FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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I replaced the battery in the LNT module recently and went through the procedure to train drives, calibrate motors and calibrate sensors. I changed the battery because the time wasn't being retained. Well, that's fixed now. But when trying to do an align after doing a calibrate sensors, the scope slewed to the first star which was Sirius but it wasn't up yet. The other star was Capella but it actually pointed to the general vicinity of Vega. The time and date and daylight savings settings are OK, and the location is correct as well (I entered my site directly).
I'm thinking that I may have trained the drives on an object that wasn't distant enough. I'm also thinking that I need to mount my Rigel to the OTA as well as it may be a little more accurate than the red dot finder.
Any ideas as to why the GOTOs go way off?
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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you are using batteries? that's probably not the best to use. you should use either a AC or dc adapter it will help with alignment because having more power.
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Meade ETX-125
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 -Midlothian VA
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nighty
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 344
Loc: 75w39n
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I recently made a mistake on longitude in starry night and my starfields were off similar to yours. I used 75e longitude instead of 75w longitude.
CS Terry
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Stuff to look at stars and things
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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John, no I'm not using batteries, I'm using a 12V power supply. I think my drive training wasn't done right.
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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nighty- I'll double check that the E and W are correct.
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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ok, i had a problem with my lxd55 mount. i reset it to the factory settings. then trained the drives. and did all that fun stuff and it works great after that. i had bought the mount used from someone in OHIO so i think some of the settings were still programed into the 497. i would recommend just resetting it. it only took about 30ish minutes to get everything good.
do it in the day time!
hope this helps!
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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I'm wondering if my train drives was not quite accurate after the battery change. There's a paucity of "distant landmarks" around home so I was wondering if anyone's done a train drives on Polaris, using a reticule EP? I have an ultrascopic 5mm reticule EP I could use for this. Just wondering if anyone's done this before.
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3606
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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go back to square one-- RESET the hand controller, calibrate motors, train drives, and calibrate sensors-- make sure the SITE is correct, and the TIME and Date, and that Daylight Savings is YES --
If you change batteries or start using 110volt or and external battery -- Calibrate Motors again.
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LX90 8" LNT, SV Nighthawk & TelePOD, SV 80/9D & M4 mount, ETX 90, Orion XT10i, 20x80 binoculars, SV-BV3s-- www.texasastro.org
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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Quote:
anyone's done a train drives on Polaris, using a reticule EP? I have an ultrascopic 5mm reticule EP I could use for this. Just wondering if anyone's done this before.
do it on a land object!!!!!!! i did it on my neighbors chimney.
don't do it on a star planet or the moon!!!
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--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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astrowolf67
member
Reged: 12/15/07
Posts: 94
Loc: Western Kentucky
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Even if the Train Drives was not correctly done, I wouldn't think it would affect Autostar trying to use an alignment star that wasn't above the horizon yet. I'd be looking for a time, date, or location issue. If those all seem good, do as others have said, reset and start over. One other thing, not having ever used, or seen a scope using the LNT module, is it possible to have the wrong battery, or even wrong polarity?
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David
"Seek the Spirit of the Wolf, for He holds the Secret of Life."
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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The battery is one of those CR2032 that go into electronics, the thin round ones. It only goes one way so I think the polarity is OK. The problem was that the original battery was low so the clock kept losing time. The clock is OK now. I'll double check the location settings, as well as the time and date. If those check out I'll redo the train drives/calibrate motors/calibrate sensors.
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4567
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Quote:
I replaced the battery in the LNT module recently and went through the procedure to train drives, calibrate motors and calibrate sensors. I changed the battery because the time wasn't being retained. Well, that's fixed now. But when trying to do an align after doing a calibrate sensors, the scope slewed to the first star which was Sirius but it wasn't up yet. The other star was Capella but it actually pointed to the general vicinity of Vega. The time and date and daylight savings settings are OK, and the location is correct as well (I entered my site directly).
