EQ6 parking looses alignment.

[Jeffrsharpe]

Hi, By example my EQ6 is aligned on moon, then I park it to a desired position so that roof can slide back on, if I do a goto to return to the moon the moon is regularly misaligned  by about 2 degrees lower than it should be. However if I move it from the moon via the laptop to the same parked position and then do a second goto to the moon it centres perfectly. Any suggestions on how to get it to park and return without loosing this amount of alignment. It will always park correctly at the desired location after use but won’t come out of park and stay aligned as it should. 

A second similar unusual behaviour that someone may be able to help on. For all movements from or to the park position the mount rotates to within about thirty degrees of the final point , then completely stops, has a few seconds thinking  and then moves on to its final park location. It ends in the right position each time but what makes it stop to think. Moving from park the same interruption exists at about the same position. The mount is not binding at this point...it seems to be totally system or electronics related. Can the mount electronics be reset somehow to clear these two anomalies. 

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as parking properly would be nice to have.  

thanks...clear skies. Jeff  

[michael8554]

First of all, the moon is not a good example, as the moon and planet positions are "dynamic", the star positions are "static".

On un-parking the Star Alignment should be fairly good. On un-parking my LX200GPS a GoTo a star is usually near the centre of the finder, and just needs SYNCHing.

But I can't explain why going back and forth without SYNCHing would change anything.

Some mounts approach a GoTo at full tilt, then reduce speed for touchdown, but that doesn't sound like your mount's behaviour.

Michael

 

[Jeffrsharpe]

Thanks for the comments. I used the moon as an example that night but not on different nights so it would have been the same if I had used a star.  The problem is instantaneous and obviously the same over several days. I was hoping someone would explain how to reset the mounts programming.

[bottletopburly]

platesolving at start of session will solve this assuming imaging 

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by bottletopburly

[Jiggy 67]

How are you powering the mount, I’ve never had an issue but I’ve read a lot about dodgy power supplies causing erratic mount behavior 

[Jeffrsharpe]

Thanks for two responses...Platesolving is my next learning exercise but the mount behaviour is still questionable although I must admit that I discovered last night that my longitude settings in CDC were Eastings when they should be west so I am hoping that will stop the return miss alignment issue. I need a clear night or hopefully a dry day to test this out on a nearby chimney. My power supply is quite a good dedicated 10 or 12 amp supply so should not be the problem. 

[CedricTheBrave]

Hi my EQ6 R Pro does this exactly the same

plate solve to a star, sync then park and try to go back its a fair way off

it also does do the pause sometimes its as if it gets to a point then thinks oops i went the wrong way

mine is mains powered with a 600w psu so i don't see power as an issue

think its a software glitch but as it doesn't cause me a major issue i haven't spent time diagnosing yet

[Jeffrsharpe]

It’s good to know someone else has the issue. I’ve discovered the pause occurs as I drive the scope through the meridian so I guess that’s an expected thinking moment for them. 

The issue of them not returning to the correct point is surely wrong and should if nothing else be correctable as it’s a consistent difference. 

[CedricTheBrave]

Just updated the motor control firmware on the mount so will give it a go next time I can see some clear sky

it was one step behind so unlikely to fix it but always worth a try.

 

[bottletopburly]

I see your using eqmod ,go into eqmod and clear sync points ,this should help jeff.

Edited November 2, 2020 by bottletopburly

[Jeffrsharpe]

I tried that yesterday but rain set in and haven’t had clear sky yet...tried against nearby chimney in between rain this morning and it seems it may have worked.. it’s a bit too close though so need to get to a star when it gets clear....fingers crossed. Thanks for suggestion. 
 

 

Roll off roof observatory with EQ6 mount, Skywatcher ED80 scope as wide field with 600d, ZWO electronic filter wheel and Lakeside Focuser with piggybacked narrow field Skymax 127 and SXV H9c and second Lakeside focuser. Guiding with ZWO 120mm on ZWO 60 mm guidescope.. 
 

Williams optics Star 70, QHY5 and Neximage5 as extras

Next step is to replace 600d with Altair Hypercam 294C PRO TEC Cooled 11.6mp Colour CMOS Camera 4GB DDR3 RAM.......when they can supply it.