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Old 30-09-2020, 06:58 PM
bluesilver (Peter)
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Basic 2 or 3 star alignment question with AZ-EQ6

Hi, just a very basic question in am sure in regards to doing the simple 2 or 3 star alignment with the Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 using the Sysnscan hand held unit.

I have been playing around with the polar alignment routine and got that fairly well figured out.

I went through the standard 2 and 3 star alignment routine a few nights in a row and got the same result,
In that when i got the alignment successful, i then selected Jupiter in the handset and found that when it slewed to it, it was a fair bit off, If i was using a 10mm eye piece it would not be in the eye piece at all, it will be in a 20mm eye piece.

I tired out of curiosity using the options in the handset, slewing to a a nebular and also found it was way off.

I am guessing it am missing an important basic step somewhere,
All data is entered correctly as i am using the Synscanlnit 2.1 app.

I am using a pier extension and did notice a bit of movement in it the other night, so i have done a modification to fix this issue so it can't possibly move again, but don't think tis is causing the issue.

I did come across a post stating:

a) one star as low to the horizon as possible due east or west, this is effectively the azimuth reference; and
b) one star near the meridian, ideally at 90 degrees angle from the first star; this is effectively the altitude reference.

I have basically just been choosing Hadar as the first star, then struggling to get the handset to pick a second star as it just keeps on saying searching and then only gives you a few to select from before it goes back over them again.

I have goto Dobsonian and have been doing a 2 star alignment with it for quiet some time with no dramas at all and is always fairly spot on.
I have been trying to do the AZ-EQ6 the same way,

After i have put all the information in and before i select yes for the star alignment, do i have to first tell it is in home position or something?

I generally just enter all the details and go straight to the star alignment part.

If i do a 2 or 3 star alignment, then do another 2 or 3 star alignment, then another, dose this cancel out the first one i did or dose it add it also and helps the accuracy?
I pack it up after every night, so not a permanent setup.

Lots or questions i realize, just trying to figure out what is going wrong here.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks.
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Old 30-09-2020, 07:15 PM
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The Mekon (John Briggs)
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It has been a week since I last had my EQ6 out, but for three nights in a row the stars chosen were Alpha Cent, Acrux and Achernar. Gave excellent results. Sure, the Synscan wanted Vega, but this star is behind the trees. I have my Synscan set to choose by magnitude and always get an object in the field of a 100x eyepiece. My polar alignment is generally within 00.30' each night - I carry the mount out and set it on a pier. Only doing visual.
You need to have the mount at start (park) in the neutral position - dec 90 and RA vertical - I do this by sight - and you can unlock and adjust for the first star if it is not in the finder - it makes no difference.
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Old 30-09-2020, 07:25 PM
sunslayr (David)
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Once you star align and slew to your first target, try adjusting the altitude and azimuth until the target is centred and park the scope. Then star align, again. I seem to remember this working for me.

Correction:I actually mean the ra and Dec clutches not the adjustment bolts.

Last edited by sunslayr; 30-09-2020 at 07:40 PM. Reason: Correction
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Old 30-09-2020, 07:54 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Peter,
Both your polar alignment and Star alignment accuracy are governed by your optical train and atmospheric conditions at the time. No Synscan Goto alignment will slew from Star to Star , object to object exactly in the centre of each Star all around the night sky, there’s always a small amount of error.
If your using an illuminated reticle centering eye piece a minimum requirement would be a 20mm 70deg to give enough FOV and not to much magnification. I still use my Orion 20mm 70 deg illuminated reticle eye piece to Star align my 12” goto dob
You should only require a 2 Star alignment if your mount is set up correctly and has no slippage on either axis. I’ve never had to use a 3 star alignment for better accuracy, 2 star has given me satisfactory accuracy and results
Just remember an adjustment in polar alignment will affect your star alignment, that’s why after each PA iteration you have finish with a star alignment
Star alignments are saved in your mount when you power off , when you resume using the mount on another night and the mount remained stationary in the home position, when you power up the Mount, select option 1 in the handcontroller the mounts alignment data is saved and ready to go again. Obviously if you move or pack away the mount after each session you have to polar align and Star align again
Make sure you de activate the Star Alignment Filter in the handcontroller, go to Set up > Alignment Stars > Adv Filter choose off . This will provide a more expansive list of alignment stars to choose from
There are so many more things to check but see how you go
Cheers
Martin
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Old 01-10-2020, 06:38 AM
bluesilver (Peter)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunslayr View Post
Once you star align and slew to your first target, try adjusting the altitude and azimuth until the target is centred and park the scope. Then star align, again. I seem to remember this working for me.

Correction:I actually mean the ra and Dec clutches not the adjustment bolts.
Might give this a try, can't hurt trying it.

I can understand also what you are trying to tell me in that No Synscan Goto alignment will slew from Star to Star , object to object exactly in the centre of each Star all around the night sk.

But sometimes i find that even with the standard 20mm eyepiece the object is right on the edge of the eyepiece.

I have set the settings set up to: Adv Filter choose off, this helped with the stars for polar alignment and works great.

Bit of luck if the clouds stay away tonight i will try it out again.
Fairly sure it is something simple.

Thanks.
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Old 01-10-2020, 09:39 AM
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JimsShed (Jim)
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I've had an AZEQ6 for a few years now and the goto accuracy has always been approximate regardless of whether I align via an eyepiece or electronically using a camera and Sharpcap.
Using an eyepiece and at 1000mm focal length and a 20mm eyepiece I expect, and consider it acceptable that the target is somewhere in that field of view. I'd consider it 50/50 to get the target in a 10mm eyepiece's FOV.
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Old 06-10-2020, 12:54 PM
AdamJL
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Hi Peter

I'm a new EQ6-R owner, and I feel your pain!

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesilver View Post
do i have to first tell it is in home position or something?
This is something I would love to know. Because when I park the scope at the end of the night, it never returns to the position it started from (guessing because I manually adjusted the clutches to star align, but I feel the mount to should take this into account).

Last night I did the following, which worked.

1. Polar aligned with a Polemaster (seriously great bit of kit, once you are pointing to the right region of the sky anyway...)

2. Make sure you align "precisely", it helps later on.

3. Powered on the mount

4. Went through "setup", and selected Yes to Star Align (I went through 90 mins of painful "what am I doing wrong" on this stage by the way, losing valuable shooting time)

5. Chose Single Star Alignment.

6. I selected Achernar. Of course, the mount was quite off. The SynScan controller told me to "use the arrows" to centre the star, but the arrows are "locked up" on the controller. Pressing them did nothing (also used the app, which had the same effect).

7. Manually unlocked the clutches and aligned the star that way. Then confirmed alignment in the SynScan controller.

8. Selected M8, slewed to it and it was bang on.

Now, I went through an hour and a half of messing about to get to this stage. I have no idea how to correctly use this mount. I still don't know the answers to: Do I need to use the dials? Are they necessary? So many times I'd select a star to align and it would point in the other direction of the sky.

When I went to "park" the mount at the end of the night, it went back to a position that wasn't what I started with with both axes centered.

Anyway, it's a learning experience and I am hoping some star parties will kick off again so I can get some help from knowledgeable people in person.
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Old 06-10-2020, 01:38 PM
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Wilsil (Wilco)
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You probably did the same mistake as I did when I just got the mount.
The mount is moving, however the default slewing speed (rate) is very slow so you won't see it.
Change it to speed 7 and it will change. :-)
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