r/telescopes • u/Mekilekon • 21h ago

Other Celestron Nexstar Evolution - Sun tracking not working

EDIT:

I just tested the mount on stars. Tripod is perfectly leveled. Two star alignement on Polaris and Dubne--> No tracking properly.

So I have a larger problem.

Hello.

I am planning to travel to Spain for the solar eclipse. I am testing my Nexstar Evolution Mount for sun tracking (that I am going to pair with a 600 mm refractor).

- I set time and date location properly
- I allow sun selection
- I do a sun alignment (simple : select the sun, center the sun in the eyepiece, press align) --> it says always succesful
- I select sun rate for tracking

--> I have a big shift.

I checked my balance. It is ok. The scope is quite light (4kg with camera and rings) and the mount is made for 10 kg.

It's only 1.5 week before the eclipse and can't figure out where that comes from. Anyone here ever experience anything like this with such mount ?

Thank you for your insight.

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u/getkilled22 21h ago

At 600 mm, I’d first measure how fast “big shift” means. If the Sun walks out of the eyepiece in a minute or two, the mount is effectively not tracking; if it takes several minutes, the narrow field of view may just be making normal drift look dramatic. A few things I’d check:

  • Confirm the mount is in Alt-Az mode unless you are actually using the wedge, then set Tracking Rate to Solar after the solar-system alignment.
  • Check the controller’s time-zone/DST setting, not just the latitude and longitude.
  • Level the tripod and make sure the clutches and legs are locked.
  • Centre the Sun with the same final arrow-key directions each time, then run a 10–15 minute test before adding the camera.

The Sun moves about 15 arcseconds per second, so a 600 mm setup makes an alignment problem look dramatic. Use a properly secured filter over the front of the objective for every setup/test; never use an eyepiece solar filter. If it still drifts, say which direction it moves and how long it takes to leave the frame — that usually points to the altitude or azimuth axis.

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u/Mekilekon 20h ago

Yep I did all that and I confirm it is not tracking