Mount/Scope off target

[CraigD1986]

Hi All.

I had a new EQ6-R Pro delivered yesterday, set it all up and got straight out as the sky was clear. I polar aligned using my ASIAir Plus (so plate solved) but then when I took a 2 second exposure, Polaris wasn’t even in the frame (Skywatcher 72ED at 420mm with ASI533MC Pro). When I then slew to a target using the sky atlas in ASIAir, the mount moves but doesn’t find the target.

Anyone know where I should start looking for a solution?

[jacko61]

Usual questions - are you sure you have your coordinates and date/time set correctly? Date especially throws a lot of people when they first get a computerised mount as it has to be entered in USA format i.e. MM/DD/YY.

The other thing to consider is that it's the mount you're polar aligning, not the telescope so if the mount is at it's 'home' position and you polar align through the main scope your mount will be off.  

Of course you may know all this and there'll be something up with the mount.  

Graeme

 

[scotty38]

52 minutes ago, CraigD1986 said:

Hi All.

I had a new EQ6-R Pro delivered yesterday, set it all up and got straight out as the sky was clear. I polar aligned using my ASIAir Plus (so plate solved) but then when I took a 2 second exposure, Polaris wasn’t even in the frame (Skywatcher 72ED at 420mm with ASI533MC Pro). When I then slew to a target using the sky atlas in ASIAir, the mount moves but doesn’t find the target.

Anyone know where I should start looking for a solution?

Polar aligning aligns the mount, not the scope.

If you have polar aligned correctly you'll most likely need to star align/plate solve etc to get the actual scope synced and pointing where you need it to. If you just slewed back to home after PA I am not surprised you cannot see Polaris as the scope could actually still be pointing "anywhere".

Edited December 22, 2022 by scotty38

[scotty38]

46 minutes ago, jacko61 said:

The other thing to consider is that it's the mount you're polar aligning, not the telescope so if the mount is at it's 'home' position and you polar align through the main scope your mount will be off. 

 

Just to say there's nothing inherently wrong with doing a PA through the main scope, I do it all the time with the TPPA routine in NINA.

[CraigD1986]

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Date/Time/GPS. I haven't done anything to set these but as I understand it, the ASIAir takes this info from my phone so it's all done. It was all correct in the app when setting up.

I understand that the ASIAir uses the scope to polar align rather than the mount but if the scope is in the home position, wouldn't both the scope and mount be pointing straight at the north celestial pole? And therefore Polaris should be somewhere in the frame, even if not near the middle.

In any case, I had a good polar alignment as it was done by ASIAir but when I slew to a target it couldn't be found. The mount moved, ASIAir took an exposure, then said something like "confirming coordinates", tried 5 times, then said failed.

[scotty38]

Ok if you have a good PA then a platesolve on the desired target should get you there properly,

If that's not working you may need someone with an ASIAir to help (I've never used one) but having said that I would double check your coordinates etc in the app to see if they are correct, regardless of how you got them in there.

[CraigD1986]

Thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to help. Will have to wait for the clouds to clear for another try

[Cosmic Geoff]

2 hours ago, CraigD1986 said:

I had a new EQ6-R Pro delivered yesterday,

It might be a good idea to get the mount working by reading the manual, polar aligning with a polarscope (if you have one) and doing a 2 or three star align with the handset, and checking that the goto then finds stuff. 

Once you have got that to work, you can add the ASIair etc.  Precise Polar alignment is required to minimise field rotation in images, but not essential for accurate GoTo.  And accurate Goto alignment is not essential for  a plate-solve to place the scope on target.  (I have often seen my plate-solve correct the initial GoTo effort by 0.7 degree and place the target dead center on the laptop screen.)

[newbie alert]

I would set up, make sure that the coordinates/ date time are correct in the handset, polar align, star align in the handset so you've taken the air out of the equation... I know you probably bought the air for ease of use but it wouldn't be the first time software has been wrong..

Or you could plate solve the image after you've pointed to the target, take it the air re-adjusts the mount if it isn't pointing where it should?

Polaris is something like 44 arc mins away from the ncp

[Elp]

How is the asiair connected to the mount?

[CraigD1986]

Just now, Elp said:

How is the asiair connected to the mount?

Via the USB port on the mount and set as EQMod mount in the ASIAir app

[Elp]

30 minutes ago, CraigD1986 said:

Via the USB port on the mount and set as EQMod mount in the ASIAir app

I've never used an eq6, but my azgti requires an eqdir usb to rj12 cable (usb into asiair, rj12 into azgti), my gem28, the hand controller of the mount plugs into the asiair via usb. I assume your EQ mod cable is an RJ type one too?

Also just to eliminate the obvious, your scope was correctly in focus when doing the PA and slewing and plate solving, and when plate solving the view of the sky was clear?

Also please confirm which mount is specified when you start the asiair app and your connection baud rate.

This thread may or may not be relevant to your case:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/808697-connecting-asiair-plus-to-eq6-r-pro/

One thing with such a setup, if your home position is incorrect (you should always check it on startup and return to it after polar aligning just to check it), any subsequent gotos will also be wrong.

Platesolving also fails if it can't image a relatively clear star field, if it's not in focus, if there's significant glare coming off a filter/objective/internal reflection causing an image defect, those are from experience.

I would also check the firmware version is up to date on the air (maybe also the eq6), if you've already done the obvious it's normally the new stuff introduced which causes the issue.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Elp

[jacko61]

8 minutes ago, Elp said:

I've never used an eq6, but my azgti requires an eqdir usb to rj12 cable (usb into asiair, rj12 into azgti), my gem28, the hand controller of the mount plugs into the asiair via usb. I assume your EQ mod cable is an RJ type one too?

Later EQ6 and EQ8 mounts have a usb 2 connector so an EQDIR cable is no longer required. 

Graeme

[CraigD1986]

Thanks for everyone’s help with this. Tonight is the first night since without clouds and I can confirm that the mount and GoTo functionality is working perfectly. Earlier in the week I plugged the hand controller in and set the latitude and longitude, date and time so this might have been the problem before (I didn’t even bother plugging the hand controller in last time as it won’t be used). I currently have an autorun set up on the Elephants Trunk nebula for the next 14 hours so fingers crossed

[bosun21]

On 22/12/2022 at 12:09, CraigD1986 said:

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Date/Time/GPS. I haven't done anything to set these but as I understand it, the ASIAir takes this info from my phone so it's all done. It was all correct in the app when setting up.

I understand that the ASIAir uses the scope to polar align rather than the mount but if the scope is in the home position, wouldn't both the scope and mount be pointing straight at the north celestial pole? And therefore Polaris should be somewhere in the frame, even if not near the middle.

In any case, I had a good polar alignment as it was done by ASIAir but when I slew to a target it couldn't be found. The mount moved, ASIAir took an exposure, then said something like "confirming coordinates", tried 5 times, then said failed.

Did you sync your scope to the mount after polar alignment. Once you polar align you should slew to another part of the sky and plate solve. Once the plate solve is complete hit the sync to mount. This works for me each time. HTH

Edited December 26, 2022 by bosun21
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