EQ6 Pro/SynScan question

[DJDD]

Thanks to all tose who replied to me about how to get my EQ6Pro moutn assembled.

ok, next set of stupid questions...

1. I connected a 24Ah jumpstarter to the mount and the mount started to emit a high-pitched whine. is that normal?

2. I am in Melbourne.
When setting up the SynScan controller do I enter the current time and then answer "Yes" to the Daylight Savings question?

3. Can I update the firmware of the SynScan controller whilst connected to the mount itself? I do not have another DC adapter with the correct power output (7.5-15V/100 mA), I only have the jumpstarter unit.

5. craziest question :

(a) Nothing happened when trying to slew the telescope with the arrow keys on the controller.
- do those keys only do small adjustments?
- Do I need to loosen any of the locks, e.g. R.A. or Dec. locks? I assume so...

(b) When choosing an object from the database teh controller stated it was Slewing BUT nothing happened with the mount.


I have never seen one of these mounts in action so am flying a bit blind...

thanks again for any assistance.

DJDD

[DJDD]

ok...I was particularly stupid...

Originally Posted by DJDD

5. craziest question :

(a) Nothing happened when trying to slew the telescope with the arrow keys on the controller.
- do those keys only do small adjustments?
- Do I need to loosen any of the locks, e.g. R.A. or Dec. locks? I assume so...

(b) When choosing an object from the database teh controller stated it was Slewing BUT nothing happened with the mount.

of course the mount would not slew because I had not performed an alignment.

I did a fake 1-star alignment and the mount slewed.


thanks again for any assistance for the first few questions (1-3)...

DJDD

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by DJDD

Thanks to all tose who replied to me about how to get my EQ6Pro moutn assembled.

ok, next set of stupid questions...

1. I connected a 24Ah jumpstarter to the mount and the mount started to emit a high-pitched whine. is that normal?

2. I am in Melbourne.
When setting up the SynScan controller do I enter the current time and then answer "Yes" to the Daylight Savings question?

3. Can I update the firmware of the SynScan controller whilst connected to the mount itself? I do not have another DC adapter with the correct power output (7.5-15V/100 mA), I only have the jumpstarter unit.

5. craziest question :

(a) Nothing happened when trying to slew the telescope with the arrow keys on the controller.
- do those keys only do small adjustments?
- Do I need to loosen any of the locks, e.g. R.A. or Dec. locks? I assume so...

(b) When choosing an object from the database teh controller stated it was Slewing BUT nothing happened with the mount.


I have never seen one of these mounts in action so am flying a bit blind...

thanks again for any assistance.

DJDD

1) When it is tracking it is normal to emit a whine, otherwise my EQ6 is pretty much silent when not slewing.

2) Yes, current time, and yes to daylight savings or minus one hour and no (like if you were in QLD). The mount always assumes an hour for daylight savings. You need to enter the timezone as well.

3) I dont understand this. I dont have a 'DC adapter'. I just have a jump start unit and a piece of wire with a male cigarette lighter plug on one end and the DC plug on the other. I plug one end into the mount and the other into the female plug of the jump start. When i wish to power the hand-controller i just do the same.

I would not connect the hand controller while flashing the firware as if there is a glitch and the controller tries to talk to the mount while flashing you may have problems.

5) You have already answered this.

[DJDD]

Thanks for your reply, Zuts.

Originally Posted by Zuts

3) I dont understand this. I dont have a 'DC adapter'. I just have a jump start unit and a piece of wire with a male cigarette lighter plug on one end and the DC plug on the other. I plug one end into the mount and the other into the female plug of the jump start. When i wish to power the hand-controller i just do the same.

I would not connect the hand controller while flashing the firware as if there is a glitch and the controller tries to talk to the mount while flashing you may have problems.

what i wondered was can i use any 12V adapter to power the hand controller on its own so that I can flash the firmware? e.g. can i use a 12V/1A adapter even though the manual says 12V/100 mA?

does your post mean that you use the jumpstart to power the controller on its own when you flash the firmware (controller disconnected fro the mount)?

5) You have already answered this.

i felt a bit of a duffer on this one...

thanks for the reply.

DJDD

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by DJDD

what i wondered was can i use any 12V adapter to power the hand controller on its own so that I can flash the firmware? e.g. can i use a 12V/1A adapter even though the manual says 12V/100 mA?

does your post mean that you use the jumpstart to power the controller on its own when you flash the firmware (controller disconnected fro the mount)?

Hi,

Again I dont understand. If you are saying you are using an AC/DC adaptor which plugs into mains power and outputs 12V/1A then i would say no, dont use it or you may blow the hand-controller.

However if you are using a jump start battery then generally there is no conversion it is just a straight through wire joining two plugs and supplies DC power from a DC source (the jump start battery). In this case I dont see a problem, i powered my hand-controller using direct DC from a jump starter battery and flashed it while not connected to the mount.

Cheers
Paul

[DJDD]

Originally Posted by Zuts

Hi,

Again I dont understand. If you are saying you are using an AC/DC adaptor which plugs into mains power and outputs 12V/1A then i would say no, dont use it or you may blow the hand-controller.

However if you are using a jump start battery then generally there is no conversion it is just a straight through wire joining two plugs and supplies DC power from a DC source (the jump start battery). In this case I dont see a problem, i powered my hand-controller using direct DC from a jump starter battery and flashed it while not connected to the mount.

Cheers
Paul

hi,

thanks again for the reply.
you have answered my question, even though I have confused the issue.

I assumed that the jumpstarter would output DC/A, similar to an adapter.
e.g. 12V/2A, or something like that.

my electronics skills are a bit poor, as well!

so,
-just disconnect the controller from EQ6Pro,
- plug the cigarette lighter adapter into the jumpstarter
- and the other end, that normally goes into the EQ6 mount, into the hand controller.
- flash firmware

too easy...

thanks,
DJDD

[DJDD]

Originally Posted by DJDD

so,
-just disconnect the controller from EQ6Pro,
- plug the cigarette lighter adapter into the jumpstarter
- and the other end, that normally goes into the EQ6 mount, into the hand controller.
- flash firmware

firmware updated successfully on my synscan controller using the above procedure. I needed to set the controller to low transfer speed, as instructed in the manual.

thanks, Paul.

DJDD

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by DJDD

firmware updated successfully on my synscan controller using the above procedure. I needed to set the controller to low transfer speed, as instructed in the manual.

thanks, Paul.

DJDD

Cool

[toc (Tim)]

Originally Posted by Zuts

Hi,

Again I dont understand. If you are saying you are using an AC/DC adaptor which plugs into mains power and outputs 12V/1A then i would say no, dont use it or you may blow the hand-controller.

Cheers
Paul

I wouldnt have thought the power pack will be a problem. As long as the power pack is at least 100mA, it should be fine. If the hand controller is drawing 100mA, then it will only draw 100mA, even if the adapter is rated at 1A.

At least that is how I thought it worked anyway

[DJDD]

Originally Posted by toc

I wouldnt have thought the power pack will be a problem. As long as the power pack is at least 100mA, it should be fine. If the hand controller is drawing 100mA, then it will only draw 100mA, even if the adapter is rated at 1A.

At least that is how I thought it worked anyway

thanks, toc.
that sounds reasonable, too.
i guess i was just concerned that I woudl destroy something i just bought and woudl be expensive to replace.

cheers,
DJDD