Possible to change curious Celestron CPC mount goto proceedure?

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Hi folks,

I have a neat CPC 1100 Deluxe mount that I have converted to a single arm job. Setting it up is fine, and tracks well.

However, the goto proceedure is curious and a big pain in the bum. You select an object, and the machine first has you go to a star in the vicinity of the object, and only after the star has been centered and confirmed will the mount move to the object. Yes it works, but unless I have an astro app there is no bloody way I can possibly know 1/10th of the stars that the mount throws up at me.

I have done every possible alignment proceedure the mount has, and the goto process is the same torturous one. And I cannot find a different goto process in the handset - but maybe I missed something

My Neq6 goes directly to the object. No painful intermediate step...

Have I missed something or are all Celestron mounts this awkward? Years ago I had an old 8i SCT, and it did the same tortured goto proceedure...

Thanks for looking and your consideration,

Alex.

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Alex,

Go into the scope setup menu (I think that's where it is) & see if precision goto is enabled... my meade does the same thing if I want it to & the cg5 asgt I just acquired has the same option.

I find it very useful for finding faint stuff, bit annoying for brighter stuff.

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Alex,

This is an extract from my manual... hope it helps (it may not be under scope setup)... I can't be sure but, if it is like my Meade, the precise goto function is either enabled or disabled (the manual extract below is not clear on this) & if enabled, uses it for everything thereafter...

Precise GoTo
The Advanced Series telescopes have a precise goto function that can
assist in finding extremely faint objects and centering objects closer to
the center of the field of view for astrophotography and CCD imaging.
Precise Goto automatically searches out the closest bright star to the desired object and asks
the user to carefully center it in the eyepiece. The hand control then calculates the small
difference between its goto position and its centered position. Using this offset, the
telescope will then slew to the desired object with enhanced accuracy. To use Precise Goto:
1. Press the MENU button and use the Up/Down keys to select Precise Goto.
· Choose Database to select the object that you want to observe from any of the
database catalogs listed or;
· Choose RA/DEC to enter a set of celestial coordinates that you wish to slew to.
2. Once the desired object is selected, the hand control will search out and display the
closest bright star to your desired object. Press ENTER to slew to the bright
alignment star.
3. Use the direction buttons to carefully center the alignment star in the eyepiece.
4. Press ENTER to slew to the desired object.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Yeah something funky going on. They’re not usually like that.

The EQ mounts have a “Quick Align” which assumes you have it polar aligned and you don’t star align at all - mostly designed for imagers I reckon, as we “plate solve” our gotos

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Thanks Carlton and Dunk.

The Precise Goto is what my mount is using, and it is a right royal pain. Means a lot of farting around with an astro app or you just wont get very far at all with those stupid star names. Tried looking for a 4th magnitude star in Sydney, even if you knew its name???

Yet there seem to be other mounts, non-eq, that don't do this, but go directly to the object. I believe the SE mounts don't do this "Precise Goto" business. It's a pain in the bum for me who's been doing astro for 35 years - you are screwed if you are a newcomer.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Yeah like Carlton says, you need to look for it in the menu and disable it. My SE doesn’t do it, although it has the function (i.e. it can be enabled).

It shouldn’t be enabled by default though...maybe try the Factory Reset on the handset?

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

I've looked to disable it, but can't find the function!

I can find the function to use the goto, and it is only via Precise Goto. Just can't disable it. Only use it.

Not happy, Jan...

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Alex,

I'll fire my mount up this afternoon & take a look at the menu functions...

I haven't used it in anger yet... torrential rain up here...

I have a theory but, want to check it before I post anything...

I'll get back to you...

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

I fired up my mount...I could find Precise GoTo but not an option to disable it

But then, when I did a fake alignment, then asked to go to a star, it just (fake) went there

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Thanks Dunk. I'll ask Casstony too in case he knows something else.

Alex.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Ok, I may have found my problem. I think it was all just me not using the handset properly...

"Precise Goto" is more an astrophotography function for locating faint objects. So, reading the instructions (who da thunk... ), I believe I found my error...

Sorry for the wild goose chase, and thanks for everyone who helped.

Alex.

[Wavytone]

Alex FWIW the SynScan handsets do it differently. They have a “PAE” function tucked away under utilities:

Assuming you are after faint object A, but a GOTO fails to nail it, choose a bright target nearby (call it B) and use GOTO to slew near to it.

Use the N/S/E/W buttons to align on it accurately,

Select PAE and enter. The result should be that GOTOs to objects within 30 degrees of B will be spot on.