Sky Watcher EQ8 commissioning

[doug_parkes]

my society is commissioning a new EQ8 RH (version 5 hand control). On the Sky Watcher site (https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/downloads/instructiononfirmwareupdate_synscan handcontroller.pdf) there are various software updates available for download.


Should we download (and install) all the updates, even though most don't mention the EQ8 model?


:)

[Merlin66]

Doug,
If you already have the V5 controller - you're good to go!
Once you're set up and running, you can then think about any upgrades you may need to consider.....something for later....
As you going to use EQMod etc??

[doug_parkes]

We are going to use PHD2 to align the mount since we are having inconsistent results attempting polar aligning, using the EQ8 internal Polar Align routine. :)

[Merlin66]

Doug,
When I checking the PA of my observatory mounted NEQ6 I used the alignment feature of SharpCap V2.9 (freeware).
This seemed to work very well and gave repeatable results.
Worth looking at.

[Peter Ward]

I would have thought polar alignment would have been straight forward...but certainly can be complicated by the RA and Dec axis not being perfectly orthogonal.

Plonk an OTA on the mount. Point it at DEC -90. Look though the optics with a nice widefield eyepiece and star diagonal while spinning the mount in RA.

Do the stars appear to spin around the centre of the field of view?

Or do they move in an arc ?

If no amount of adjustment in Dec will give you a "central spin" then the DEC axis is off. You'll need to shim the OTA or its saddle to align the Dec and RA.

Once that is literally "squared away" , polar alignment should be a doddle.