Manual slow-mo / Syntrek / Synscan go-to conundrum

[Fraunhoffer]

Hello

Thinking of saving up to get a SW 200p on an HEQ5 mount as I get back into astronomy after many many years for observing and photography from some light polluted skies around our garden and the occasional trip out to somewhere clearer. Somewhere in the dormant brain cells will be the knowledge of how to collimate a reflector and polar align from 'the old days'.

Anyway my question is whether / how it possible to use the manual controls plus computer controlled drives engaged for tracking..

My best observing time will be 1am-5am when the streetlights are off and I just don't think the whirring from slewing the scope around with GoTo will work without causing neighbourly issues. Although, being able to fine tune position with the computer sounds great once Ive got the scope close - and of course it tracking nicely once I'm there to observe/take pics etc.  Reading RA/DEC from handset/computer display would be nice too.

On the EQ5 ive seen pictures with the motor and manual dongly controls both mounted, so I'm assuming that its possible to use manual controls whilst the EQ drive is running?
Lets say I want to follow the terminator on the moon one evening or move around a particular piece of sky. Is that right ? Or, would I have to stop, undo some screw somewhere and slew the scope around by hand and then re-engage the RA drive. (meanwhile my subject wobbles out of view ? ). Its not very clear to me how that works.

On the HEQ5 I don't see any pictures of manual controls at all. All the stores just seem to sell the HEQ5 -Pro with the Synscan GO-TO feature. Is an HEQ5 with manual controls or a simple RA drive possible ?. Similar question - how would the user interact by using the manual dongly controls and wth the RA drive running for tracking.

I understand that with the GoTo handset it would be possible to slew around using the handcontrol and possibly with the simple RA/DEC drive use the hand control to move around. But, my concern is the noise again.

Ideally I would like the option of moving to a subject manually and then have a simple EQ drive to track.  I liked the idea of the 'Freedom-Find' but that doesn't seem to be available on the EQ mounts.

Any suggestions or folks who could say how they do this wold be much appreciated.

Thanks 

[Cornelius Varley]

The HEQ5 range of mounts (original black HEQ5, HEQ5 Syntrek and Synscan) all have built in motors and don't have the option for manual slo mo cables.. All three have adjustable slew rates, so you could possibly use a slower slew rate with the Synscan HEQ5 to move the mount close to the target and then select the goto function to reduce the time the mount is slewing at full rate. You could also skip the star alignment and use the HEQ5 Synscan as a basic tracking mount without goto. For the old black model and the Syntrek version simply release the clutches and manually move the mount to the target, reengaging the clutches to restart the tracking.

[Yearofthegoat]

I'd agree with that. The lower rates of slew are much quieter. And now you can buy HEQ5s with belt drives, which are quieter still.

HEQ5 with Rowan belt

Even with Synscan models, you can still loosen the clutches, point, re-engage and it'll continue to track - it just won't know where it's pointed so you can't then expect to GoTo another target accurately without doing a new Star Alignment (other dearer mounts have encoders to get round this issue).

Personally I really like my HEQ5. Would suggest the PDS version of the OTAs for photography. My 150PDS has been fine, and lots of photographers on here use the 130PDS.

 

HTH

 

 

[Fraunhoffer]

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 17:24, Yearofthegoat said:

I'd agree with that. The lower rates of slew are much quieter. And now you can buy HEQ5s with belt drives, which are quieter still.

HEQ5 with Rowan belt

Even with Synscan models, you can still loosen the clutches, point, re-engage and it'll continue to track - it just won't know where it's pointed so you can't then expect to GoTo another target accurately without doing a new Star Alignment (other dearer mounts have encoders to get round this issue).

Personally I really like my HEQ5. Would suggest the PDS version of the OTAs for photography. My 150PDS has been fine, and lots of photographers on here use the 130PDS.

 

HTH

 

 

Hello

thanks for the comments. I saw the belt drive version. It looks v good. Unfortunately it will blow my budget away.
Just thinking I might need to re-visit my 'use-cases' and be prepared to wind my eyes back in a bit ?

I suppose my ideal would be manually locate/scan an area with a digital readout of RA and DEC (rather than small setting circles) and then engage a simple (quiet) RA sidereal drive to track and also be able to make small manual adjustments ' on the fly' .  (But I cant find such a mount - bit surprising since inexpensive digital Vernier gauges are quite common now)

Thanks

 

[Yearofthegoat]

I just ordered the belt drive kit from Rowan after talking to Dave via email. He was very helpful (hence ordering direct rather than via a retailer).

Gives you the option to change later, or maybe get a 'pre-loved' HEQ5 and upgrade it.

I think the most sensible advice I read was to make sure your scope is 'over-mounted' so you don't hit the weight carrying limit. Maybe go 150PDS  instead of 200 and get the belt-driven HEQ5?I

Choices choices! Good luck anyway.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 08:08, Fraunhoffer said:

My best observing time will be 1am-5am when the streetlights are off and I just don't think the whirring from slewing the scope around with GoTo will work without causing neighbourly issues.

My 6/8SE mount makes some noise, but the neighbours have never made any comment even when I operate it in the backyard.  If they did, I might suggest that they closed their double glazed windows which would block the noise. ?

[JOC]

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 08:08, Fraunhoffer said:

how to collimate a reflector

This is link for that one:  http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

 

[JG777]

The SW AZ EQ 5 may be what your looking for as it has the freedom find encoders which mean you can manually push to a target without loosing positional information, or having to re align, these mounts are apparently quieter than their HEQ5 counterparts. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-az-eq5-gt-geq-alt-az-mount.html

[Yearofthegoat]

Looks just the ticket. The weight limits seem to be similar to the HEQ5 too, in fact - just looked - maybe a bit more (HEQ5 15kg visual, 11 imaging, AZEQ5 15kg for both - that said, I think the former imaging figure doesn't include camera etc., whereas the latter does).