HEQ5 Question - About 'Parking'

[Sooby (John)]

Hello all

I have a (hypothetical) question about aligning my scope/mount and then parking it.

If I complete a one star alignment (or a two or three star alignment I suppose) and then park the scope will the mount remember the original alignment if I choose to perform another alignment soon afterwards?

Or, does the scope forget the alignment and start again?

Due to back problems I am thinking of doing a quick alignment on a star that I can easily sight on (closer to the horizon) for an alignment, first by a red dot finder then my illuminated 20mm. Once I had the scope aligned I would park it and then do a two star alignment on stars that I am familiar with.

I am hoping the scope will remember the first alignment so I only need to use the eyepiece for the second alignment and not have to bend down to use the red dot finder as the scope should (hopefully) slew close(ish) to my second alignment stars.

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

[Startrek (Martin)]

You can read the manual it’s available on line
From memory , If you park the scope , when parked it will say “Position saved turn off power”
When you turn power back on immediately or any night later it will say “Start from park” then you select 1) Yes
All your previous alignment data will be saved
Just check the time and date again to ensure it is correct !!

[xelasnave]

May I ask a question?
I find I will need to park my scopes at 90 degrees to "home" position (home being upright) and I presume this will still be ok such that once aligned the scope can still start from there and find objects starting in that position?
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Alex
This how I set Home Position on my HEQ5 and EQ6-R
Never had an issue, always returns to park position either with Synscan handcontroller or via my Laptop with EQMOD and Stellarium
Cheers

Martin

How to set Home Position on your Telescope Mount
1/ Level your tripod pointing to the SCP
2/ Install the mount head and ensure the counterweight shaft is pointing down towards the south tripod leg
3/ Set you Altitude on the mount using the altitude adjusting bolts to the latitude of your current location
4/ Ensure the Azimuth bolts are equally spaced each side of the mount and tighten ( finger tight only )
5/ Do not install the counterweights yet
6/ Stand behind the mount looking south , release the RA clutch and rotate the mount anti clockwise until the counterweight shaft is level . Use a bubble float level to check and then lock the RA clutch
7/ Release the RA clock ring and rotate it anticlockwise until the pointer reaches 6.00 (18.00) don’t tighten up yet
8/ Unlock the RA clutch and rotate the RA axis back to the home position and lick it when the pointer reaches 12.00. Lock the RA clutch
9/ Unlock the Dec clutch and rotate the Dec axis until the saddle is exactly level .Check with a bubble float level then lock the Dec clutch
10/ Release the Dec clock ring and rotate it until it lines up with the pointer at 90 deg. Don’t tighten up yet
11/ Unlock the Dec clutch and rotate it anti clockwise until “0” on the Dec lock ring lines up with the pointer then lock the Dec clutch
12/ The Mount should be now in the “Home Position”
13/ Rotate both RA and Dec clock rings so the pointer lines up with “0” and screw down the clock rings
14/ You are now ready to install your counterweights and balance your telescope

[Startrek (Martin)]

Should have mentioned before , obviously Home Position is where the counterweight shaft is pointing down in line or parallel to the south tripod leg

The alignment program in the hand controller I assume is based on a starting point when you first power the mount up and this Home Position. I guess they have in built alignment algorithms in the pointing model if your out a tad , so when you complete a star alignment it resets and finds the original set Home Position. Mine always returns back to the exact Home Position
Cheers

[Sooby (John)]

Thanks Martin

I knew I had seen the information about parking somewhere. It is in the Synscan manual.

I had tried parking the mount at a public night but I was in a hurry to set up. I note the manual says to turn off the power and, from memory, I didn't do this.

I'll try again, this time turning off the mount and restarting.

Cheers

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by Startrek

Alex
This how I set Home Position on my HEQ5 and EQ6-R
Never had an issue, always returns to park position either with Synscan handcontroller or via my Laptop with EQMOD and Stellarium
Cheers

Martin

How to set Home Position on your Telescope Mount
1/ Level your tripod pointing to the SCP
2/ Install the mount head and ensure the counterweight shaft is pointing down towards the south tripod leg
3/ Set you Altitude on the mount using the altitude adjusting bolts to the latitude of your current location
4/ Ensure the Azimuth bolts are equally spaced each side of the mount and tighten ( finger tight only )
5/ Do not install the counterweights yet
6/ Stand behind the mount looking south , release the RA clutch and rotate the mount anti clockwise until the counterweight shaft is level . Use a bubble float level to check and then lock the RA clutch
7/ Release the RA clock ring and rotate it anticlockwise until the pointer reaches 6.00 (18.00) don’t tighten up yet
8/ Unlock the RA clutch and rotate the RA axis back to the home position and lick it when the pointer reaches 12.00. Lock the RA clutch
9/ Unlock the Dec clutch and rotate the Dec axis until the saddle is exactly level .Check with a bubble float level then lock the Dec clutch
10/ Release the Dec clock ring and rotate it until it lines up with the pointer at 90 deg. Don’t tighten up yet
11/ Unlock the Dec clutch and rotate it anti clockwise until “0” on the Dec lock ring lines up with the pointer then lock the Dec clutch
12/ The Mount should be now in the “Home Position”
13/ Rotate both RA and Dec clock rings so the pointer lines up with “0” and screw down the clock rings
14/ You are now ready to install your counterweights and balance your telescope

Thanks Martin I have a similar routine but I used a spirit level in a few places...what I am asking is if I can have the scope park at 90 degrees to this..So the scope and counter weights are at the same level..I may need to have the right this way to get the polar scope ( the camera for polemaster really) so it can keep over the edge of the observatory...
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Can’t answer that one but every manual, YouTube clip, brochure, book etc.. has the scope parked with the counterweight shaft pointing down the south leg
If you were to set it level as Home Position , what happens when you start tracking up past 50 deg ? Won’t you hit the tripod leg with the scope and the same situation on the other side of the meridian ?
Maybe give it a try ??
Maybe a first for astrophotography !!