General setup of HEQ5/200PDS

[cjroberts792]

Hello All,

I'm back again with some more questions ready for your expert advice,

So, i'm gonna bore you with how i setup and then hopefully you will correct me with what i am doing wrong. But i will say this that after i have setup and use the goto function to find objects, they are near as dammit in the middle of the EP.

So, i setup level, polar align -

1 - Polaris at 6 o'clock position in polar scope, i then turn RA 180 and Polaris nearly stays on the line( I figure this is okay just for viewing)

2 - setup home pos.

3 - Balance scope

4 - then i go through initialising the handset (all good so far i hope)

now is where i'm a bit stumped

5 - once finished with the handset, it comes up with "place Polaris in scope HH:MM"....do i then go back to polar scope and place Polaris at the time given on the circle?

so far i have just left this bit and then gone on to star alignment, after doing this and centring the objects in EP, i then chose an object to view and it is still off centre a wee bit - is that to do with point 5.?

So, thats that bit out of the way, next..... Barlow Lens... simply why when i use my Barlow lens i cant see nothing but the secondary mirror and support arms, i tried a number of EP's with it and on a number of objects, now , i'm not a complete idiot ( although i can see some raised eyebrows out there ) but surely there's not too much to a Barlow..big end with the lens goes in big hole and EP's go in smaller end..?

Jupiter and Saturn were just a big bright blob with the secondary mirror in the middle, Andromeda Galaxy was just black couldn't even see any blurry stars

My Setup

HEQ5, 200mm Skywatcher PDS, starguider 2" 2xED Barlow with 1.25" Ad, Variuos BST starguider EP 25mm - 5mm

Once again I thank you all for taking the time out to help me and give me advice.

( at the moment , i think i'm getting the hang of it....... But wait till xmas when i get my new laptop and try and setup my camera, i just know i will be on here constantly......      

 

 

[Tomatobro]

The manual for the mount explains how to calibrate the polar scope. This ensures its aligned with the mount axis. You can do this during the day.

Polaris prescribes a circle around the true north so the HH:MM is the position of the pole star on the circle. Think of it as a clock face.

The problem with the use of the Barlow is harder to comment on. Others will chip in with suggestions but I would......

Check collimation

then see if you can focus on an object some distance away during daylight and see where the focuser ends up travel wise.

[cjroberts792]

Hi Tomatobro, 

thanks for getting back to me.

 

I have calibrated the polar scope, and i get the clockface, but once i have setup the handset do i then move Polaris to the given HH:MM that the handset displays, and as for the barlow, good idea i will try during the day,

 

thanks for your help

[Erling G-P]

I have the same scope & mount, and yes, you should move Polaris to the given time from the handset.  Assuming you have a smartphone, I can recommend the 'Synscaninit 2' app.  It gives you a graphical image of what you should see in the polar scope.  I find it much easier to emulate this, rather than trying to estimate where on the circles the given time is exactly.  For visual only, it's probably fine if you just get close enough.  If you do use the app, note that it has both 'old' and 'new' polar scope views, so you need to select the appropriate one (sounds like you have the 'new' style)

Weird with the barlow. I've used one with mine without any issues.  You have tried the full focus travel of course ?

 

Regards,

Erling-G-P

[Owmuchonomy]

If you are just viewing and not imaging then only a rough polar alignment is necessary.  So ignoring a step like you describe won't make any difference to your GoTo setup.  The Barlow is probably just a focuser issue.  Adding a Barlow can change the 'in focus' point dramatically so make sure you have racked your focus in and out fully after adding the Barlow.

[cjroberts792]

Cheers guys,

I'll take on the advice when i get the scope out again.