NexStar Problems

[Windshift]

I am a newbie with a new Celestron Nexstar SLT 102mm
And I am having problems with the Scope
(And the company)
I dont yet have the Nexstar SkyAlign Go To working
I have had numerous attempts but every time I get that dreaded message "Alignment Failed"
I have been told
"Use only planets"
"Alignment Failed"
"Use only stars and no planets"
"Alignment Failed"
I have been told to "point the thing north before you start"
"Alignment Failed"
( I tried true north, Magnetic north and opposite the south celestial pole)
"Alignment Failed"
I have used a proper spirit level to make sure that the tripod is level
"Alignment Failed"
I have been told to put a proper level on the scope and make sure the scope itself is level as well as pointed before alignment.
"Alignment Failed"
None of these things are mentioned in the manual.
But then the manual doesnt mention taking to it with a sledge hammer either and I may have to try that method too
So I looked up www.Celestron.com.au and phoned the number and asked for customer support. Only to be told " You didnt buy the scope directy from us, therefore it came from someone who is our competitor, so we will not give you any support"
I would need a pretty huge telescope to be able to spot this company's customer service !
WOW ! I guess my next telescope will be a different brand.
Now I realise that I am a newbie and it is likely that I am doing someting wrong and the scope is probable not to blame but where do I go from here. The local company that I bought it from offered to phone Celestron. But I assume he will get the same welcoming and helpful customer service that I recieved.
I posted this within another thread in another section and then realised that it should be a new thread and is probably more appropriate in the equipment discussion area.
Any suggestions as to where I am going wrong with this Sky Align thing ??

Somwhat frustrated and Busting to roam the sky

[acropolite (Phil)]

Check to see that you have the Latitude and longitude entered correctly as well as the time offset. If that's all correct, as long as the unit is pointing north with the OTA level there should be no problem.

[Windshift]

I think I have been doing all of that
But 2 silly newbie questions ..
Is that True North Or Magnetic North ?
And which bit is an "OTA" ?

thanks !

Originally Posted by acropolite

Check to see that you have the Latitude and longitude entered correctly as well as the time offset. If that's all correct, as long as the unit is pointing north with the OTA level there should be no problem.

[Dennis]

An American friend once visited us with a Celestron Nexstar 5 and in the Southern Hemisphere, he discovered the following:

• ‘Scope must be pointing N
• Base must be level
• Enter Lat & Long
• Enter Local time
• Select Time Zone 14 for Australia.

This was the original Nexstar 5 model and the date was around 2001, so I’m not sure if the controller, software or procedure has changed since then.

Also, try here:

http://www.nexstarsite.com/

Cheers

Dennis

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

The OTA is the Optical Tube Assembly, ie the actual telescope part, not the mount that holds it.

Phil & Dennis's comments about setting lat & long, and time zone/offset sound like they could well be at the heart of the matter. IF all that fails then it is possible that you have a faulty unit.

Best of luck, hope you get it working just fine!

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

In my experience the problem is usually very simple. Here's two that I've seen:
1) with a Celestron Nexstar C8 we had the OTA upside down, so that the finderscope was on the side facing the ground. The telescope consequently thought it was upside down and kept pointing to the opposite side of the sky. Nexstars need to have the finder on the topside of the scope to work!

2) with a Meade LX200 this time, the base was facing the wrong way. The manual said for the base to point south (a bit of a vague instruction) and so the owner had the panel of the base facing him while he faced south (which was logical to him) but the panel needed to face the real south. hmm, hopes that make sense.

These may not be your problems, but perhaps they will give you a different idea to try.

If all else fails get your self down to the local society in Adelaide, ASSA, and get them to give you hand.

[madwayne (Wayne)]

Hi Windshift.

My couple of suggestions didn't work - bummer!

How are you entering the date into the hand controller? For example, 15 September 2007 needs to be entered as "091507" not the way we in Oz we would normally enter a date "150907". Remember "mmddyy".

This suggestion came from my brother in-law when I was talking to him earlier. He was having problems with his GoTo and once he entered the right format of the date his problems were fixed.

Hopefully this fixes up your problems.

[Windshift]

Good Morning all and thank you for the many suggestions !

I sat out there last night with my printed list of suggestions, a red light set up to read them by - star charts - laptop - notepad - filters - eyepieces - barlow and filters -
Level Tripod - Sandbag on the shelf to keep it steady - OTA the right way up - OTA level - OTA pointed North - Base pointing North - Time entered in American format from atomic clock on laptop - GPS for exact location -

Did I forget Anything ????
Oh yes !! I need some stars
Damm I knew I forgot something - Where are all the stars
Eagerly I waited for the clouds to clear. And waited And waited
Occasionally I could actually see 2 or 3 stars but before I could complete the Alignment procedure the cloud would cover them over.
So in the wee small hours of the morning I packed up my gear and gave up.
I will be out there again tonight if it looks like there may be the odd hole in the clouds. With all of these helpful suggestions I am sure I will be ok.
Thank you all once again for your help and support.

[skairey]

My first Nexstar had a faulty computer system, I couldn't align anything either, I took it back and their techo kept it overnight, and yes it was faulty. They kept mine and gave me a new one, plus a few extra freebies for my trouble.
The Nexstar I have at the moment works beautifully.
Can you ring the place where you bought it? Or was it a private sale?
If it was store bought ask them to have a techo ready for when you come in, he may be able to get it going there and then.

