AVX Mount alignment

[Westmoorland]

I seemed to have it set up for casual observing with the C9.25 the other week. The alleged polar scope (actually just a hole through the mount) shows Polaris roughly central. Now, when I switch it on it no longer asks me for the date and time but goes straight to 2-star align after I select standard time. I know enough stars to just about manage a 2 star align with a calibration star but it goes nowhere near them, added the matter of a worthless 6x30 finder that still gets bundled with a nearly £1800 tube I'm starting to lose patience. These things ought to have GPS built in and maybe an auto-guider. I did factory reset the handset the other week under the impression it was a good measure but cannot update the firmware for lack of the right cable.

Does anyone know a simple and reliable method for this mount? 

[PeterCPC]

I use a GPS module with mine. Well worth getting IMO.

[andy fearn]

 Hi Westmoorland,

  you will need an actual polar scope which screws into the hole you are looking through to get a precise alignment.

Regards.

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, andy fearn said:

 Hi Westmoorland,

  you will need an actual polar scope which screws into the hole you are looking through to get a precise alignment.

Regards.

But it's a pain getting down on your knees to look through it and the altitude adjustment knobs add to the awkwardness. I bought one, used it twice and replaced it with an ipolar!

@Westmoorland you can get the automation you want, but it will involve spending a bit more money. A starsense unit will automate much of the alignment for you. If you are planning on using this kit for imaging though, you might want to consider what kit you need to support that - as that can make the starsense redundant.

An alternative might be to consider one of the "all in one" guiding products that operate as standalone units. These will do everything you want controlled by your phone or tablet, but cost £700+

[michael8554]

"Now, when I switch it on it no longer asks me for the date and time but goes straight to 2-star align after I select standard time."

I don't know what you mean by selecting standard time.

The instructions to change the time are:

1. Press ENTER to begin the alignment process.

2.The hand control will prompt the user to set the mount to its index position. Move the telescope mount, either manually or with the hand control, so the index marked in both R.A. and Dec are aligned. Press ENTER to continue.

• The hand control will then display the last entered local time, time zone and date.

• Use the Up/Down keys (10) to view the current parameters.

• Press ENTER to accept the current parameters.

• Press BACK to enter current date, time and location information into the hand control.

3. The following information will be displayed:

• Location – The hand control will display a list of cities to choose from. Choose the city from the database that is closest to your current observing site. The city you choose will be remembered in the hand control’s memory so that it will be automatically displayed the next time an alignment is done. Alternatively, if you know the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site, it can be entered directly into the hand control and remembered for future use as well. To choose a location city:

• Use the Up and Down scroll keys to choose between City Database and Custom Site. City Database will allow you to select the closest city to your observing site from a list of either international or U.S. location. Custom Site allows you to enter the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site. Select City Database and press ENTER.

• The hand control will allow you to choose from either U.S. or international locations. For a listing of U.S. locations by state and then by city, press ENTER while United States is displayed. For international locations, use the Up or Down scroll key to select International and press ENTER.

• Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose your current state (or country if an International location was selected) from the alphabetical listing and press ENTER.

• Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose the closest city to your location from the displayed list and press ENTER.

• Time – Enter the current local time for your area. You can enter either the local time (i.e., 08:00), or you can enter military time (i.e., 20:00).

• Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass this step. • Choose between Standard time or Daylight Savings time. Use the Up and Down scroll buttons (10) to toggle between options.

• Select the time zone that you are observing from. Again, use the Up and Down buttons (10) to scroll through the choices. Refer to Time Zone map in Appendix for more information.

• Date – Enter the month, day and year of your observing session. Note: Updating Your Location – Since you may not need to update your observing location as often as the date and time, it is not displayed each time you update the date and time. To update your city, press BACK at any time when updating your date and time. Continue to press BACK to change the state, country or to add longitude/latitude coordinates.

[newbie alert]

The avx is a great mount but you need to tell it where it is as in time date and location... With that info the mount will slew to where the star should be and the point of star alignment is to fine tune this so your Goto's are accurate.. if your out then it's not the mount it's your info and the accuracy of your star alignment

Polar aligning isn't point it at Polaris as that's 40 arc mins off from the north Celestron pole, Polaris isn't the center point of earth rotation, the NCP is....

The more accurate that you star align the better your target Goto's will be , I'd recommend a cross haired illuminated reticle for this... Not knowing what you're using the 9.25 for but assume it's for planets, or observing then you may find the ASPA sid good enough for your needs.. it's in the handset

If you use the park and hibernate options in the handset then there's no need to redo your star alignment every session as it will save it, may need a slight sync and you're good to go...this is also in the handset.. enjoy, it's a great mount

[MikeCM]

Hi Westmoorland,

                            I have been using my AVX until recently for astroimaging with quite a bit of success.

If you set up at the same location each time I ensure that the three legs of the tripod are marked on the ground ensuring the axis of the mount is pointed roughly at the celestial pole. 

I use a polemaster to ensure the polar alignment is accurate then fire up the AVX ensuring I have put in the correct date and time before doing a 3 star align. This does seem to do the trick although obviously the more stars you use with your alignment the more accurate the pointing will be.

  Hope that helps

Kind regards, Mike

[Laurieast]

11 hours ago, Westmoorland said:

Now, when I switch it on it no longer asks me for the date and time but goes straight to 2-star align after I select standard time.

Can you go to Utilities in the menu, see if the Real Time Clock is off or on? Should be on. Not that that explains why it's not asking you to confirm the time and date first. 

I use Sharp Cap Pro for PA, no more bending down looking through the polar scope.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Laurieast

[Westmoorland]

Thankyou all. Problems are often best solved by throwing money at them, but I have to make the best of it this month. Besides, I have enough for now. More reading required: I still haven't studied what an arc minute actually is, etc.