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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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hi,
First night out with my 125 and I cannot quite get it to align right.
I have followed all the directions, but when it goes to the brightest star its so far off I have to use a star chart to find the star and manually set it (its about an inch off)
I set two stars like this and it said it was happy. However, I told it to go to Vegas and it was off again, and I had to manually set it.
What might have I done wrong please? Or do I need to use to a different type of alignment procedure, one of the ones that is hidden away inside the setup menu?
I have made sure that it is level, that I have chosen the nearest city and made sure that the time is set correctly and I am stumped. About to hit the manual and see if I have missed anything.
Thanks,
Simon.
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New ETX 125PE owner
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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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I did search for align, and didn't find any other post. However, after browsing through I found this suggestion:
"But there's a "gotcha" with the ETX - there is a "hard stop" in the azimuth drive (to prevent the wires getting wrapped up inside) - so you need to undo the azimuth clamp & rotate the tube anticlockwise (to the left) until it obviously hits the stop, then back 180 degrees. At this point tighten the azimuth clamp (the silver lever on top of the cylindrical mount base) - firmly but do not force it - pick up the whole mount & tripod & point the scope North (roughly will do)."
I didn't see this mentioned in the manual, nor shown on the DVD. About to go and have another go...
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New ETX 125PE owner
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3612
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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The PE finds North & Level, so:
You did Calibrate motors, train drives, calibrate sensors on Polaris?
Day light Savings Time is YES (in the USA right now)
Do an Automatic alignment and CENTER both stars when asked using the hand controller ( we had one person who was loosing the clutches and centering!!!)
--------------------
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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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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"You did Calibrate motors, train drives, calibrate sensors on Polaris?"
Nope, but I am off outside to do so now, just got to find something a mile away.
I did think that I could plonk the scope down anywhere and it will take take of aligning itself, without me worry about north.
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New ETX 125PE owner
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Treehopper
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/29/08
Posts: 582
Loc: Upstate NY
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I think I found your problem.
Quote:
However, I told it to go to Vegas and it was off again, and I had to manually set it.
This is a common problem when using Vegas for anything. It seems whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
 
I am soooo sorry...I just saw that carrot dangling there and had to grab it. It's a weakness I have. I need help. 
EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention (noticed you were from England.) There's an advertising campaign here for Las Vegas, Nevada...a very popular gambling mecca here in the US. Their slogan for the campaign is "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." The writers who wrote the above response have been sacked.
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Tim
Champion of small aperture scopes everywhere!
Meade ETX-125PE
Meade ETX-80
Celestron FirstScope 76mm Mini-dob
 Updated: 09/16/2009
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3612
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Funny Post!
  
--------------------
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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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2113
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
It seems whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
If only the photons from the lights installed in Vegas city knew that they weren't supposed to cross city boundaries...
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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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So I guess I shouldn't have chosen Beetlejuice as my second star to align too then?
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New ETX 125PE owner
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3612
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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edgely, Calibrate motors, train drives, do a calibrate sensors on Polaris. Do a train drives and a calibrate sensors about once per year.
Get a separate 12 volt power pack and do not use the internal batteries. Calibrate motors using the 12 volt power pack when you get it.
--------------------
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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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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I did do the driver train, and it is better. Off out to do the other two in a minute, I hope 
I have a battery pack, and so I will hack together a lead to power it with first.
Edited by edgley (10/18/09 05:20 PM)
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4585
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Quote:
hi,
First night out with my 125 and I cannot quite get it to align right.
I have followed all the directions, but when it goes to the brightest star its so far off I have to use a star chart to find the star and manually set it (its about an inch off)
I set two stars like this and it said it was happy. However, I told it to go to Vegas and it was off again, and I had to manually set it.
What might have I done wrong please? Or do I need to use to a different type of alignment procedure, one of the ones that is hidden away inside the setup menu?
I have made sure that it is level, that I have chosen the nearest city and made sure that the time is set correctly and I am stumped. About to hit the manual and see if I have missed anything.
Thanks,
Simon.
Being off the alignment star by a considerable amount is normal. Just center it BUT MAKE DARNED SURE YOU ARE CENTERING THE CORRECT STAR.
As others have mentioned, drive training is mandatory for go-to accuracy.
How far were you from Vega when the scope stopped?
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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Hmm, hard to remember now, but the first night (before training) it was really out, but after training it was close enough for me not be as concerned.
I didn't get a chance to do the two calibrations last night as the clouds came in, so I am hopeful that once I have it should be good.
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New ETX 125PE owner
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3612
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Don't forget CALIBRATE MOTORS should be done with the same power supply you will be using outside at night.
You can do a calibrate motors inside with the correct power supply plugged in. Takes all of 3 seconds.
--------------------
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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edgley
member
Reged: 01/22/05
Posts: 53
Loc: Surbiton, England
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Thank you, I hadn't picked up on that subtly.
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New ETX 125PE owner
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3612
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Probably overkill! But I calibrate motors first thing, when I power up the scope. Every time I power up.
Also do a re-train of the drives about once per year or if you start getting "rubber banding" which is the "object" drifts away after you center it. This is called rubber banding.
Do a Calibrate sensors if you change your OBSERVING site more than about 50-80 miles. and or about twice per year. This sets the magnetic deviation for your SITE and will get the alignment stars closer to the field of view. Which helps you locate the correct alignment star. If you center both stars the magnetic deviation is a MUTE point.
Sorry for the long post-- here is a trick I use at public observing events. We setup during the day time so no stars are visible.
I do a FAKE alignment, just push the Enter key for each star and never look through the eyepiece. When the first star appears, I do a GOTO to that Named Star, center and SYNC. From then on the GOTOs are just fine. A fast way to get aligned when the KID'S are bugging you to look through the scope!
Clear Skies!  
--------------------
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
Edited by Joe Lalumia (10/19/09 05:13 PM)
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