Need Help with Alignment

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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Need Help with Alignment

#21

Post by Lady Fraktor »


I have not forgotten about you, work has just been very busy.

How are you powering the mount?
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SkyHiker United States of America
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Re: Need Help with Alignment

#22

Post by SkyHiker »


jlw9406 wrote: Thu Oct 27, 2022 12:28 am Tried to use Celestrons CPWI tonight to help align, about time i got all set up clouds rolled in, guess ill try tomorrow night.
Here's another user who used CPWI, just in case you run into trouble he may be able to help.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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jrkirkham United States of America
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Re: Need Help with Alignment

#23

Post by jrkirkham »


You are near St. Augustine. The Ancient City Astronomy Club meets there. Their web site looks like they a pretty active club. Is there a chance that you could get someone to come over and help you get it set up? I've helped people close to me get their systems up and going. Sometime it is easier to find the glitch when you are going through the steps in person.
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Re: Need Help with Alignment

#24

Post by AstroBee »


I would forget about the illuminated eyepiece until you figure out the proper setup. 4-5" off by the way is not that far. Are you sure you are talking about seconds and not degrees?

I Would also recommend finding out where your nearest local astronomical club is located. Reach out to them and ask for in-person assistance. I live in Las Vegas and am a member of the LVAS and we help newbies all the time.

One last thing to check. On the SE8 I believe that scope is designed to be used in Alt-Az mode but also has an EQ (Wedge) mode. Is your mount on a wedge or does it attach directly to the tripod where the base is horizontal to the ground? Make sure your setting is correct because that will throw you off as much as 45° in the sky!
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jlw9406 United States of America
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Re: Need Help with Alignment

#25

Post by jlw9406 »


Hello everyone again, so tonight since it was a clear night and the moon was up I went out with the intent of just looking at the moon and taking a break from trying to figure out the alignment. But as things often do, my bride of over 36 years came out and said we should try again so of course I did, and this is the result. I did a Factory reset and entered the time in military time, the lat/long, the date and scrolled from eastern time to -5 and hit enter, all the same things I have done every time I try. I chose the two star alignment and first used Altair and got it "centered" (I have a lighted crosshair lenses but did not use it this time) I then chose Fomalhaut and moved the scope to it and "centered" it, hit enter and it said something like alignment confirmed. I then chose to "goto' Altair and hit enter and it slewed in that direction but stopped 25-27 degrees low. I chose Fomalhaut and slewed to it and it did the same thing, pretty much online but low. I chose the mon and it stopped low there also, i adjusted it until the Moon was centered n the eyepiece and it actually tracked the moon fairly well.
With this new info, is it just my alignment needs tweaking? or am i missing something obvious, and I do appreciate ALL the help ive been given so far.
Thanks again
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jlw9406 United States of America
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Re: Need Help with Alignment

#26

Post by jlw9406 »


Ladies and Gentlemen , first, thank you all for the suggestions and tips to help me with my issue. To me it was a real pain in the tuckus and I almost gave up. I reached out to Celestron and ended up sending my mount back to them so they could check it, it appears the control board needed replacing to which they did and I have finally started getting alignment kinda figured out, I’m still off a bit but most times when I do goto, the star I’m looking for is somewhere in the eyepiece now instead of being way off. I hope I can still bug you all with newbie questions as they pop up in the future, till then, thank you all again
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