HEQ5 Pro Synscan problem/question

[centroid]

Maybe its me "not seeing the wood for the trees" here,  but I have come up against a problem with the HEQ5

Back in the day (pre 2014) I was using an NEQ6 and never came up against the same problem. I think I was 'driving' it via ASCOM, but I can't remember. Was ASCOM control about then?

I am Polar Aligned, and the mount stays on the pier so doesn't move between imaging sessions, only the scope is removed, and the Dovetail is marked, so the scope goes back in exactly the same position, thus removing the need to re-balance each time.

I am driving the mount via ASCOM (EQdirect), which works fine for GOTO, and Guiding, but!!!

However, if I have several objects, East of the Meridian, set as 'Sync' points, it remembers them, and can GOTO them again, so far so good.

With the Meridian limit set in ASCOM, the mount stops there. If you ask the mount to go from an object East of the Meridan, to one West of the Meridian, it stops at the Meridian, and 'flashes up' a warning that the limit has been reached.

Remove the Limit,  and of course the mount will traverse the Meridian. However the selected GOTO object way outside the FOV of both the main scope, and guide scope..

Return the mount to the 'Home' position, and then GOTO an object West of the Meridian, and the object is still way off target, and too far off for Plate Solve (> than 15 degrees) to bring the mount onto the object.

The difficulty is that I am controlling the mount, via Ethernet, from the summer house/shed some 6m away, so I can't look through the 50mm, or Red Dot finder, and then 'drive' the mount to the target, and 'Sync' it.  It is so far off, that a circular search can't reach it..

Accurate East of the Meridian, but the accuracy does not carry through the the West of the Meridian.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome.

 

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by centroid

[malc-c]

Are you using EQMOD for mount control or GSServer (both ASCOM "drivers" ).  Is there any option to perform an auto meridian flip ?

How certain your polar alignment hasn't changed (mount been accidently nocked ?)

[centroid]

EQMOD Malcom.

Polar aligment hasn't moved. The mount remains on the pier, which is bolted to a concrete base. The  mount and pier adapter, are each marked, so any movenent of the adusters, would be visible, as the marks would not be aligned.

I always set the Meridian flip point with the NEQ6 a little way past the Meridian point, so the imaging run could continue on for a bit.

However, this is not a Meridian flip issue.  Starting a Goto from the Home position, to an object east of the Meridian, is fine, but going to an object west of the  Meridian,  is way off target.

When I next get the chance, I will try to Plate Solve some objects west of the Meridian and sync the mount to them. It only needed to do thiis on a couple of objects on the east side, and east side gotos are fine.

I find that plate solving struggles if the goto object is too far off target. 

I just need to "play" some more, but clear sky opportunities are infrequent enough, not be wasting them faffing around with equipment problems.

Edited January 21, 2022 by centroid
Typo

[malc-c]

Dave, might be worth posting on the EQMOD user group.  I confess I'm at a loss, other than a balance / backlash issue, which given your level of expertise  would rule both of those out. 

[centroid]

I'll sort it Malcom, maybe even before the clocks go forward, and the nights shorten 🙂

I don't think its an EQMOD problem, that is just the interface between Cartes du Ciel, and the mount.  Maybe a quirk with the mount (Synscan), and the software.

Or perhaps it just doesn't want me to be imaging objects West of the Meridian 😅

If it was an issue with my photography kit, I would be "chomping at the bit",  but having "been there, and done that'" with astro imaging, its not such a "big deal".

But, thank you for your interest. 👍 

Edited January 21, 2022 by centroid