Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[Elp]

Good to know. It's a bit odd though differing experiences from different people and the fixes being different also.

 

[savcom]

40 minutes ago, Pixies said:

A  firmware update from 339 to 340 fixed it. Phew!

It's also fixed the issue I had with the flashing red LED - which before just flashed steadily whatever the status.

Interesting.  I had the same issue using the Synscan Pro app last night on Android 13.  Ruined my evening, as the mount would slew to target but not let me manually align.  The buttons on the app would respond, but no movement from the mount.

I'll check the firmware I'm running and see if it matches your configuration and I'll report back.

[SzabiB]

I received my new 127 MAK on AZ GTi yesterday.

Around 9 o'clock the clouds disappeared, so I moved to the garden.

I was mocking around good half an hour and did not manage to get the mount aligned.

I set up everything how other ones suggested. Telescope facing North, all spirit level in centre, telescope on the correct side of the mount, mount runs from an Anker PowerHouse, location service enabled. 

In the first round  I tried the North alignment. Any star I picked from the list, made the mount crazy and pointed the telescope to the ground. I restarted everything, deleted and reinstalled the app on the phone and moved to the 2 brightest stars alignment. Now finally, it started to point towards to the sky, but it was miles out with everything. 

Jupiter appearing end of my garden I gave up and pointed the scope to Jupiter and clicked on the point and track. This function actually was working pretty well, I needed only fine adjust the position every 7-10 minutes to keep Jupiter in the middle of the eyepiece. 

Any idea, what am I doing wrong? I need to figure it out before my wife comes home, otherwise I can't justify for her about my new purchase (which anyway only was over £100 - not... but luckily Flo doesn't put invoice in the boxes) and I am going to sleep on the sofa for weeks...

[Elp]

Usually when it points to the ground it has an incorrect "home" position on startup (it needs to be correctly aligned before you turn the power on, not super accurate but near enough), or you're mounting the scope in alt az on the wrong side of the mount, it will be on the LHS by default on older firmware, with newer firmware it'll be on the RHS pointing north. When you do an alignment it'll be off, you need to defocus the visual eyepiece (use a low power like a 30mm to start, then fine tune with a 10mm or so, a crosshair illuminated eyepiece will be more accurate still) so the stars are slightly doughnut shaped and bloated so you can judge how central they are in the eyepiece, then make the minor adjustments, focus a bit more and centre until you confirm the centre position of your alignment star, then do alignment 2 and 3 if needed.

Using a mak, your goto will look more off due to the focal length of the scope, so you'll have to spend some time making sure your star alignment is good.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Elp

[Pixies]

@SzabiB -  Quick pic of your setup?

Have you updated the firmware at all? Or at least checked the installed version? Is it AZ only or AZ/EQ?

You can use this to check the version (using Windows) "Windows program: Motor Controller Firmware Loader - WiFi, Version 1.80":

http://skywatcher.com/download/software/motor-control-firmware/#:~:text=Windows program%3A Motor Controller Firmware Loader - WiFi%2C Version 1.80

Edited October 28, 2022 by Pixies

[SzabiB]

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

@SzabiB -  Quick pic of your setup?

Have you updated the firmware at all? Or at least checked the installed version? Is it AZ only or AZ/EQ?

You can use this to check the version (using Windows) "Windows program: Motor Controller Firmware Loader - WiFi, Version 1.80":

http://skywatcher.com/download/software/motor-control-firmware/#:~:text=Windows program%3A Motor Controller Firmware Loader - WiFi%2C Version 1.80

Nope, not yet. I just checked the current one is 3.29 A5. So I guess I  need to download the 3.80?

 

[Pixies]

41 minutes ago, SzabiB said:

Nope, not yet. I just checked the current one is 3.29 A5. So I guess I  need to download the 3.80?

 

The latest version is 3.40. But does it say whether it's the Alt-AZ or the Alt-AZ/EQ version that's installed on your mount? I'm not sure if the loader program can differentiate, though.

On the Synscan pro app, when you connect, do you get options to use Alt-AZ or EQ mode? 

[SzabiB]

2 minutes ago, Pixies said:

The latest version is 3.40. But does it say whether it's the Alt-AZ or the Alt-AZ/EQ version that's installed on your mount? I'm not sure if the loader program can differentiate, though.

On the Synscan pro app, when you connect, do you get options to use Alt-AZ or EQ mode? 

I updated now. It was in Alt-AZ mode as I have the normal mount and no wedge or counter weight. 

[Pixies]

4 minutes ago, SzabiB said:

I updated now. It was in Alt-AZ mode as I have the normal mount and no wedge or counter weight. 

yes - but there are 2 versions of the firmware. The plain old AZ one, where you have the scope on the left side, and the dual AZ/EQ - where you need to have the scope on the right, even in Alt-Az mode.

Your symptoms sound like using the dual-use firmware in Alt-Az mode but with the scope on the wrong side.

[SzabiB]

15 minutes ago, Pixies said:

yes - but there are 2 versions of the firmware. The plain old AZ one, where you have the scope on the left side, and the dual AZ/EQ - where you need to have the scope on the right, even in Alt-Az mode.

Your symptoms sound like using the dual-use firmware in Alt-Az mode but with the scope on the wrong side.

OK, so can you point me the direction, which firmware do I need?

This is my scope

[Stu1smartcookie]

if you wish to have the scope in EQ mode you need to install the firmware that staes "right Arm" in the title . Once installed as @Pixies writes you can still use it for Alt Az or EQ , but the scope would need to be placed on the right hand side of the mount ... when the mount is purchased its operating in alt az mode only and the scope has to be placed on the left hand side of the mount . 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Stu1smartcookie

[Elp]

Rewind a bit here.

