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stevecoe
"Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Loc: Arizona, USA
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Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
#3163434 - 06/15/09 03:35 AM
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Hello all;
My Sirius mount is 2 years old this month and suddenly will not find objects. I have a 6" f/8 refractor on mine and with a 27mm Panoptic it has never missed objects unless I did something silly.
I promise I am on Polaris and I have good skills at using the polar scope. The scope is balanced and I am giving it the correct Lat and Long, time zone and time.
I originally chose 3 star align and got Alignment Successful. The objects were either just out or just at the edge of the 27mm eyepiece, about a 2 degree field. I did an alignment on an object and it did not help.
I had a friend who always does a 2 star align so I turned off the power and then back on. Now the system has lost the Lat and Long, so I enter them again and do the 2 star align with different stars than before, thinking the stars might have incorrect data, then I realized these are the same stars I have been getting good alignment on for months.
After the 2 star align, the result was the same. I would get the object either out of the field or right at the edge.
I double checked the polar alignment and did another 2 star with yet again different stars and it will not accurately find any of the famous objects I wanted.
It is very frustrating to get to trust a mount that has done a great job for me for quite a while. Now I don't have any other troubleshooting ideas. The battery voltage was 12.1 volts.
Any ideas?
Steve Coe
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neptun2
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/04/07
Loc: Bulgaria
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: stevecoe]
#3163443 - 06/15/09 04:12 AM
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Are you with latest version of firmware (3.24)? If not upgrading or resetting the settings may help. If you are with 3.24 i would suggest the bug with the sign of the time zone but you are not enough off target for this to be the case. Can you try with eqmod to see if the problem is in the hand controller?
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hudson_yak
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/15/07
Loc: Hyde Park, NY, USA
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: stevecoe]
#3163660 - 06/15/09 09:55 AM
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Quote:
Now the system has lost the Lat and Long
This doesn't sound good, since it normally doesn't lose that info after a power off/on. You can try a reset or firmware load as suggested though you might have an actual hardware failure here.
Mike
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stevecoe
"Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Loc: Arizona, USA
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: hudson_yak]
#3163763 - 06/15/09 11:07 AM
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Hand controller is brand new, when these troubles started, I bought a new one thinking that was the problem. But NO. And it is loaded with 3.24.
I wonder if it is the connector board under the plug ins and switches?
It can't be the sign of the time zone. By the third star of the routine, it is putting it in the central circle of the Telrad.
Steve Coe
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie no more
Reged: 04/30/03
Loc: NE Ohio
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: stevecoe]
#3163764 - 06/15/09 11:10 AM
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Quote:
It can't be the sign of the time zone. By the third star of the routine, it is putting it in the central circle of the Telrad.
Steve Coe
The time zone is referenced only for the first alignment star. After that the other star locations are referenced to the first (their locations relative to the first star are fixed and don't vary with time).
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hudson_yak
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/15/07
Loc: Hyde Park, NY, USA
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: stevecoe]
#3163771 - 06/15/09 11:16 AM
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So does it lose the Lat/Long info every time it's powered off? How does it behave in standalone mode (+12V plugged directly into HC)?
Mike
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie no more
Reged: 04/30/03
Loc: NE Ohio
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: jrcrilly]
#3163776 - 06/15/09 11:19 AM
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The error you describe is quite small. Such errors are more commonly caused by bad encoder reads, something in the drive train slipping, or incorrect backlash compensation.
To isolate the problem, align on an object (get it well centered). Then use the DEC slew button to move the telescope a good distance. Then do a goto back to the object.This removes alignment errors from the picture. If the mount is working correctly (good encoder reads, nothing slipping, good backlash settings) it will go back to precisely the same place. Then do the same in RA. If one axis or the other fails this test you will know where to look. If both axes pass, then there's something preventing star alignments from working properly.
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stevecoe
"Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Loc: Arizona, USA
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: jrcrilly]
#3164029 - 06/15/09 02:21 PM
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yak, no the handpaddle does not lose the Lat-Long every time, that I why I am thinking loose connection.
John, I will try your test and see if something is slipping, that could certainly be the problem. I was not thinking mechanical.
I appreciate the input;
Steve Coe
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Lane
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/19/07
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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Re: Help with Sirius mount--missing objects
[Re: stevecoe]
#3164498 - 06/15/09 06:30 PM
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Did you upgrade the hand controller just before this problem started or did it just start out-of-the-blue one day? I am asking because mine could not find anything when I went from version 3.01 to 3.24 even with all the correct settings. I finally loaded version 3.12 which worked fine for me, that is where I am at now.
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