EQ5 and Upgrade Kit Problems

[Bignose13]

Hi

I have the EQ5 with upgrade kit and just cant get the mount to point in the object I'm seeking, I cant even get the 1,2 or 3 star alignment to work correctly, If I start the alignment process and set Rigel as the star then the mount slews in the general direction but is still way off the mark, I have polar aligned correctly and all the info has been put into the hand controller correctly, I triple checked everything

Any ideas before I sell up, this has been a few weeks now and I'm starting to get really frustrated, 

Cheers

[malc-c]

How are you polar aligning? - If you are using the polar scope have you confirmed it is set correctly in the mount? - some suggest doing this in the daylight by using a target such as a distant tree, or aerial.  I personally used Polaris - centering it in the main scope and then centering it in the polarscope.  

Other things is that whilst you have entered the data correctly, is it in the format the handset is expecting.  Location details are in hrs : min : sec  and not the digital format, and the dates I believe (I haven't used a handset in over a decade) should be in US format of mm-dd-yyyy.

 

[Budgie1]

Hi and Welcome to SGL.

Firstly, I assume when you say you have the EQ5 upgrade kit, it's the one with the Synscan Pro kit? 

 If so, could you describe what steps you take when doing the star alignment? Also, when you send the mount to the Home Position using the hand controller, does it go to the correct location (scope towards Polaris and counter weights down)?

As @malc-c mentioned above, a common mistake with the Synscan controller is inputting the date incorrectly, because it uses MM/DD/YYYY format.

[Bignose13]

Yeah its the EQ5 upgrade kit, I use an app on my phone to see where Polaris is on the polar scope and move the mount to the same position, PA Align pro, Also when sending the mount to the home position the weights are down and the scope is pointing towards Polaris, the date is correct also, I inputted last night dates as 03/19/2022

I've even used NINA to polar align making sure the scope is pointing north to give NINA an easier job and get within 1 arcsecond, but even NINA is way off when I slew to a target, doesn't even track 😠

[wookie1965]

If doing a 3 star alignment the first star is always out once you have centered that and go to the 2nd star that will be closer then onto the 3rd this will only need a minor adjustment as it will be close to spot on.

[Cornelius Varley]

25 minutes ago, Bignose13 said:

Yeah its the EQ5 upgrade kit, I use an app on my phone to see where Polaris is on the polar scope and move the mount to the same position, PA Align pro, Also when sending the mount to the home position the weights are down and the scope is pointing towards Polaris, the date is correct also, I inputted last night dates as 03/19/2022

I've even used NINA to polar align making sure the scope is pointing north to give NINA an easier job and get within 1 arcsecond, but even NINA is way off when I slew to a target, doesn't even track 😠

Did you install the upgrade kit yourself? It could possibly be that you accidently installed the RA gear wheels the wrong way round. This would cause the mount to behave in the way you have described. A couple of photos showing the RA drive might help diagnose the problem.

[Bignose13]

Well I've just spent the last 3 hours trying to get this thing to do what I've paid it to do and still way off, I'm beginning to think the MCB or Hand controller is faulty, I had a faulty MCB when I bought the kit and this is a new one, so maybe this one id duff as well 

[malc-c]

It's very doubtful that the firmware in the motorboard is corrupted, however as you stated the synscan unit is one of the new units, and thus should have a USB socket you could try and upload the current firmware from the skywatcher web site (just google "skywatcher firmware").  The main reasons for  gotos being slightly out are poor polar alignment (as mentioned, ensure the polar scope is aligned with the RA axis - no app or utility will be any use if the polarscope is out of alignment) or incorrect settings in the handset, which tend to be either the wrong date format or daylight savings are enabled when not required, or the wrong time zone is entered.

I was going to say that the only other possibility is that you were supplied with the EQ3 upgrade kit rather than the EQ5, but then that cant be the case as I'm sure the motors and gearing are different so it wouldn't physically fit, and there are too many variables from manufacture to posting it to you for that to be the case.

Does the scope sound OK when slewing, or does it sound as if gears are binding or jumping ? - Have you tried removing the motors and refitting them ( you still haven't answered Peter's question).

[bosun21]

I also just bought the Synscan upgrade kit for my EQ5 and so far it’s working fine for me. I got much better accuracy once I centered my polar scope reticle as it was moving a lot when I rotated the RA axis. I don’t think that two of the upgrade kits will be faulty in succession and would be looking closer to home 

[Bignose13]

23 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Did you install the upgrade kit yourself? It could possibly be that you accidently installed the RA gear wheels the wrong way round. This would cause the mount to behave in the way you have described. A couple of photos showing the RA drive might help diagnose the problem.

Yeah I installed it myself, I'll get some pics uploaded today, 

Thanks 

[Bignose13]

9 hours ago, malc-c said:

It's very doubtful that the firmware in the motorboard is corrupted, however as you stated the synscan unit is one of the new units, and thus should have a USB socket you could try and upload the current firmware from the skywatcher web site (just google "skywatcher firmware").  The main reasons for  gotos being slightly out are poor polar alignment (as mentioned, ensure the polar scope is aligned with the RA axis - no app or utility will be any use if the polarscope is out of alignment) or incorrect settings in the handset, which tend to be either the wrong date format or daylight savings are enabled when not required, or the wrong time zone is entered.

I was going to say that the only other possibility is that you were supplied with the EQ3 upgrade kit rather than the EQ5, but then that cant be the case as I'm sure the motors and gearing are different so it wouldn't physically fit, and there are too many variables from manufacture to posting it to you for that to be the case.

Does the scope sound OK when slewing, or does it sound as if gears are binding or jumping ? - Have you tried removing the motors and refitting them ( you still haven't answered Peter's question).

The motors sound fine tbh, but being the first goto mount I've owned I dont know if it's wrong or not, I can take a vid of it slewing if you like so you can hear the motors working, but everything sounds fine to me

[Bignose13]

9 hours ago, bosun21 said:

I also just bought the Synscan upgrade kit for my EQ5 and so far it’s working fine for me. I got much better accuracy once I centered my polar scope reticle as it was moving a lot when I rotated the RA axis. I don’t think that two of the upgrade kits will be faulty in succession and would be looking closer to home 

I'll double check mine, I'm pretty sure it's centered, I did it a few weeks back when the weather was rubbish and was bored

[Bignose13]

Well it's official, It's knackered, 

Skywatcher asking for everything back, mount, motors etc  to investigate the problem, fair play to Adam at Rother Valley, 1st class service

I'll keep the thread updated, thanks for all the suggestions

[Geoff_L]

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier because I suffered similar woes. Firstly, there are two cogs on each motor and it's possible to mesh either. See my plea for help from 2017 linked below. The other issue for me is that I entered the date into the Synscan handset in UK format but it was expecting US. i.e. I entered the tenth of February 2017 as "10/02/2017" and Synscan took this as 2nd October and offered Vega as an alignment star even though it was below the horizon at the time.  

 

[Bignose13]

Just realised I havent updated this topic,

Rother valley agreed the complete kit was duff, after sending back to the supplier (Vision optical)who said not once but twice that they had fixed it and was exactly the same as when I sent it back to Vision optical, Alex at Rother valley said he'd replace it, had to wait about 6 weeks but when it arrived I fitted it and worked a charm, nearly 7 months of pulling my hair out was soon forgotten when I asked the mount to go to Deneb and when I took a shot, Deneb in the middle of the frame and no grinding noise from the motors, I'm well happy