Hi ya.
Ok any help .
Got our new 12inch dob sky watcher out the other night we looked at Jupiter and Saturn. Boys loved it .
Now it's time to get used to using the sky sync hand controller .and cheat sheets or step by step guides or any one using one in Sydney city .ashfield.
It tells me I gotta do 2 star alignment.
And I got a huge tree covering one part of the back yard .so a little tricky to find any of the stars it asks for .
Boys want tracking to work.
A little tricky to get the crappy spotting scope to line up .
Any better one I should buy
And the real help
I was checking my power tank 17
And turned it on and the alarm us going off, I can turn it to am radio and it turns off .but the volume dail is not doing anything with it.
Volume dail works for the fm radio. Turns off and up down volume.
RACI is a more convenient option to use for the sight, but the one you have there isn't too bad. Only adjust with the two black nobs, the silver one for tension. To align the scope and the sight, pick a bright star, not a planet.
The three stars to use are the first to be seen as the sky darkens, since they're the brightest. Check just after the sun has dipped and check for your first 3 visible stars, once you know them they are easy to locate. (planets not included)
Ps. If you use a sky atlas program, see if you can adjust the magnitude of the stars shown, matching magnitude of stars shown to conditions will make it easier to match screen to sky.
I’ve had a Skywatcher 12” Goto for 4 years
Have your laptop nearby with a planetarium software like “Stellarium” opened so you can easily identify and select 2 bright stars ( your alignment stars ) in the night sky in your field of view
You will need either a finder scope or laser dot finder to find your Stars and also a centering eye piece for fine tuning your centering. I use an Orion 20mm 70 degree illuminated centering eye piece which is fantastic for centering
To enable Goto and tracking
Enter all your location details into the Synscan Handcontroller like Date and time , elevation from sea level , latitude , longitude etc…. Remember date is Month / Day / Year in that order not Day / Month / Year
Identify and select 2 bright stars in the night sky which are in view ( ideally they should be between 35 degrees to 75 degrees in Altitude and 30 degrees to 60 degrees in Azimuth. It doesn’t matter about which side of the meridian they are situated
Level base of mount with a spirit level on all sides ( I use furniture feet adjusters on 4 sides )
Release clutches and tilt scope down to horizontal position with front facing “True North” not magnetic north ( and not True South , don’t ask me why mine is more accurate using True North ) There is a marker gauge on the inside of the clutch panel , level the scope to “0” but also check it with a spirit level , mine is always 2 or 3 degrees out
Plug in Synscan Handcontroller and power up mount
Select Az Alt mode not EQ mode
Go through the instructions for Alignment , choose 2 Star Alignment
Choose 1st pre selected Star , you must use the Handcontroller joystick buttons to move the scope up and across to the first Star. Center the first Star accurately and press enter
Handcontroller will ask you to choose 2nd pre selected Star , press ok , scope will slew to close that Star but not exactly Center, you must use the joy stick buttons to carefully Center that Star , then press ok or
You are now aligned and can select objects across the night sky to observe
Important: Read the Synscan manual to identify all the settings and controls
Important: In Synscan Menu under Alignment make sure you switch off the Star Alignment Filter as this will enable more choice of stars to be selected as your alignment Stars
I might have missed a few points but the above is generally how to get your Goto and alignment up and running
The Star centering is very important and also the more accurate you level and set your mount in the home or start position the more accurate your Goto will be
Martin has some great advice here, not much to add. The only thing I'd repeat that he mentions is to read that manual for your mount and the hand controller. And then read it again with the mount set up in front of you, even if it's in the middle of the day, and familiarise yourself with it. Initially, working through all of those sub-menus can be a little daunting, but the more you do it, the easier it will get, and do a couple of simple things in the daytime - even just using the hand controller to move the mount around a little - so that when you're doing it all in the dark, it won't seem as much of a challenge.
If time permits, try aligning the finderscope with the main scope using a terrestrial object (like a distant building) during the day - much easier than using a star, I've found. As others have mentioned, getting some sky software like stellarium or skysafari and familiarizing yourself with the brighter stars that will be visible when you're setting up will help a lot too. There's an app called SynscanInit which will provide you with all the handset controller input info you need for your location to make life a bit easier. Dunno about your powerpack issue - my jumpstarter battery used to beep when it got really cold, but apart from it being almost stuffed, I don't know what the beeping would be. Stay patient though - once you've got the goto alignment setup sorted, you'll be off and running.
I missed one important item when you enter the site information into the Synscan Handcontroller and that is “Time Zone”
Time zone is often entered incorrectly which will cause your Goto’s to be off target
Time Zone for Sydney is +10
Do not change this Time Zone when daylight savings arrives
The Synscan will ask you further on in the menu whether it is daylight savings time or not . You simply select Yes or No
Also another important item regarding Alignment
When you auto park your scope after an observing session and switch it off , the alignment data is saved for the next observing session, so you can just power up the mount again , select your target and slew to it.
However if you move your scope or base even by a couple of millimetres , your alignment will be out and therefore you will have to perform another 2 star alignment again to get accurate Goto’s
fantastic replies thank you very much guys , ill be on that software and get to know those stars , we had another great night this week , with Jupiter Saturn and the moon , all still shaking heads , cant believe what they are looking at . and we got the spotter scope dead center , but unfortunately , i keep the scope on trolley and have the push it back into the garage every night over bumpy concrete floor so , means it goes out of alignment and the colmation , its all part of the fun , you guys have been great , i still enjoy finding the planets manually and so do the boys , but we are waiting to find the nebulas , which we have on a cupple times .
ok lots more reading and hope for clear skys for us all.
Another ting that can be of great use is the app called Synscanlnit 2
You basically setup up your Dobsonian, run the app, then just put the exact details that the app tells you into the hand controller.
Super easy and takes any guess work out of setting up the information in the hand controller every night you setup.
I suppose this app is great if your observing from different or multiple remote locations but if your scope is being used in the same location all the time , I guess there’s no need for the app ??
Once you initially set up the Synscan , all the info is retained , you only have to update the time and date which is no big deal
And if your observing in the same location all the time and scope is in a permanent outdoor position then you can save your alignment data too.
It’s so quick and easy compared to an EQ mount !!
