AZ GTi WiFi, silly problem - always upside down!?!

[Mr niall]

Hello all,

Well I’ll pre empty this by saying I’m probably an idiot but...

I’m having the funniest problem with my AZ GTi WiFi. Every time I set it up I seem to manage to do it upside down. So whenever I choose two star alignment I’ll centre on a bright star - for example beetleguese and then have a go at Polaris. So the scope kind of guesses where Polaris is but is ok on az but is a good 20-30 degrees too low on alt. When I adjust it manually and it says the alignment has been successful but the got is then miles out! Miles and miles!

So when I try North Star alignment the mount tells me to North and level the scope and the new it’ll try to find beetleguese, but it ends up pointing to somewhere in New Zealand! It always takes me about twenty minutes of twizzling and twirling and rotating to get it to spin the right way! And I’ve done that every single time I’ve set it up! Anybody know of a quick way to tell which way round everything should be when you set it up? 

And any ideas why the brightest star alignment is so far out? Could it be because it’s upside down? Scope is levelled and everything.

many thanks

[Pig]

It could be that your default settings are set to the country of manufacture and thus a different hemisphere.

[osbourne one-nil]

If ever you've fancied moving to north Africa, now would be a good time.

The only thing I thought was you'd got the mount pointing "backwards" where the azimuth clutch knob is pointing south, but that wouldn't explain this problem. 

So in summary, no - sorry!

[Stu]

The only problem I have had is if I put the scope on the wrong way round it points to the ground on the second star alignment. I just make sure I always put the scope on the right way and have no problems. I always use 2 star align, make sure the mount is levelled and after I have centered the first star, it usually gets pretty close to the second one. I use a GPS mouse so the location and time are always correct, but if you are using the Synscan app, it should get that data anyway so I'm not sure what else it could be. Is there any slip in your clutches?

[Mr niall]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

The only problem I have had is if I put the scope on the wrong way round it points to the ground on the second star alignment. I just make sure I always put the scope on the right way and have no problems. I always use 2 star align, make sure the mount is levelled and after I have centered the first star, it usually gets pretty close to the second one. I use a GPS mouse so the location and time are always correct, but if you are using the Synscan app, it should get that data anyway so I'm not sure what else it could be. Is there any slip in your clutches?

Slip is possible I will double check but I don’t think so... is there a way you can tell which way is the “right way round” on initial setup?

[alanjgreen]

15 minutes ago, Mr niall said:

is there a way you can tell which way is the “right way round” on initial setup?

Yep, make sure you mount the scope tube pointing in the same direction as in this picture (you can see the BACK of the MOUNT in the pic)

Looks like the red button is on the front of the scope side - I would use that as the "guide"

HTH, Alan

Edited January 25, 2018 by alanjgreen

[Jannu]

While I am aware that this is rather old topic, I wonder if there was a solution to this? I have similar challenge with AZ-GO2 wifi. I am a rookie, but I have checked multiple times that my Skymax-102 is mounted correctly. The obvious explanation for the behavior would be that AZ-GO2 believes that I am in the southern hemisphere while I am in Finland (very much on the northern side :)). Alignment is impossible as AZ-GO2 is persistent that all object, visible by naked eye, must be below horizon. 

Thanks is advance!  

[Hadi Jafar]

anybody manage to solve this problem?

[Hadi Jafar]

On 02/01/2023 at 15:44, Jannu said:

While I am aware that this is rather old topic, I wonder if there was a solution to this? I have similar challenge with AZ-GO2 wifi. I am a rookie, but I have checked multiple times that my Skymax-102 is mounted correctly. The obvious explanation for the behavior would be that AZ-GO2 believes that I am in the southern hemisphere while I am in Finland (very much on the northern side :)). Alignment is impossible as AZ-GO2 is persistent that all object, visible by naked eye, must be below horizon. 

Thanks is advance!  

Any luck?

[AstroNebulee]

What software and device are you using to control the az gti?picrires of your set up and screenshots of software will help. 

Lee

Edited March 25, 2023 by AstroNebulee

[Shimrod]

On 22/03/2023 at 10:50, Hadi Jafar said:

anybody manage to solve this problem?

Have you flashed the firmware of the mount at all? If so check which version you have installed. I don't mean the version number (e.g. 3.40), but whether you have flashed the standard or AZ/EQ version. If using the latter, you have the telescope on the right hand side of the mount (when looked at from behind the mount) even if using it in AZ mode. If you have the standard version of the firmware, the telescope should be on the left.

Skywatcher firmware download page

These are the descriptions of the firmware from the above link.

Standard firmware (telescope to left)

 

AZ/EQ firmware (telescope to right, or for using a wedge in EQ mode)

 

 

[JonHigh]

Hi. I’m also a very happy owner of a Az Gti that I recently purchased and updated the firmware to use in both Alt/Az and equatorial mode. Up is down and down is up??? Originally I thought it was because it took so many attempts to upload the firmware to the mount it got scrambled. However after a bit of head scratching I finally understood. Shimrod is absolutely correct. Due to it being right arm for EQ mode, if you use it in Alt/Az you have to turn the OTA upside down unless the firmware is changed back to the universal version. This is something Sky-Watcher needs to sort out by a simple patch in the app to flip the axis for Alt/Az mode. Happy days again and I can’t believe they have not done it yet looking at the original post back in 2018! It’s just lazy programming IMHO. Hopefully they will do it soon. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by JonHigh

[happy-kat]

I've got mine updated to eq firmware though using in altaz so had to mount the OTA on the right (it had been before on the left with the standard firmware) . Although I'm using the mount with the updated eq firmware I am choosing altaz and for me when I used the left arrow the mount is going left, and up is up etc. 

[Elp]

This is what I didn't get. The eq firmware clearly states RH mounting, otherwise if it's default factory alt az requires the scope to be mounted on the LH side. 

[happy-kat]

I fired mine up tonight just to double check before I posted as I've not had the problem shared on the OP's earlier post. I had previously updated the firmware to EQ version to have choice but for now I'm in altaz mode use but I did change to mounting the OTA on the right hand side and like this the az-gti is behaving as expected for left right up down

Edited August 14, 2023 by happy-kat

[JonHigh]

On 14/08/2023 at 21:25, happy-kat said:

I fired mine up tonight just to double check before I posted as I've not had the problem shared on the OP's earlier post. I had previously updated the firmware to EQ version to have choice but for now I'm in altaz mode use but I did change to mounting the OTA on the right hand side and like this the az-gti is behaving as expected for left right up down

That’s really odd, why some mounts behave as it should while others don’t. Maybe it is all to do with success of the firmware update? I must of tried to load it 50 times before it finally did it. In EQ mode the mount tracking is very good although I have not hooked it up to PHD as yet. Will soon though. When I have a bit of time I will reinstall the firmware and I test it again. Thanks for the reassurance that it might just work! 

Edited August 31, 2023 by JonHigh

[meetch]

On 25/03/2023 at 10:03, Shimrod said:

Have you flashed the firmware of the mount at all? If so check which version you have installed. I don't mean the version number (e.g. 3.40), but whether you have flashed the standard or AZ/EQ version. If using the latter, you have the telescope on the right hand side of the mount (when looked at from behind the mount) even if using it in AZ mode. If you have the standard version of the firmware, the telescope should be on the left.

Skywatcher firmware download page

These are the descriptions of the firmware from the above link.

Standard firmware (telescope to left)

 

AZ/EQ firmware (telescope to right, or for using a wedge in EQ mode)

 

 

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Shimrod!  this is what i've been overlooking! after pulling all of my hair out (and some of the cat's), it was as simple as putting the scope on the RH side! Thanks again!!