NEQ6 Pro: a basic question

[sophiecentaur]

So I fired up my new (S/H)  NEQ6, having spent about 30 minutes scrabbling about on the floor to get Polaris  within the little ring in the polariscope and told the Synscan that I wanted to do 2 Star Alignment. I chose Betlejuice as no.1 and the mount took me almost straight there. Likewise with Castor No.2.  I was gobsmacked. To me, that implies that the servo is constantly registered with the polar part of the mount, which obvs saves a lot of time. So, is that right or was I just lucky? And is it possible (or ever necessary) to do some sort of adjustment? I sort of assumed that when you undo the clutches, that disconnected the tracking mechanism. The rings with angles marked, seem to be turnable.

Wot's going on?

 

 

[Paul M]

I think you were lucky.

There are no secondary encoders on the NEQ6. Releasing the clutches and moving the scope manually means that the controller doesn't know the scope has been moved and would make the next GOTO assuming it was starting at the location of the previous GOTO.

When setting up I usually have to manually slew the scope to the first alignment star by undoing the clutches if it's a long hike or slewing with the handset after upping the slew rate.

Once it's got a first fix, the second object should be quite well centred, if not adjust with the handset only and then accept. 

I find it's a very forgiving process. I really am slap-dash on polar alignment and don't spend too much time centering objects either. These mounts are great for visual observing.

[sophiecentaur]

Thanks for that. It seems I was just lucky (as I suspected). I guess I engaged the clutches with the scope pointing 'up and back' (towards Polaris) and the drive started from there, getting to Betlejuice by chance.

Next time, I will do what you do. I understand that it's only for long astro exposures that polar alignment is critical. I started with a Dobsonian (manual) and life was so different. It's uncanny how Jupiter and its moons just hang there in the EP, even on high magnification. it gives me a chance to relax and chase the best focus. That NEQ6 was expensive but it is firm as a rock. 

[Freddie]

You weren't lucky, you did it properly.

You started in an accurate home position and had good PA so the first slew went to the target accurately. Obviously the mount starts at a set reference point (the home position) and then slews from there. It's only if your home position is out or your PA is out will it miss the first alignment star. Cone error will also cause alignment issues so looks like you don't have an issue there but if you do a 3 star alignment, the third star determines and takes account of any cone error.

[Paul M]

29 minutes ago, Freddie said:

You weren't lucky, you did it properly.

 

Not if he, as implied, released the clutches.

No mention of home position either which is only worthwhile for mounts that are left set up between uses or the RA/Dec circles have been pre-calibrated very accurately (no mention of that).

Sounds like the OP does it like me, so I'll stick with "lucky"  

[Freddie]

I don't agree with a lot of what you say, so we'll agree to disagree.

[jambouk]

Yes if you release the clutches to manually move to the first star it doesn't matter where the scope starts, but if you allow the mount to slee to the first star, the better the home position, the more likely it is that the first star will be bang on. I do it that latter way.

both alignment stars were likely on the same side of the meridian so cone error, if there is any, will likely be less of an issue even if there is some. A three star alignment using stars on both sodes of the meridian will help with GOTO accuracy of there is cone error though.

james

[sophiecentaur]

Back again - no punchups, lads! Your comments have been very useful.

Thing is, I set it up from scratch in the garden (no obs available yet) each time. I store the mount on a shallow shelf so the dovetail is naturally parallel with the polar axis. I guess that's what you refer to as the Home Position (?). I connected the 12V and moved the mount (motor) so I could put the 10" Newtonian on it and  then started the setup. So it still knew where the home pos was (?) and went straight almost to star no 1. etc.

Funny thing was that, at one point, I dissed the 12V by clumsiness and everything went barmy. I tried a re-alignment and it was looking for stuff down below the horizon and graunching itself against the tripod. I got cross and went indoors to lick my wounds. Obvs, I had messed up the home position. Of course, there is another problem which is rapidly becoming obvious and that is it's hard to use the scope to look in the direction of Polaris with the EP in a good position to see stuff in other directions. I have to rotate the whole tube to do that and it is a pain. The only good thing is that the NEQ6 is like a battleship and it doesn't seem to be bothered by me climbing all over it. I just realised why people like Smidt Cassegrains and refractors; you can see everywhere without needing to stand on steps or lay on the ground!

I will try to use the graduated circles to set up within a degree or so and will need to sort out three firm pads with register marks on, for placing the tripod feet instead of making holes in the lawn. That should, again help with setup. That solar scope is hard work and kills my neck! There must be something I can do with a laser to avoid all that. I must try to figure it out. Anything that can be done in broad daylight saves the brain. 

[spillage]

Hi,

Can I ask if you are able to connect to the mount using a laptop or computer as eqmod has polar align program that move the mount to the correct position for polaris.

You may also find synscanlnit on the android play store helpful or polar align software for windows for a quick polar alignment.

I would suggest you polar align before you do any star alignment. If you are only using the mount for visual then a rough alignment will do.

cheers

spill