Celestron Nexstar 127SLT goto help

[MorningMajor]

Tearing my hair out here.....

I just can't get the scope to align - for example tonight, I used Solar System align - set it up on Jupiter and got an align success - told it to go to Hamal - off it went and ended up pointing at (as far as I could see) nithing - told it to go back to Jupiter - and off ot went in completely the wrong direction and ended up pointing nearly 180 degreed in the wrong direction!

The time and date is set correctly, I've set location as Bristol (nearest place to me that is listed) but whichever way I use to align it - the poor thing just never seems to know where it is

Anyone out there with a similar scope can offer any help?

Please!

[Mikea]

If you are sure that you have lat/long and time correct, then I'd suspect the power supply. What are you powering the mount with?

[Orion_the_Hunter]

Your sure you have the date correct? Loads of people have problems because they dont realise the date needs to be in USA format - mmddyy

[Cornelius Varley]

Make sure that you have the correct coordinates for Bristol UK, there is a Bristol in the USA aswell.

Peter

[MorningMajor]

I'm on battery power, but new ones - should be ok?

It says Bristol UK - but I can't see anywhere to entyer co ordinates, even though I know them.

The date is in the right format - I tried 19/01/11 but it won't let me enter 19 into first section - only 1 -12 do that has to be month field

thanks for the suggestions though

[toshapetriji]

I too had problems and heres what I did to fix it.

Get a battery pack (batteries just don´t cut it)

Enter your longitude and latitude manually.( I had to google for this as not in the manual)

When entering the time try be be accurate to the second.

Ensure the scope is level.

Centre the star in a Low mag EP then change to High mag to align.

Finish the alignment of the star by approaching from low and to the left.

Since useing this process my scope aligns first time every time.

Hope it helps anyway.

Oh nearly forgot. DST should be off.

[MorningMajor]

Thanks for the advice - I understand that a power pack is the way to go but why would a new set of batteries affect the goto operation - also, if the time is out by say 30 seconds surely this wouldn't make the scope go in a completely different direction to its intended target?

[Steep]

Another point is to enter the coords longitude first, then lattitude second.

I've had mine for just over a week and am yet to get a truly successful alignment, I put this down to not having got the tripod properly level.

[Aussie Observer]

I find that the "Two Star Align" is the most accurate. Also once you have an alignment, do a "Set Mount Align" proceedure found in the Utilities section. Also make sure you have all your location info entered correctly and mount level. Try also a battery pack or mains power, batteries are just not good enough.

[MorningMajor]

Another point is to enter the coords longitude first, then lattitude second.

Am I being stupid (more than likely) but with the 127SLT - where or how do I enter my coords?

[Veracocha]

You are not being stupid as I too have seen nowhere to enter coordinates. Had mine a week and so far the system has been flawless. I have not entered co-ordinates, just location by city, time & date. Keep things simple, manual is excellent if it's followed. Only running on batteries here too without issues.

[Orion_the_Hunter]

Hi guys , having read this thread, I'm now wondering.

I'm about to order a 127slt. What if there isn't a location/city near me to enter?

Can I ask a massive favour please? Whilst you are tinkering with your goto's, would you mind having a look if Narbonne or Perpignan are in the list?

Thank you very much in advance.

[Donkeyears]

I had a problem at first as I had entered the latitude first, the way to set it is in the manual. You can easily find your exact latitude using this site

Lat - Long Finder: This page helps you find Latitude and Longitude

Then when you switch on your scope press enter for skyalign, then when it shows the time press UNDO, it then should allow you to edit your longitude, then press enter and enter position e.g North, then enter and type in latitude etc.

Hope this helps

[Donkeyears]

I had a problem at first as I had entered the latitude first, the way to set it is in the manual. You can easily find your exact latitude using this site

Lat - Long Finder: This page helps you find Latitude and Longitude

Then when you switch on your scope press enter for skyalign, then when it shows the time press UNDO, it then should allow you to edit your longitude, then press enter and enter position e.g North, then enter and type in latitude etc.

Hope this helps

If your still having problems Major, PM me and I'll try and talk you through it. I am still a newbie, had my scope since 5th Jan and amazed with it.

[MorningMajor]

Can I ask a massive favour please? Whilst you are tinkering with your goto's, would you mind having a look if Narbonne or Perpignan are in the list?

No, I'm afraid they're not - as to how important having a city that is close to you is i'm not sure, for by rights, if it aligns correctly it will know where to slew to - I just can't get mine to do it at all - I'm going to ring the shop tomorrow and ask them for advice - other than that - it's a good starter scope

[Donkeyears]

Hi guys , having read this thread, I'm now wondering.

I'm about to order a 127slt. What if there isn't a location/city near me to enter?

Can I ask a massive favour please? Whilst you are tinkering with your goto's, would you mind having a look if Narbonne or Perpignan are in the list?

Thank you very much in advance.

When entering details for the first time you can enter 'custom site' where you can input your own lon and latitude.

[Capricorn]

Small point, don't use planets to align with, use a couple of stars. As planets cn move in odd ways, retrograde motion for instance, I would guess that their position is more approximate then that of the stars.

[Orion_the_Hunter]

Thanks ^^^

[MorningMajor]

Having spoken to F1 telescopes - who were very helpful it appears that toshapetriji's method is the way to go along with entering coords

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-help/126240-celestron-nexstar-127slt-goto-help.html#post1654578

Now just need some more clear skies - sigh

[Steep]

I do think the manual needs updating, there's a lot more to the handset than you find in the book. You'll find a good deal of help here http://www.nexstarsite.com/

[MorningMajor]

Managed to enter coords - but had to do a factory reset to erase the previously saved sight - does anyone know if there is a way of doing this without a reset?

[Donkeyears]

Managed to enter coords - but had to do a factory reset to erase the previously saved sight - does anyone know if there is a way of doing this without a reset?

Here goes:-

Turn on scope

Press enter

Select Skyalign

Press enter

When time shows press Undo

Screen should say Enter Longitude (your previous setting should show)

Enter new Longitude

Press enter

Screen should now show West or East (toggle between them using keys 6 & 9)

Press enter

Repeat sequence for Latitude

After that press Undo several times till you are back at the start screen

Just tried this to remember it myself and works.

Regards

Charlie

[MorningMajor]

Thanks for that Charlie - strange but last night that did NOT work - but sine I did the factory reset it does - I wonder if it had some sort of glitch that the reset sorted out - can't wait for a clear night to see if the alignment works now!

[Donkeyears]

Thanks for that Charlie - strange but last night that did NOT work - but sine I did the factory reset it does - I wonder if it had some sort of glitch that the reset sorted out - can't wait for a clear night to see if the alignment works now!

It could have, just glad to be of help, I, like yourself am a newbie, and had a similar problem, but like to 'tinker' as I hate being beaten by these things.

[bigglesdad]

I had mine outside for the first time tonight. I too couldn't get it to align using skyalign, but it did when I used the 2 star align option! I'd put in my long/lat coords, not my nearest city. By the time I'd done that I was freezing, so packed up for the night. I'll see how things go next time. One question - once it slews to a star and tracks it, how do I go back and select something else to go to?