EQ6 alignment stars

BC · #1 21-01-2009, 11:01 PM

Had my first go at setting up the new EQ6 Pro mount tonight. When I did the alignment the list of stars to scroll through was only about 4 or 5 and the only one I knew was Sirius. I could also see Rigel, Canopus and Achernar but for some reason these were not in the available list? I ended up doing a one star on Sirius and got things at the edge of the FOV at 125x which I was pretty pleased with considering the mount was set up with a compass and I used the latitude scale on the mount for that setting. Pretty cool with the tracking on and not having to chase things along, but noticeably wobblier than the std dob mount. Back to my question, how do I get the other obvious stars into the scroll list?

Thanks,
Bruce

leinad (Dan) · #2 22-01-2009, 01:38 AM

Through SETUP I think you can choose the Alignment Stars selection to either Magnitude or Alphabet for your al.stars.

BC · #3 22-01-2009, 09:15 AM

Thanks leinad, I'll give that a go

Bruce

DJDD · #4 22-01-2009, 10:12 AM

In the SynScan setup choose Alignment Stars and then Sort by Magnitude rather than by Auto-Sort.

cheers,
DJDD

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #5 22-01-2009, 01:19 PM

another one is triple check your Date and lat/long, its all in american settings so you have to put it in like that, and don't do what i did, in the buzz of new electrial things mistake a 7 for the 1... bloody Lysdexia :S

BC · #6 26-01-2009, 01:37 PM

Still struggling a bit folks with the stars available in the scroll list. I have gone to "sort by" and selected Magnitude. It then puts the characters ">>" in front of the word Magnitude, which I assumed meant that I had selected it. I use Esc to get back out and try an alignment again but the scroll list doesn't change. The list I get is Sirius (first choice), then on the second star choice I only get Acrux, Mimosa, Gacrux, Alphard, Suhail and Scutulum. I am hoping to see Rigel, Achernar and Canopus instead. I tried sorting by alphabet but the list is obviously very long. I selected Achernar, but then for the second star the list went very short again. Surprisingly, when I tried again by magnitude, Achernar was then in the 2nd star choice list along with the original Acrux etc. As a result, I did a 2 star alignment on Sirius and Achernar and had a lot of fun.

Any others been down this track?

Thanks,
Bruce

DJDD · #7 26-01-2009, 05:55 PM

The '>>" symbols do mean the selected option.
I found that I had to set Alignment Star choice by Magnitude twice. Since then I always check at the start of the session. I also double check (i.e. set twice) the alignment by magnitude setting.

Sorting by Alphabet is not too bad as the stars you mention are quite close to each end of the alphabet and I often choose them to double heck my alignment throughout the session as I have not mastered drift alignment.

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #8 28-01-2009, 05:54 PM

well Sirius is brighter than rigel and archnarr. the >> is saying that the option is selected.

When selecting your 3 star alignment try to get as wider spread on the 3 as you can, everything inside the triangle will be very accurate anything outside not so. keep that in mind. Use something like EQMod or have a stellarium program to make sure you can find the star that is quite un known. this will garentee that your on the money.

Also learn how to use the polar scope, i have learnt now and i wont go back. drift alignment yeah its not to hard, but theres elements of error, you can use it to check your polar alignment but not really needed once you have got the polar scope on it.!

Robert9 (Robert) · #9 28-01-2009, 10:53 PM

Perhaps its similar to my Nexstar GOTO and selects stars based on your location? Have your location co-ordinates been correctly entered? Or perhaps even, just your nearest town?
Robert

BC · #10 29-01-2009, 08:01 AM

Thanks for the thoughts guys, it sounds like I'd better learn where those lesser known stars are and ensure a wide spread. My coordinates are from my GPS unit so I'm confident they are correct.

Bruce

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #11 30-01-2009, 10:55 AM

One thing that i have learnt is don't trust just one source! you can get done over badly, make sure you check it with multiple sources! that way you can corrolate them together and see any errornos entrys!

