Posts Made By: Peter James

Hi there, new to this forum. Well returning after a long absence really.
I'll start by seeking some advice on my Synta (Skywatcher) mount.
This is my first 'go-to' mount, though not my first GEM.
Its an HEQ5, about 2 years old. A new(?) handset with UTD firmware. Polar alignment w/in tolerance for visual, balance spot-on. Clutches - check - swing freely in manual and are tight for go-to.
Load well beneath rated capacity (5.3Kg / 17Kg)

I turn on the mount (mains power with 12v 1.25 amp adapter), and get the "don't look at the sun" spiel. Over and over and over. Pushing "esc" doesn't work, nor do either "align' or 'set-up'. Some random combination of the 3 seems to work, but each start-up is different.
Eventually I can get it to set-up by using the 'utility' menu.
Of greater concern is the fact that the direction arrows (L,R,U,D) don't work at all, regardless of what 'mode' I'm in.
I've read the manual 5 times, I've checked the firmware and hit 'factory re-set'. I've trawled various net groups and not found anyone with the same problems.

At the risk of tempting fate:
Once set-up, it "go-to's" fine. It tracks fine. It knows its catalogues. It knows where it is and what time it is. This is a 'pre-owned. mount, but I have no reason to suspect the vendour of any fault.
Is this some electrical gremlin that's gonna cost me $700 to fix, or am I just missing something?
Thanks,
Peter

Just dropped by the TMB site to see if anything had changed. It has. Its gone and loaded some kind of Spyware which AVG blocked with alacrity and warned me never to go there again.
Anybody know anything about this?

I am soon (fingers crossed) to take delivery of a TSA 120 which is to ride on a Skywatcher HEQ5 (Orion Sirius?).
I've been scouring the web and cannot discover whether there is a mounting plate that will allow the Tak clamshell to be used on this mount. Does anyone know of such a beast?
Most ads proclaim Tak to Losmandy / AP / CGEM, to such and such an adapter, but I've yet to find one that says:"Use this if you want to mount your Tak clamshell on an HEQ5"
Any help much apprecited.
Thanks.

Originally posted in "Equipment Talk", but perhaps a bit specialised a question:

"I am soon (fingers crossed) to take delivery of a TSA 120 which is to ride on a Skywatcher HEQ5 (Orion Sirius?).
I've been scouring the web and cannot discover whether there is a mounting plate that will allow the Tak clamshell to be used on this mount. Does anyone know of such a beast?
Most ads proclaim Tak to Losmandy / AP / CGEM, to such and such an adapter, but I've yet to find one that says:"Use this if you want to mount your Tak clamshell on an HEQ5"
Any help much apprecited."
Thanks.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll have 3 please :

http://www.kkohki.com/English/T-REXmount.html

I hope the hyperlink works. Mr. Gooley kindly sent me an email saying that the T-Rex mount should be ready for o'seas delivery in 18-30 days.
Been waiting for a mount like this.

After many fun-filled years of deriding "Twitchers", I've just realised that I know the difference between a Gang-Gang Cockatoo and a Galah, between a Splendid Fairy Wren and a bog-standard Fairy Wren.
Worse, I enjoy knowing. It might even be said that I have become, to my shame, a 'person who likes watching birds' and their behaviour.
I will accept this and add it to my long list of borderline anti-social idiosyncrases.
To this end:
Can anyone of my new fellows recommend a decent spotting scope in the $200-300 range, with a 12/15-36/45 mag'n (any higher and I'd just use a t'scope). The choices out there seem more prolific than 'real' telescopes.
It should be:
Weatherproof
Rubber armoured (I'm pretty clumsy and the terrain here is quite steep)
60mm min (most birds here are crepuscular, so low-light performance is important)
As sharp and as well corrected as any sub $500 scope could be
and
Have a decent close-focus distance for which I'm willing to trade ultimate magnification as we have quite a few 'socialized' birds visiting that come within 10- 20ft.

Thanks for your input,
Peter

To enable the Southern Hemisphere mode, you have to press 2 buttons at once and do a bit of digging.
If the handset was bumped or accidentally pushed against something that might account for it.
I'm unfamiliar with the EM200, but a quick search on the web for the manual should explain how to reverse the "error"
Peter,
In Australia

Hi Scott.
I believe its the standard Synta(Orion)/EQ6(Atlas) size. Its pathetic, but I don't know the actual measurement. I'm also given to believe that there will be other adapters available later for mounting on different tripods (Tak, Losmandy, AP).
I especially like the idea of handles rather than knobs for controlling the mount, that's just a personal preference, but I think they'd be easier to use.
I'm not schilling for these guys BTW. I have no connection with them, other than having found a mount that 'ticks all the boxes'.

Hi Scott.
I believe its the standard Synta(Orion)/EQ6(Atlas) size. Its pathetic, but I don't know the actual measurement. I'm also given to believe that there will be other adapters available later for mounting on different tripods (Tak, Losmandy, AP).
I especially like the idea of handles rather than knobs for controlling the mount, that's just a personal preference, but I think they'd be easier to use.
I'm not schilling for these guys BTW. I have no connection with them, other than having found a mount that 'ticks all the boxes'.

Spelled with an 'S'.