Problems with Synscan - no power?

[dlockyer]

Hi again,

I went out last night, and it was before others had replied to my other thread about the power tank and so took the tank out as the green LED was on, in order to try and set up synscan. I arrived at my location just after sunset and set it all up so it was ready for polar alignment as soon as polaris popped out. I checked and double checked the cables while it was still light.

Darkness came, i used polaris to align my finder, and then levelled the tube to 0 degrees as per the instructions, switched on the power tank and then switched on the mount (Skywatcher Dobsonian) and.....nothing. Nothing at all. I turned on the redlight on the tank, unplugged all the cables, triple checked I had them all plugged into the right place (which I had), plugged them all back in, switched it on again, and stared at an empty synscan screen.

The cigarette lighter cable that goes from tank to mount had a red LED lit, So that cable at least was getting power.

I'm really worried I have a faulty synscan. The only thing I can think of is to maybe charge the Tank for another 14 hours and try again. Really worried I'm going to have to return the entire base or something :/

Has anyone else had this issue on initial setup?

On the plus side, I manually found Albireo, which was fabulous through the 10mm EP. I also practised my finding skills by picking various random stars and finding them in both EPs. Later in the night before the clouds started rolling in, I just about caught Andromeda (M31?) too, and managed to keep it fairly central in the EP for about 30 minutes. I found it better defined using the 25mm rather than the 10mm. Using averted viewing I'm sure I could just about make out some structure in the 25mm. In the 10mm it was just a big blur.

I also saw upwards of 50 meteors in about 4 hours, some of which were incredibly bright, and in the sky for a relatively long period of time comapred to the "blink and you'll miss it" ones. One even had what I can only describe as like a mini comet tail.

[brantuk]

The power tank is probably only half charged if you took it off it's first charge after only 5hrs. There may well be enough juice to light a small led but not enough to power up a mount and handset. You need a full 12v-13v to run the mount - the moment it dips below 12v your mount will start behaving erratically. Less still and it will reach a point where it wont power up at all.

Alternately you might have a dodgy mount connector. But try it with a fully charged battery first so you can at least determine if it's the power causing the problem.

(Synscans rarely arrive faulty from new)

[dlockyer]

Thank you. In a way it was a blessing as I really did quite enjoy picking an area, like near to the middle star of the Cygnus cross, and just exploring manually. But it's expensive and it's nice to have the option of using it. I'll try your suggestion and give it another go the next time its clear enough to find polaris.

Thanks for your help, and patience

[brantuk]

No probs - glad you at least had a good session. Arriving with no power or the wrong mount handset can be a pain - I've done both myself lol

[laudropb]

I am sure your problems will just be through a lack of charge in your tank. Give it the full 18 hours and try again.

Glad you still managed to have a productive and enjoyable session. After all, that's what it's all about.

[dlockyer]

Thank you. My mind is now more at ease. I guess I see the tank like I would view the rechargeable batteries I use for my razor. Even on half charge they work fine.

Albireo really took my breath away. I had heard of it as one of the beginner things to look for as its interesting and easy to find. Was very pleased with myself and I couldn't stop going back to it throughout the session for "just one more look".

[ronin]

If you are driving to a location and if the car is close by get one of these:

L17AR from Maplins, if there is one close to you.

Then you can run the system at least minimally from the car and the battery on that is substantially larger then a power tank.

Helps if the car is one where the power sockets are powered when the ignition is off, mine is but a friends is not.

If you decide after a while to start the car I suspect that the power to this will get interrupted and so expect to have to start again with alignment etc.

I assume that you would start to use it with the car not running - fumes etc are a problem and the noise may be also.

But one of these is a good back up, especially as said if you drive to a location.

[dlockyer]

Thanks for the tip ronin. I had thought of powering it via the car before my Tank arrived, but thought it probably wasn't a good idea to be out with a draining car battery, and I'm not really overly keen on leaving the car engine on. I'm very security conscious having worked for the police for 10 years and things like that make me nervous, and as you say the noise might also attract attention.

[ronin]

My presumption was that you would park the car then set up the equipment next to or close by. Therefore never being far away.

Mine has a power outlet in the boot, so lift boot, plug in, set up, also means I have the flat surface to place items.

The car battery is much larger so I cannot see it draining it to any real extent, but as said you can always run the car if wanted, but I would not start the car up with the scope attached, do not want a spike causing problems.

My car battery is 74 or 75 Ah, that is not going to be given a problem by a scope attached.

It was an option, and you could get an extension lead to position the scope a bit further from the car if preferred.

[dlockyer]

Ah ok. I see what you are saying. It's a good idea to at least check the power issue I'm having. I'm sure the car battery will be fine if I just use it for initial North alignment, so that I only have to reset time / date / lat and long and star alignments in the future. I know just the spot I can go where I can have scope right next to car too.

Thanks for the help