BC · #12 31-01-2009, 09:33 AM

Better success last night (and cooler outside than in the house

),

Things started strangely with the unit not remembering my lat, long or time zone, so I had to re-enter all that as well as the normal date and time. I just carried the mount out (without weights or OTA) and plonked it down in the normal place but didn't level or anything. I did a 3 star alignment and this time some new stars were added to the list. Anyway, I picked Sirius, then Acrux (which had poked out from behind a tree) and then Achernar was in the list, which was what I hoped to find at an earlier date. With a successful 3 star alignment I started plugging in various things from the object lists and they kept slewing happily into pretty much the middle of view. Then I tried picking numerous obscure NGC listings from my star charts and tiny smudges of various sorts came into view. This system is really very good. I was very satisfied with the results. Thanks folks for your helpful input as usual.

Bruce

Robert9 (Robert) · #13 31-01-2009, 09:38 AM

Good to hear its now working so well Bruce. Seems like it might possibly be that the initial set up data could have been erroneous

. If you get my drift (pun intended).
Robert

markcollier8 (Mark) · #14 31-01-2009, 10:48 AM

Because I don't know the names I give some of the groupings my own personal name so I dont get lost off my little corner which is the whole Eastern sky basically off my balcony eg. The Spider Web, Miss Majestic,Spider eyes etc... But I follow the different ones thru the year ...... I have noticed something when the Moon is at its perigee & certain stars are in alignment say every 3mths theres a blast of cold air like air been been forced thru strataspere, I took wrote down times & dates in 08' has anyone else felt it??

StevenA (Steven) · #15 11-02-2009, 10:36 AM

I found this PDF on the web that list all the star names used in the alignment process on an EQ6 handcontroller. It also contains several naps which clearly indicate the names of each star on the constellation stick figure. I hope this helps. If the only star names you learn off by heart are these,

it will always be useful for setting up your gear. StevenA

damo_Melbourne (Damian) · #16 11-02-2009, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmitchell82

Also learn how to use the polar scope, .....!

Not much point if you cant see Octans due to the city glow

BC · #17 11-02-2009, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevenA

I found this PDF on the web that list all the star names used in the alignment process on an EQ6 handcontroller. It also contains several naps which clearly indicate the names of each star on the constellation stick figure. I hope this helps. If the only star names you learn off by heart are these,

it will always be useful for setting up your gear. StevenA

Hi StevenA,

I'm not seeing that pdf file but it sounds very helpful

Bruce

RobF (Rob) · #18 11-02-2009, 08:57 PM

Yes - definitely worth tracking down the pdf - its in the IIS file library - 2nd last entry at http://www.iceinspace.com.au/files.html. Its a shame they didn't put an option in for stars to be listed by constellation (alpha crucis, etc). Frustrating too that the controller gets picky about what stars you can choose from after you've started an alignment.

For the minor frustrations, its just superb though once you get your GOTO cookin'!

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #19 12-02-2009, 10:37 PM

let you in on a secret, normally you cant see the octans only in the best of dark skies and knowing what your looking for will net you a occular view of them without aid.

easiest way is to use your finder scope or binos to finnd the shepards crook. and the octans are very close to that

for a rough alignment if you set your finderscope to your main tube precicely then use the finderscope to line up on the crook. using your lat and dec adjustments to move the scope you will find it. and in your polar scope/finderscope you can see the octans from perth metro....

RobF (Rob) · #20 13-02-2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmitchell82

let you in on a secret, normally you cant see the octans only in the best of dark skies and knowing what your looking for will net you a occular view of them without aid.

easiest way is to use your finder scope or binos to finnd the shepards crook. and the octans are very close to that

for a rough alignment if you set your finderscope to your main tube precicely then use the finderscope to line up on the crook. using your lat and dec adjustments to move the scope you will find it. and in your polar scope/finderscope you can see the octans from perth metro....

Yes - Brendon's right - not as bad as you might think from metro areas, as long as you've had a look with binos or finder beforehand to check current orientation and get the mount close. I've actually had more trouble from a dark site because many more stars visibile in the polar scope! Pretty hard to justify not using a webcam and laptop if you have one, but knowing how to use your polar scope is a valuable skill to have. Its worth all the grovelling.....