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Subject: Re: [M]: Object below horizon problem
From: Gene J Ducote
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Mon Jan 26 03:58:52 1998
Greetings all......
Re: my "object below horizon" msg requesting help, MANY THANKS for the
responses---problem is solved. To conserve space, I'll repeat (hopefully)
the succinct parts of my request and then the succinct parts of the helpful
replies.
I wrote: >...have been simply bypassing that long Polaris polar-alignment
>procedure by following the manual instructions P.34 (d)--and getting the
>"Coordinates matched".
>Tonight, tho, after an hour or so, we couldn't locate what we wanted so >I
went out to the scope to redo the alignment--Orion was high up so I >picked
Rigel as the alignment star, got the 'coordinates matched' bit >and then
selected M42 and when hit GOTO, got a "Object below horizon"!
<some snipping> Note that the motors work just fine--it's the GOTO that
>'ain't' working. (I ruled out the battery as the keypad clock time is
>fine).
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Replies received:
Doc G wrote: >In addition to time, be sure you check the date and
>location.
Doc G: You "hit it on the head" with the word "location"!
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Ralph Hare wrote:
>Make sure your time and your location are properly entered into the
>keypad.
>Double check your latitude/longitudes. Hope this was of help to you.
Ralph--were you by any chance in "cahoots" with my grandson on this?<g>
(will clear-up that comment shortly)
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Michael wrote: >...and make sure your N/S switch is right--I managed to
>inadvertently change this one time. Course, I once spent an afternoon
>trying to fix my car before realizing it was out of gas....
I too have inadvertently flipped that N/S switch once or twice--as to your
other comment--I can associate with it also---I'm forever reminding the
wife to check her fuel level BUT I'M THE ONE WHO RAN OUT OF GAS in the
middle of that "nowhere desert" somewhere in Arizona!
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Mike wrote:>...and 2) the site information mave have gotten corrupted.
>If the scope thinks it's further north than it really is, it may think
>Rigel is below the southern horizon...
Mike--WOW! How'd you know? <g> Great troubleshooting! RIGHT-ON target!
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Brendan (all the way from Australia):>Did you accidently change the
>hemisphere switch, thinking it was the power switch?
Brendan: Nothing that easy<g>--heck, the 'scope thought it was up in the
UK somewhere----Hmmmm, come to think about it, that's just about the
opposite direction from your location. <g>
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An explanation is in order (and it just may help someone since many of us
are playing-around with the computer-control bit by utilizing some
planetarium programs and the PC).
Here goes--FWIW--been using a laptop with SkyMap 3.1--12-year-old grandson
actually did the setup a month ago, so he's familiar and confident with
SkyMap3.1. I like The Sky Lvl IV---well, got a faster computer and put
both pgms on it--I've been using them both just fine--Saturday night got a
break in the wx--grandson came over for "more"--I was using The Sky--his
Dad (my youngest son) and I came inside for a break--gson Westly stayed on
back porch to "watch" things--Westly closed down The Sky and brought up
SkyMap 3.1---and that, folks, is when the problem "object below horizon"
surfaced. For some unknown reason, the coordinates of SkyMap 3.1 were at
default--52* N latitude and 2* longitude--somewhere in the UK (Chris
Mariott's (author) location). Westly had "updated" location and "sync'd"
scope info to the default coordinates--which certainly explains why, here
at 34* N latitude, the scope told us "object below horizon"! We corrected
this just before "The Game time" and then did some imaging during The
Game--ALL is back to its wonderfully excellent performance (almost as good
as John Elway and Terry Davis <g>).
Anyways, MANY THANKS for the pointers--without your help I would have made
a most embarrassing albeit toll-free phone call to John Piper.
Clear skies to all,
Gene Ducote (Charleston, SC)