my Alt Az syncscan and the scope went the wrong way. Also have you entered your co-ordinates correct? this can make the scope behave oddly.

Also have you set your home position correctly? from youtube videos I have concluded the following:

With only the counterweight bar on the mount, loosen the RA clutch and using a spirit level ensure the bar is horizontal and level with the ground. Then set the time dial 0 to the little arrow next to the DEC screw and turn RA so that the dial moves to 6 o clock and bar is straight down. Then loosen the DEC clutch, put spirit level where dovetail goes, level and turn the degree dial by the counter weight bar to 0. Then turn DEC until this reads 90 degrees. lock the clutch.

This should then mean when the scope is attached, it is pointing straight up towards north and this is your home position. I had this wrong my first attempt and this caused my scope to go the wrong direction. Hope this helps you out.

[ronin]

Yes, check the data several times and if possible have someone else double check what is actually there.

Synscans make it a bit too easy for people in the UK to get it wrong.

When it gets to it DST is On, I suspect you know this but it is amazing how many times it comes up. More then one person has said they know we are in BST so said No to DST.

Concerning the polar aligning, is back expected to return to normal?

If not normal how close - I think there is a right angle bit for a polar scope so you do not need to perform quite as many contortions.

Equally that may be too much - I have just discovered the joys of kneeler pads, what a wonderful invention.

If back looks like it will forever cause a problem could a small insert be made to slide into where the polar scope goes and then a GLP inserted into that, holding it central will be the condern. You then press the button and aim at Polaris. You would be 1 degree off but I would expect the Synscan to compensate for that. Just a thought. If you know a wood turner I would look at asking if they could turn something.

[belfieldi]

Hi Alienfox,

I've not tried 3 star aligning my EQ5 yet, but will be trying tonight, if the weather gods are in a good mood.

There's a video on Youtube which shows how to modify a webcam so that you can attach it to a polarscope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L6IvfievRE, might give you a simple way of polar aligning without crawling on the ground.

Good luck

Ian

[malc-c]

I have been trying to setup my EQ5 synscan for the last few nights with no luck, I have read the manual, and watched 5 or 6 youtube videos on how to do it, but everytime I try to so a 2 star alignment the damn thing points in the oposite direction?

I have set to north and I know that thats ok because I have setup my EQ3 with motor drives without any problems, cant use the polarscope because of a back problem, made worse by lying on the floor in the garden a few nights back trying to set the alignment.

So today I thought I would give the alignment a rest and try to get the thing hooked up to my laptop, 6 hours later they still wont tallk to each other, I know I am old but I have a background in IT, so at this point I am wondering is just me or the mount?

Any help would be appreciated, before I jump off the roof as this is starting to become a bit of a problem with the other half, bad temper, money pit etc.

How were you trying to connect the laptop to the mount ?  using an EQDirect cable or connecting the serial cable via an adaptor to the handset ?  An EQdirect cable replaces the handset, whilst the serial cable requires the handset to be in PC-Direct mode, something that isn't that well documented in the litriture that comes with the scope.

A little tip to help set up of an evening.  Run through the polar alignment routine with a friend who is more able to ben down and use the polarscope.  Then set up the mount on a patio, path or some other solid ground with the N leg of the tri-pod pointing magnetic north so it's close.  Have your friend polar align the scope using the polar finder, and once positioned ensure the mount is locked tight (but don't over do the latitude bolts).  Now use somethng like a permenant marker to mark the position of the tri-pod legs on the floor.  At the end of the onserving session, remove the scope, but leave the mount attached to the tripod.  The next day, use a drill, rawplugs and three stainless steel washers and drill the marks you made the previous night, fitting the washers to the hard flooring.  Now, provided the mount isn't messed with, you can simply place the tripid on the washers and the polar alignment will be good enough not to need any re-alignment.  You can then mount the scope, place it in the default home position (weights down and inline with the N leg of the tripod and scope pointing at the pole star), and then run through the handset set up for doing a 2 / 3 star alignment.

The two things that make the mount run off in different directions as you describe are incorrect date and time, and incorrect loaction.  You need to input the loaction as degrees, minutes and seconds, not decimal co-ordinates.  Google maps can help here...

[Alienfox]

Thank you guys for all your help, hopefully I can get out one evening this week and try all your suggestions, like the washer idea, I have already placed 3 concrete feet into the garden (grassy area no where else is good for obs) so will give that a try.

[Alienfox]

Well it,s been an incredably clear evening, so out at 10 and just came back in (2am) and really frustrated, watched 2 videos before I went out on how to align the mount, I must be turning into an idiot as I really struggled with seting the damn thing up, still not there yet, then when i looked through the eyepiece to attempt a star align, nothing made sense?  So when I came in I tried to at least connect Stellerium to the mount and it worked, so not a complete waste of a beautiful evening.  Will try again on the next clear evening.