Posts Made By: Jay shankar

Hi,
Will someone please identify this mount. I thought it was a cg5. How can and what do I need to mount a c8 onto this. I am on the lookout for a used c8 at a very low price. Saw one of two on sale but I dont know how to keep cost down if I find a c8. Losamandy dovetail (about which I dont have much knowledge) is an option. Is there a cheaper way for this grad student. Thanks. Please reply to [email protected] as I wont go to school until monday.
Jay

I am so frustrated that I am unable to starhop with my c5 on a cg4 mount. The mount is a Chinese generic. I used my telrad to point OTA to the north star. Here in Phoenix, AZ the latitude read between 31 and 32 N. I turned the Alt and Dec ring to read ‘zero’. I wonder whether my Dec should have read ‘90’ instead.
Then I moved the OTA to point at Dubhe. I moved the Alt ring to read 11h 03m and the Dec to read 61deg 45 sec. Each division in my Alt equals 10 mins and each division in my Dec equals 3.3 degrees. I used the lower scale to calibrate my Alt. I didn’t know how to turn the scope around Dec. I tried to move it ‘anticlockwise’ looking at the OTA from the ground, OTA was above Alt axis. When I set the Alt to read 11h 01 and the Dec to read 56 deg 22 sec, my OTA was not pointing at Merak. It was close to 10 deg off
Assuming that setting Dec may have been erroneous, I pointed the OTA at Dubhe again; the Alt and Dec read as it is supposed to read. This time I turned the Dec circle clockwise as one could make Dec read 61 deg 45 sec by turning the axis either clockwise or anticlockwise.
I dialed in 11h 01min and +56 deg 22 min, I was not pointing anywhere close to Merak. I tried to dial Pollux 7 hr 45 min and 28 deg 01 sec. My OTA was pointing towards Bootes constellation. I have a nice sky atlas 2000, and a good planisphere. I know that the stars I picked is correct.
I had read from several sites before I tried this, particularly www.astro-tom.com and couple more. I don’t know what I am missing and why I am. Please help me out. Thanks.
Jay

Hi,
I have a cg5 and I am wondering whether there is an easy way to level the tripod. Spent more than 30 mins to level, both with the c8 and counter weight, and without only to fail in both cases. It was set in the backyard (lawn).
Secondly altitude adjustment screw is so tight. Manual says turning it clockwise will increase angle, and counterclockwise will decrease. Why are there 2 adjustment screws. I almost hurt my thumb to change the latitude from 42 to 32. Again is there an easy way. Thanks
Jay

Hi folks,
I have a G8 on a cg5. It comes with DSC – Ngc Max. The latter is primarily the reason for posting this message. I got the whole package recently (used) and I have problems to either polar align or star align. I connect the cables to RA and DEC encoders respectively, making sure that I haven't swapped cables. One is marked ‘Dec’ so no confusion there. I turn ‘on’ Ngc Max. I go into the ‘Setup’ menu. I select ‘GQ’ hit enter, then 'Scroll – 5' hit enter. As soon as I do this ‘Encoder error’ is displayed. I force ahead and select ‘Chart SA’ hit enter. ‘AZ +08192’ is displayed I hit enter several times, ‘encoder error’ is displayed I force ahead, ‘AL +08192’ is displayed I hit enter several times before it reverts to ‘Set up’. Will someone tell me why my encoder throws this error. I know the battery is good, the cables are good and not damaged, the cables connected correctly to RA and DEC. I even tried switching the cables and it didn’t help.
If I choose to go into ‘Encoder’ menu and hit enter, ‘encoder error’ is displayed. It wont even go into displaying ‘ER = 000 ED = +000’. When I tried it yesterday it would allow me to go into ‘Encoder’ but as soon as I turn the scope on RA axis ‘ER = 005 ED = +000’ would slowly increase then display ‘encoder error’. I made sure I turned the OTA really slow about 10 degrees per second. I was out 3 nights with this scope hoping that I would stumble and fix the problem but none. I don't think that there was any problem with DSC, I trust the seller. Please help. I am a newbie so please list if you have any suggestions. Thanks.
Jay

Hi,
I have a 9x50 (celestron) finder on my c8, have lot of problems with contortion. I read sometime back about a mod by Tom Mengel. He suggested using an ep from old binos along with a 90 deg or 45 deg diagonal. The method involves cutting 1/8 sections of the finder and checking every time for focus at infinity. I tried to see whether I could get a clear image with my 45 deg diagonal with a 30mm plossl ep, by moving the objective closer or farther away. I could never get focus. I want to check before I start cutting the ep end of the finder. Will someone suggest an easier way to modify this finder. I would like to get Tom's email so I can ask him. Jay

Hi,
If someone could help me get the email of Tom Mengel I would appreciate it. He had posted about finder scope modification, I have some questions. I sent an email to the administrator at astromart, no reply yet. You may forward this msg to Tom if you don't want to disclose his email. Thanks!
Jay

Hi,
Thanks for the suggestions, the culprit was 9v battery. Replaced battery, no more encoder errors. The old battery was putting out 2v, hard to imagine that the display was bright as ever. I never suspected it, thought it would display 'low battery'. It didn't.
Jay