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ARGHHH Help!! Exp 200P and EQ5

TopHouse

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TopHouse

TopHouse

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OK, apologies in advance for all the fog and mist that's going to come rolling in. Got home today with my first scope, a nice shiny Explorer 200P and EQ5 mount. Firstly, in the mount box there was no instructions whatsoever, went to the Skywatcher site and downloaded them, for what use they are!

So, deciphering some of the instructions and looking at a picture on the back of sky at night magazine I'm almost there. BUT got a hitch.

The two knobs for the dec adjustment, came in a plastic bag, they dont seem to want to go onto the spindles, I don't want to force them too much in case I damage them, is there a knack or is this a known problem.

Also, can someone point me to the best setup guide for this mount.

Don't suppose anyone is in Oldham are they? My wife makes really good coffee. ;o)

Thanks in advance

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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The two knobs just push on BUT there is a flat on the shaft and a moulded "flat" within the hole on the knob - so you have to align them carefully. They need a strong push as they are a tight fit a bit of lubricant (spit!!!) helps.

There is no "official guide" for this mount - the (useless) one you have is all there is. So try the primers and tutorials on this site. Also ask questions here - folk are always willing to help - don't be shy either there is a steep learning curve and definately no such thing as a silly question!!!!

Hope this helps.

PS one knob for the Dec adjustment and one for R.A. (I know that's what you meant to say!)

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TopHouse

TopHouse

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This is it, they aren't exactly D shapes, I've handled pots and knobs for more years than i can mention, but the inside of these knobs nowhere near resembles a D lol, I'll try a bit of lube lol, but yes, the intructions for both scope and mount are completely Rubbish!

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mike-h

mike-h

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Had the same problem with the same telescope last year. You do have to force the knob onto the spindle but the spindle is very toughly engineered. Got the first one on in the end and then noticed the second knob had no metal lining inside so it would not grip the spindle at all. Called Telescope Planet and OVL but a month later I still hadnt received the replacement so I sent the scope back. I ended up buying the 250px Dob for the same price. Turns out I prefer using the dob mount. Locating stuff with the EQ5 was more trying than I expected. With the dob I made a setting circle and bought a Wixey and finding stuff is easy. Hopefully you will be more patient than me!!

Mike H

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stev74

stev74

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Hi Tophouse,

Excellent scope, you'll get lots of amazing views with it!! :)

Also, can someone point me to the best setup guide for this mount.

Ok I'm assuming you've pretty much assembled the mount and your asking about setup guide for observing with an EQ mount - Polar aligning etc.

The two best guides I found are -

Astro_Babys (SGL member) website which has a Technical Help & Advice section and also includes a guide about collimation (which you'll also need). The great thing is she has a 200p on a HEQ5 so the guides will relate very closely to your own setup.

The other one is Setting Up an Equatorial Mount - McWiki between them you should get enough info to get started. :D

Cheers

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SkyExplorer

SkyExplorer

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Hi,

Not sure if you managed to get the knobs on yet, if not...

I bought the same scope on Saturday and had the same problem, no instructions in box so had to download them and then could not get the knobs on.

I tried to push them on but the metal inserts just dug into the copper D shape spindles on the mount!

I figured out that the insert in the knob has a curved side and odd shaped side, the curved side goes against the curved side of the spindle on the mount. I also noticed on one of the knobs the metal insert ends overlapped so caused it to dig into the mount spindle. I filed the metal insert down a bit and also the spindle to remove the "ledge" it made in the spindle and it slid on.

Hope that helps a bit

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stev74

stev74

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Great, that's you all set - just don't expect too much on the first few nights just take things slowly. Don't be too disappointed if your not finding or seeing much it all takes practice, don't worry we've all been there!! :)

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TopHouse

TopHouse

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Well, during my period of standing there, hands on hips, looking at it, twiddling knobs, standing back and thinking how blumming huge it is, I noticed that the locking screws on the primary mirror were loose, so, out with the laser collimater, it was out, the beam was hitting the primary high and right of the center ring, so, out with the allen keys & driver, adjusted the secondary and got my laser dot centered, (very fiddly) and then up at the big end and got my dot in the middle of the target, my first day with the scope and i've done a collimation! I assumed it would be in being brand new but apparently not.

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TopHouse

TopHouse

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One thing I did find, the philips locking screw on secondary was so tight I was in danger of bending the spiders, had to give it a lot of support, got it in now, the laser collimater is a really nifty tool, glad i got one. Just got to find a use now for the digiscoping bracket and the antares eypiece and filter kit i bought :)(

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TopHouse

TopHouse

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Well, it took me two days to discover this mount also has a polar scope built in, during my fiddling I was wondering what the black plastic cap was covering and why there was a looky inny bit underneath that didn't seem to do anything, now figured out that you need to swing the scope round to make a clear polar scope view, previously when i pulled the black cap off I just saw a big lump of white mount innards in there, the engineer in me wanted to put a lump of grease in it!

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