HELP - My telescope doesn't know where it is

[niko]

thought this might be better in this forum

This seems like something simple but for the life of me I can't figure it out - hoping the collective wisdom might be able to help.

The basic problem is that when I slew to an object in The Sky 6 the mount sends me close but never exactly there. Even if I slew to 3 objects and sync the scope each time it doesn't seem to compute these syncs and is always off.

The mount is an EQ6 and I'm using EQMOD and The Sk6.

Polar alignment is good and when I re-centre my desired object I can image for 6 minutes or so with a good steady graph in PhD.

It feels like The Sky has the wrong map in its head though location and time are all set correctly.

Last night I tried changing the sync method in EQMOD from Append on sync to Dialog based without any change.

When I park the scope the crosshairs in The Sky say the scope is parked to the west of Crux when I know for a fact that it is pretty much at the pole. So, I tried placing the cursor in that position and syncing the scope in The Sky to the cursor position but I got errors.

Short of deleting all the software and re-installing I'm not quite sure how to get back to square one.

The scope is an ED120 (but I've had the problem before) and is accessed by The Sky using Telescope API.

Any help very gratefully received.

Many thanks

Niko

[jenchris]

Try deregistering the mount in toolbox and reregistering it.

[vlazg]

Are the ra/dec coordinates set to the same , ie J 2000 or is one set to J 2000 and the other to J Now ?

[niko]

thanks George

do you mean in EQMOD and The Sky?

[vlazg]

Yes mate, make sure they are set to the same epoch

[niko]

Many thanks

[niko]

not sure where to find those settings in either programme

what has me stumped is why The Sky won't let me sync to the cursor position - that would more-or-less solve my problem

[Merlin66]

Niko,
I’d love to assist further, but I use EQMod with CDC with none of the issues you seem to have....

[vlazg]

Apparently the Sky x uses J 2000, in the ascom driver setup there should be a box where you can set the epoch, just make sure it is J 2000 not J Now

[niko]

Thanks again everyone

I downloaded CDC Ken so might give that a whirl if issues petsist

[traveller]

Niko, as an alternative, I use stellarium and stellariumscope with my EQMOD connected via an EQDIR cable. Very stable.
Bo

[barx1963]

One of the beauties of using SGP is setting up plate solving and the framing wizard. Don't ever have to worry about using a planetarium program again! Just tell it to go and it goes, as long as you take a little care with your setup if using a portable system.