When both the RA and DEC axes have been set this way, the mount is in the correct Home position.Īs owners of Skywatcher EQ5 mounts have long accepted, the setting circles leave a lot to be desired, and while it’s possible to use the technique in the tutorial on an EQ5, the inaccuracy of the setting circles means it’s a bit of a hit and miss affair. In essence, the procedure uses a spirit level to “level” an axis then rotate the axis by 90 o so that it is then perpendicular. There’s an excellent video tutorial on YouTube accessible via (“Complete Setup From A to Z Part 1”) which shows how to establish this position using an HEQ6 mount. It is sometimes described as “weights down, scope up” and is often the position displayed in adverts. This is where the mount is “parked” at the end of a session.

One element of setting up an equatorial mount is the establishment of the “Home” position.

The only trouble is the weather’s not been too good andit’s way past 10pm before it gets dark enough for observing! In the intervening period I finally got round to acquiring a decent mount, the SkyWatcher EQ5 Pro. It’s been quite a while since my last posting. I’ve therefore removed the steps that are no longer required When the mount is powered on, regardless of whether you choose to start from parked position or not, and irrespective of what position the axes are in, the positions of AX1 and AX2 shown in UTILITY → SHOW POSITION will be the same.

Since I originally prepared this article I’ve found that the steps set out in the Starting from a known position section aren’t necessary.

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