NEQ6 Pro alignment question

[guggle (Michael)]

Hi everyone,

I've started to get a handle on setting up my new NEQ6 Pro and BT200. Last night I was able to get it so that when doing a Go To, the object would appear in the finder scope, but not in the cross hairs.

The question is: is this as close as can be expected (for visual observing) or should I be able to get it so that Go To'ing will end up dead centre of the main scope?

Cheers, Michael

[raymo]

Hi Guggle, With the lower end serious mounts such as yours and the HEQ5,[which I have] as delivered from the dealer, you should be able to get your target
within the inner half of of the field of view of a low power eyepiece.
Slewing right across the sky will reduce the accuracy somewhat, but
should be somewhere in the F.O.V. of the eyepiece. Check out the
backlash, as this can affect the accuracy. I personally find 3 star
alignment little better than 2 star, which I normally use for visual,
but that's obviously personal choice. Getting the object dead centre
every time is unrealistic, given the variables involved in producing a
sophisticated mount at a price the market can stand.
raymo

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Finder field say 6 degrees, main scope field say 0.6 degrees. Yes you should be able to get the object in the main scope field assuming a magnification of around 100x.

Accurate polar alignment is not necessary, but I have found it is best to be within 3 degrees of the pole. This is not hard to achieve if you know the sky a little.

Some tips:-

once alignment star is slewed to, enter "rate" and then use values 5 or 6. Using the standard rate of 1 is too slow, 8 or 9 is too fast.

The direction keys represent North, South, East, West in their conventional format, not the common astro format which has west slewing on the right button. Use this knowledge to help shift the star into the centre of the finder and then the main scope.

Ensure the time is correct to within half a minute, and location to within 10 minutes of lat or long. This all helps.

I have lately had my mount reject alignments where I used the first three suggested stars and did every thing correctly. Did this twice recently on Canopus, Achernar and Fomalhaut. Chose another star (Alnair) and all was OK. I have no idea why this happens.

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by The Mekon

I have lately had my mount reject alignments where I used the first three suggested stars and did every thing correctly. Did this twice recently on Canopus, Achernar and Fomalhaut. Chose another star (Alnair) and all was OK. I have no idea why this happens.

This has happened to me on occasions depending on time of night/year and the alignment stars that are available to choose from. My thoughts are that sometimes the geometry of stars selected is poor and manually selecting stars (with better geometry) will produce a better result.

The particular example you give of Canopus, Achernar and Fomalhaut (even though this i what Synscan suggests) always fails for me.

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

The particular example you give of Canopus, Achernar and Fomalhaut (even though this i what Synscan suggests) always fails for me.

[/QUOTE]
Thanks Astro_Bot, glad to see I am not alone in this alignment failure.
Will be interesting to see if other stars are suggested when I upgrade the firmware. (waiting on a cable)

[raymo]

I've just updated to 3.35, but as usual, socked in.
raymo

[MattT]

I only do 2 star alignment with my NEQ6. Always works for me. This time of year Canopus and Achernar no problem, never had a failed alignment yet.
I'm careful to set up in the first place.
Matt

[traveller (Bo)]

Michael,
I always find the Astronomyshed videos very easy to follow (once you get past the accent)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fO6hyYtPwM
Bo

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by MattT

I only do 2 star alignment with my NEQ6. Always works for me. This time of year Canopus and Achernar no problem, never had a failed alignment yet.
I'm careful to set up in the first place.
Matt

Just for the record since mentioned above - 2 star alignment with Canopus and Achenar also works fine for me - it's only 3 star alignment with certain stars in certain geometry (time of night/year) where there are problems.

[guggle (Michael)]

Thanks for all the advice people!