I'm thinking that I may have trained the drives on an object that wasn't distant enough. I'm also thinking that I need to mount my Rigel to the OTA as well as it may be a little more accurate than the red dot finder.
Any ideas as to why the GOTOs go way off?
Try this:
Reset
Calibrate Motors
Train drives
Enter your location by selecting the city rather than entering lat/lon values.
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4567
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Quote:
do it on a land object!!!!!!! i did it on my neighbors chimney.
don't do it on a star planet or the moon!!!
I agree. It would seem logical to use Polaris, but, for whatever reason, I have ALWAYS had better--much better--results with the PE by training on a terrestrial object. Go figger. 
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
Edited by rmollise (10/13/08 08:13 AM)
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Odin
super member
Reged: 03/21/07
Posts: 192
Loc: Ont, Cdn 46N 84W
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Try just Entering the Zip Code.......
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*=== Life Is Great Under The STARS ===*
LX90 8" EMC
Rigel Quickfinder
ETX125PE UHTC
60mm Refractor Meade Digital Series
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Odin
super member
Reged: 03/21/07
Posts: 192
Loc: Ont, Cdn 46N 84W
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Also Train on Something at least a Quarter mile away.
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*=== Life Is Great Under The STARS ===*
LX90 8" EMC
Rigel Quickfinder
ETX125PE UHTC
60mm Refractor Meade Digital Series
Meade Electronic Eyepiece
32mm,26mm,15mm,9.7mm series 4000 Super Plossl
2x Barlow
10x50 Tasca Binoculars
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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I reviewed the settings on the handbox and sure enough, my longitude was 80 deg East. Should be West. That's what you get when you have long periods of time between clear weather! I guess I'll see what the drive training amounts to. Not sure if I need to do a calibrate sensors again... the latitude was OK. Can't hurt to redo though. Most of my sessions are just for checking settings; I need a good solid clear night to really put the scope and the new binoviewer through its paces.
Thanks all for your suggestions.
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4567
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Quote:
Try just Entering the Zip Code.......
You can...but for some bizarre reason, zip code doesn't seem to work as well as "city."
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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AlexDJ30
sage
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 276
Loc: Monterrey, Mexico
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rmollise the last resource would be upgrading the firmware of the autostart (if its a older version and not the new one)..maybe that can cure it..if not then i would send it back fast.
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Equipment:
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4567
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Quote:
rmollise the last resource would be upgrading the firmware of the autostart (if its a older version and not the new one)..maybe that can cure it..if not then i would send it back fast.
It's good to have the current firmware load, but I doubt that will do pea-turkey for the accuracy. If you suspect there is a problem with the Autostar:
Reset
Calibrate Motors
Train Drives
That will almost always fix things.
Do be obsessive about centering alignment stars. MAKE SURE you are centering the correct star, and use a crosshair reticle eyepiece for centering if possible.
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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and let us know what works! keep us updated!  
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
-Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 645
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Update: a better outcome this evening. The alignment stars were just out of the EP, but easily findable. After alignment, the GOTOs were better; the moon was right on, hard to miss, Polaris was again slightly out of the field. Maybe I need to use a reticle EP for alignment.
I also noticed that when I switched to my binoviewers, while observing Polaris, the star seemed to migrate down in the FOV and stay there, even if I tried to center it. I was using 20mm EP with the binoviewers and 26mm when I did the alignment. Strange.
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4567
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Quote:
Update: a better outcome this evening. The alignment stars were just out of the EP, but easily findable. After alignment, the GOTOs were better; the moon was right on, hard to miss, Polaris was again slightly out of the field. Maybe I need to use a reticle EP for alignment.
I also noticed that when I switched to my binoviewers, while observing Polaris, the star seemed to migrate down in the FOV and stay there, even if I tried to center it. I was using 20mm EP with the binoviewers and 26mm when I did the alignment. Strange.
Don't worry about the alignment stars being in the eyepiece; just center them up (make sure you are centering the correct stars, of course). If you've got a good drive trainin' and are careful about centering alignment stars, all will be well.
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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