Elongated stars with ZWO AM5 mount and Askar 300FRA scope

ZWO AM5 Equipment Harmonic Mount Troubleshooting
7 replies•496 views
Bruce Donzanti avatar
Bruce Donzanti avatar
Trying out my new AM5 mount using NINA.  The mount connected fine but I am getting bad elongated stars even after 5 sec exposures.  NINA works fine on my AP mount so I must have some settings wrong.  I am getting a clock error but not sure how to fix it.  Any suggestions from AM5 user?

It could also be the backfocus (?) as the elongated stars appears even after a 5 sec exposure with the mount off.

Nick Grundy avatar
Nick Grundy avatar
Are they elongated along the RA axis? or towards the outside of the frame? If it's all one direction, i dont think it'd be backfocus. 

do you know for fact of the mount is tracking as it says it it? I've seen that issue before and resetting and firmware solved it for me (though not on an AM5)
Dmitrijus Tiazlovas avatar
Dmitrijus Tiazlovas avatar
Hello Bruce.

Personally, I had to connect my new AM5 via the app at least once to "set it up". Think the mount was set up to work in southern hemisphere out of the box and would slew / track in the opposite direction. Connecting via app fixed those issues right away. You need to use the hand controller to do that of course.

You can easily check if that is the case for you by connecting the mount to Stellarium or other similar software. Try slewing to targets around the pole (use slew to target, not the directional buttons). If the mount goes in the wrong direction, you may have this problem.
Helpful Concise
Bruce Donzanti avatar
Bruce Donzanti avatar
Dmitrijus Tiazlovas:
Hello Bruce.

Personally, I had to connect my new AM5 via the app at least once to "set it up". Think the mount was set up to work in southern hemisphere out of the box and would slew / track in the opposite direction. Connecting via app fixed those issues right away. You need to use the hand controller to do that of course.

You can easily check if that is the case for you by connecting the mount to Stellarium or other similar software. Try slewing to targets around the pole (use slew to target, not the directional buttons). If the mount goes in the wrong direction, you may have this problem.

I think I have this problem as well.  My azmuith is reading 180 instead of 0 for Polaris.  How did you fix it?
Dmitrijus Tiazlovas avatar
Dmitrijus Tiazlovas avatar
Just connecting to mount via the ZWO phone app fixed my problem.
Dustin Gazz avatar
Dustin Gazz avatar
Just curious, what is 2.4 billion seconds in light years? smile
Bruce Donzanti avatar
Bruce Donzanti avatar
Dmitrijus Tiazlovas:
Just connecting to mount via the ZWO phone app fixed my problem.

I got it working- at least testing in the house.

thx
James (Jim) Poulette avatar
James (Jim) Poulette avatar
Bruce,

I agree - I know nothing about NINA but would try the ASIAIR app alone first to make sure it's all set up correctly. I like 'station mode' connected through my home WiFi because I can have the scope outside and operate from inside the house (we have wicked mosquitos this time of year). You just enter the IP address of the ASIAIR and bingo.

I also like to get PA as obsessively close as possible, like 10"/10" - this gives great tracking/guiding on the order of 25"/25" - .36" Tot. Good luck ! smile
Helpful Engaging Supportive
Related discussions
AM 5 tracking error? Any way to correct?
Hi All, I've been imaging for a year now and noticed a weird tracking error on most nights…usually before the Meridian flip. It self corrects either frame to frame or sometimes after a few frames. It manifests as a small nodule, nubbin or b...
AM5 tracking error directly relevant to your mount's tracking performance issues.
Oct 28, 2024
Anyone know what causes this?
The first sub of the evening has elongated stars, every sub thereafter is fine. Same thing happened last night the first sub had stars that looked like there's a guiding problem, but every sub after that has stars that look round. Should I put a ...
First sub elongated stars similar to your backfocus/focus problem symptoms.
Jan 20, 2025
Polar Alignment or Auto Guiding Issue on Long Exposures
For some time now during taking long exposures > 30 Secs for Deep Sky Objects , I get egg shaped stars and always wondered if this was an issue with Polar Alignment or Auto Guiding. Am using my ZWO AM5N mount with a Askar SQA 55 Refractor fitted w...
Polar alignment and guiding issues can cause elongated stars like yours.
Apr 28, 2025
Issues with guiding (or tracking?)
I am having weird issues with guiding - getting very high guiding errors. My guiding, when I start the plan, begins as bad as 8" in both RA and DEC, takes a long time to remain in 3"-4" region, and finally stabilizes around 2"-3&q...
Guiding/tracking issues may explain your elongated stars even with mount off.
Nov 6, 2024