Help With AZ GOTO setup, please!

[Piers127]

Hi,

I'm a newcomer here, and would appreciate some help, please. I've just taken the plunge and bought a secondhand Sky-Watcher 127 Mak on the AZ GOTO mount. My question is regarding the aligning of the mount.

I know tonight (1 day off full moon) isn't the best for star spotting, but this isn't my complaint, it's that I also use Stellarium and the names of stars in the handset don't tally... As an example I chose Polaris as the first star, so far so good. Now it gets difficult as I don't have a western horizon where I live. The stars it suggests are either below the horizon, to the West or have names that Stellarium doesn't seem to know. Any help gratefully received.

My skyline is North East to South-South West, all above 10 degrees.

Thanks!

[Mikea]

Hi Piers! Are you sure that you have entered lat/long correctly? You should also get the option to chose which area of the sky you select your alignment stars from.

[Piers127]

Hi Mikea,

I admit I did get the Lat/Long from my brother who knows more about that than I do, or so I thought! I'll double check because I've just noticed that Stellarium gives slightly different figures. It's possible he gave me decimal co-ordinates. Sky is still clear here so when the moon moves around I'll try again. Many thanks!

[Steep]

I think you might have put the lat/long in back to front, on my celestron you need to put longitude in first then latitude?

[Mikea]

Synscan lat/long is entered in degrees and minutes. make sure you get your E/W N/S correct! It really is very good when it's working!!

[Cornelius Varley]

For your location the coordinates should be entered into the handset as 000 35 E, 51 34 N.

Peter

[Mikea]

I see you live near where I used to (Laindon) years ago! Is The Bell Inn, Horndon on the Hill still there?

[Piers127]

Yes, The Bell Inn is still on Horndon, haven't been there for a while but it still has a good reputation!

Still struggling with alignment but may have an inside track now, I've used the handset to park the telescope, and then physically aligned it to North. Now, when I get some clear skies I'll try again.

Fingers crossed...

[Mikea]

I always park mine when finished. I do remember it being a bit odd when I used it for the first time but it's been ok since. You do have to watch out for the supply voltage - the electronics struggle when the battery voltage drops too low. Good luck!

[Piers127]

Success is a cake best smelled warm! Starting level pointing North has worked!

Many thanks to all who helped.