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Tel
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/31/06
Posts: 3984
Loc: Wallingford England
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Hi Pillguy,
Welcome to CN and to this Nexstar forum ! 
You can, (and perhaps should), of course make a comparison between a SkyAlign and an Auto Two Star Align and choose the one that suits you better but you'll doubtlessly find the Moon and to a lesser extent, the planets, may well still be "off".
This is by no means a fault in your N6SE as many GoTo 'scopes have been known to "miss" the Moon and planets while at the same time being perfectly capable of placing stars and DSOs well in the field of view of the eyepiece.
The reason for this is the fact that the calculations the hand control has to perform are more complicated due to the Moon's relatively eccentric and rapid movement along its celestial path. Planets can also be affected but to a lesser extent because their movement is slower and less eccentric.
BTW. Good idea regarding the hairdryer : I do use a heater strap around the corrector plate but if caught out by a rapid dew deposit, (or just forgot to switch on in good time), there's nothing better than careful application of the faithful hairdryer. I have both a mains power and a 12V unit, the latter for field use.
Remember though to give it an initial blast away from the 'scope before applying it, just to make sure it's not blowing hair or anything else for that matter onto the plate ! 
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Tel
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Truth is the cubed root of Verbosity.
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2114
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
Tonight I used Arcturus, Spica, and Mizar.
Which are pretty much in a straight line .... The bigger the area enclosed by the triangle formed by the three alignments stars, the better. Vega, Arcturus & Polaris are a good set, or Arcturus, Regulus & Polaris.... I like to use Polaris as one of the stars as it has essentially no motion.
I use a 12mm crosshair eyepiece, the alignment stars are defocused slightly, the eyepiece is rotated till the star movement is along one of the crosshairs and the align button pressed at the instant the star disc is bisected by both crosshairs (sometimes it takes several tries before I can judge this to my satisfaction). Having done this, GOTO to the middle of a high power eyepiece for the rest of the night. (The Moon may be slightly less accurate because of its very complicated motion but I'm a visual variable star observer!)
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TonyDralle
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 533
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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Quote:
Maybe I should just to got a Auto Two Star? Skyalign over and over is getting a bit tedious. How much better goto accuracy am I going to get from SkyAlign vs. an Auto Two Star Align?
Even though SkyAlign requires you to align on three stars instead of two (e.g., Auto Two Star), it still does a two star alignment. Two of the stars are used for the alignment, and the third serves as a check that SkyAlign has identified the stars correctly. So the alignment accuracy will be exactly the same.
The only reason to use SkyAlign is if you're not familiar with the bright stars' names, or if your access to open sky is so limited by trees, houses, etc., that you can't recognize the constellations (and thus, effectively, don't know the stars' names). SkyAlign then has to do the work of figuring out which stars you have chosen to align on.
If you know the star names, why align on three when two will do? Try one of the two star methods, and if you still have the same difficulties, let us know. (In fact, let us know if it does work, too!)
Good luck,
- Tony
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- TonyD
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Bob Griffiths
Postmaster
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 6590
Loc: Frederick Maryland
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Pillguy.... (as a retired Pharmacist I love the name.)
But Goto's should honestly be darn good IF you actually preform a good alignment.. it is a known fact that the Moon and the Planets don't follow the rules exactly like the rest of the sky but even so a goto to one of them should put it in the FOV quite easily and pretty much in the center...
I think I am the only one who likes SkyAlign but I just got into the habit of using it when I used to fied from what I called the middle of Sherwood Forrest in my tree infested backyard and when I was teaching my 8 year old granddaughter to align the scope (she now has her own 8Se) ...
3 individual stars (not planets) forming as large a Triangle as possible and CENTERED as best you can ... very very rare that I ever did not get acceptable results.. Did you read the tips on setting up your goto approach and what 2 buttons to use when aligning? if not please do it makes a difference...
Most of us use auto 2 star or regular 2 star alignments rather then Skyalign only because we only have to align 2 stars but Skyalign is just as accurate as either of them...
Plus I hope you are using an external power source these scope do not function very well on low batteries and seem to eat batteries like candy ...
Get back top us with how you have your scope set up...and tell us how you go about aligning the scope step by step...
I Ain't go no answer for DEW expect heaters and shields (or a domed observatory ..have not run even with the shield on my scope in 3 years)
Bob G.
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CPC1100
Nexstar 8i + GPS & Rays Brackets
Denk S1 power switch
Orion 100 mm Refractor
Meade LXD 55 ...AR-5 127 mm Refractor
Exploradome Observatory S.I.E. (Smiling Irish Eyes)
Gerbring Heated Motorcycle clothing in the winter
39*21'03" N
77*28'12" W
The sky over my head....
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pillguy
member
Reged: 04/25/09
Posts: 22
Loc: Houston, TX
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Thanks for the response guys!. I am a pharmacist as well, but not quite retired 
I have a PowerTank 17 and batteries in case the connection breaks from time to time.
I did not catch the setup portions for goto approach and what 2 buttons to use...will look back at those in this thread. Clear skies here in Houston tonight, I will give it a shot.
