[redbeard (Damien)]

Hi Cliff,

I have an older Meade ETX but they both use a similar 497 hand controller so I guess the setup is similar. I had a look at the manual for your scope and the setup is basically the same as how I setup so I thought I would share some hints.

You should train the drive, this is a must. And when you do it, make sure when you are pulling the distant target back into view/centre after the scope slews away, that you don't overshoot the target. If you do over shoot, redo the process. (A bit like if you tune a guitar string too tight, you have to unwind it to below tune to bring it back).
There is slop in the gears and this helps counter act that. Makes a huge difference and you only do once. (Although I would do it every few years, depending on use). When I did mine, I setup on a Sunday in a Westfield car park and had views of the distant hills about 10 - 20 km away. On top of those hills were all kinds of things to use like tree trunks, light posts etc, something that does not move. Use a high powered eye piece as you will get a tighter setup.

These are the normal nightly steps now the drive training is sorted.

Level tripod and level the actual scope too (Important).

Using a compass point to 168 degrees SOUTH again important as we are in the southern hemisphere. (I'm assuming 168 degrees is your location, I'm 172 in Adelaide). The best compass I have found is a scout/orienteering type that unfolds and has the wire through the window, flipout. You can stand behind your scope from a distance and align the compass needle, wire and your mount really easily, then with your scope, simply move the tube until the compass all lines up at 168 degrees. Compasses get affected by the metal in a scope/tripod, so I've read. ;-). But really easy.

Now on your scope you should be in the home position. Meaning level tripod, level scope and pointing 168 degrees South.
On my scope there are stops so the home position must be setup accordingly, but on your scope, looking at the pics, it looks as all the electronics are in the fork arm and the AZ motors wires are also there so it can freely spin . Better there than in the base as with the ETX.

Something I'm not sure of is, in your manual it mentions the magnetic North setting and the compass setting for alignment. I couldn't find enough info in the manual to state the difference between the two. 50/50, not sure?

At this point it sounds like you have all the actual scope settings correct. The only one I have had issues with, with my scope, is the daylight savings.
I found if daylight savings was turned off, normal time no issues, but I found when I turned daylight savings on I had to leave the time alone and it auto adjusted the difference. So in other words I don't change the actual time at all, just the daylight saving setting. I made that mistake before. You may have different firmware that does it differently, maybe?

Now you are ready to auto align by turning on the scope, (fresh batteries a must or power supply).

North is always South, if you read North, think South. With setup that is.

Another thing if possible is to locate yourself in a spot where you have a large clear view of all the sky until you get to know your scope better. That way all the stars that will be selected for the alignment will be easy to see and find and not obstructed by trees, buildings etc.

To start with use a low power eyepiece so you have a wider FOV, 25-40mm.

Do the Easy 2 star align. When the scope slews to the first star, if it is not in the eyepiece, use the red dot finder visually to narrow in using the hand controller slew keys. (Choose a speed that is not too fast as it's easier). And when you see it in the eyepiece, keep adjusting with the hand controller until it is in the centre of the eye piece. Then press Enter.
It will then slew to the next star and do the same. By rights all should be fine and do a goto.

As much as it is a pain to do all the tedious tasks, it is absolutely necessary if you want fun looking at things that stay in the eyepiece while the scope tracks rather than chasing them with the hand controller all night. And when things track well, it is so much easier to get cool objects like planets etc, using an iPhone.., webcam, zwo cam, etc. :-)

Fire away any questions you may have or if something I typed is not correct.

Cheers,
Damien.