AllView AZ Mount alignment problem

[AlexandruStacescu]

Hello to all!

My name is Alex, and I am from Romania. I started in astrophotography about 5 years ago using my 114mm Reflector telescope and an EQ1 mount (yeah, I know...). Recently I bought a second-hand SkyWatcher Allview AZ mount that was used only for camera purposes.

The problem is that I cannot align it. I am entering my location, the date, the hour and the time zone, I am pointing it to the first star, but when I chose the second star, it goes in a totally different place in the sky. Either way, I slew it to the right place, I confirm the alignment, but it's all wrong.

I updated the Hand Control to Ver. 03.39.05 and the Motor Controllers to Ver.2.14, but it still doesn't work. It feels like it knows I am in a totally different place. The mount works just fine technically, tried it both on batteries and plugged in.

Does anyone know a possible solution to this problem? I don't seem to find anything.

Some data that might help:

My location: 43°49'N 28°34'E

Time zone: GMT+3

Thank you in advance!

Regards,

Alex

[michael8554]

As nobody with Synscan experience has answered, my best guess is:

Enter Longitude first,  28 34E

Then Latitude,  43 49N

Date is american format, mm/dd/yyyy

Time is GMT +3 as you say, with DST on.

Looks like the scope has to be on the left of the mount and pointing north and level to start with.

Michael

[AlexandruStacescu]

Thank you for your answer Michael.

I tried pointing the scope to Polaris, then begin the alignment. It slews to a completely wrong position for the second star.

I connected the mount to a laptop with Stellarium software, and noticed that the position of the scales on the mount matches the information it gives to the laptop. I tried to manually set the mount on Polaris coordinates (using the scales on the mount), then point the whole assembly to the star (leveled with the ground, of course). I entered my coordinates and local time, just like you said, selected the first alignment star as Polaris, but again, for the second star it slews to a wrong place in the sky.

The location and time was entered correctly, the Sideral Time was good (I checked it with an online tool for my location and time).

Even if I slew the telescope to the second star's right place in the sky and finish the alignment, it is completely wrong. It sees the Moon right above my head, and says that Jupiter is below the horizon.

Any thoughts?

[michael8554]

So does the mount go to the first star without much error? 

If it goes to completely wrong position then initial setup position may be wrong. 

1 hour ago, AlexandruStacescu said:

tried pointing the scope to Polaris

Have you read the User Manual? 

Could be wrong but I thought you started with the scope tube  horizontal and pointing north, not up to Polaris? 

Michael 

Edited August 20, 2019 by michael8554

[Cornelius Varley]

1 hour ago, AlexandruStacescu said:

Thank you for your answer Michael.

I tried pointing the scope to Polaris, then begin the alignment. It slews to a completely wrong position for the second star.

I connected the mount to a laptop with Stellarium software, and noticed that the position of the scales on the mount matches the information it gives to the laptop. I tried to manually set the mount on Polaris coordinates (using the scales on the mount), then point the whole assembly to the star (leveled with the ground, of course). I entered my coordinates and local time, just like you said, selected the first alignment star as Polaris, but again, for the second star it slews to a wrong place in the sky.

The location and time was entered correctly, the Sideral Time was good (I checked it with an online tool for my location and time).

Even if I slew the telescope to the second star's right place in the sky and finish the alignment, it is completely wrong. It sees the Moon right above my head, and says that Jupiter is below the horizon.

Any thoughts?

Polaris isn't a good star to use for alignment. Because it is so close to the celestial north pole it doesn't move very much and can lead to inaccuracies in star alignment. 

[happy-kat]

1 hour ago, michael8554 said:

 

Could be wrong but I thought you started with the scope tube  horizontal and pointing north, not up to Polaris? 

Michael 

That was my thought as well.

Synscaninit application in Android or ios if you have a suitable phone provides figures in format to enter for your location on the handset.

[AstroMuni]

3 hours ago, AlexandruStacescu said:

It sees the Moon right above my head, and says that Jupiter is below the horizon.

I am a newbie so ignore if what I say sounds illogical ... What you have said above sounds indeed odd, because it Moon is above head, Jupiter would be higher up in horizon (not lower) would be my guess??

[michael8554]

I agree with Peter, don't use Polaris as an alignment star. 

Are you correctly following the procedure in the User Manual? 

There are usually times when you centre with the handset, and times when you release the clutches and centre, don't mix them up. 

Michael 

[AstroMuni]

Got the manual from https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/upfiles/en_download_caty01440173393.pdf.

Is this the correct one Alex?

[Cornelius Varley]

2 minutes ago, M55_uk said:

Got the manual from https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/upfiles/en_download_caty01440173393.pdf.

Is this the correct one Alex?

Those instructions are for setting the local latitude using the non goto style Supatrak handset, not for the Synscan handset.

[michael8554]

4 hours ago, AlexandruStacescu said:

It sees the Moon right above my head, and says that Jupiter is below the horizon.

What is "It" that is seeing the moon etc? 

Michael 

[AlexandruStacescu]

Hey guys, thank you for your replies.

The first times when I tried the alignment I was using Altar as my first star (it has about 26 degrees of altitude in my area), with the scope horizontally and the mount pointed to North. Total fail.

Then, I tried using Polaris, because it doesnt change the position in the sky very much, to see where it is going from there.

Yes, I read the User Manual, but for my GoTo mount it doesn't even specify that it should be pointed to North.

"It" is refering to the mount.

[michael8554]

2 hours ago, AlexandruStacescu said:

Total fail

You're not going to solve this without giving us useful information, this tells us nothing. 

Did the mount move towards Altair, or away, where did it end up, etc etc?

Michael 

[happy-kat]

My suspects are how the location data is entered and the date/time.

[Helen]

I don't know if this will help, but there is a synscan version just for the Allview http://skywatcher.com/download/software/synscan-v3-hand-controller-firmware/  3.09.26  Also you may need to make sure the scope is facing the right direction relative to the mount  (the scope to the left of the mount) - the AZGTI is picky like that too.

Helen