It will work in alt az (as per its design intent) with any firmware.

@SzabiB Which firmware is loaded onto the mount right now?

Edited October 28, 2022 by Elp

[SzabiB]

4 minutes ago, Elp said:

Rewind a bit here.

It will work in alt az (as per its design intent) with any firmware.

@SzabiB Which firmware is loaded onto the mount right now?

Last night was 3.29 which came with. Now I updated to 3.40 and waiting for darkness, sitting on needles... 

[Elp]

Firmware: AZGTi Mount, Right Arm, AZ/EQ Dual Mode, Version 3.40

If that's the one you used it has now been upgraded to RHS alt az use, and also has the option to be used in equatorial mode which the synscan pro app will ask upon startup whether you are operating in alt az or EQ.

So in your photo, the mount has to be rotated 180 degrees in azimuth (the base axis connected to the tripod), and the scope needs to be mounted onto the alt axis on the RHS. Before you power on, the scope needs to be parallel with the ground, and pointing north. If the goto starts going in the wrong direction, the alt axis needs to be rotated 180 degrees and the scope remounted to be parallel with the ground and pointing north again.

Check the bubble level on the top of the azgti too, the bubble should be in the centre of the window which will tell you the tripod+mount+load is level with the ground, of it's not, goto will be inaccurate. You'll have to adjust the tripod legs if not.

A goto should take you thereabout but until you do 2 or 3 star alignment a few times it won't be as accurate. As mentioned the long focal length of the mak will make it seem more off as it's a "zoomed in" magnified view. If you were using a short focal length refractor it wouldn't seem so far off.

You can practice this indoors if you know where to point north, and reference a stellarium app (stellarium/sky safari/kstars) to the current time of day, and tell the mount to goto a solar system target you can see in the app to give you a rough idea on point accuracy.

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Elp

[LaurenceT]

51 minutes ago, SzabiB said:

Last night was 3.29 which came with. Now I updated to 3.40 and waiting for darkness, sitting on needles... 

There are 2 versions of the 3.40 firmware, which one did you download?

[StevieDvd]

58 minutes ago, SzabiB said:

Last night was 3.29 which came with. Now I updated to 3.40 and waiting for darkness, sitting on needles... 

The firmware names should give a clue. The AZ/EQ file has 'right-arm' in the name (scope on right facing forward), the other has 'standard' in the name (scope on left facing forward),

You can test it indoors now.🙂

Set it up pointing roughly north and do a goto of something that would be above horizon such as Vega. If the scope points down then reset back to level & North & do the same with the scope on the other side.

 

[SzabiB]

Started to get very [removed word] off now. 

ok, so downloaded the correct one, uploaded, all good. 

Now the mount doesn't move at all. All comes alive, when I select North alignment, choose two stars, moves half a centimeter, thats it. Trying to control trough the app, nothing. It is all connected, the app is buzzing, when I am pushing the control buttons, but no movement or noise in the mount... 

[StevieDvd]

Check what slew rate you have set for the movement, it may simply be too low try upping it to 9.

[Elp]

What device are you using to control it and is the mount mains or 12v powered?

[SzabiB]

Ok, we are up and running, it is beautifully hanging on Jupiter in the past 30 minutes. 

So what helped. 

- switch off, disconnect from power (running 13.2V Anker PowerHouse - I can run a fridge from it for 2 days...)

- reinstall firmware

- delete app and reinstall 

- figured out, the cable what I ordered for powering the unit, is not the best one. Need to be wedged out in the powerbank connection, otherwise any slight movement, loose power for a few second

 

I am controlling it from a Samsung S20 , but going to dig out some old phone for mainly control. 

Thanks for the input for everyone, fingers crossed now it is going to be fine. Now going back to the garden...

 

 

[grjsk]

Haven't seen alot of pictures of the newest ADM replacement saddle, so I tought I'd post one of mine. It is smaller than the original dual saddle, and now it also includes a protective "cup" that prevents dust and dirt getting into the internal mechanisms. A very nice upgrade!

[Stu1smartcookie]

54 minutes ago, grjsk said:

Haven't seen alot of pictures of the newest ADM replacement saddle, so I tought I'd post one of mine. It is smaller than the original dual saddle, and now it also includes a protective "cup" that prevents dust and dirt getting into the internal mechanisms. A very nice upgrade!

That looks really neat 

[LaurenceT]

Just a question about the Point and Track feature in the Synscan app. For instance, if I enable Point and Track for the moon and then use the app arrow keys to point the scope at a slightly different part of the lunar surface will it still continue to track or do I have to re-enable it?

[StevieDvd]

I would suspect all the Point and Track does is to set the rate (Solar/Lunar/DSO) based on your target selection. It would be de-activated by a goto or being switched off in tracking (as per manual).  So I would expect it to keep tracking at the same rate even with app key commands to relocate/recentre.

In your example you could activate it and after doing a few app arrow movements check in tracking to see if it is still enabled.

 

[mr saddo]

Hi, all , can you help me with the AZ Gti mount,  when I center on a object either in alignment or go to and it's a few degrees off , I put it on target but  it  keeps moving it back  off,  I have to over run the  target to bring it back in center, it's very hard to get  say jupiter or saturn in a 10mm e.p. I  have   owmed the mount and  scope a few days mak127,  location correct, pointed level north, scope on left side.  Yours Paul.

Edited November 5, 2022 by mr saddo