EdgeHD 8 & EQ6 mount ... Help with a few things

[souls33k3r]

Hi All,

On the new years eve, while others were trying their best to cover the sky with fireworks, i was busy setting up my scope. Polar alignment was done which at the beginning when i first had my scope, i struggled with it for 2 hours and gave up on it, came back in and started to watch more videos and checked this forum. The next time it took me an hour to iron out a few issues but still struggled but this time it was the tomato soup polar scope. Third time lucky i guess, i had upgraded the firmware to get rid of the blunt red polar scope colour and this time time it took me not more than 2 minutes.

Now i came up with a few issues which i need some help with.

1) The altitude screws/bolts are very very hard. I got scared at one point that i might break them or damage something from inside. I mean i really struggled to get it to 52 degrees. How on earth will i be able to get it to 72 degrees which is where i guess i'll be shipping my scope to with these standard bolts? I leave my mount at my altitude when i pack away. Should i always bring it back to zero or whatever and grease up the bolts? What maintenance do i need to do on these bad boys?

2) When i was tightening the altitude bolts, polaris kept on going out of that small circle. What do i have to do to make sure that when i tighten them bolts, polaris stays within the polar scope little circle?

3) I struggled with 2 star alignment but was lucky to get away with only 1 star alignment. For the love of God i was unable to figure out what did the mentioned star on the handset should look like? I assume it would be the brightest? The first star was Sirius which was easily identifiable because it was a proper spot light, the second star, well not so much so gave up and went away with 1 star alighment.

4) When i was using the focusing knobs on my scope, the image (noticed it only when i was focusing on the moon) would shift left or right ... not sure if i'm doing anything wrong here or maybe (i guess but do correct me on this) EdgeHD has these two mirorlock (?) knobs ... do i need to have then loosen up (just for viewing) or tight when i'm trying to focus on an object? When do these need to be loosen and tight is basically my question. (see the image below)

Thanks in advance

[m.tweedy]

1.buy upgraded  bolts from somewhere like Astrodevelopments. 

2. the only thing i can add on that is if you get the upgraded bolts gently tighten the bottom one first then the top one.

3. this should help with polar alignment

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/123940-polar-alignment-guide-using-an-neq-6-pro-mount/

http://stevebb.com/polar_alignment.htmlhttp://www.jimscosmos.com/wp-content/plugins/stars/docs/synscan-finder-stars.pdf

this lists all of the alignment stars

4.if you do not have the manual here is a pdf  

http://www.celestron.uk.com/en/pdf/EdgeHD_Optics_Manual.pdf

page 7 states

Mirror Support Clutches The EdgeHD Optical tube is equipped with mirror tension clutches to help support and minimize lateral movement of the primary mirror during astrophotography. To use the mirror clutches: 1. Use the focus knob to adjust the primary mirror to the desired focus. 2. Once in focus, turn the two mirror lock knobs clockwise until both are very tight and can be turned no further. Warning! Once the mirror is locked down, do not turn the focuser knob without loosening the mirror locks first. Although turning the focus knob should not damage the telescope, undue stress can be placed on the focus mechanisms causing excessive image shift while focusing

There are lots of pages on SGL relating to the problems you have and i have just covered the essentials for you.

I invested in a NEQ6 wedge that makes adjustment so much easier (at a cost!!).

[m.tweedy]

this was a useful article

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/136314-skywatcher-synscan-goto-what-the-manual-doesnt-tell-you/

[souls33k3r]

cheers guys ... im one of those idiots who will never open the hard copy manual and just give it a go after watching a few videos.

The upgraded bolts is something that i have been keeping an eye out for but my question still remains, are these bolts meant to be that hard? should i loosen them up and bring it back to "zero" degree when i'm done with the session?

[m.tweedy]

No dont loosen them.

if necessary there are plenty of youtube videos out there

[Grotemobile]

They should not be tight. I set my alt to 52 deg ,

& leave it there. U only need to do this once.

Don't put the weights on, when adjusting the

alt setting. 

Steve.

[m.tweedy]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYou2u5ZPKAhXGlA8KHVDJAA4QtwIIJTAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4fO6hyYtPwM&usg=AFQjCNFyd_68fiWhpy_cHJHJz7ocvuqNiw&sig2=to_UDjQQ4A-viluI9uFP3Q&bvm=bv.110151844,d.ZWU

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/173405-neq6-need-help-with-setting-latitude/

hopefully that should keep you going

Astronomy shed is a useful resource for most of your answers

[souls33k3r]

Cheers guys... Yes this dude from Astronomy Shed has helped me loads. I followed his procedure to the dot and that has helped me tremendously.

