Goto Home Position

[Joef]

Right, a question for you, I have a MAK 127, and when I put it into the Home position, which it tells me is zero degrees Azi and Alt, the scope is down by a good few degrees, perhaps even 10. It seems to work fine after being aligned, tracks fine. My question is, would it hurt/change anything if I was to take the cover off and disengage the Alt gearing and turn it to zero? The old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind, but it annoys me. 

[LaurenceT]

What mount are you  using?

 

[Joef]

I’m using the Skywatcher Skymax Synscan AZ Goto mount. I’ve had the cover off already, it seems all you have to do is undo a bolt, and push the scope mount through and turn it, I was just wondering if it would have an effect on anything else. It seems a purely mechanical operation. 

[Cornelius Varley]

1 hour ago, Joef said:

I’m using the Skywatcher Skymax Synscan AZ Goto mount. I’ve had the cover off already, it seems all you have to do is undo a bolt, and push the scope mount through and turn it, I was just wondering if it would have an effect on anything else. It seems a purely mechanical operation. 

No need to do anything as drastic as that. Just turn the alt axis either by hand or use the handset to reset the home position to zero. The "home" position for the az mount is only needed for the "North and Level" star alignment, as this is the home position for this.

[LaurenceT]

I've always taken that the home position of an alt az  mount is that the mount itself should be level as shown in the bubble spirit level and that the scope should be level and pointed to true North.  This is done before powering up the mount.

[Joef]

16 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

No need to do anything as drastic as that. Just turn the alt axis either by hand or use the handset to reset the home position to zero. The "home" position for the az mount is only needed for the "North and Level" star alignment, as this is the home position for this.

Many thanks for that, I’ll leave it alone then, as I said, in all other aspects it works fine, it just looks a bit weird that’s all. 

[Joef]

4 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

I've always taken that the home position of an alt az  mount is that the mount itself should be level as shown in the bubble spirit level and that the scope should be level and pointed to true North.  This is done before powering up the mount.

I may be wrong, but I think that’s the first thing you do before powering up, getting the mount level and facing North, but is the direction and level of the scope important, as the new star alignment would reset your old home position, (I think). 

[LaurenceT]

1 minute ago, Joef said:

I may be wrong, but I think that’s the first thing you do before powering up, getting the mount level and facing North, but is the direction and level of the scope important, as the new star alignment would reset your old home position, (I think). 

AFAIK it is important.