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Stargazer95050 / Articles

So you want to -- setup your new mount for the first time
Congratulations and you are going to be excited unpacking and trying it out ==> my suggestion is to READ THIS BEFORE you go and pickup the mount.
And maybe also keep a few key notes on what to watch out for.

Reading this will help -- READING THE USER's MANUAL also is a good idea !!

First of all -- after your new astronomy accessories has been delivered, it usually is overcast the next couple of days. Happens to everybody. Blame Murphy's Law. Even if it is overcast or cloudy, some tests you can do right away.


CHOOSE if you want the tripod's "center" leg to point North or South. If you plan to use the polar scope, a leg pointing south can make it harder to get to the polar scope. The further north you live, the harder it gets because of the steeper upwards angle there's less room for you to squeeze in. Celestron ships their tripods with legs pointing south, iOptron has the leg to the north. Changing the direction is easy -- there's a bolt screwed into the top of the tripod and that position indicates north. Unscrew it and screw it back into the thread in the position near the "north"-leg..
There's no wrong or right -- this choice is a matter of taste & convenience and I think the easier access to the polar scope is reason enough. With the leg pointing north, the counter weights sit above that leg and you don't stumble over a leg while accessing the camera & scope in "Home" position. Others prefer the leg to the south and use to to rest upon while looking through the polar scope -- either way, it is uncomfortable /doc/stargazer95050/28462461


It never is to early to add DIY improvements -- and even crude workmanship can result in excellent improvements. This very improvised piece of (self-adhesive) TEFLON can be attached to the top of a tripod. It will greatly reduce the friction to move the mount during polar alignment. YMMV, but I found this to be very useful and the total cost of this was < $10 for four sheets, 5"x5" sheets. Optionally, you can attach it to the bottom of the mount : www.ipernity.com/doc/stargazer95050/30276599


Level the tripods's base -- if you are lucky, you have adjustable feet like those I added. Without adding the (heavy) mount, these adjustments are easier but if you are on softer ground, the added weight later may impact the leveled setup..Now add the mount, tighten it down and tighten the leg spreaders. If you are standing on concrete the positions should not have changed.
LOOK AT THE build-in BUBBLE LEVEL -- does it indicate the mount's base is leveled? If not, don't freak out. Small errors are common and later we will see if the bubble level is wrong. Maybe the tripod legs weren't tightened enough, ... My preference is a separate bubble-level -- those are easier to read in darkness while using a flashlight.
Once "calibrated", you can use a marker to indicate the correct position of the bubble.


Another mechanical check you want to make is to confirm the polar-scope is accurately aligned to the RA-axis of your mount. This sounds a lot more complicated than it is and you can (should) do it during DAYLIGHT -- all you need is a (moderately) distant telephone or power pole. You should point that polar scope at that pole and make sure the top of that pole is in the CENTER marked NCP or with a crosshair. With an EQ-mount, you likely will have to be creative and significantly lower the front legs to get the opening of the polar scope to point to such a low angle.
Next you use the hand-controller to rotate the RA-axis and watch the cross-hair and the top of that pole . They should remain at the same position. ==> IF NOT, you will need to COLLIMATE / ALIGN the polar scope. For now we hope it is correct.
Just remember this procedure, every few weeks or after a bumpy ride to a location, you should check that alignment again. Otherwise all your (optical/manual) polar alignment effort using the scope aren't giving you accurate results.


If you can, put the mount into ALT/AZ mode or use the "balance OTA" mode to put both axis into PRESUMED horizontal position. If all goes well, the mount's axis really are both leveled. If not, you can adjust the feet or legs until they are. With an EQ mount you can rotate the base by +- 15° and watch if you see any deviations on the leveled axis. If you have a mount that can swing completely into a 90° upright position (real Alt/Az operation), you can attach the angle meter to the counterweight shaft or (BETTER) the telescope and rotate it 360° around the Azimuth axis. When leveled in both directions, the bubble should remain centered at all positions.


Especially if the weather isn't any good, you can use the time to prepare & test the connection to your computer, driver, ASCOM and other astro-software. Take your time and CAREFULLY CHECK if there are firmware updates. Often you find Yahoo user groups. And many other places too. Not every firmware update is free of errors and sometimes users complain about updates removing feature(s) they liked ==> take your time. If it isn't broken or you are using a brand-new product, chances are the update will only marginally improve your mount. If possible SAVE A COPY of the ORIGINAL FIRMWARE -- not all vendors & tools have that option. If you don't like the upgrade, you can switch back !!


When you setup the mount, have ACCURATE time (incl timezone / GMT-offset) plus the ACCURATE GPS position of your location. With one of my two mounts, the backup battery for the clock and to save the settings was no good -- but at first, I didn't know. Now I setup all parameters (time GPS location, ...) and power off. Wait some time ... 1hour or two. And power on again to see if the settings are still correct. You may want to keep an eye on these settings until you have confidence in the RTC and backup battery.


When you mount _ANY_ telescope for the first time, be VERY CAREFUL. In one case, the rail on the Celestron's telescope tube was a tiny bit too narrow and would have slid off the mount's head. Later I found out, this is a common experience with Celestron using a slightly narrower rail. Common sense dictates to be careful and not to let go of a heavy OTA until you've confirmed it is locked-down. When you use a mount for the first time, this is especially important and be prepared for unpleasant surprises
OTOH, sometimes there are unexpected pleasant surprises : out of curiosity I used a RRS/Acratech rail and to my surprise the mount got a good hold of that. Naturally I repeated that with several, similar lenses & rails and the result was the same ==> go try and see what fits !! Acratech & RRS are popular with dSLR users and it seems, the astrophotography community & manufacturers are catching on and make the necessary (small) adjustments to accommodate those rails.


Make sure you have all the accessories you need for a successful start (at home in your backyard / drive-way). Especially if you are getting started, it can be frustrating when you find out "xxx" is missing and you have to wait 3...7 days for it to be delivered. Below a short list of items you should have handy during your first night(s) out with a new mount (and possibly a new scope or camera too)
:


Not all tests & setup needs to be done outside -- you can play with the new mount under cloudy skies INDOORS. And having the mount only a few feet away from a PC can make some SW setup & test of drivers a lot more convenient.

You can connect your PC & mount and for the first tests, indoor or daylight is just as good. Stellarium is one tool capable of talking to different mount without the need of a ASCOM driver -- try that. When you can slew the mount and see the position, you have taken an important first step andhave less trouble getting ASCOM communication to work. HINT : If you mount isn't listed, try Celestron CGEM and Losmand G-11 -- those settings help me to get my mounts to work.


BACKLASH ERROR (compensation) : The problem is a common one -- the attempts to solve it differ. Even with expensive mechanics, there is a certain amount of "lag" when you switch the direction of movement on each of the axis. With motors & (cascades) of gears, it takes a number of turns to make up for that slack before any of the motor's movements will casue actual movement of the axis.
While you are at it, there are other mechanical details that need your attention & improvements. The more you can reduce these errors, the less frustration you have when it come to pointing at stars.



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