Do the Ra/Dec "locks" have to be unlocked when slewing?

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Forgive my ignorance but just wondering if when slewing the scope on a heq5 pro using the goto hand controller, do the RA/Dec locks have to be unlocked/locked or it doesn't matter? Thanks guys

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

Locked so the motors can slew the ra and dec, if they are unlocked your headmount should be able to swing where ever it wants to.

[Dennis]

To amplify what Brendan wrote, but as applied to my Vixen and Tak GEM mounts:

Under power, when “Go To” slewing via the hand set or computer, the clutches are locked so that the gear train is fully engaged.

However, if I want to manually point the OTA, I slacken off the clutches, move the OTA and then lock them again, so the tracking can continue. But, such a manual “Push To” voids my alignment, as the encoders cannot track such manual movements.

Cheers

Dennis

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Thanks guys for the quick response! So lock the levers when doing go-to, unlock manual

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Originally Posted by mbaddah

Thanks guys for the quick response! So lock the levers when doing go-to, unlock manual

As Dennis says - use your hand controller to move around so that you don't lose reference to your star alignment once achieved. If you unlock either clutch to slew manually, this will be lost and you'll have to perform another alignment procedure - unless you can simply manually slew to a known star by hand, re-lock your clutches and "re-sync" so that the logic knows where you're pointing again. Is this possible with SynScan fellas? Meade allows for it with their AutoStar system, but with the Skywatcher I'm uncertain.

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

My friend, its called the ESC button.... funny although it works. recenters on ANY OBJECT. neb star planet doesn't matter. hit esc till it wont go back though the menu, then hold escape for 3 seconds or so. it will say Re Centering. after it stops flashing hit enter. viola!