how do i resync my heq5 and what dec and az figures should be in eqmod in parked position more help req plz

[iwols]

hi just stripped down my mount and now i dont think it knows where it is, slews wrongly very wrongly do i have to resync the mount and if so how, thanks guys

Edited February 19, 2021 by iwols

[kendg]

Stepper wires inadvertently reversed?

[iwols]

never disconnected them

[Merlin66]

Don’t Panic!

Just position the scope pointing to the pole, with the counterweight straight down.  This is the HOME position, which the electronics use at startup.

Then power everything up.

Should work OK.

[iwols]

the trouble is when im in home position the mount position in eqmod is wrong what should the dec and az read in the northern hemisphere? in parked position

 

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by iwols

[symmetal]

Dec should read +90:00:00 and Az should read 00:00:00 in the Northern hemishere default home position, (weights down and scope pointing North). If it doesn't then you've still got previous sync alignment points being applied. Expand the Eqmod window to show setup options and under 'Alignment/Sync' delete the sync alignment points by clicking the button to the left of the DxSA and DxSB readings. These should then read zero and your Dec and Az readings should also then be correct. You can also delete the 'Point Count' by clicking the button to its left too but I don't think this affects things if the DX readings have been deleted.

Also ensure 'User Interface' in the same section is set to 'Dialog Mode' and not 'Append On Sync' or you can end up with slews and centreing being well off target, if you're using platesolving to centre your target. Multiple resyncs during platesolving generates sync points very close to each other which can play havoc with Eqmod's pointing model if 'Append on Sync' is selected. 'Dialog Mode' deletes nearby previous sync points automatically to avoid this problem. 

On power up this home position is what Eqmod assumes the scope is positioned in and it works out the first slew to target from that assumed position. If the scope isn't in this home position when powered up your first slew will be off, though the first platesolve and sync should 'correct' for the wrong initial home position, and subsequent slews should then be OK.

It's worth deleting the saved alignment points, as mentioned above, at the start of each session, as platesolving makes them more of a hinderence than a help.

Alan

Edited February 17, 2021 by symmetal

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Is the right location set in the EQMod control panel ??, i.e. expand the panel, with the spanner >>  icon at the top ....

[Merlin66]

As Alan says at the home position the Dec should equal your latitude.

Do you have the correct lat/long values entered???

 

[malc-c]

There are no physical encoders in the HEQ5 so the positioning is all mathematical in code.

Either delete the previous EQMOD configuration settings using the EQASCOM  Toolbox, or (presuming the location settings are correct) simply release the clutches on both axis, set EQMOD to the correct coordinates for the default home position (either manually using the NSEW buttons - or the default park to home button) and then position the mount in the weight down default home position and lock off the clutches.

[symmetal]

6 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

As Alan says at the home position the Dec should equal your latitude.

I think you meant to say the Alt should equal your latitude. 😉 As Merlin66 points out you seem to have the wrong location coords entered in Eqmod as your latitude is -27. 

Also for completeness the RA should show the RA at the meridian +/- 6 hours. This is because when viewing an object at the meridian the counterweight bar is always horizontal. The home position rotates the bar by 90 degrees (6 hrs) so it hangs down which is safer. 🙂

Alan

Edited February 17, 2021 by symmetal

[iwols]

12 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Is the right location set in the EQMod control panel ??, i.e. expand the panel, with the spanner >>  icon at the top ....

sorry this is just an example not my actual setup thanks

[iwols]

16 hours ago, symmetal said:

Dec should read +90:00:00 and Az should read 00:00:00 in the Northern hemishere default home position, (weights down and scope pointing North). If it doesn't then you've still got previous sync alignment points being applied. Expand the Eqmod window to show setup options and under 'Alignment/Sync' delete the sync alignment points by clicking the button to the left of the DxSA and DxSB readings. These should then read zero and your Dec and Az readings should also then be correct. You can also delete the 'Point Count' by clicking the button to its left too but I don't think this affects things if the DX readings have been deleted.

Also ensure 'User Interface' in the same section is set to 'Dialog Mode' and not 'Append On Sync' or you can end up with slews and centreing being well off target, if you're using platesolving to centre your target. Multiple resyncs during platesolving generates sync points very close to each other which can play havoc with Eqmod's pointing model if 'Append on Sync' is selected. 'Dialog Mode' deletes nearby previous sync points automatically to avoid this problem. 

On power up this home position is what Eqmod assumes the scope is positioned in and it works out the first slew to target from that assumed position. If the scope isn't in this home position when powered up your first slew will be off, though the first platesolve and sync should 'correct' for the wrong initial home position, and subsequent slews should then be OK.