Obviously different scopes have different ways of handling things and these were the ones that I found.

Thought I was going bonkers but clearly not

While I was looking for the upgraded bolts, ingot sidetracked with the CCDs lol this hobby will certainly make me want to pull my hair and I'd love doing that to myself

[Peter Drew]

The "altitude" adjuster bolts bend because the factory often sets the pivot action too tight, with the adjusters backed right off it should be possible, with effort, to rock the head backwards and forwards. If you can't do this then the pivot is too tight. Upgrading to stronger bolts runs the risk of damaging the inner feature that the bolts act on.

At around 55 degrees the system is pretty much at it's safe operating position, much higher than this the bolts have a smaller surface and increased slope to act against.There is an aftermarket solution to deal with this problem.   

[ollypenrice]

There is no reason why, if you're at the limit of the altitude adjustment, you shouldn''t raise the north leg of the tripod a little. If you do this by too much then the tripod risks becoming unstable but a little will be fine. It has precisely no effect whatever on the alignment. Tripod heads don't need to be level and if they are level east-west then this will not even affect drift alignment should you choose to do that one day. Whether you reach the angle of Polaris via the adjusters or via the tripod has no effect on anything bar the staus of those dodgy adjusters. Tilting the tripod is standard practice for northerly based Takahashi mount owners because Tak don't think anybody lives up there!

With good PA I only ever do one star alignments. 

Olly

[MattJenko]

Also, you can do the polar alignment without the scope being attached. Having the scope on there as well adds extra stress on making the altitude adjustments. Polar align and then gently putting the scope on can make life easier.

[Peter Drew]

By "raise" the North leg of the tripod Olly means "shorten" it. Just added as it confused me at first reading. 

[souls33k3r]

The "altitude" adjuster bolts bend because the factory often sets the pivot action too tight, with the adjusters backed right off it should be possible, with effort, to rock the head backwards and forwards. If you can't do this then the pivot is too tight. Upgrading to stronger bolts runs the risk of damaging the inner feature that the bolts act on.

At around 55 degrees the system is pretty much at it's safe operating position, much higher than this the bolts have a smaller surface and increased slope to act against.There is an aftermarket solution to deal with this problem. 

 Cheers peter, this is truly very informative for me. I guess I won't risk my mount or the bolts because it is safe to say I won't be taking my mount anything above 52 degree which itself was a tough job getting there. I only wondered what others would've done with such great toughness of the head when trying to adjust altitude above 52 degree 

There is no reason why, if you're at the limit of the altitude adjustment, you shouldn''t raise the north leg of the tripod a little. If you do this by too much then the tripod risks becoming unstable but a little will be fine. It has precisely no effect whatever on the alignment. Tripod heads don't need to be level and if they are level east-west then this will not even affect drift alignment should you choose to do that one day. Whether you reach the angle of Polaris via the adjusters or via the tripod has no effect on anything bar the staus of those dodgy adjusters. Tilting the tripod is standard practice for northerly based Takahashi mount owners because Tak don't think anybody lives up there!

With good PA I only ever do one star alignments. 

Olly

 Olly as always i look forward hearing your thoughts ... You sir are truly knowledgable and I guess have seen just about every issue know to idiots like me like i said I might not be going over the current altitude ever even if I choose to take it back home if I choose to do so one day and even there i will be down to 33 degree .. Awesome!!! 

Also, you can do the polar alignment without the scope being attached. Having the scope on there as well adds extra stress on making the altitude adjustments. Polar align and then gently putting the scope on can make life easier.

  Matt, mate i always do my polar alignment without the scope on because i understand with the scope and the weights alone will cause me exerting more strength

By "raise" the North leg of the tripod Olly means "shorten" it. Just added as it confused me at first reading. 

hahahaha nicely pointed out Peter because that's exactly what I thought too

[ollypenrice]

By "raise" the North leg of the tripod Olly means "shorten" it. Just added as it confused me at first reading. 

 Yes, thank goodness Peter knows what I mean because clearly I don't!! My apologies. I must have up-down dyslexia...

Olly

[MattJenko]

With the HEQ5, if you loosen the bolts you can actually tilt the mount by hand which makes the screwing in of the bolts easier as well as the mount is not resting against the bolt head. It is not a method to do any accurate polar aligning, but it can help get you close if you have a lot of turning to do.

[souls33k3r]

I'll take a look at this when I have my scope out next. Though it's pretty clear tonight but can't afford to put the scope out tonight as I've got work in the morning. Wish I could call in sick and enjoy the beautiful night skies tonight lol