rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Unlike a lot of reports I've read here, I've actually had pretty good luck with auto align. The 2 alignment stars are always WAY off, but as long as I guess them correctly, the go-to's are really good. I've calibrated the sensors more than once. Anyway, back to my question. I thought I'd try the 2 star alignment just to compare but I keep getting alignment failed message. I followed the directions, but just can't get it right for some reason. Can someone post the exact procedure that has worked for you? Thanks.
Randy
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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StarWars
Postmaster
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 13808
Loc: CyberSpace
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With regard to the ETX125PE Home position for auto align and 2 star align both have different setup positions.... 
(page 17 and 36)........
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Sony Digital Media player..
MX 460 earbuds
Celestron 2x Barlow Lens
Orion Collimation Eyepiece
Rigel Quick Finder
Assorted Bino's 
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roccodm
super member
Reged: 01/15/08
Posts: 102
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Randy make sure you have the tube leve- cont rely on meades factory set of the altitude scale to set level- i am using a little ext 60 and the scale was off by about 8 degrees- i adjusted the scale with an level and the gotos are right on- also if u are using batteries i would change them frequently - i get an alignment message after about 14 hrs on fresh batteries give or take -before i get a bad alignment message clear skies rocco
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Thanks. I used the home position described for the 2 star alignment, but maybe I was doing it wrong. If I understood it right, you are supposed to rotate counterclockwise until stop then clockwise about 1/4 turn until fork arm is over the interface panel? Scope should be level and North, then go through the pick your stars and align routine. I must be doing something wrong, cause the scope works good in auto-align, even though it never seems to get near the alignment stars even after calibrating sensors.  I tried Easy Align and got the failure message too. It would align in one star, but go-to's were way off...no surpise there.
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Quote:
Randy make sure you have the tube leve- cont rely on meades factory set of the altitude scale to set level- i am using a little ext 60 and the scale was off by about 8 degrees- i adjusted the scale with an level and the gotos are right on- also if u are using batteries i would change them frequently - i get an alignment message after about 14 hrs on fresh batteries give or take -before i get a bad alignment message clear skies rocco
I was using a little torpedo bubble level and a jump start battery. I may train the drives and do all the calibrating stuff again then give it another try. Personally, I like the auto-align since as long as it is working. I'm just curious to see if the go-to's will be much different in two star. Thanks for the help! 
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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Talstarone
Vendor (Inner Planetary Products)
Reged: 09/12/06
Posts: 7905
Loc: Benson, North Carolina
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Hi Randy,I may have a suggestion to help make your task a little easier.
There is a product called the "4 in 1 Multi-Mate" It has a very accurate bubble level on one side,as well as a highly accurate floating compass on the other end.
I use this with all my scopes to level them and get them pointing North(though the problem I had with set-up last night was due to another issue)
Here is a link to the Multi Mate which also has a bag of dessicant in the bottom to draw moisture out of the inside of the Optical tube. multi-mate
The Jump Starter/Gel Cell Batteries area great way to go to get an adaquite power supply.
And I must say Thank You for both the Help you provided on the imager.
I downloaded the freeware you suggested(AstroCapture)and it looks like this might be the easiest one to use by far.
So Thank You for your help.
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Todd C.
Celestron NexStar 4SE(102mm F/13)Maksutov-Cass
www.innerplanetaryproducts.com
Meteorites and More....
"Outer Space at Down to Earth Prices"
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Multimate looks like a good idea! Thanks for the link. Hope you can get your camera going.
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3608
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Randy-- setup the scope as you described -- counterclockwise to the stop then about a 1/4 turn back clockwise. Pickup the entire outfit and point it to the North-- if it is dark loosen the alt az locks and get Polaris inside a 26mm eyepiece-- LOCK the AZ-- level the tube and LOCK Altitude knob-- You are set to go with an almost perfect North position alignment---
Joe
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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
"Great minds discuss ideas;Average minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people." Unknown
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Joe,
I think that may be where I'm going wrong. I've been rotating clockwise about 1/4 turn but then if it's not at North, I keep rotating the az until it is approx North. I'll try it like you described. I bet it will work!  The manual is not very clear in it's instructions sometimes. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks very much for everone's replies and help!!!! 
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
Edited by rcd47 (07/02/08 07:17 PM)
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vanhooglesnort
member
Reged: 02/18/08
Posts: 43
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Meade's manual is terrible, but Weasner's site is full of good poop. I always check there, then here if I can't figure something out. Seems like lots of folks here know a lot about their gear (the reason I started reading at CN in the first place!).
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Supercharged ETX-125PE
90mm f/10 Homegrown Achromat
Meade 4000 Super Plossls
One Lonely Nagler 16mmT5
10X50 Nikon Binos
Phenix City AL Clearsky Clock
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Talstarone
Vendor (Inner Planetary Products)
Reged: 09/12/06
Posts: 7905
Loc: Benson, North Carolina
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Mike Weasner's ETX site is Amazing.There is information on anything you could ever imagine for an ETX.
From How To Use Articles,to reports on any ETX accessory you could think of.Thanks for bringing the site up,vanhooglesnort.
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Todd C.
Celestron NexStar 4SE(102mm F/13)Maksutov-Cass
www.innerplanetaryproducts.com
Meteorites and More....
