The EQ6-R Pro includes a SynScan hand controller with an LCD display that gives you control its features and basic functions. The left and right keys on the keypad control the Right Ascension (RA) axis, while the up and down arrows are used to control the Declination (DEC) axis. You can control the slew speed by selecting the RATE shortcut button (2) on the keypad, as it is useful to make large movements at a high speed, and subtle adjustments using a slow speed. The Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro has 10 slew speeds for complete control over the movement of each axis. Before powering up the EQ6-R, your telescope should be in the home position. This means that the EQ head is leveled on the tripod, and the RA axis is pointed towards the north celestial pole (NCP). The counterweight should be at its lowest position, and the telescope should be pointing towards the NCP. You can then turn on the mount and select the operation mode. With the RA and DEC clutches locked, and counterweight(s) attached, you can mount your telescope on top of the EQ head. This is accomplished by fastening the mounting plate of your telescope to the saddle, which accepts both D and V-style mounting plates. If you are looking for a nice upgrade, the Dual EQ6R-Pro XL collar was redesigned to fit the EQ6R-Pro and features two large locking hand knobs and spring-loaded jaws.
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” Albert Einstein
Once the SynScan system has initialized, you can enter in the geographic coordinates of your observing site. This involves entering the latitude and longitude coordinates of your current location using the cursor on the LCD display and the keypad. Then, you will enter your current time zone, which for me, happens to be UTC -4 in southern Ontario. You can also enter in your current elevation, which is used for atmospheric refraction compensation (generally, the higher your elevation, the better). Next is setting the current date and time, and whether you are currently on daylight savings time. Once all of these important details have been entered (so the mount understands what is available in the sky from your location), you reach the mount alignment process, with the “Begin Alignment” dialog served up on the LCD screen. The SynScan Hand Controller set to EQ Mode. “Park” Feature This simple, yet useful feature automatically aligns your telescope mount in both axes at the beginning of your imaging session. It is not exclusive to the EQ6-R Pro, yet it is easy to miss if you don’t follow the instructions in the manual on your first few runs. This feature is located under the “Utility Function” menu and asks you to turn off the mount after the park position has been confirmed. The next time you turn the mount on, you will see a dialog on the LCD display asking if you would like to start from the park position. This is a handy feature that I did not personally take advantage of for the first few months of ownership with the mount. It is nice to confirm the home position when setting up, especially before beginning your polar alignment process.
Whether you use the built-in polar scope with the illuminated reticle or use another device, polar aligning the EQ6-R is a breeze. This is largely due to the fact that the EQ6-6 includes large, Alt/Az adjustment bolts with comfortable handles. Fine-tuning the polar axis of this equatorial telescope mount is possible thanks to these convenient controls. The built-in polar finder scope with an illuminated reticle allows you to accurately polar align the mount without the need for additional software or accessories. You can either use a third-party mobile app like “Polar Finder” to find out the current position of Polaris or simply use the information displayed on the SynScan hand controller. The SynScan hand controller displays the position of Polaris in polar scopes’ field of view (FOV). You need to imagine that the large circle in the FOV of the polar scope as a clock’s face with 12:00 sitting at the top. Then, it’s simply a matter of adjusting the Alt/Az bolts of the mount to place Polaris in the “HH:MM” position provided. SynScan Hand Controller gives you Extensive Options The included SynScan hand controller includes an impressive 42,000+ object database, with almost every possible target you could ever want to observe or photograph. The Messier object list gets a lot of use for amateur astronomers in the Northern Hemisphere, while the NGC catalog is great for pointing the telescope at more obscure nebulae and star clusters. The database also includes IC and Caldwell catalogs, which covers most of the noteworthy subjects in the night sky. I only wish the database included the Sharpless catalog, for items such as the Tulip Nebula with no alternative designation. To slew to these objects, it may be better to control the EQ6-R using your PC using a supplementary PC-Link cable along with the appropriate ASCOM drivers and software. I use the hand controller to align and center my target. After a quick polar alignment routine using the QHY PoleMaster, the pointing accuracy of the mount is spot-on using just a 1-star alignment. After you’re aligned and ready to observe or image an object in space, you can start by choosing a target using the “OBJECT” shortcut key, which contains the following object list: Named Stars Solar System NGC Catalog IC Catalog Messier Catalog Caldwell Catalog SAO Catalog Double Stars Variable Stars User Object Deep Sky Tour The deep sky tour is a very cool feature for visual observation sessions. Imagine a star party or public outreach event where you want to have the best list of targets at the ready. This feature generates a list of the most famous deep-sky objects that appear in the current night sky overhead. You simply go through the list and pick them off one by one. The Periodic Error Correction (PEC) Periodic tracking error is present in all equatorial telescope mounts, and is due to the design of the internal gears. The Sky-Watcher EQ6-R includes a periodic error correction (PEC) function to help correct this. The PEC training procedure requires that you first polar align and star align the telescope mount. Then, slew to a star close to the celestial equator, and center it in the telescope eyepiece or imaging camera. Then, navigate to the Utility Function > PEC Training mode and press enter. From here you can select the speed you would like to use for PEC training. The Sky-Watcher SynScan manual suggests using 0.125X sidereal rate for wider FOV telescopes such as the Esprit 100 ED APO. After selecting the speed using the “1” or “2” keys, the screen will then start to display the elapsed time of the PEC training routine. Now, your job is to keep the star centered in the FOV using the left and right direction keys on the hand controller. Once the PEC training routine has completed, the elapsed time will stop. Noe, you can select “PEC+Sidereal” as a tracking speed in the Setup menu. It is recommended to wait for at least one PEC training reply cycle to complete before you start taking your images. Sky-Watcher SynScan Specifications Object Catalog: Messier Catalog, NGC, SAO, Caldwell, Double Star, Variable Star, Named Star, Planets Pointing Accuracy: Up to 5 arc-minutes RMS Tracking Rate: Sidereal Rate, Solar Rate, Lunar Rate PEC: PPEC (permanent PEC) Database: 42,000+ Objects LCD: 18 Characters X 2 Lines (adjustable contrast and backlight) Keypad: Rubber with adjustable backlight GPS: SynScan GPS Modular (Optional) PC Connection: USB or RS-232X Power Output: Power Supply Voltage – 0.7V, Max. 100mA current output
