HEQ5 Mount

[Deacon]

Hi all

I have recently bought an HEQ5 Mount. This is my first equatorial mount and I am struggling a bit.

When I use the handset I can hear the motors move but I dont see much movement. Is the scope moving very slowly or is the mount faulty!!. It has the built in dual axis motor drive and not the GO-TO system.

I would appreciate the help.

Many Thanks

Deacon

[blinky]

It is just that it moves very slowly. When you look through a scope you will see it move. Dont worry, I was exactly the same as you when I got my first mount!

[blinky]

The stars will rotate around 360 degrees in 24 hrs. The slowest speed on the mount is 2X. When you press the 2X button your scope would take 12hrs to rotate a full 360 degrees. You see now why it appears to not move

[Deacon]

Hi Craig

Thanks for that, I was panicking there for a second.

Iam using SkyWatcher EVOSTAR-100 ED2 Pro telescope. They have given me to counterweights to use but I find that it only needs one to balance the scope if turned horizontal. Does both need to be used or can I get away woth one.!

Deaky

[blinky]

1 is fine, as long as it is balanced. They give you 2 incase you have a larger 'scope.

[Deacon]

So does this mean that when I see an object I need to use the handset occasionally to keep the object in view!

Deacon

[GazOC]

No, it tracks at x1 automatically all the time its switched on.

Do you need help editting the poll?

[Deacon]

yeah please

[Astro_Baby]

Its maximum speed is x16 sidereal which is quite fast when you are looking at an object but very slow if your just looking at the mount. Look through a scope at something distant - anything will do - a house for instance in the ditance and then press the buttons - you will see it moves quite fast.

If its accurateky polar aligned then when you get something in your sights it should track near perfectly on its own. When its switched on it moves at normal time - ie it would take it 24 hours to move 360 degrees. If the Polar alignment is only rough then you will probably need to give it the odd 'bump' with the controller to stay tracking.

If you need help with the Polar alignment stuff I wrote a guide HERE cos I found it very hard myself and although people tried to help I needed to see some pictures. After I got it sussed I wrote the guide I wished I had had available

[Deacon]

Thanks Astro Baby,

I wonder if i could pose another question to all you brany people and sound more thick. If my scope is aligned north and there is something i want to see perhaps east or west of me how do I view it. Does moving the scope away from North upset the alignment. :?

[Astro_Baby]

Ahhh - Good question.

OK - what actually happens with polar alignment is essentially the mount is polar aligned ( rather than the telescope - yes the telescope is aligned as well but only when in a certain position ie pointing north at 90' declination ).

In shortthe mount is aligned to POlaris using the alt-azimuth knobs and the telescope is moved using the RA and DEC knobs/clutches. Once your aligned you dont move the alt/azimuth knobs.

Soooo in a nutshell the mounts RA Axis is pointed North and aligned to Polaris using the Alt/Azimuth ( thats up and down to you and me ) and then the scope is moved to its target through the RA and DEC.

Hope thats of some help.

[Deacon]

Thanks Astro

I think I get it lol. My brain hurts lol. :scratch: So once the mount is aligned it should moved to 90 degrees!

[Deacon]

Sorry the scope should be moved to 90 degrees not the mount!!

[Astro_Baby]

Hmmm - ok - forget the scope for the moment. Just imagine its not there at all. Just focus on the mount cos thats the thing thats actually being aligned.

Point the mount North ( so that its RA axis is pointing North). Now crank the altitude bolt until the Latitude scale reads 51' - that'll be close enough for a rough fix to get you started. Now lock the altitude and azimuth controls. You need to back off one bolt to turn the other on the controls. One acts as a lock to the other. By the way dont go mad on tightining them. they only need to be firm not torqued down.

The Polarscope is just a method to get the mount aligned accurately but lets skip that for now.

Now the mount is 'aligned' ( well roughly anway ) at Polaris.

Now the scope can move about wherever you like using just the RA and DEC controls.

You might find the basic guide to Polar Alignment I knocked up of use if your heads spinning. Thats located HERE it may help you get to grips with the basics. It can be a bit of a handful I know.

[Deacon]

ahh I get you now. Im sorry I think I just confuse myself and make it a lot more complicated than it is.

I cant thank you enough for your help Astro.

Hopefully now there will be some clear skies on the way so I can try this out.

Cheers

Deaky

[Astro_Baby]

Dont worry - it IS very confusing. Give it a few days and you'll wonder why you were ever having trouble. I had the same trying to deal with Declination - just had a kind of mental block about it which was very annoying as I USED to understand it. I started worrying that maybe I was suffering premature senility

Its a good mount when you get the hang of it even though its a bit on the heavy side for me.

Oh and dont fret when the RA setting circle doesnt lock - that caught me out - they dont. The setting circle only locks at the zero position with the little screw. Mine really did my head in. Also pay no attention to the Polar Alignment procedure in the manual - it may as well be in chinese. EVERYONE bitches about that