"Outer Space at Down to Earth Prices"
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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There really is tons of stuff on Weasner's site. It's amazing that there can be that much info about something all in one place. Makes you wonder what we all did before computers and the internet. 
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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JaredG16
member
Reged: 05/31/08
Posts: 12
Loc: Baton Rouge, LA
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talstarone... there's also a floating compass at Home Depot you can get for like $3.00 that sits perfectly on top of the EP hole. perfect. ;-)
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Jared G.
Meade ETX125PE
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rob288
member
Reged: 05/13/08
Posts: 60
Loc: New Zealand
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If your using auto align, as well as making sure its in the home position ie: anti clockwise still stop, make sure the control panel is facing west, this seems to make a big difference. Any way thats for southern hemisphere, not sure if it works for northen hemisphere, this was a tip off Mikes sites.
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Meade LX90 8 Inch SCT UHTC LNT, Meade 884 field tripod,
Super Plossl 9mm, Super Plossl 15mm Ultra wide, Super Plossl 26mm, 2x Barlow,
Bak4 Binoviewer, 6.3 Focal Reducer, Nikon D200 astro camera,
20x80 Astro Binos, Starry Night Pro Plus 6.23
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Quote:
If your using auto align, as well as making sure its in the home position ie: anti clockwise still stop, make sure the control panel is facing west, this seems to make a big difference. Any way thats for southern hemisphere, not sure if it works for northen hemisphere, this was a tip off Mikes sites.
Okay...thanks! I did not know that. So, that may be why my alignment stars are off more than normal in auto-align. I may have a chance tonight to try it out.
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Something is loco! I went out this evening and tried an Easy Alignment. I put the scope in home position for 2 star or easy align, then picked up the whole mount and positioned it North with Polaris. Then leveled the OTA, chose Easy align and followed the procedure. The alignment stars were pretty far off, but I centered them and went on. Alignment failed!!  So, I pulled the plug and started over with an Auto Align. Went through the procedure and got a successful alignment. Go-to's were in the FOV for the entire session. I even hurried through half of the tour just to check, but it was on target every time. The odd thing is that the alignment stars were pretty far off (15 degr or more), but after I aligned them everything was okay. I just can't get it to align in 2 star or easy to save my life.  One thing I've noticed is that I have to turn the az a lot more than 1/4 turn (more like 1/3-1/2 turn) to get the fork arm to line up with the control panel for the 2 star home position. I'm not sure if this is normal or not. I am glad the auto align works well. 
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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vanhooglesnort
member
Reged: 02/18/08
Posts: 43
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I have to turn mine nearly 1/2 revolution as well, so that seems normal to me. When I used to auto align, my first goto's were way off as you describe, but they are much closer when I do a 2 star. Not to insult you, but are you sure you have the correct time zone and DST entered? Anyway, as long as your scope works well, who cares about the initial slew error! Glad you got it working. 
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Supercharged ETX-125PE
90mm f/10 Homegrown Achromat
Meade 4000 Super Plossls
One Lonely Nagler 16mmT5
10X50 Nikon Binos
Phenix City AL Clearsky Clock
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Kolenka
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/01/08
Posts: 1009
Loc: Seattle Area, WA, USA
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Exactly, the slewing when starting into the 2-star alignment is an estimate made by the scope. The alignment itself is meant to correct those estimates and make them more accurate. If you could nail the alignment stars before alignment even began, you wouldn't need to align in the first place.
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Orion XX12 / Orion 80ED OTA / AT66ED
Nagler 7T6, 9T6, 13T6, 17T4, 26T5
Canon XS, TIS DMK 31AF03, AstroTrac TT320X
Northwest Astro Photoblog
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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I need to re-check the time and DST settings, but unless they accidently got reset somehow they should be correct. I set them manually when I got the scope. But, considering the alignment stars are off by at least 15 degr. that is a good suggestion. The alignment stars are off by that much no matter what alignment procedure I use, but so far I have not been able to get 2 star or easy align to give me the "Alignment Successful" message. I get "Alignment Failed" every time in either of those two modes. On the other hand, the auto align has near perfect go-to's and I've never seen the "Alignment Failed" message with it. I realize that the alignment stars are just estimated and the final calculations are made after centering them, I just can't figure out why I can't get the 2 star alignment or easy alignment to work after centering my stars...especially when it works so perfectly in auto align. It's almost like I'm getting the stars wrong, but I'm sure that I'm not. Maybe I should go through all the train drives and calibrating stuff again, just for the process of elimination. In the long run, it really doesn't matter as long as auto align is working so well. It sure is nice to sit back and let the scope do all the work.
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
Edited by rcd47 (07/07/08 05:58 PM)
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vanhooglesnort
member
Reged: 02/18/08
Posts: 43
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Based on the success you claim and the poor performance some others (like me) have had, I'd leave it alone and only use the auto align. It really is convenient and easy, and if it had worked for me I would have been MUCH happier.
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Supercharged ETX-125PE
90mm f/10 Homegrown Achromat
Meade 4000 Super Plossls
One Lonely Nagler 16mmT5
10X50 Nikon Binos
Phenix City AL Clearsky Clock
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