Synscan update - alignment problems

[stevemac]

We are sure that these isues have been adressed in other threads, and we have searched around trying to find them, so if someone could point me in the right direction we wil be a eternally appreciative.

We have 12 Dob with Synscan Goto. Recently successfully(we believe) updated the firmware, SynScan(TM) EQ-Mode Firmware (Ver.03.27) however we have not been able to correclty align the scope since then.


Checklist: We have ...

Factory reset
Cleared PAE
Re entered coordinates multiple times
Recleared every setting we could think of in the setup; park and utility menus
Rechecked that the date and time are entered correctly (the US way)
Even reloaded the firware update
Tried the startup from different positions (SCP; North vertical horizontal)
The scope simply does not "goto" the first star, nor second star, nor third star. The scope slews around to at least 90deg offset and sometimes aother angles. We have searched the Skywatcher website, and looked for ealier versions of the software, that we could reload "backwards" to, to try to reset, however we cannot find any.

The scope did work well with the old software and had no difficulty realigning every time we pulled it out and started up.

Any thoughts?

[DJ N]

Hi there,

By the sounds of it, you have updated the firmware with the equatorial mount version (current version is 3.27), whereas you need to reprogram it with the Alt Az version, which I believe the latest is version 3.08.

Here is the link ..........

http://skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/customer_support.php?class1=1&class2=110

I reckon this will sort the issue!

Goodluck.

Cheers,

Daniel

[Andy Walters]

I think it sounds like you have flashed EQ version and not Alt Az.
Andy.:)

[stevemac]

What can I say Andy and Daniel :D .. you were both spot on !! .. please dont tell anyone we(I) missed something so bleedingly obvious!!
It'll be another late night tonight .. full moon, clear sky's

Thankyou both very much
Stephen
:D

[DJ N]

Awesome stuff.......glad we could help. I am very close to ordering one of these Skywatcher goto dobs myself. How are you finding the goto and the tracking? Very keen to know.

Cheers,

Daniel

[ballaratdragons]

Your simple mistake being asked in here and then answered in here will help others with the same problem :thumbsup:

[stevemac]

Thanks Daniel,

My thoughts on the Skywatcher 12" GoTo Dobsonian so far are:

Great scope: I've not had any issues with the set up out of the box. The first Synscan controller failed to work, and the shop (BTOW) exchanged it immediately.
Price for the scope was competitive "market price."

Packaging was as expected (lots of cardboard anf foam)

The instructions were the standard Skywatcher Manuals, which are available from the website.

Compared to our 5" Skywatcher reflector it is certainly a big difference.

:eyepop:The DSO's are more accessible with greater definition, and tonight after resetting the alignment, we all had a good look at the Moon, Saturn, Jewel box, Orion, Alpha Centauri etc.

The GoTo function is excellent, and has definitely expanded our level of knowledge on the available DSO's. We are still hunting through the menu's :)

Collimation is easy (once we obtained the laser collimator.)

:thumbsup: We would not have purchased it, if it had not been the "collapsible" design.

Now the big question - portability.

As an example last night we attended social actvity and I (after checking with the host ) brought over the 5", the Bino's (9x63) and the Skyscout. The "party" were quite taken by Saturn and the "big" Moon, and all the gear and it certainly added interest to the nght. "why didn't we take the 12"?" - Quite simply too big to quickly carry in and out and around the place. I'm fine with moving the OTA and the mount seperately, however over longer distances and in and out of houses and corridors, is fraught with risk.!

Current observing location: Back garden (suburban area) but .. We have built the floor for an "attic" space in our house, and we are working on the dimensions to add a "roof window" and I suspect that that is where the 12" will eventually reside on a semi permanant basis.

Last comment: Eyepieces - so far we don't have any 2" eyepieces, however the 12" has definitely pushed us in that direction, and we are now exploring the market for wide angle 2" eyepieces.

Hope this helps.
Stephen
ps: we still use the 5" frequently, simply because it is always set up on the EQ2, simple to pick up and move outside.

[DJ N]

Thanks for that Stephen, really appreciate the comments!! I myself am trying to decide between the 12 and the 14, but in reality, I am starting to think that the 14 may be too much to handle, especially travelling to dark skies.

All the best,

Daniel

[boo1]

i have a 14" full goto collapsible very good scope easy to move around , i have a commordore sedan. the only trouble im having is that after 2 or 3 different objects it starts to lose it's alignment, i just bought the 2" eye pecies i don't think i'll go back to 1.25". for sure you buy the 14
' you'll never look back

[Visions]

Hi,

This sounds very similar to the problems I am having.
The scope is a Skywatcher 130 AZ goto
The steps I have tried to align it are


Re entered coordinates multiple times for Perth
Rechecked that the date and time are entered correctly (the US way)
Tried the startup from different positions (SCP; North vertical horizontal)

With two star alignment it goes all over the place, either pointing at a blank spot in the sky or even down to the ground!


There were two instruction manuals with the scope, one for the synscan and one for the AZ goto scope. I am using the AZ go manual now.

I have just tried the factory reset and will try it again tonight if the sky is still clear.


I can't find anything in the handset menu that gives a choice of EQ/AZ.



Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated

[Visions]

Ah Well.

Looks like the factory reset did it

[rustigsmed]

hi Chris,

I believe that is purely an AZ mount only. So you need to be sure the firmware is an AZ firmware only (some firmware is EQ and AZ) I think this is the right one
http://www.skywatcher.com/downloads.php?cat=21

cheers,

Russell