Meridian flip?

[5ash (Philip)]

I was looking at some ads for celestron mounts that made a point of saying that this mount doesn't do a meridian flip! I have a rough idea of what is involved in a MFlip but not sure which mounts if any perform this maneuver . Can anyone enlighten me as I often leave my NEQ6 tracking and go away for a long period and sometimes feel uneasy with the concept of a meridian flip in the back of my mind. What's the truth , am I likely to return to an imaging session to find the scope tied up in cables that are popping out of sockets and the mount making unpleasant sounds?
Philip

[jakob]

I noticed my EQ5 to flip in response to a new Go To but I don't expect the mount to flip while tracking the same target.
That would be problem.

[glend (Glen)]

Personally I don't image through the meridian as policy. It's simple enough to stop running exposures prior to the meridian and then restart after your object crosses. I usually switch to another object that is well clear to the east and then come back to the original object once it has crossed the meridian.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

I think any goto scope can do this, it's up to the acquisition software. For example Sequence Generator Pro will stop a sequence within a certain tolerance of the meridian, plate solve, flip, plate solve again, refine the position and resume imaging while you sleep. As long as you've put a bit of thought into where the cables go there should be no issues. But get it to do a few runs while you are there first to ensure there will be no tangles.
Cheers
Andrew.