It's worth deleting the saved alignment points, as mentioned above, at the start of each session, as platesolving makes them more of a hinderence than a help.

Alan

Thanks Alan ,following your recommendations i slewed with eqmod so i had dec 90  and Az 00,i then deleted the settings you mentioned set up a start point in eqmod and used the spirit level to set up the park position which is now what i call the start position(that i set up earlier) so hopefully everything was back to normal ,slewed to m81 in nina ,but instead of going NE it went SW(totally opposite,brought back to the start position(parked)  and treid with SGP and this went NE,also tried in cartes de ciel and this too went NE so hopefully problem may be solved??,but now have to see why nina is different to these 2 programs thanks guys

[Kev M]

I am near Gainsborough ....very near to Donny...

This is mine on an HEQ5

 

Ian, Its probably that dodgy Apo that you are using....do you want to swap it for an ST80 ?

 

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Kev M

[iwols]

thanks kev🙂 will bare that offer in mind

[symmetal]

1 hour ago, iwols said:

Thanks Alan ,following your recommendations i slewed with eqmod so i had dec 90  and Az 00,i then deleted the settings you mentioned set up a start point in eqmod and used the spirit level to set up the park position which is now what i call the start position(that i set up earlier) so hopefully everything was back to normal ,slewed to m81 in nina ,but instead of going NE it went SW(totally opposite,brought back to the start position(parked)  and treid with SGP and this went NE,also tried in cartes de ciel and this too went NE so hopefully problem may be solved??,but now have to see why nina is different to these 2 programs thanks guys

Glad it's working now, at least with 2 programs. 🙂 When I replied last night I didn't see the Eqmod screenshot you posted, (maybe you added it later), but the latitude displayed set off alarm bells. 😁

SGP gets all its location info from the scope, (Eqmod in this case), you can't set it in the program. CdC keeps its own location info and gets feedback from the scope for position display. NINA has an option to set location in the Telescope section of equipment. Whether it uses that for slewing purposes I'm not sure. Worth checking it's correct.

Alan

Edited February 17, 2021 by symmetal

[iwols]

just reinstalled nina and now seems to be working just need them clear skies as usual🙂

[iwols]

well tried tonight everything seemed ok for half hour then guiding went nuts,tried calibration again and hardly moving and erratic readings again 1,3,5,4,6,5 ect ,refocused guide cam made a few setting adjustments and seemed ok ,but it was late,so packed in.Is there anyway of measuring the pulses sent to the motor,not sure where to go again, is it the eqmod cable,the mount although its been stripped/regreased,phd2 guide cam,the motors, not even sure how to narrow it down anymore🤔  or do i need to go away from my oag??    Just ordered another eqmod cable but dont suspect it?

Edited February 19, 2021 by iwols

[malc-c]

There is a way to view the PHD2 logs which should show corrections being made and what pulses are being sent to the mount. https://adgsoftware.com/phd2utils/

I'm no expert, but if you can select a target via an planetarium application such  as CdC and the mount slews to that position then the EQDIR cable and the mount is working fine.  All guiding function would be PHD2.  It doesn't know about stars etc, all it does is look at the incoming picture from the camera and compare the brightness of adjacent pixels around the target bright pixel's initial point.  If the adjacent pixel are brighter then it sends a guide pulse or pulses to counteract that movement based on its calibration.  Now if it sees a large movement due to noise, or some other factor then it will mistake that for a sudden jump and all goes haywire - same as when the clouds roll pass the guide star and the tracking is lost.

If you can, do you have the means to set up a guide scope rather than use the OAG.  It would simply be a way to rule out the OAG as the factor.  I've not used one so don't know if the signal to noise ratio for a given star is affected by the mirror is some way  (straw clutching).

The only other possibility is that PHD2 has lost communication with the mount.  This could be software related, in that ASCOM has failed and dropped the PHD2 or EQMOD so that neither can share the communications.  Or it might be USB related (power savings on the laptop turning off USB after a set amount of time? - again straw clutching) 

[iwols]

thanks malc will look into the above ,cheers -everything seems ok slewing its just when i seem to be making small pulses to the mount in phd calibration/guiding it either works or struggles(its a mystery)

Edited February 19, 2021 by iwols

[malc-c]

what are the EQMOD pulse guiding settings like.  If you expand the EQMOD window using the spanner, 3rd column along is a panel that has ASCOM pulse Guide Settings.  I think by default these set themselves to x0.10.  Ensure they are checked and increase the sliders to x0.90 for both.  If that becomes too aggressive then back them off an increment at a time.

[iwols]

mine set to 0.9 ,when the calibration and guiding works its great,its just that when guiding goes mad i know if i do a calibration theres no chance on completing might do 30 steps but not move accordingly