EQ6 Pro Gibberish

[MarkS]

I have a question for any EQ6 Pro owners.

I've just taken delivery of an EQ6 Pro - I apologise in advance for all the cloudy nights that this will inevitably cause my fellow astronomers.

I've just spent 2-3 hours repeatedly following the Polar Scope Reticule orientation instructions followed by the Polar alignment instructions for the sky tonight but they appear to be complete gibberish.  The resulting position of Polaris in the polar scope just does not match the planetarium software.

Throwing away the instructions and working it out from scratch implies to me that the instructions have muddled up the scales for Northern and Southern Hemisphere and also that they are also totally wrong regarding the setup of the Index Marker Ring.

If anyone could confirm (or refute) my diagnosis I would be very grateful.

[Mike]

Don't bother - Just use the Kochab's Clock Method, takes 30 seconds and works a treat.

[JohnP]

or PolarFinder prog - works great as well.....You can download here...

http://arnholm.org/astro/polar_alignment/index.html

Cheers,  John

[JohnP]

also Mark - 4got to say with latest version of handset it actually tells you what positon Polaris should be in when you switch on & initialise....

[MarkS]

Thanks John & Mike.  Your suggestions make it so much easier!

[Rocket Pooch]

Hi MarkS,

What's the actual problem here is it aligning the mount or checking to see if the polar scope is in alignment?

Chris

[MarkS]

I've aligned the polar scope (using the 3 adjustment screws) - I just wanted to set up the orientation and adjust the Index Marker Ring so I can set the orientation of the reticule for any date/time.  I've now managed to do this but the instructions were actually incorrect.

But it's far easier to just read the orientation from the night sky just by looking at the Big Dipper

[Rocket Pooch]

Ok, so I assume you are just looking through the finder scope and aligning the big dipper or cassiopia by rotating the RA and putting polaris in the little circle?

[MarkS]

Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do (once the clouds clear!).  It appears to be the easiest approach.

[Mike]

Came across this great piece of software for Polar Alignment using your webcam :-

http://wcs.ruthner.at/index-en.php

Only about £15 to register and from what I can gather from the UKAI forum it works a treat.

[MarkS]

The software looks interesting but I have no webcam!

In any case my EQ6 had it's first outing on Sunday.  Rotated the finder scope to match Cassiopeia and then put Polaris in the little circle.  It worked a treat and kept a star central in the viewfinder for 45 minutes (unguided) until it started to rain and I had to bring everything indoors in a hurry.  Didn't get time to attach a camera nor to record a Periodic Error chart.