Skywatcher EQ8 Synscan controller problems

[iandh]

 Hi Guys,

I have just returned from trying to help a friend with his EQ8 and Synscan hand controller issues. In the past we have had problems with GOTO accuracy and also with the firmware in the hand control.

Yesterday we updated the firmware to V 4.39.05 and managed to find the attached updated manual Hand controller en_download_caty01415653149.pdf  Hand controller en_download_caty01415653149.pdf tversion SSHCV3-F-141031V1-EN which appears to be a much improved Synscan manual.

However, we still had problems trying to 3-Star align. After the third star was centred in the eyepiece and Enter pressed . According to the latest manual , Part III:Alignment on page 12 it says Aligning the 2nd Star and Selecting and Aligning the 3rd Star one should wait for the Mel and Maz errors to be displayed after successful alignment. After aligning the 3rd star it gave use the Mel and Maz but also displayed CAUTION. We have now found that this is because the CE and NPE values had not been set to 0….. Part XI : Advanced paragraph 11.7.

 

However, apart from the above the main concern was that when we hit Enter after noting the Mel and Maz we were then asked which alignment mode we wanted, 1, 2 or 3, i.e. it appeared to be taking us around the whole loop again as if the alignment was not good enough even though it said it was successful.

We then did a 2-star alignment and escaped out of the menu after hitting return to accept the Mel and Maz readings. However, the GOTO accuracy was not great!!!!!! Some objects like M13 and M92 were within a 0.7deg FOV but only just. Some like M51 and M27  required a box search to find them but M57 was way off, the scope was initially pointing to the middle of Lyra, not at all close to M57. It took us ages to find it, even though I knew exactly where it should be. In the end I had to resort to shining my laser pointer down the eyepiece while my friend drove the scope to it!

While we were updating the hand controller firmware to 4.36.05 we noticed that there is also talk of a Synscan Database but could not find any mention of how to update that or where to get the latest database.

 

Can anyone advise me on any of the above please as my friend’s scope is a 16” modified Dal Kirkham and he lives in a lovely dark sky area, BUT all this messing around for hours each time we go to use it, really takes a lot of the enjoyment out of the observing session. 

Note: While we were aligning the Synscan kept offering strange alignment stars, certainly not ones we could see from that location and did not appear to get offered the obvious ones from the Synscan Alignment Stars list. Then we found the Alignment Star Filter “Adv. Filter” and set it to off, we were then offered more stars presumably in the “best” order from the available Synscan Alignment stars list.

 

I really would appreciate some help and advice!

Hand controller en_download_caty01415653149.pdf

[dph1nm]

1 hour ago, iandh said:

However, apart from the above the main concern was that when we hit Enter after noting the Mel and Maz we were then asked which alignment mode we wanted, 1, 2 or 3, i.e. it appeared to be taking us around the whole loop again as if the alignment was not good enough even though it said it was successful.

That is the correct behaviour. The handset goes back to the alignment selection screen, but just escape out and do whatever you want next. The question is, what were the Mel and Maz values? They shouldn't be more than a few arcminutes, if they are it suggests the polar alignment is off. At the moment, at around 10pm a 2-star align suggests Arcturus as the first star for me, then Vega/Deneb which I skip as I can't see them from my location, then Denebola, which works OK.

Question - with a two star align how close is the second star to the centre of the FOV when it slews there? If your polar alignment is good it should be very close.

The synscan database is in the handset - it is the thing which enables you to select stars, galaxies etc.

It should always offer you stars which are above the horizon (although it does seem to like to try to get you to grub around in the murk near the horizon)! If not, then I would suggest that the initial setup is incorrect (date/time/location etc).

NigelM

[Bamo]

On 09/05/2018 at 16:53, dph1nm said:

The question is, what were the Mel and Maz values? They shouldn't be more than a few arcminutes, if they are it suggests the polar alignment is off.

Hello Nigel,

I have the same problem with the GOTO accuracy. I own EQ5 Pro with synscan handcontroller. 

I'm getting really concerned about this "NPE pervious values" message as it seems large however you mentioned they shouldn't be more than a few arcmins. In my case the Maz value reaches more than half a degree. Please look at the picture I've attached.

I've found a note in Synscan user manual saying those values might be set to zero!.

Any ideas/thoughts will be highly appreciated.

Cheers,

Bamo

 

[dph1nm]

You can safely ignore the NPE (and CE) messages. They shouldn't happen if you do a three star align anyway (as they are calculated afresh when you do one), only for 1 and 2 star (as you need at least 3 stars to calculate NPE and CE). NPE shouldn't change anyway, as it is the orthogonality of the mounts axes. CE is the cone error, which depends on how the scope is fastened to the mount, but I don't image that will alter unless you change the scope.

However 39' is quite an offset for the polar alignment, especially if you are trying to image.

NigelM