You should train the drives. You do this during the day by pointing the scope at a landmark, like a bolt on a telephone pole down the road.

You'll need a crosshair eyepiece. You'll center the object. The scope will move one direction in RA, you center it again, it'll move the opposite direction, you center it again. Then you do the dec. Same thing. The scope will move one direction, then the other, you center it again each time.

Training the drive will compensate for backlash in the gears.

First night out, you should calibrate the sensors. The scope will ask you to center Polaris. Use a lighted reticle to get Polaris centered. Don't guess.

I did not train the drive when I first used the scope. The GOTO accuracy was mediocre. The objects were close in the guide scope, but just outside the FOV or on the margin of it in a 12mm reticle.

You should train the drives whenever the GOTO accuracy degrades. The manual recommends every 3 months or so. It's a separate operation from PEC corrections, BTW, and erases the PEC corrections. So, if you do astrophotography, you need to run PEC after you train the drives.

I'd train the drives at the same time you set the collimation on the finder scope, if I were you. It only takes a few minutes.

A couple gotcha's to pay attention to, when you get the scope. The microfocus motor directions are lousy.

First, the SCT adapter comes turned inside out in the back of microfocus adapter. Loosen the set screws on the retaining ring and remove it and the SCT adapter. Unscrew the SCT adapter and screw the retaining ring on the rear cell of the scope. Then attach the microfocuser.

When you set up the guide scope and train the drives, also plug in the microfocuser and adjust it so the draw tube extends about 1/4".

Enjoy your new scope!

Mitch

• I got it!!! - viper86 - June 2, 2002 - 02:41 UTC