Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Telescopes Etcetera.... => Topic started by: ApophisAstros on May 12, 2017, 16:34:51

Title: Alignment ?
Post by: ApophisAstros on May 12, 2017, 16:34:51
Now I'm computer controlled I wondered what Everyone's favourite alignment techniques were,I have read about drift alignment ,
Roger

Kit - Sky-Watcher EVOSTAR-120ED DS-PRO (OTA) 120mm (4.75î) f/900 ED Apochromatic Refractor Telescope Plus .85x Focal Reducer
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO SynScan™ GoTo Equatorial Mount
Title: Re: Alignment ?
Post by: MarkH on May 12, 2017, 17:29:27
Hi Roger, I use an astro engineering  polar mate with my Meade wedge and it is very quick and accurate. It may be something you could adapt for the skywatcher.
Mark
Title: Re: Alignment ?
Post by: Carole on May 12, 2017, 18:03:23
Roger, you are using Polemaster, I don't think you need to do drift aligning as well. 

Carole
Title: Re: Alignment ?
Post by: Roy on May 12, 2017, 19:53:36
Hi Roger,
Are you referring to 'Polar Alignment' specifically, or alignment in general?
Roy
Title: Re: Alignment ?
Post by: ApophisAstros on May 12, 2017, 20:04:07
Alignment in general 1,2 or 3 stars. since I posted I've sort of decided to use plate solving. There's a program that feeds the coordinates to the scope from the plate solving results.
Roger
Title: Re: Alignment ?
Post by: Carole on May 12, 2017, 20:16:33
Ah, your mention of Drift align confused me as that is concerned with polar alignment,

With EQMod which I haven't used for a while, but I think most people find just syncing on one star close to your chosen target is good enough for alignment, and I must admit it worked just fine when I used that method.

Carole
Title: Re: Alignment ?
Post by: The Thing on May 13, 2017, 09:17:29
Hi roger

I use my finderguider and Sharpcap 2.9. Very easy with live feedback as you adjust the az and alt. Just like the QHY polaralign gadget but essentially free. Very accurate, I got my eq6 down to 0.5 arcmin off the NCP in about 5 minutes. Would have been quicker if the mount pa adjustment bolts etc was better made!

Duncan