CPC800 Celestron HD Wedge

[DRCORTEX (Lance)]

Well, something tells me I may have blown quite a few bucks. I decided I wanted something to enable my ALT/AZ dual fork CPC800, to be workable for say 5 minute subs and dabble in astro imaging.

With Starsense, alignment in ALT/AZ was a breeze, and always maintained good tracking during an evening. Went to the wedge, and totally opposite, no matter how good the alignment via Starsense, followed by a polar align with ASPA, via CPWI, as soon as I slew off to a target, it is way way out. I mean, yes, my target is "somewhere" close, but nowhere near what the camera can detect. Then even more frustration slewing this way and that, looking for the target.

It actually does track quite well, once you do eventually find the target.

Have others had this experience ? It is so frustrating.

Cheers,

Lance

[The_bluester (Paul)]

I never used my CPC on a wedge, but I reckon getting the polar alignment right will be key, and it would want to be right before you do the electronic alignment.

[garymck (Gary)]

I have a CPC925 on a wedge and am using it with Starsense. I polar align with Sharpcap, then let Starsense do the alignment. Works fantastically well.

There was also a bug in the Starsense firmware that caused issues with usage on a wedge. This has now been fixed, so you might want to check and see if your Starsense needs the firmware upgraded. Most seem to have very old firmware in them.

FWIW
Gary