Desperately need help with Aligning Az-Gti

[Olli]

Hi everyone, 

I have just started getting back into stargazing using az-gti mount with  a Talenet cell battery . I have practised indoors aligning the scope making sure that the controls are pointing west and the scope parallel to the ground pointing north and “tested” it aligning the sun and seemed  to be in the right direction. On my first a couple of tests I was having issues where the scope was pointing upsidown etc and changing the scope and mounts position fixed this.
 

However after my first time trying it properly I followed the same steps yet it was way far out of the actual object. I tried using Polaris as well as Altair. I haven’t had a successful run with this yet and slowing losing my mind as I really want to test out the scope.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Edited August 16, 2023 by Olli

[Elp]

A. Did you buy the azgti new?

B. What side are you mounting the telescope, LHS or RHS?

[Albir phil]

Ok this is what you do then it should work 1point mount north 2 level mount. choose 2star alignment let mount go-to first star then center star in fov. Acknowledge done mount goes to second star ,again center in fov . acknowledge done. Mount should now go to object you choose.This is the way I do it and I have no problems .if it dose not work then perhaps someone in sgl may be able to help .Hope you get it sorted.

[Stu1smartcookie]

10 hours ago, Olli said:

However after my first time trying it properly I followed the same steps yet it was way far out of the actual object. I tried using Polaris as well as Altair

I may be wrong but i believe polaris i not the best star to use for alignment of the AZ-Gti and other Alt Az mounts ... thats what i have read in the past anyway . Are you using the mount with the stock set up or has the firmware been updated to accommodate EQ mode ... that will have a bearing on which side the scope sits on the mount . The above post regarding North level alignment is quite correct ,but please make sure you are using true north not magnetic north , it does make a difference . 

I hope you get it sorted . I am thinking of getting back into the AZ-Gti scene . Its a great little mount . 

[Olli]

9 hours ago, Elp said:

A. Did you buy the azgti new?

B. What side are you mounting the telescope, LHS or RHS?

It was ordered from flo a couple of years ago. This isn’t my photo but it’s set up similar to this 

[Elp]

The reasoning behind my questions is if bought new the azgti should be factory configured so the telescope is mounted on the LHS as in the image if you're sitting behind it.

If it's had the EQ mode firmware uploaded onto the unit, alt az works by rotating the mount 180 degrees so the vixen saddle is on the RHS with scope pointing forward to true north. I don't think this is the case in your circumstances, a quick check is when you open the Synscan Pro App it'll ask you upon startup whether you want to use it in alt az or EQ mode, the older firmware won't prompt you for this.

Within the app check your latitude and longitude settings are correct to your location as is the time which is being registered in the app, it should be in UTC time format I believe (no DST applied), it may work in DST but most mount issues I've read about state to have it in UTC format.

To get good alignment with the azgti you have to make sure the mount is level and pointing to true north and having done a few alignments over time. To determine a true alignment mathematically in 3D space you need 3 points, so I suggest you do this a few times. After that 2 point star alignment usually works well. Do not use Polaris. Use bright stars around 30 degrees plus difference in azimuth, the app is designed like this so when you pick your first alignment star, the next list won't have stars right next to the previous.

When you're aligning, make sure your star is defocused in the eyepiece one way or another so it's large, you can centre it easier this way rather than centering a dot, you'll be surprised without a crosshair eyepiece how off it can be.

[doublevodka]

Providing you have it setup as the picture and haven't tried to change the firmware to eq mode etc you should be good.

Firstly make sure it's level on the tripod (as level as possible anyway) and level the scope and point roughly in the direction of Polaris, then power on the mount.

Once your phone has connected start the north level alignment routine, pick the two stars that are at the top of the list if possible i.e. they are visible from your observing spot and start the alignment proceedure.

Firstly you need to confirm it's north and level, so go ahead and confirm, then it should move to your first alignment star.

Most importantly, it won't necessarily be on target but that is ok, use the arrows on screen to bring it on target firstly using your finder then the scope itself, start with a log magnification eyepiece and then switch to a higher one, say 25mm to 10mm, this will help make it more accurate, once centered in the eyepiece confirm and it'll move onto the second star. (defocusing the star can also help with centering, easier to center a big circle than a point of light)

Second star, repeat above, again it may not be on target and that's fine.

You next goto should be more accurate, each time you goto be sure to center as above for the first couple, this will help the mount build a decent alignment model, but you should now be getting the object in the field of view of a lower mag eyepiece like a 25mm every time.

Really important note here, if it continues to be off target, don't be afraid to power off and start again, just make sure you select "reset alignment" in the alignment screen to clear the previous alignment model.

Once you get the hang of it, the gti mount is a great little tool 👍

[Ratlet]

If you haven't already, reset the alignment before you try again.  You can find the option on the bottom right when you select the alignment option.

 

[Olli]

Thanks everyone for all the advice so far , I will try all of the above when I have a chance. I’ve also just purchased a small red dot finder to put on the scope so hopefully this will help as well. Fingers crossed..

[Olli]

34 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

If you haven't already, reset the alignment before you try again.  You can find the option on the bottom right when you select the alignment option.

 

Thanks , I try to reset it but it always appears to be greyed out, so have to reset the mount itself and the it seems to work. 

[Olli]

Further update to this.. still unable to align after trying the above. I am not really sure what I’m doing wrong and it is starting to put me off using the set up all together. Will research some more but not getting any luck. Thought using technology would make things easier ..

 

Edit: I have just seen that the location sensor has been turned off in the app. Would this be the issue? Though the co ordinates were close.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Olli

[Albir phil]

Hi  this could well be the mount needs to know where it is in order to find an object. Hope this fixes your problem 😃👍

[Olli]

Still no joy and to top it all off the power bank adapter snapped in the mount so safe to say this was not meant to be. Will be looking to get a manual mount. Thanks everyone for the help, shame it didn’t turn out.

[lawsio]

Are you sure you're aligning it to the correct stars? Reason I ask is that I've just been playing with this mount for the first time tonight and the red dot finder was so far off I thought I was aligning it to polaris and it was something else altogether. Didn't realise how far out it was untill I tried finding Saturn (harder to confuse with other stars in the eyepeice!) and it was a nighmare as the finder was aligned worse than the sights at a fairground shooting gallery.

One I had the finder properly calibrated I used a one star alignment on mizar and it seemed to work alright after that. I assume 2 star or 3 star alignment is better but the one sar (only in the SynScan Pro app) was good enough to track Saturn all evening.

Good luck!