Desparately in need of help

[Roy@Aldermaston]

Just come indoors after trying out my new NEQ6 mount. I'm still waiting for the new batch of OTA imports, but in the meantime I thought the clear sky would be a good opportunity to practice the polar alignment just using the mount. Both polar scope caps off, counter-weight bar fully extended and DEC axis turned to allow a clear view and a rough alignment on Polaris. So far so good, but now the problem - the reticule light is so bright that I can't see Polaris in the finder scope reticule. It is a moonlit night but the glare of the reticule swamps everthing. I tried switching the mount off and checked the polar scope without illumination and Polaris was in the field of view - not very bright in the strong moonlight, but quite clear. Surely this doesn't mean that I can only Polar align on a pitch black night? Am I doing something completely wrong - there doesn't appear to be anyway of dimming the reticule illumination.

I am at a complete loss and would welcome any help, hopefully pointing out that I've made a stupid mistake.

Roy

[Veracocha]

I was out around 7.15 tonight and polar aligned without the need for the illuminated reticle. Far from dark at that stage. Have a go tomorrow if you can but try a bit earlier.

[Photosbykev]

There are some mods on line that allow you to dim the polarscope LED, it's basically just a 100k? pot mounted on the main control panel. You could turn the mount off until you are polar aligned if you dont want to modify the mount.

Google will find the mod for you.

[Skylook123]

Synta has quite a history regarding that polar scope illuminated reticle light.

Years ago (my Atlas is about 6 years old) it was always too bright. I personally never had a difficulty with it, but most "normal" folk had your reaction. A variety of suggestions were offered. Pull out the connector on the card inside the mount (goodby, warrantee); paint over the light with red model paint or nail polish; or add a resistor to the circuit and drop the illumination. A subset of the disconnect advice is to then shine a dim red light down the opening when aligning. My over 60 year old body does not do circus contortions, though.

Then, several years ago, new deliveries were made with the too-dim light. I don't recall many suggestions in overcoming that configuration.

Then, shortly thereafter, the circuitry inside the mount head changed and allowed setting the brightness with the hand controller. That's the one I thought was always shipping nowadays. The hand controller senses which configuration is in the mount head; if the setable illumination is present, it will appear in the Utility menu as a choice. If it is not available in the mount head, it does not appear in the hand controller menus. HOWEVER, this menu addition option is only present in later firmware versions, so to access this function one must have the right circuitry, and the later firmware version in the hand controller.

Good luck on your situation. If you have Synta V3.27 in the hand controller, and no option appears in the Utility menu, sounds like you have an OLD version of the mount control. Synta have yet to meet Goldilocks.

[Rui]

That's very strange. Normally the illuminates reticule has a rheostatto adjust the intensity of the light, by rotating the switch.

Contact the dealer and check it because it's possible that this device is not working properly.

[Psychobilly]

Don't the newer mounts allow you to dim the led from the handcontroller?

It depends on the Software revision in the controller and the Hardware revision of the Motor controller PCB...

The LED dimming function via the handset is limited to mounts with a version 2 motor board. You can find out which version you have through the handset 'information' menu

Billy...

[Roy@Aldermaston]

Thanks for the those helpful replies. I have the latest firmware, but at the time it didn't occur to me to check the handset utility menu - I'll give that a go tomorrow. I don't understand the reference to a dimmer switch, as far as I can see the illumination intensity is fixed and comes on when the mount is powered up.

[Psychobilly]

You can add a dimmer switch if the mount doesnt support "software" dimming... Obviously doesn't do wonders for you warranty though...

heres a guide to doing it on the HEQ-5...

Polarscope Illumination Dimmer for the HEQ5/Sirius EQ-G

Billy...

[Roy@Aldermaston]

Have I spent the bset part of £1000 on a mount that can't be polar aligned because them illumination is so bright thatn its impossible to see Polaris through the polar scope? If so, I think that FLO might have mentioned that there was an unresolved problem with this mount. I can polar align with the reticle illumination off, but where does that leave me if I want accuarate polar alignment for astrophotograph?