[Alchemy (Clive)]

Not to be too harsh on the shop you brought your scope from BUT certainly in victoria the fair trading act or whatever you call it explicitly states that you have a right to expect the product you purchased to do what it is expected to do and if it is faulty at time of purchase... the trader is responsible.... .. its up to him and him alone to take it to the next level in this case his provider celestron......so if it dont work its his/ her problem PERIOD...... of course one will catch more flies with honey than vinegar so if it goes that far be nice first.

[Windshift]

Today I spoke to the dealer and he gave me a couple of suggestions and said if it still doesn't align to bring it round and leave it with him and he will give it a try.
Tonight I tried the 2 star Align system and it said it was aligned !
but when I asked it to point at the moon it was about 10 degrees low and 14 degrees south. hmmm well at least the scope is now happy.
It is just me that is not. I am heading back out to have another crack at it.
As I am new to all this I am having trouble convincing myself that the equipment is the problem. One more shot at it before it goes back to the dealer.
Will let you know the result.

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

If the scope thinks it is aligned ok, but in reality it is pointing that far off from where the target object actually appears, that to me seems to suggest that the scope may think it is sitting somewhere else, ie not in Adelaide. I don't know if your telescope needs latitude & longitude or some other positional data (name of town?) as part of it's setup but it sounds like the position may be out - worth checking?


EDIT : Looking at those error figures, and running things through in my head, I tried a little experiment in Starry Night.

You said that

when I asked it to point at the moon it was about 10 degrees low and 14 degrees south

(I assume "it" meaning the telescope was pointing low and south, not that the moon was low and south)

Starry Night gave the moons position at 9pm tonight in Adelaide as Az 258° and Alt 28°.... that equals 9.30pm Brisbane time, and if I switch to Brisbane as a viewing location at the exact same moment it seems that the moon would be found at Az 249° and Alt 14° ....

In other words if the scope thought it was in Brisbane, but was actually in Adelaide it would point 9° low and 14° south of the moons actual position at 9pm Adelaide time, pretty damn close to the "about" 10 & 14 you quoted.

[okiscopey (Mike)]

Originally Posted by Gargoyle_Steve

... In other words if the scope thought it was in Brisbane, but was actually in Adelaide it would point 9° low and 14° south of the moons actual position at 9pm Adelaide time, pretty damn close to the "about" 10 & 14 you quoted.

... so, moving to Brisbane should fix the problem!

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Yeah well that might work

I'm thinking it would be quicker for Windshift to check one last time the location data the scope is using. My Meade ETX uses straight lat & long input for it's current location and when I first got it I had a similar issue, I hadn't set up my location correctly. I assume the Nexstar works in a similar way.

Good luck Windshift, hope you get it sorted.

[bloodhound31]

Originally Posted by okiscopey

... so, moving to Brisbane should fix the problem!

Best Ive heard in a long time!

I had HEAPS of problems with my Celestron when I first bought it. Steve from Extravision in Brisbane was an excellent help.

Baz.

[Greenswale (Wren)]

Hullo Windshift,

Your issue may be time.

South Australia resides in Universal Time Zone 9 (GMT + 9hrs), yet time in SA is actually GMT + 9.5hrs. I don't think that the software is configured to allow for this this difference.

So, presuming that you have everything else correct, at the prompt enter time zone 9, and enter SA time minus 30min; eg for SA time 2000hrs (8.00pm) enter 1930hrs (7.30pm). Then the true zone 9 time will mean something to the computer.

This fits with previous (pretty clever!) discussion regarding the moon?

I discovered this little trick while wandering around the back blocks of SA with my Celestron.........

All the best!

[Windshift]

So the clouds are clearing and I am about to set up the scope again.
Thank you all for your suggestions.
Unfortunately the wife says we cant afford to move to Brisbane especially as I am already drooling over an 8" nexstar and planning to build a Monster Dob mounted Newtonian.
Meanwhile I will try a 30 minute time offset and see if that helps.
Sounds like a brilliant piece of group detective work to me!
Great support here!
I will buy my next scope from you guys !!
Anyway ..... the scope should be cooled down by now so I will shine a red light on a street directory and show the silly thing where it is.
many thanks to all and wish me luck.
Keen as ever

[asterisk (Geoff)]

Hi

I also had many problems with my Nexstar setup (although with a SCT on a CG5 mount). The handset electronics are similar. The handset must have 12v at about 2amps - anything less will cause erratic behaviour.

First, collimate your finderscope and telescope. ( a laser pointer mounted on the scope is really useful for the alignment process). Use a low power eyepiece.

The mount must be perfectly level, and, with mine, facing due south (not magnetic south) at startup. I know the manual says "north", but it is written for the US market.

Follow Greenswale's suggestions for time, and enter latitude and longitude for your location (ensuring that S and E are entered). Ensure that under the Utilities menu, you have selected south for tracking.

Begin two star alignment - select a star which you know from the ones offered - let the scope slew to where it thinks that star is. Either with the finderscope, or the laser pointer mentioned above, physically adjust the tripod setup so that the alignment star moves closer to where the scope is pointing, and finish adjustment with the hand control. Repeat for the second star - by this stage, leave the tripod alone, and adjust with the hand control only.

Accept the offer of a calibration star - select from the ones offered and it should be near the centre of the finderscope - adjust with handcontrol. Ignore any more calibration offers.

I follow a procedure very similar to that above (different mount) and every object I select from then on is in the centre of the eyepiece.

Good luck