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Problems with alignment; goto is off

Nemesis6

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Nemesis6

Nemesis6

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I've been having some problems with my Skywatcher 130P Synscan as of late; I align it, but after the alignment is done, using for example Jupiter, Vega, and Deneb, the scope will be off when I turn it back to Jupiter to test the alignment accuracy. What could cause this? It is not moved around and it's on solid, level ground. Batteries are OK; Fresh. Date and time are correct, too. DST is enabled. My observation usually takes place after midnight if that makes a difference. To align I use the standard 25mm wide angle lens, could this be the problem; that I need to be as absolutely accurate as possible and possibly use a 10mm lens for alignment?

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mike.brightmore

mike.brightmore

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I would try using three different stars for allignment. Vega and Deneb are up near zenith. Mine also seems to work better using stars that are rising in the East, or circumpolar rather than stars that are going west. So some like Polaris, Mirfak and Alpheratz.

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James

James

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Using planets for alignment isn't generally a good idea as the accuracy of the algorithms to determine planetary positions aren't always that accurate. As Mike says go for three stars and try to start with one roughly due south and the other two spread as far apart as possible but well above the horizon.

James

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Sparrow

Sparrow

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Presuming your scope is level and you've successfully aligned in the past, my first suspect would be the power supply ie the AA batteries. Different makes and types can have minor variations in output. I would strongly recommend you change to using a regulated 12v mains power supply which should give you a much more reliable operation. I think yours needs 12V 1amp power supply but you'd be best to check your manual if you didn't get one when you bought the scope.

Regards

John

ps - this isn't guess work - I had this very same problem when I first got my Nexstar 6se last year. As soon as I changed to a mains supply or a power tank with a regulated adaptor, it solved all my alignment woes.

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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Hi,

I also have the Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynSan, as yet I have not alighned it yet. I have the Celestron 12volt 7ah power tank, that is more than enough. You don`t really need the 14ah one. i only got the celestron one because telescope planet did not have a skywatcher one in stock. When I eventually try to alighn the scope, I will be coming back here if I have problems.

Martin

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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Tonight, I have been trying to alighn my Explorer 130P SynScan without much success. Which stars should I try to line it up with. It does not matter what I do, it will not successfully line up. I have all the settings correct, and am using a power tank. Although I have my coordinates correct, the scope seems to always slew in the wrong direction!!! Thanks

Martin

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brianb

brianb

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Tonight, I have been trying to alighn my Explorer 130P SynScan without much success. Which stars should I try to line it up with. It does not matter what I do, it will not successfully line up. I have all the settings correct, and am using a power tank. Although I have my coordinates correct, the scope seems to always slew in the wrong direction!!!

Sounds to me like:

(1) if the scope is altaz mounted, the scope is not being set in its proper "home position" to start with (tube level & pointing North IIRC)

(2) if the scope is mounted equatorially, the RA axis is not pointing in the direction of Polaris. Try levelling the tripod, setting the latitude scale to your local value & pointing the high end of the polar axis North using a magnetic compass. (or south if you're south of the equator)

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Mikea

Mikea

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Have you tried parking the scope, as brianb suggested? Park, turn off, turn on again, start from park position = yes, then try aligning. I'm sure I had to do this with mine first time I used it. I'm not altogether sure why though.....

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Macavity

Macavity

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From the release notes:

SynScan AZ-Mode Firmware (Ver.03.07) Release Note

Date: Aug. 10, 2009

===============================================================

1. Improve the initial setup of the system -- The telescope no longer needs to be level and pointed to the North as its initial position in order to accurately perform the star alignment procedure.

I think one can be forgiven for a degree of confusion? <G> But maybe indeed something needed to be "initialised"? I suspect I had, by random button pushing, at some stage "parked" my scope... whether it needed or not. :)

Good luck with it. :o

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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Been trying to do an alignment. Set it up pointing North, parked the scope,turned it off, turned it back on again--start from park position--yes. tried two star alighnment 1st star was Arcturus, but could not see it as there was too much cloud. 2nd star was Vega, which I could see okay, centred and pressed enter---Alignment Successful!! Does this mean that I have now alighned the scope? When I was finished, I parked scope, and it parked in the home position as where I had started. Still think that I am doing something wrong!!!

Martin

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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I just pressed enter, and it went to the 2nd star which was Vega. I have just been outside again, but no luck with alignment this time. I just don`t know what I am doing wrong. I don`t suppose it helps that I still cannot indentify stars correctly. I have Stellarium, and I also have a G1 phone which has GPS and Sky Maps. To me, the scope is behaving as if the coordinates I have entered are wrong, but I have checked, and they are correct, time zone I have set at +00:00(UK) and daylight saving is set to on.

Martin

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Mikea

Mikea

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It sounds like you might have been close enough to Arcturus the first time, so when you centred Vega, you got an "Alignment Successful". When you went out the second time, what happened? You're nowhere near Paignton or Torquay are you? I could come and help!

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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Actually, I am near Newcastle upon Tyne. When I tried again, it said that Arcturus was below the horizon!! Also, when I put in Jupiter, it also said that it was below the horizon, yet I was looking at Jupiter with my bins, and then manually with the telescope. I am beginning to get a little frustrated now, as I am now just ending up loking at the sky using the scope manually.

Martin

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Mikea

Mikea

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Bit too far for me to travel! OK - How about doing a complete reset (factory default) and starting again? (You will have to enter lat and long again). With power off, make sure the Alt marker is on 0 and you are pointing roughly North. Power on and enter co-ords, time, etc. and go for an alignment - I'm a bit worried if you are uncertain about your stars though. It is worth persevering!!

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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Thanks for your help. I was actually thinking of the factory settings reset. But, I think that it would help if I knew my stars a little bit better. I will not be beat on this though.

Martin

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NoelinLiverpool

NoelinLiverpool

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Hi I hope this helps…

I have the same problem with my 127 syn scan. I went to my local society and got it sorted. It is true that a poor power supply can cause problems and the scope not being even. The things I did was to check the date and time is correct MM-DD-YY or DD-MM-YYYY and your position also the – or + on the handset for west or east. When I set my scope up now I don’t use the daylight saving option and just knock off the hour when you put the time in. Hope this works Regards…Noel

P.s use a smaller eyepeice when alighting then change back to the larger one!

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Guest metroman

Guest metroman

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Thanks. I was going to reset the handcontrol to the factory settings, but I will try again with what you have just explained, and see what happens from there. I have a 7ah power tank, so I don`t think it is power problems, and I was using a 25mm eyepiece. I do have a 30mm 2inch wide view eyepiece. Would that be better for alignment?

Martin

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