EQ6 mount ... Syncscan handset & Polar scope

[souls33k3r]

Hi guys,

Right so I've learned from my mistakes. This is in total my third trip outside in the garden with my EQ6 mount and EdgeHD scope.

First time around i just struggled putting up the scope. Tried for a good hour and came back in.

Second time I was able to mount the scope but really struggled with polar alignment and also my whole scope was off balance.

Tonight, i was able to not only balance the scope but also what I reckon was a near perfect polar alignment. This certainly did not come without its fair share of problems. On a crisp clear night I can easily point out Polaris but when the Big Dipper is not really visible, i take a wild guess which is almost always correct. Tonight i roughly pointed the scope north, then when it wanted to polar align I came up with my first issue.

My Syncscan handset is on v3.28 and the polar scope was bright red, I mean I could hardly see polar with a naked eye but boy i just couldn't see polar through polar scope. I then turned off the handset and manually moved Polaris to close enough within the circle. What can i do to tone down the redness in the polar scope?

Then I had all sorts of issues where my scope every time when I wanted to point at Vega went somewhere else. I only corrected that issue when I took all my gear off and realised that when I was supposed to put the Longitude and Latitude, I was doing it the other way around (doh!) ... Any way i didnt have my scope on the mount but just eye balling the Vega, mount pointed in the correct direction.

Now comes the second issue which I need help on, before I realised my mistake on the long. And lat. settings, I tried to move my mount using the "directional keys" but the mount wouldn't move. What could be the issue here? Got me really concerned if I'm being honest.

Roght I'm done rambling now ... Any assistance with the redness of the polar scope or easier method getting the Polaris centered would be helpful and also the directional key issue.

Thanks

[beamer3.6m]

Not moving the scope with the directional keys could be because you are on a slow slew rate (2x?). The movement is almost impossible to see.

Change slew rate to 8x and try that.

[Tinker1947]

The handset has a LED Dimmer built in, not sure what version this started from, you can upgrade the handset firmware, this also give the option to Polar Align with the Handset on any bright star in any part of the sky, you need to press "2" then a Number from "1 - 9" the high the number the faster the scope will slew......

[souls33k3r]

Not moving the scope with the directional keys could be because you are on a slow slew rate (2x?). The movement is almost impossible to see.

Change slew rate to 8x and try that.

  cheers beamer, yeah thats what i initially thought and I went through the complete menu but couldn't find anywhere to adjust the speed. When I did press the directional keys i was able to hear the mount head make some sort of a faint noise but couldn't see the mount move or anything.

The handset has a LED Dimmer built in, not sure what version this started from, you can upgrade the handset firmware, this also give the option to Polar Align with the Handset on any bright star in any part of the sky, you need to press "2" then a Number from "1 - 9" the high the number the faster the scope will slew......

Yes I guess the firmware upgrade is in order judging my yours and Beamers reply. Just might have to wait until Monday when the shops open and will buy the serial to USB convertor. Polar align on an y bright star? Really? Wow ... I'd certainly would want to hear more about this functionality. So how does it work then? Point the scope roughly towards North and at the certain (close to) latitude and then slew towards any bright star or something?

[LongJohn54]

Setting the polarscope led brightness doesn't appear to be in the manual so -

To change the brightness of the polar scope led press Setup on the handset and press the down key until you are at Handset Settings.   Press Enter and down again to get Polarscope led.  Press enter again and then whilst looking through the polarscope press the Up/down keys  (or left/right keys, can't remember which) until the led is suitably dim.

See section 1.3 in the manual to set the various slewing speeds.  http://www.skywatcher.com/downloads/SynScan_HandControl_web_280313V3.pdf

Hope this helps.   Happy Xmas.

John

Oops. Beaten to it. Must type faster.

[souls33k3r]

Hahahaha cheers LongJohn ... Yes got to upgrade the handset first to the latest firmware and then I guess I'll find this silly option. I wonder what people used to do before this upgrade. Seriously couldn't even see a thing and for the first few minutes I thought I was going bonkers

[Tinker1947]

The handset Polar Alignment is quite simple, you do a 2 star alignment this brings up the Polar Alignment routine, you get a scrolling list of stars to chose from, once you have picked one it will slew to the star (handy to do the 2 star align in the same area) when it stops slewing you center the star, the mount will then slew away and return what ever the short fall on the return is you adjust the T-Bolts to center it, then it will move away and back and you use the 2 knobs to center the star, that's it job done, i found it handy to use a Telrad when it slews and returns if its not visible in your finder , it will be in a Telrad, do this a couple of time on different stars to get it precise.......

[souls33k3r]

Cheers for explaining this routine Tinker. It felt like a waste of time taking out the scope with these issues but in the end i thought I will see something tonight so manually slewed the scope towards the moon to enjoy the beauty of it. I have a 40mm plossel which gave me a good fov and then i also have a 2.5x powermate which gave me closer look at the craters. My 6 year old had a good 30 minutes look at the moon and in the end what really made it all worth while was when she said "Thank you daddy for sharing this beautiful moment with me" gave me a big hug and went back inside and I was like "This is why I spent all this money on this hobby" .. Well chuffed

[Tinker1947]

Anybody would be well chuffed with comments like that from a youngster, look like a convert there then......it really pays dividends if you can get a permanent set-up....

[souls33k3r]

Some day my friend when I move to a much darker location

[souls33k3r]

Quick question, are these thin OAG's any good? I mean are they as good as the celestron one? I really don't k ow how to compare one with another but any guidance around that would be really helpful and will be much appreciated

[Tinker1947]

I tried one when i had a 11" SCT, getting the sensor to Focal Reducer distance made the OAG tight for space, so i went the Finder guider route then sold the SCT.....