I will play with Arcturus, Polaris, and Regulus/Vega tonight.
Thank you kindly.
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Nexstar 6SE
10" Meade Lightbridge
Orion Expanse 15mm EP
Shorty Barlow
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TonyDralle
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 533
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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At this time of year, I use Polaris (first), then Spica when aligning my 8SE.
- Tony
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- TonyD
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pillguy
member
Reged: 04/25/09
Posts: 22
Loc: Houston, TX
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Auto 2 star worked fine last night. I used Polaris and Spica. Goto objects were in FOV (although not exactly centered, which is fine with me).
Fairly good seeing last night, and dry with no DEW so I took advantage (even though I was in the city). I made out Bode's Galaxy (a faint smudge) so things were exciting. M44 was also easy to make out.
Loads of fun! Except for mosquitoes.......
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Nexstar 6SE
10" Meade Lightbridge
Orion Expanse 15mm EP
Shorty Barlow
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Bob Griffiths
Postmaster
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 6590
Loc: Frederick Maryland
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Sounds like you are beginning to get the "feel" for the scope...
Good "little" companion to your lightbridge...and my guess is that you'll use it a lot because If your work schedule is anything like the work schedules I put up with for 30 years you will not exactly have a lot of time ...getting home at 11 PM and having to be back at work at 8 AM the next morning just does not leave you a lot of time to relax...
Just browse thru the alignment tips and play around with your scope...
Clear skies and fingers crossed you don't have battle insurance companies all day long (major reason I retired...in 1998 BTW) ..
Bob G.
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CPC1100
Nexstar 8i + GPS & Rays Brackets
Denk S1 power switch
Orion 100 mm Refractor
Meade LXD 55 ...AR-5 127 mm Refractor
Exploradome Observatory S.I.E. (Smiling Irish Eyes)
Gerbring Heated Motorcycle clothing in the winter
39*21'03" N
77*28'12" W
The sky over my head....
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pillguy
member
Reged: 04/25/09
Posts: 22
Loc: Houston, TX
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Hey Bob! I feel your pain man. Fee for service and PBMs have ruined healthcare in this country. Don't get me started!
Thank goodness I don't have to deal with them much, working in a county health system.
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Nexstar 6SE
10" Meade Lightbridge
Orion Expanse 15mm EP
Shorty Barlow
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Doc Bob
member
Reged: 02/27/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Maryland, USA
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Hi Pillguy,
When I first got my CPC1100, I had similar issues. It took ma a little while to realize that when powering-up the system and selecting the alignment mode - I didn't wait until the system was "ready" before selecting objects. I found that the Auto two-star alignment is very accurate - for me, more so than the 3-star skyAlign mode. When selecting the 2 star autoAlign feature I needed to wait until the system actually displays star names to choose from as the first alignment star. I use Polaris and then when asked I choose any of the offered stars that I am familiar with for the second star (that way I know that the system is working properly when the second star is slewed into the eyepiece). From this point on I have never had a problem selecting targets or using the tour mode to fine targets. All targets are either dead center or are in the field of view - of course this is definitely dependent upon centering the target stars in the first place during set-up. I think the Auto two-Star Align is more accurate than the SkyAlign mode. . . and it's quicker too!
Regards,
Bob
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CPC1100 w/Stellarvue 2" dielectric diagonal
AstroTelescopes 80 mm f/6 w/Celestron 2" mirror diagonal
Stelarvue M1 mount
Axiom LX 10mm 1.25"; 19mm, 23mm, 31mm 2"
CELESTRON 40mm Plossl (came w/ scope) 1.25"
Meade 5000 series 14mm Plossl 1.25"
Pentax XW 7mm 1.25"
a really inexpensive 4mm 1.25"
GSO 2" Barlow 2x w/ 1.25" adaptor
To many 1.25" filters - use only 3
OIII 1.25"
Lumicon Deep Sky Filter - SCT thread
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Thargor
member
Reged: 12/18/08
Posts: 94
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Quote:
I have a NexStar 5 SE and my question is with minimizing backlash. The manual states to use the final directions of the GoTo approach when centering using the example of "right" and "up". Is this universal for all 5 SEs or do "the final directions" vary from scope to scope? It also states that when the slew speed is 6 or below, "up" and "down" switch.
So when I center, I want to use the "right" and "up" buttons if I am at a slew rate greater than 6. Otherwise I use "right" and "down" buttons. Is this correct?
Does this apply to the 102 SLT also or should up and right be the final actions to centre no matter what rate you're going at?
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Eclipse
journeyman
Reged: 03/24/09
Posts: 9
Loc: Solada Espaņa
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Quote:
Oh and btw...dew sucks, extension cords and the wife's hair dryer are the bomb.
Agree with that totally - I bought a 12V hair dryer (from a boating shop) that runs from my 17Ah power pack when I am in the field. Also keeps my GLP warm for alignment.
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Celestron 4SE
Stellarvue SV102ED on EQ5
Coronado Ha PST
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