New tripod and......disappointed?

[FMA]

Hello,

after reading lots of posts, I decided to go for the skywatcher az eq5 gt. bought it in flo.

first, the mount i got is this one. That’s the one, isn’t it? Because it’s says pro but I paid for the az eq 5 gt. Manual is for az eq5 gt. but tripod says pro. Is this correct?

Second. After 20 min,i loose tracking of the moon. I’m using a 25 mm eyepiece. I used moon tracking. Trípode Leveled and battery fully charged. Is that normal? Loosing the moon in 20 min? How is going to follow deeps sky objects? Probably I’m doing something wrong because it has no sense.

Help. Thanks

 

 

[CraigT82]

Dont worry you got the mount you have paid for.

Have you polar aligned the mount? 

[Cornelius Varley]

27 minutes ago, FMA said:

That’s the one, isn’t it? Because it’s says pro but I paid for the az eq 5 gt. Manual is for az eq5 gt. but tripod says pro. Is this correct?

Yes that is correct. AZ EQ5GT=AZ EQ5 Pro.

28 minutes ago, FMA said:

Second. After 20 min,i loose tracking of the moon. I’m using a 25 mm eyepiece. I used moon tracking. Trípode Leveled and battery fully charged. Is that normal?

That seems quite good.

28 minutes ago, FMA said:

How is going to follow deeps sky objects?

For imaging you would use autoguiding. 

[Marvin Jenkins]

Don’t fret. You have a good mount and the one you paid for. It came as quite a surprise to me with my go to neq5 pro that after careful alignment it found the moon a very difficault target to find and track for longer periods.

I looked up old posts and reviews and this is certainly the case for a lot of people.

For DSO as long as you are careful with polar alignment it will most likely find a tiny distant galaxy far easier than the moon and most certainly track it better.

Marv

[FMA]

I thought that a 1000 pound tripod would track the moon for hours with no problem. But if that is normal....that’s ok!

[Marvin Jenkins]

3 minutes ago, FMA said:

I thought that a 1000 pound tripod would track the moon for hours with no problem. But if that is normal....that’s ok!

I will probably be proved wrong by far more knowledgeable members, but interpretation was that most popular go to mounts are primarily designed to track objects in space from Right Ascension. The movement of the stars to the naked eye rotating around the North Celestial Pole a point closest to Polaris.

Now the moon does not follow this path. Neither do the planets so perhaps our modern star following mounts find the extreme easy and the obvious very hard.

Marv

[JG777]

Did you set the tracking in the HC to lunar? 

[garryblueboy]

3 hours ago, FMA said:

Hello,

after reading lots of posts, I decided to go for the skywatcher az eq5 gt. bought it in flo.

first, the mount i got is this one. That’s the one, isn’t it? Because it’s says pro but I paid for the az eq 5 gt. Manual is for az eq5 gt. but tripod says pro. Is this correct?

Second. After 20 min,i loose tracking of the moon. I’m using a 25 mm eyepiece. I used moon tracking. Trípode Leveled and battery fully charged. Is that normal? Loosing the moon in 20 min? How is going to follow deeps sky objects? Probably I’m doing something wrong because it has no sense.

Help. Thanks

 

 

Don’t worry they have renamed the mounts I have the AZEQ6 pro which was the AZEQ6 GT did you star align or just go go straight Luna tracking as it does make a difference 

[FMA]

1 hour ago, JG777 said:

Did you set the tracking in the HC to lunar? 

I did. Twenty something minutes on 25 mm eyepiece. After it goes up

 

[FMA]

1 minute ago, garryblueboy said:

Don’t worry they have renamed the mounts I have the AZEQ6 pro which was the AZEQ6 GT did you star align or just go go straight Luna tracking as it does make a difference 

I’m playing during day. Can’t star allign

[garryblueboy]

1 minute ago, FMA said:

I’m playing during day. Can’t star allign

Then it’s not going to track correctly as it has no history 

[garryblueboy]

2 minutes ago, FMA said:

I’m playing during day. Can’t star allign

Are you EQ or AZ is the scope balanced correctly  

[FMA]

12 minutes ago, garryblueboy said:

Are you EQ or AZ is the scope balanced correctly  

Eq

[garryblueboy]

20 mins not bad 

[Telescope40]

Hello. I’ve got the same mount. Not had it long. I’m visual only and use Alt AZ mode. 
Used daytime align and not had any problems. 
Selected the Moon to align on and tracked nicely. 
PS. ( Never done daytime observing but using same method I had success in aligning on the Sun using appropriate filters and asked the mount to find Venus. It obliged. A first view in full daylight ) 
 

HTH. John 

[FMA]

More ...problems?

i didn't know it doesn’t come with polariscope....my fault, yes, but if need to be aligned, I think should come with one......!!!!

anyway...

