Mount stops tracking after a few minutes

[woldsweather]

I've only had 3 clear nights all winter and have missed them.


Altair Astro72EDF with Altair Astro GPCAM327C on EQM35-PRO mount. Polar Aligned accurately with Polemaster. Connected to EQMOD via SharpCap and Stellarium. I started off by going to Procyron, Betelgeuse and then Aldebaran, platesolving and resyncing each time. Then to Bodes Galaxy. Yes it was in frame so I set 250 gain and 30s exposure (any more and I get trailing) and leave it shooting FITS files RAW12 . 15 minutes later I check and the mount has stopped syncing. This is happening every time I try to shoot over 3 nights. Any ideas?

[admin]

Hi,

if you are not touching any controls (mount handset or mount controls in SharpCap) then the most likely cause would be that the mount has reached the meridian (pointing due south) - at that point EQ mounts stop tracking and you need to command them to do a GOTO on the same target so they flip over to continue tracking to the west of the meridian.

Having it happen 3 times in a fairly short time after starting imaging would be bad luck though - you would have to have started with a target just east of the meridian each time.

cheers,

Robin

[woldsweather]

I was deliberately choosing a target not far east of Polaris to exclude this. It looks like clouds are clearing enough to try a few things tonight.
I'm ditching the laptop (after polar aligning with ) then using synscan app my Canon 6D Mk2 and 600mm Tamron lens on the mount and see what it does with tracking.

[admin]

Hi,

yeah, good plan - eliminate the software side to begin with and see if it happens with the mount only. If that works then gradually reintroduce software until you find the thing that is causing it. Good luck!

Robin

[woldsweather]

cheers Robin

[woldsweather]

I have disabled mount limits to see if that solves it, but what happens if I leave it tracking on its own and go to bed and it reaches the meridian? IO havent got my head around what this meridian flipping is all about.

[admin]

Hi,

basically, most mounts can only run from pointing in the east until they get to pointing south along the meridian - at some point not long after that there is a good chance that bits of kit will start to bump into the mount which is not a good thing! Similarly most mounts often stop tracking when they think the telescope is now pointing down rather than up. If you have disabled the limits as a test, then that's fine, but do not leave the mount unattended in that mode...

cheers,

Robin

[woldsweather]

Using the EQM-35 PRO mount with a DSLR and Synscan app only it kept tracking.

I have disabled limits and it still stops trackimg.

[admin]

Hi,

did I see a post from you on FB saying that the mount is now having problems moving in RA? Have you checked that the voltage coming from the 12V power supply is good? A low PSU voltage can lead to all sorts of weird and wonderful issues.

cheers,

Robin

[woldsweather]

Yes its sopped moving in RA though the motor runs. How do I check the voltage Robin?