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[katodog]

Here are a couple of shots from tonight. It was such a miserable night, too damn humid, that I didn't bother trying any fancy stuff with the scope. I stared at Jupiter for a while, and tried to get some video, but the atmosphere and the humidity had other plans.





I like the kitty-cat face


I reset the Autostar and redid the alignment, but it was still off. I think I'm going to have to do it word for word out of the manual.

Geez, I actually have to use the manual???

It still goes the wrong way when slewing to different objects, it keeps wanting to run into the mount, or put the two motor housings smack into each other. I think maybe it tries the direct route instead of going home and then going the other way. Sometimes a straight line isn't the quickest course.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Kdog,

Good shots there.

On your slewing difficulties.

Could it be that a setting is telling the drive mount that you are in the Southern Hemipshere and not the Northern?

Suck it in, read the manual....we won't tell your wife...

[katodog]

As far as I know, everything is set right for the scope. When I first started the autostar, and when I reset it, it asked for my zip code, what type of scope it was, etc.. It works for goto on certain objects, so if it was a matter of something being set wrong, it wouldn't work for those. I think it's just a matter of the scope wanting to take the direct route to an object instead of doing the smart thing and going back to a start position, and then going to the object.

It acts like it thinks it's on a fork mount, where it could just spin around all day long with no problem. I would expect since the autostar asked what type of scope it was, it would know that it was an EQ mount and compensate for running into itself.

But, what do I know. I'm just an amatuer. I'll finger it out somehow. Maybe I'll just slew back to the home position manually, and then goto.

Oh, well. You can't expect a $1200 telescope to work like it cost, can you?

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Kdog,

No, it should do what it promises to do, regardless of cost. Even if it's a cheap Tasco or a an expensive R/C. On the outside chance...it may be defective, but Meade is good on it's products. If you cannot get it to working ike it should, perhaps a one-on-one telephone service call with a Meade Rep/tech can work it out. If not....sigh, it may need to be returned.

But, if you accept the flaw and work around it, there will always be a nagging thought in the back of your head that it should work well, considering it was brand new.

Let me know what the course of action is.

[katodog]

I'm sure it's not defective. I think it's just the nature of the beast. It's no problem, I can always find a way around these things. Besides, most of the time I won't be using the goto, just the tracking, and that you can set manually.

I will probably only use the goto at my mother-in-law's house, since it gets pitch black out there and I can see more stuff. Typically, all the deep space stuff doesn't impress me. I like the planets and the moon the best. But since I have the ability now, I will look at a few deep space objects now and then just to say I did it and saw them.