NEQ6 PRO question

[vulcan]

Can some kind person explain to me exactly when auto tracking starts with this mount. Does it start when it is switched on, after an alignment procedure or after a GOTO? TIA

[Merlin66]

To start tracking all you need to do it power it up, enter the location and time, ignore the alignment option and go the the menu to select "siderial tracking" and that's it...it will happily just track as long as you need.

Obviously it's even better if the mount is polar aligned;)

[Ben Ritchie]

Agree with Merlin, but if you don't do that then it starts automatically once you complete alignment.

Mine's in an observatory, so I power it up, say 'no' to alignment and select tracking manually

[Skylook123]

It will also, on startup, if you GOTO the moon (not slew to the moon; if you use the GOTO feature), it automatically starts Lunar Tracking. If you GOTO any other object, Siderial Tracking starts automatically.

We use this on our public outreaches when the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are prominent before the sun has set. If you use the hand controller to slew to an object, tracking does not start but if you use a GOTO, even though the GOTO might be quite off due to no alignment, and then slew the final distance, Lunar or Siderial tracking will start depending on the GOTO target.