I put Polaris in the telescope eyepiece and tell him to allign  to Artur us. The telescope goes in the direction of the star but NO appears in the 25 mm eyepiece......(quite far, to be honest)

Do u need a polariscope yes or yes? If Polaris in eyepiece shouldn’t at least point close  to Arcturus?

getting desperate. Because I’m new in astronomy, at the moment I blame myself, but beginning to think if it’s working ok.....

 

 

 

 

[Robindonne]

Well, as an fresh starter also, i can only tell you that beginning with an accurate polar allignment is kind of important.  To find out about that being important, you can try to turn the “alt azimuth knobs”(dont know if I translated it correctly).  Already when you just touch the knob you can see your immediately off target.  it is important to polaralign accurate for the track-path of the mount to be as good as you want.   And i now for sure you need a polarscope to do that.   When is use my newton or c8 i cant even see polaris through the mainscope when the mount is polaraligned. 
 

ps. Last week i read a post here that told me something new. After finishing the synscan 1/2/3 star alignment, the menu shows an extra option to check the polaralignment.   Never used it before but it might help you when a polarscope is not available yet

Edited June 1, 2020 by Robindonne

[SimM]

There are at least two more alignment choices after 1,2 or 3 star alignment.

HC controller can switch the Alt/Az and Eq mode and select if the mount uses digital setting circles (dual encoders) or only receives input from HC. A good PSU is also required.

There’s a difference between slewing to the moon and GOTO the moon as the latter switches to lunar tracking and the former might still be on sidereal. If you find tracking in the menu it shows the current setting highlighted.

Good balance and polar alignment with a reliable PSU (and a copy of the menu sheet) fix many issues!

Simon

Edited June 1, 2020 by SimM

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have recently fitted an EQ-5 with Synscan GoTo.

If you were observing the Moon in the daytime you are unlikely to get accurate tracking, as you need at least a 2-star align for that.

You should start with an accurate mechanical polar align (assuming you are in EQ mode).  Place the scope in the 'home position' atop the mount.  Polaris should appear in the polariscope (if fitted) or in the telescope's finder. If you now switch on and start the alignment, the mount should swing to the general vicinity of the first alignment star you select.  (Selecting alignment stars from the list can be a severe pain, but let's not go there just yet.)

Assuming the multi-star alignment worked, in the latest software you have a facility to go back and fine-tune the mechanical polar alignment, using a readout from the handset.  (Scroll to get Alignment instead of 1,2, or 3).  If you don't bother, it seems the Goto should still work accurately for positioning, except that you get some field rotation.

[Stu]

On 31/05/2020 at 21:02, FMA said:

Eq

Have you done a rough polar align?

[wimvb]

Getting polaris in the polar scope or finder scope of a new mount is no guarantee for correct polar alignment. With a goto mount, you will need to do a 2 star alignment first, then a polar alignment using the hand controller. Sw synscan has an all star polar alignment feature that is quite accurate and fast. You don't even need a polarscope on your mount. They're back breakers anyway. Use a compass to find north, and sight along the parked telescope tube to get altitude roughly correct. Then go to star alignment. 

Btw, when doing a star alignment, the first star can be "miles" off, but once centered, any subsequent stars are much closer to alignment. 

[FMA]

I have the tripod levelled and I think( almost sure that I put pollaris in the scope), I have no polarscope and don't want to spend 100 pound in one as my next gadget is an asiair pro who can do this. Anyways....

I tell to go to vega and the scope goes in the direction but is not in the eyepiece and I have to loose the clutches and find it( manual says that should be done with the arrow keys for more accuracy) is that correct?

I can see polaris  from the garden and the scope look pointing to it, ant the app for polar aligns says that's is there....so im quite sure its alligened to Polaris BUT in the telescope, not in any Polarsocope( not sure if any difference)

so im quite disappointed that when I tell to go to Vega, is not in the eyepiece......

 

[Endolf]

2 minutes ago, FMA said:

I tell to go to vega and the scope goes in the direction but is not in the eyepiece and I have to loose the clutches and find it( manual says that should be done with the arrow keys for more accuracy) is that correct?

Yes, the mount "learns" how far out it is during the alignment, if you use the clutches to do this it doesn't know it's been moved, so you have to use the arrow keys.

[Cosmic Geoff]

7 minutes ago, FMA said:

I tell to go to vega and the scope goes in the direction but is not in the eyepiece and I have to loose the clutches and find it( manual says that should be done with the arrow keys for more accuracy) is that correct?

No no no.. Assuming you are describing the alignment procedure here - It will point in the general direction of Vega, then you have to centre it in the eyepiece using the direction keys, not the clutches, and press Enter to accept the alignment.  Then select the next alignment star and do the same again.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Cosmic Geoff

[FMA]

thanks, but are you happy pollaris is in the telescope not in the polaroscope?