Telescope won,t align

[Lindsay47]

I need help please. I live in Spain and the sky is amazing. I'm a complete beginner, but I have followed the set up instruction manual to the letter. I have bought a 2nd hand BK MAK D127 AZ GoTo Telescope.  My problem is that it will not align to the second star. It slews completely in the opposite direction to where the star is and either ends up pointing at the ground or straight up. I have positioned it to the North, entered the correct time and co-ordinates, aligned it to the first star, entered a star 2nd star from the GoTo list and I can see the star I have chosen, I press align to 2nd star and every time it goes the opposite way.  Please can someone tell me what I need to do to correct this really frustrating problem.

[Tenor Viol]

I can't help with your specific mount, but I had a similar problem with the SW HEQ5 where it aligned OK but when I input an object to GOTO it was out by 90 degrees.

My conclusion in my case was a mix of a possible bug in the software and the 'home position' was incorrect. There are few other traps though that can throw you. The DATE input is crucial. If it's like the HEQ5, it is in American format of MM/DD/YYYY which I find really weird and it is very easy to get that wrong. Also, you need to input the correct time, the correct time zone, and correct Y/N value for daylight saving time.

I would just re-set everything and try again. Do a dry run indoors in daylight. Whilst you won't be able to 'see' what it's pointing at, you can use a planetarium programme such as Stellarium to see if where it is pointing makes sense. 

[Stargazer33]

Is the first alignment star correct? Do you know/recognise the constellation in which your 1st alignment star is in, or are you lining up on a star because it is in the field of view of your eyepiece? 

It seems very odd that it would correctly slew to the 1st star and then be wildly out on the second!

Power supply might be an issue? If batteries, are they fully charged? If mains, is the adaptor the correct voltage AND current (amps)? Could be a dodgy connection on the power circuit (lead, plug, socket etc.).

[gilesco]

55 minutes ago, Lindsay47 said:

I need help please. I live in Spain and the sky is amazing. I'm a complete beginner, but I have followed the set up instruction manual to the letter. I have bought a 2nd hand BK MAK D127 AZ GoTo Telescope.  My problem is that it will not align to the second star. It slews completely in the opposite direction to where the star is and either ends up pointing at the ground or straight up. I have positioned it to the North, entered the correct time and co-ordinates, aligned it to the first star, entered a star 2nd star from the GoTo list and I can see the star I have chosen, I press align to 2nd star and every time it goes the opposite way.  Please can someone tell me what I need to do to correct this really frustrating problem.

Is the first alignment definitively correct? And is there a setting somewhere to tell it you are in the Northern hemisphere?

[Lindsay47]

17 hours ago, Tenor Viol said:

I can't help with your specific mount, but I had a similar problem with the SW HEQ5 where it aligned OK but when I input an object to GOTO it was out by 90 degrees.

My conclusion in my case was a mix of a possible bug in the software and the 'home position' was incorrect. There are few other traps though that can throw you. The DATE input is crucial. If it's like the HEQ5, it is in American format of MM/DD/YYYY which I find really weird and it is very easy to get that wrong. Also, you need to input the correct time, the correct time zone, and correct Y/N value for daylight saving time.

I would just re-set everything and try again. Do a dry run indoors in daylight. Whilst you won't be able to 'see' what it's pointing at, you can use a planetarium programme such as Stellarium to see if where it is pointing makes sense. 

Thank you for your help. I will try a daytime dry run and see what happens.

[Lindsay47]

17 hours ago, Stargazer33 said:

Is the first alignment star correct? Do you know/recognise the constellation in which your 1st alignment star is in, or are you lining up on a star because it is in the field of view of your eyepiece? 

It seems very odd that it would correctly slew to the 1st star and then be wildly out on the second!

Power supply might be an issue? If batteries, are they fully charged? If mains, is the adaptor the correct voltage AND current (amps)? Could be a dodgy connection on the power circuit (lead, plug, socket etc.).

Thank you for replying. I chose Arcturus for the 1st star align as I could see it and checked the position on Stellarium. You have to slew the telescope manually for the 1st star align, centre it in the eyepiece and press confirm. Handset then asks you to choose a star from the list for the 2nd star align and I chose Alioth. The telescope should then automatically slew to the star you have chosen. The scope slewed in the opposite direction to the star. I has done this on several attempts with different stars and has always slewed in the opposite direction for the 2nd star. We are definitely in the Northern Hemisphere. I cannot connect to the Stellarium programme in my computer, as instructions say that the telescope must be correctly aligned before doing so! Probably be shot into space if I do!!!

I have checked the power supply and seems to function correctly. 

[gilesco]

7 minutes ago, Lindsay47 said:

Thank you for replying. I chose Arcturus for the 1st star align as I could see it and checked the position on Stellarium. You have to slew the telescope manually for the 1st star align, centre it in the eyepiece and press confirm. Handset then asks you to choose a star from the list for the 2nd star align and I chose Alioth. The telescope should then automatically slew to the star you have chosen. The scope slewed in the opposite direction to the star. I has done this on several attempts with different stars and has always slewed in the opposite direction for the 2nd star. We are definitely in the Northern Hemisphere. I cannot connect to the Stellarium programme in my computer, as instructions say that the telescope must be correctly aligned before doing so! Probably be shot into space if I do!!!

I have checked the power supply and seems to function correctly. 

Is there a firmware upgrade available?

[Lindsay47]

2 minutes ago, gilesco said:

Is there a firmware upgrade available?

The version I have is 3.09 and is apparently up to date.

[gilesco]

Sounds Similar to this problem: 

 

[Lindsay47]

Thanks. I'll give it a go. Sounds very like my problem.