[Wavytone]

Just had first night out with a friend and a new AZ-EQ6 and found setting it up totally bizarre. Friend has had an EQ6 for years and I've used other Synscan mounts before for several years - which was what persuaded me to buy the AZEQ6.

Went through the motions of setting up and aligning to the SCP using a compass to set the azimuth and a clinometer to set the altitude, estimate is within a degree both ways.

Powered up, set EQ mode, date, time, long and lat as per usual.

Tried a 1 star alignment using Kaus Australis. OK... then a GOTO to Moon. Mount slewed below horizon, approx 60 degrees off. Hopelessly wrong.

Tried 2-star alignments. Aside from offering a bizarrely VERY limited selection of just 3 stars to choose from each time, it went through this as usual.

Then tried a GOTO to Saturn. The handset insisted on showing the altaz position of Saturn (I expected it would show RA & Dec) then attempted to slew BELOW the horizon at which point I stopped it.

In total disbelief we spent a couple of hours parking the scope, powering off, powering on and repeating only to have it do similar each time.

Tried a 3-star alignment. After aligning on two stars it then picked Fomalhaut but slewed way off in the wrong direction - at least 90 degrees in both axes.

Any ideas ? I'm quite literally on the brink of sending it back to Bintel as defective.

It's so screwy that in some ways its as if (a) it behaves as if its in the northern hemisphere, or (b) one of the encoders isn't functioning correctly, (b) it persists in thinking its in altaz mode when it is set up as equatorial. Admittedly I haven't set up in AZ mode, might try that later in the week.