Polar alignment of HEQ5 Again!

[scotty365]

Im having a few problems getting my Skyscan to work accurately and I figure its down to my Polar alignment. There are a few dumb questions I need to ask as I cant find clear answers anywhere.

1. When I look thro the polar scope do I have to alter the R.A axis so that polaris is in the circle and big dipper (althought not in FOV) aligned to represent the diagram.

2. Also if this is the case how do I know if my scope is properly aligned as this adjustable.

I've been positioning Polaris on the line and leaving the axis at zero degrees which may be close but Im sure something is amiss.

Im getting ever more confused.

Thanks

Scotty

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Im having a few problems getting my Skyscan to work accurately and I figure its down to my Polar alignment. There are a few dumb questions I need to ask as I cant find clear answers anywhere.

1. When I look thro the polar scope do I have to alter the R.A axis so that polaris is in the circle and big dipper (althought not in FOV) aligned to represent the diagram.

2. Also if this is the case how do I know if my scope is properly aligned as this adjustable.

I've been positioning Polaris on the line and leaving the axis at zero degrees which may be close but Im sure something is amiss.

Im getting ever more confused.

Thanks

Scotty

Point 1, yes, absolutely. The diagram is rotated until it looks in the same orientation as the real thing, then Polaris goes in the little circle on the edge of the big circle.

Point 2, In daylight line up the very centre of the big circle on a pylon or TV aeriel some distance away. Rotate the axis so that the big dipper is now the other way up. The target should still be centred. If not, adjust the polar scope so that the target is half way between the before and after rotation positions, then check it again. It takes 10 minutes but makes the alignment much more accurate.

If you are getting Polaris within the big circle then Skyscan should put you close anyway, as you're not that far out.

My errors were 1) pointing at the wrong alignment star, 2) doing that again and 3) trying to do too many stars. If you can find a known star next to your chosen target, do a 1 star align on that star and you will be OK.

Something that I've noticed is that if the power is poor and the red LED flashes whilst slewing, the mount seems to miss steps and the alignment drifts off over the session. Make sure that your power tank is full and that the lead is in correctly.

HTH

Captain Chaos

[scotty365]

What I'm finding is that I polar align and go for a 1 star alignment, it slews to roughly the right place then asks me to use the directional keys to center the star - okay fine. If I then do the same alignment the scope moves back to where it slewed originally making centering pointless. If I try a 2- star alignment the 2nd star is way out of the FOV and again using the directional keys I center it and the alignment is rubbish. It seems its only good for short slews to the target from a 1 star alignment. Does anyone else have this problem?

Scotty

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Not wanting to be rude here by pointing out the obvious, but do you press "enter" after centering the star?

Captain Chaos

[Ambermile]

... an easy mistake to make if you are used to Meade also, Enter's on the other side which means you then hit ESC instead

Arthur

[scotty365]

I'm hitting the right button and it says"Alignment Successful" - Is there a problem with my Skyscan? Or settings?

Scotty

[scotty365]

Ive been reading into setting this up properly and find that there is a hole drilled in the R.A setting circle which makes it impossible to set at zero as the locking screw goes into the hole and locks it to the R.A motion(which isnt even central) - This is getting so confusing am running out of enthusiasm now. Am trying to understand so hard and getting nowhere, most of the instuctions are so unclear and I'm at a loss now.

Scotty

[SteelRat]

Really would like a HEQ5 myself but my back can't handle the weight - small eq's only for me I'm afraid. Wish I could help. Anyone here do call-outs? Hang in there Scotty.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Ive been reading into setting this up properly and find that there is a hole drilled in the R.A setting circle which makes it impossible to set at zero as the locking screw goes into the hole and locks it to the R.A motion(which isnt even central) - This is getting so confusing am running out of enthusiasm now. Am trying to understand so hard and getting nowhere, most of the instuctions are so unclear and I'm at a lost now.

Scotty

Take the screw out, put it somewhere safe, then take it and sling it as far as you can. Honest. The screw design makes a complete mess of the mount. its wrong, doesn't work and is the work of the cloud monkeys.

Setting circles for your goto? Whatever next!

Check out my photos from a stripdown http://www.gas.uk.net/HEQ5/

Shows how the screw screws you up.

You basically don't use setting circles with goto unless you have some urgent need to for the sake of a devout conviction that you need to hurt your brain. Once you are au fait with the stars, had a drink with Orion and chatted up Andromeda you can have a bash, but leave them alone for now.

Do the polar scope align thing later, you don't need really good accuracy first off, you should be going for bright objects anyway as they're easy to find. The double cluster should be a good one, M45 9though you won't get it all in, it's an easy way to see if you get in the ball park.

1 star align leaving the setting circles aside and you should get the thing going easy enough.

Check the date format, daylight saving is currently at NO, check the power pack is full, don't try to run it off the power pack charger, make sure that the finder is aligned with the main 'scope in daylight (it's much easier if you can see what you are doing, don't worry about dark adaptation at first.

Keep at it, it's a major learning job but worth every drop of sweat when you clap eyes on M42.

BTW mine's not so hot at planet finding so let me know how yours if when you get a round tuit.

Captain Chaos

[scotty365]

The DAMN SCREW I knew it was that damn screw all along!!!!

Seriously it was THAT DAMN SCREW....

Okay, I thought it was ment to have a point on the end of the screw simply to lock the circle without locking THE WHOLE DAMN MECHANISM.

At least Im not alone in this! CC I was staring at the mount since 5 this afternoon thinking I must be doing something wrong.

At least now I understand my alignment issue - thats fine as I've took time to understand the basics and a bit about how drift alignmentment works so its all much more clear now. The only bit of major concern now is the Skyscan centering - why is it ignoring the directional adjustments during alignment? Ive sent Bern a PM to see if he can shed some light on this.

Thanks CC

Scotty

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Drift aliging! Holy Cow, if you can't get the thing to "just work", don't make a rod for your own back by doing drift aligning yet. Drift aligning is a whole other issue and only necessary for long exposure imaging, With the HEQ5 you can go to 2 minutes with just using the polar scope thing.

You can also, before you even mention it, forget PEC training and cone error as those are arcane knowledge and only accessible to the initiates.

Do it the simple way, align the polar 'scope, line the picture up with the real stars, put Polaris in the tiny circle, PUT THE MOUNT BACK SO THE 'SCOPE POINTS AT POLARIS, tell it to do an alignment and it will work.

Captain Chaos

[CELESCOPE]

Thats it as CC says .the only thing i do , i used to do 2 star alignment , and most of the time its good , but sometimes for certaim faint DSOs , it was not spot on , so had to just twiddle a bit , but now i use the 3 star alignment that takes care of Cone error and also it is deadly accurate for my dso imaging.

Cheers

Rog