GoTo hiccups

[Tony G]

Hi,
wondered if anyone can help, after initally setting up and aligning with polaris, i have been using the three star alignment process which has served me well so far, and when I call the likes of Saturn up on the handset, it appears in the field of view and quite near centre, but I tried entering co-ordinates for the first time on Monday to view Comet 73P-B after seeing the impressive image that John posted and finding the co-ordinates for the 10th April, I ventured into the cold, but because it is slighty off centre with the three star alignment it was difficult to find, so I don't really know if I was viewing the comet or not, so I wondered if anyone can point me in the right direction so to speak to get the GoTo slightly more accurate.
Would PEC solve the problem??????

Tony G

[Mike]

PEC won't make any difference. I found the two star alignment was more accurate on mine.

[Tony G]

Hi Mike,
With this issue that i'm experiencing, I would have though that if the three stars that are choosen to do the alignment were lined up in the crosshairs of the finder scope, and the GoTo indicates that alignment was successful,
that surely the first object i.e. Saturn would appear in the crosshairs aswell without having to make very minor adjustments.
Would a slight error in my original co-ordinates which are programmed into the handset cause this slight deviation in the first object to look at after alignment.

Tony G

[Mike]

Tony - That sounds to like you are either getting the Summer Time adjustment wrong or your long/lat co-ordinates are off. Try it with the summer time option off, then on and see what difference it makes. Also make sure your long/lat is correct - Streetmap.co.uk can help with that.

[Rocket Pooch]

Tony I might be reading this wrong, but if you are using the finder scope to do the alignment its going to be way out, or are you using the telescope?

You should get the star roughly in the finder scope and then use the telescope eyepiece for the actual alignment.  

I have found a cross hair eyepiece to be really good for this and now my goto's are smack on.

Or, like me, you may not have any idea what the actual alignment star is and be pointing the telescope in the wrong place, I did that a lot at 1st.  

Chris

[Tony G]

Hi Chris,
initally i use the finder to align the three stars, which is pretty accurate with the main scope, but what I was saying was that when aligning the three stars they are as near as damn it in the centre of my field of veiw in the main scope after aligning through the finder, but then you pick your first object, after it has told you that alignment was successful and the object (which i would have though would be in the centre of the field of veiw) is off centre.
To me it sounds like either I am miscalculating something or the GoTo is. I will check my home co-ordinates again tonight, unless someone has any other ideas or I maybe expecting way to much from the GoTo system itself.

Tony G

[Rocket Pooch]

Hi,

The other problem may be that the scope does not capture enough light to actually see it as a comet?  Especially in our light poluted area.....

[Anonymous]

I did think of that about the light pollution, but that doesn't answer the question about the object not being central (i.e. Saturn) in the field of veiw
after alignment

Tony G

[Tony G]

Sorry forgot to sign in.

Tony G

[JohnP]

Hi Tony,

Are you sure that you have the coordinates for the comet correct..? I can email you the list I used which has the coords for approx' the next 20 days or so..?

WRT Goto accuracy I always use 2-star (never had to use 3) - The neat thing with the Meade Autostar is that it has a Synchronize feature so even if a Goto is slightly off you can re-centre the object & then Synch on it so hopefully the next Goto is a lot closer - This seems to be very successful if you use a bright star or object close to the actual thing you want to find. Not sure if your GOTO handset has this feature?

I didn't do a visual when I imaged it but I will try next time & let you know what it looks like through the eyepiece...

Cheers,  John