[Freff]

Have I spent the bset part of £1000 on a mount that can't be polar aligned because them illumination is so bright thatn its impossible to see Polaris through the polar scope? If so, I think that FLO might have mentioned that there was an unresolved problem with this mount. I can polar align with the reticle illumination off, but where does that leave me if I want accuarate polar alignment for astrophotograph?

The polar scope can be dimmed via your handset. If you have recently bought the mount you will have the latest V3 firmware and mount board.

The polarscope dimmer is only available if the handset is connected to the mount.

You need to go to Setup>Handset>polarscope LCD. It's in 1% increment from off 0% -100% burn your eyeballs out.

Hope this helps.

[Tim]

I can polar align with the reticle illumination off, but where does that leave me if I want accuarate polar alignment for astrophotograph?

Accurate polar alignment isn't easily achieved with a polarscope, only good alignment really. When you come to start taking photos, take time to learn how to "drift align" your mount. There is software to help you do this, or can be done visually too.

TJ

[Astro_Baby]

Synta have made loads of changes to the mount over time. The early ones all had an led that was way too bright, my heq5 was and the only fix was putting an external dimmer control on. Some of the mounts have a dimmer knob on the panel but i have never seen one like that.

The newer ones have a dimmer control off the handcontroller. Check the mounts motor control board firmware, you can do thi s from the utilities functions on the handset. If the mcb is version 2 you can dim the polarscope from the handcontroller.

Some versions of the miunt have a very dim led which people moan about fr being too weak.

If your mount is new than it almost certainly hasbthe version 2 hardware in the mount.

By the way this is one reason I always tell people to test the k i a dark room before eber going out. Imagine if youd soent 30 minutes putting the scope together and then found out you had a major hiccup

[Psychobilly]

My HEQ-5 is fine without any modding... but doesnt support software dimming...

[Roy@Aldermaston]

Thanks for all your replies. The mount is the new NEQ6 PRO and is less than a week old. I haven't had chance to check the the handset utilities menu, but should be able to look at the options later today. It didn't occur to me that the reticule illumination might be adjustable since there is no mention of that facility in the manual. But perhaps that's not surprising as it seems to have been written for the HEQ5 and the EQ6, and doesn't mention the NEQ6. I'll get back with an update when I have checked the handset settings.

Thanks again,

Roy

[Roy@Aldermaston]

A quick update from a relieved NEQ6 owner. Powered up the mount this morning, scrolled to utilities on the handset and there was the adjustment for the polar scope illumination set to 100%. If only the manual was up to date I wouldn't have spent an hour or so last night crawling around on my knees trying to see Polaris through a red glare! Thanks again for all your help - this might be useful for someone else, I can't be the only idiot!

Roy

[Vega]

Very interesting thread... I wonder if the EQ6 Pro has this option in the controller menu too... will check when I get home :-)

[Freff]

The newer ones have a dimmer control off the handcontroller. Check the mounts motor control board firmware, you can do thi s from the utilities functions on the handset. If the mcb is version 2 you can dim the polarscope from the handcontroller.

Not sure if this is entirely correct. As of V.3.27 the HC utilities only show the version of the HC and not of the mount PCB.

[cgarry]

I have always found the LED level in my NEQ6 to be okay. Maybe a tiny bit brighter than I would like, but it certainly would not prevent polar aligning. This is handy as there is no option to dim the LED when using EQMOD instead of the handset.

Chris

[Tarazed]

I too had this problem with my HEQ5 mount and would like to offer an easy non technical and inexpensive solution for those unable to adjust the brightness of their polar scope illumination using their handset control (as per the solution in this thread).

Simply switch the mount off and shine a red light torch down the polar scope perhaps getting someone to help if you struggle to reach. By getting the angle right its possible to shine enough brightness to see the alignment reticule without dazzling the background stars.

Simples ;0)