Problem with EQ3-2 go to mount need help please

[CharlieMain]

Ok so this might be a bit long. I've had this mount for a while now and i constantly have trouble getting it to go where i tell it to hoping someone might have any idea what to do.

 

Whenever i tell it to go to an object it is always too low down and when doing star alignment it doesn't go close to the star i've selected, for example last night i went out i made sure it was level and balanced set it to home position, i polar aligned using sharpcap and double checked it using a polar finder app, i entered my cooridinates and set the time and set time zone to +00:00 because im in the uk made sure date was set with the month first and daylight saving time set to no.

 

I chose Alioth as my first alignment star and everytime it was down below Alkaid not even close to Alioth i dont know why it would be that low i tried changing the elevation settings to see if it would make a difference it didn't. So i move the mount using the arrow keys until i get to the star, centre it and confirm it. Caph was my next alignment star it was closer this time but still not there so had to move it again using arrow keys centred it and confirmed the alignment.

 

Then selected M82 as my target did a test image to see if it was there and nothing, again it hasnt gone to my target i use stellarium to get the coordinates for the target and they dont macth the positon the mount is showing, so i move the mount until it is on the same coordinates as what stellarium says and still the target isn't there so now im even more confused as to why it isn't on target. 

 

I've checked all my settings countless times to make sure i didn't enter anything wrong, i've done a factory reset and entered everything again also updated the software because it was on a older version. I have it plugged in to an extension lead from the house so power shouldn't be a problem and i've checked that all the cables are out of the way and not pulling on it when its slewing. I have no idea what could be the problem hopefully someone can help.

 

[Freddie]

You may want to describe your home position so people can check it is correct. If you haven’t checked and corrected cone error you would be better doing a 3 star align as the last align takes any cone error into account. Other than from the house, what are you using to supply power to the mount? Is it at least 12v and enough amps?

[CharlieMain]

13 minutes ago, Freddie said:

You may want to describe your home position so people can check it is correct. If you haven’t checked and corrected cone error you would be better doing a 3 star align as the last align takes any cone error into account. Other than from the house, what are you using to supply power to the mount? Is it at least 12v and enough amps?

i have it set with the mount weight facing down the north leg before i power it on, im using a 12v power supply with 5Amp output and no i havent checked cone error

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have a EQ-5 Synscan and a lot of this sounds all too familiar.  The move to the first alignment star is based on the home position and dead-reckoning, so don't expect it to be accurate. Mine does align, sort of, but the accuracy on GoTo is usually low, sometimes  a degree or two out which is useless.  Sometimes it will point in the wrong direction altogether, or be wildly inaccurate on the other side of the meridian.

Apparently the mounts are capable of good accuracy but I am coming to think that the softwre is bad. I am tempted to sell the EQ-5 and buy an AVX.  Even if it isn't a great mount, at least I'll have better and more dependable software. 😕  I have had the Synscan for about 10 months and have spent more time trying to make it work usefully than anctually using it.

[michael8554]

Once you have a good PA do not alter the mount's Az or Alt to centre an Alignment Star, only use the arrow keys for that.

If you've carried out the Star Alignment correctly and still have poor GoTo, choose a star near your target as the third Alignment Star.

So for M81/M82 centre Dubhe. 

Or GoTo, centre, and SYNCH on Dubhe if the mount has that feature.

Then the mount should do an accurate GoTo in that part of the sky, including M82.

Michael

 

[Neil H]

Hi I have the HEQ5 after I do a 3 star alignment I go to an easy target of its off I clear PAE it's in the utility section after its cleared go to PAE training align the target and press enter now go to another target do the same thing as before after you should find it's better hitting targets

[Seelive]

17 hours ago, CharlieMain said:

... I chose Alioth as my first alignment star and everytime it was down below Alkaid not even close to Alioth i dont know why it would be that low i tried changing the elevation settings to see if it would make a difference it didn't. So i move the mount using the arrow keys until i get to the star, centre it and confirm it. Caph was my next alignment star it was closer this time but still not there so had to move it again using arrow keys centred it and confirmed the alignment....

 

 

You seem to have broken both 'rules' for a SynScan equatorial mount 2-star alignment. Quoting from my SynScan Instruction manual:

"The deviation in RA of the two alignment stars should not be too close or too close to 12 hours; the recommended deviation is 3 hours to 9 hours"  Alioth has a RA of 13hr and Caph as an RA of 0hr so a difference of 11hr.

"The absolute values of the two alignments stars' declination should deviate between 10 to 30 degrees". Alioth has a declination of +56 deg and Caph has a declination of +59 deg, a difference of just 3 deg.

I assume you manually chose those 2 stars (due to local obstructions of the sky, I tend to use the first 2 visible stars from the lists automatically generated by the handset and don't have problems).  You can then perform Pointing Accuracy Enhancement using an object close to your intended target (see the 'Advanced Functions' section of the instruction manual for details) if there are still residual errors.

It's also worth mentioning that for 2-star alignment, the instruction manual also states "If there is cone error in the telescope mount setup or if users are not sure about it, it is recommended to choose two alignment stars on the same side of the meridian" (the difference in Alioth and Caph's RA makes it very likely they will be on opposite sides of the meridian).

Finally, are you parking the scope after each session?  If so, do you ignore the saved setting upon the next power-up of the mount if there is a possibility that the RA and/or Dec axis have been manually moved between sessions?

[CharlieMain]

4 hours ago, Seelive said:

You seem to have broken both 'rules' for a SynScan equatorial mount 2-star alignment. Quoting from my SynScan Instruction manual:

"The deviation in RA of the two alignment stars should not be too close or too close to 12 hours; the recommended deviation is 3 hours to 9 hours"  Alioth has a RA of 13hr and Caph as an RA of 0hr so a difference of 11hr.

"The absolute values of the two alignments stars' declination should deviate between 10 to 30 degrees". Alioth has a declination of +56 deg and Caph has a declination of +59 deg, a difference of just 3 deg.

I assume you manually chose those 2 stars (due to local obstructions of the sky, I tend to use the first 2 visible stars from the lists automatically generated by the handset and don't have problems).  You can then perform Pointing Accuracy Enhancement using an object close to your intended target (see the 'Advanced Functions' section of the instruction manual for details) if there are still residual errors.

It's also worth mentioning that for 2-star alignment, the instruction manual also states "If there is cone error in the telescope mount setup or if users are not sure about it, it is recommended to choose two alignment stars on the same side of the meridian" (the difference in Alioth and Caph's RA makes it very likely they will be on opposite sides of the meridian).

Finally, are you parking the scope after each session?  If so, do you ignore the saved setting upon the next power-up of the mount if there is a possibility that the RA and/or Dec axis have been manually moved between sessions?

Hi yes I chose those stars due to some obstructions, I'm trying again tonight so I'll use the stars the handset recommends if they can be seen. I do park the scope after each session when I power it back it up it asks to start from park position I have been selecting yes.

[CharlieMain]

4 hours ago, Neil H said:

Hi I have the HEQ5 after I do a 3 star alignment I go to an easy target of its off I clear PAE it's in the utility section after its cleared go to PAE training align the target and press enter now go to another target do the same thing as before after you should find it's better hitting targets

Hi thank you I'll try this tonight see If it helps 

[Seelive]

1 hour ago, CharlieMain said:

... I do park the scope after each session when I power it back it up it asks to start from park position I have been selecting yes.

If you're physically moving the mount between sessions, I would be inclined not to bother parking it or selecting NO when you start a new session.