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Nexstar 4SE frustrrrrration!

ChrisEdu

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ChrisEdu

ChrisEdu

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So, clearer skies tonight so I thought I'd give the scope a good try-out. I took the tripod outside and got it all nice and level. Then I attached the scope and powered-up. I had already got my co-ordinates from GoogleEarth, so that was easy to enter, along with the time from a clock that I'd synchronized using Dimension 4. So, all that stage went well and I got to the alignment procedure. I choose to use the automatic system where you use three bright objects. I picked three, including Polaris and the Moon and waited for it to register and finish the procedure. It decided it couldn't recognise the choices, so I tried again, and again, and again! No matter what, it wouldn't work for me. Next I tried the two stare alignment - no luck there. Eventually I went with one stare, choosing Polaris. This time it seemed to work, until I wanted to look at the moon and polaris - it missed them my miles! I tried setting it up using the moon - still no luck!

Anyone got any ideas what I might be doing wrong? I was really hoping to have it sorted so my children could have the tour of the sky :) It just ended up with us wandering the heavens and looking at the moon (which did look great!)

Thanks for any ideas / help.

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Helen

Helen

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Sorry it didn't work out for you on your first go Chris, that's always disappointing :D Just a thought....did you set it for daylight saving? If not, that could account for you being 15 degrees out...

But keep trying, I've found my celestron system to be very reliable on set up and goto. We'll get to the bottom of the problem (people on her like to be detectives to try and sort someone's problem :) )

Helen

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Johnboy

Johnboy

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Hmm. I'm not sure then I'm afraid. I know the date fooled me for a while. I have found that if you defocus the star you are centering on so it becomes a big blob rather than a pin [removed word] it is easier to centre in the eyepiece. (Centering the alignment stars in the eyepiece is obviously essential.)

Maybe that will help.

Regards

John

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ChrisEdu

ChrisEdu

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Cheers! I might pop back outside in a mo' to see if it is clear enough for another try. Otherwise, I guess I'll wait until next time.

On another note - is it best to leave the scope outside over night and bring it back in in the morning, or would you bring it in to a warm house when finished? Just wondering about condensation.

I did have some fun trying out a couple of extra eyepieces that I got hold of today - nice big moon!

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Azelfafage

Azelfafage

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Hello Chris,

I wouldn't recommend leaving the tube out all night - in my case tube & tripod are dismantled after finishing & put snugly away in the garden shed.

As to your problem - you didn't mention anything about centring the objects in the finder, presumably you did this as well ?

My preference is the manual 2 star method. Polaris is a good choice for 1 of the objects, but I would choose something else as far away as possible for best accuracy (as long as the other object isn't hidden behind something of course). :)

I'm not a fan of using Solar System objects for alignment, although some like to.

HTH & let us know how it goes.

Regards,

A

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ChrisEdu

ChrisEdu

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That might well be the problem! :D Thought I'd cracked it just now - did the SkyAlign and it said that it was successful, so I thought - YIPPEE! However, this soon turned to - D'oh! when I asked it to point to Polaris and the moon. For the moon it was out by about 135degrees! Now, I'm starting to feel rather annoyed with it! Lucky I can find a few simple things by sight, but I'm wanting to see some of the other stuff I've only ever heard about! :lol: Maybe one of those Powerpack things would be the answer? Argh!!! :scratch: :)

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jgs001

jgs001

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Did you level the tripod really well ? If the bubble level is anything like the one on the SLT, ignore it and use a spirit level across the tray. Don't use AA batteries, it'll work, but you'll be lucky if they last 30 minutes, defo get a power pack.

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jgs001

jgs001

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It's what I found. The alignment wasn't accurate enough on the SLT using the bubble level. Yeah, you'd think so. I think the real problem, is the power supply though, if your on AA batteries, you won't be able to get any decent sort of performance from it.

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EA2007

EA2007

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Chris,

I had this problem with mine when I first got it....you are using batteries yeh?? (If you aren't then its something else...obviously).

But batteries are a killer for this system, to be honest I don't know why Celestron included the battery compartment, they could have saved that space for better motors and perhaps spent money on improving the plastic fork arm.

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ChrisEdu

ChrisEdu

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Chris, if you want to bring it to me in Lancing next time its clear, we can try my power tank on it.

atb, steve

Thanks for that offer, Steve. It would certainly be good to try it out with someone that knows a bit more about these things. I'll PM at some point to see if we can arrange something.

Chris

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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I am getting one of these next week - I am curious - I normally use some solid rechargaeble batteries ( 2600-2700 mAH ) do you reckon they will give the li'l Celestron enough go juice ?

My old digital cameras will eat standard Duracells in 50 pics but I fiond the heavy duty rechargeables will run the camers up to 200 pics - I am kind of hoping this will work with the 4SE as well and give it a bit of get up and go.

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gary1968

gary1968

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I have never tried to run my SE on AA's because of the problems I encountered with my SLT when I 1st got it. I now either connect to a power tank or a suitable mains adaptor and never had any trouble with the SLT or SE.

I also dont understand why Celestron still fit the battery compartment, they must have had loads of complaints about it by now.

Gary

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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I dont know why scope manufacturers dont do the same as some other equipment manufactures and setup their kit to run on 10 cells...

You either use 10 Nicad/NiMH's or 8 Alkaline cells + 2 dummies both setups give you 12V ...

The problem with NiMH is their lower Voltage compared to Alkaline cells the advantage as well as being rechargable is there much flatter discharge characteristics...

Billy...

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