EQ6R-Pro frustrating First Light

[StarBru]

Date: September 23, 2023
Time: 1530, Temperature is 97° F (36° C)
According to the Nightshift app, tonight will be an excellent night for stargazing. I was looking forward to finally trying out the EQ6-R Pro, the new WiFi dongle, the SynScan Pro app on my phone, and all the eyepieces I haven't looked through yet!

Setting up the mount in my backyard, the tripod legs won't rest on the flat stone blocks I had set up for my Meade LXD tripod which has a North-facing tripod leg, and the Skywatcher does not. I decided to use the stoned-brick patio deck for now.

Using a digital compass for true North, I set up the tripod and then leveled it, attached the mount and weights, and then my Meade 10" Schmidt Newtonian. After balancing the tube, I attempted to align the 50mm GSO finder scope, but I couldn't get a target directly in the crosshairs. I decided I would try again later. I left the scope and mount in the home position to await polar alignment after dark.

2030: Temperature is 92° F (33.3°C)
I tried several times to see Polaris in my polar scope but the red light was too bright. I need to find a way to turn that brightness down! I wasn't sure how to use the polar scope so I centered Polaris in the crosshairs. After several failed alignment attempts I somehow accidentally did a 1-Star Alignment. The Moon was the first target and was about 10 degrees off. Deleted the alignment and tried a Brightest 2-Star alignment. It wanted me to manually place Arcturus in the eyepiece. Thinking I did something wrong, I tried it again, thinking it should go to the star automatically. It didn't. Decided to try the 2-Star alignment and again they were about 10 degrees off, but I finally succeeded. The finder scope still wasn't aligned to the scope, so I tried aligning it to the moon, but no matter how I tried adjusting the screws, I could not get the Moon in the crosshairs.

2130: Temperature is 87° F (30.5° C)
The moon looked very sharp and clear at 40x and 56x but starting to notice passing waves of what I thought to be atmospheric disturbance.

2230: Temperature is 85° F (29.4°C)
Calling it a night after many more frustrations between the GoTo and the finder scope in trying to acquire Saturn and Jupiter, and getting horrible distorted images, then realizing that I was experiencing a textbook case of tube currents the past hour. Also, I have new rings that were just a little too large for the tube, so I glued some felt strips onto the rings. The new material is making the tube not rotate smoothly and while trying to rotate the tube within its Wilson Rings, I actually moved the mount on the RA and Declination axis! I took the scope, eyepieces, and accessories inside and covered up the mount and tripod with a TeleGizmos tripod cover, (not the 365 version). There's no forecast of rain all week, but I really need to get a 365 cover until I can get my observatory.

What I should have done differently:
1. Align the finder scope to the telescope in the daytime.
2. Learn the position of where Polaris should be in the polar scope.
3. Don't mount the telescope until just before dusk to keep from getting too much of a temperature change.
4. Keep the telescope and mount off the stone-bricked patio. (Even though the yard is covered with small stones called Desert Landscaping here in Arizona.)
5. Fix the rings so the tube rotates smoothly.
6. Read the instruction manuals.

I will be prepared next time. I set myself up for frustration by not being diligent enough to do it right.

On the plus side, the WiFi dongle, the SynScan Pro app, and the battery power supply worked great! The mount did it's job, but I did not.

[John Baars]

Gladly you can look at the bright side too: you've learned how to be prepared next time!

[messier 111]

one thing I can tell you, I read carefully what you experienced, because mine is on its way for me.
in your miss fortune you surely helped me.
thx.

[StarBru]

one thing I can tell you, I read carefully what you experienced, because mine is on its way for me.
in your miss fortune you surely helped me.
thx.

Yesterday, I read the instruction manual for the mount regarding the position of Polaris in the polar scope. The SynScan Pro app will automatically download your coordinates, time, and the info needed for position of Polaris in the polar scope using your phone and the WiFi. You just read the info and then position Polaris in the polar scope according to that info! The worst part is the position needed to look through the polar scope. The rest is easy.

I'm definitely making a RA adapter for my Olympus Varimagni to use on the polar scope. It can magnify the image of the polar reticle up to 2.5x and it works like a diagonal. You can also buy similar ones on Amazon complete already adapted. I think they start out about $67 USD.

[StarBru]

Gladly you can look at the bright side too: you've learned how to be prepared next time!

I observed last night with my 5" refractor on the same mount. I made sure I didn't make the same mistakes and was actually quite successful. I still need to write the report!

[Bigzmey]

From my experience there is always a break-in period for goto mounts to sort out bugs and other issues. Looks like you are making good progress.

[kt4hx]

Ah yes, the trials and tribulations of new equipment! Seems you are getting there though and that is the key thing. On the brightness of the reticle in the polar scope, one can apply red nail polish to the LED. Once you have the brightness turned down all the way, you then just have to play with how many coats of nail polish to apply to reduce the glare sufficiently enough. The vast majority of illuminated finders are too bright even on low settings, and impact the observer's dark adaptation more than they realize. There is such a thing as too much red light as well. Look forward to your observing report Bruce.

P.S. I admit that I've never used a go-to mount. So I would not be able to offer much advice other than to read the manual.

[helicon]

Nice start with the new gear as there almost always are some snafus.

I'm with Alan about GOTO, I've never used it. To me it seems some sort of Alchemy that a scope can slew right to objects without star hopping. I wonder what William Herschel would have said about it. Heh.

[kt4hx]

Nice start with the new gear as there almost always are some snafus.

I'm with Alan about GOTO, I've never used it. To me it seems some sort of Alchemy that a scope can slew right to objects without star hopping. I wonder what William Herschel would have said about it. Heh.

I would venture to say that Herschel would be all for it over the drift method he employed. Then again, he was in discovery mode, whereas we are not, so the drift method seems logical though time consuming. So aside from the natural progression of knowledge and equipment over the centuries, we also reap the benefits of his (and others) hard work in visually discovering the contents of the NGC/IC. I think I can say for certain that he would have really loved the quality of our optics back then though!

[JayTee]

I wonder what William Herschel would have said about it. Heh.

Thank God.

Obviously, I'm an advocate. My EQ6R slews perfectly to the object that is selected.

[jrkirkham]

Oops, I read your posts in backward order. All's well that ends well. It always takes me forever to get comfortable with a new mount.