An easy gadget to polar align in 2 minutes!

[Luis Campos]

Hi guys,

Like many, I do my imaging /observations mainly from my back yard, and I don't have access to polaris, and because I have to set up everytime I want to image /observe this causes a big waste of time when I need accurate polar alignment, I do the excellent DARV method to polar align but even so it's a tedious process when you are with little time to image, we all have to work the next day...

A brain storm arose, and there you go, I have the MK1 version of the laser polar align, so how does it work?

That laser pointer you can see in the image is a super gadget I did because as I said, from my back yard I can't see polaris to polar align, so I though...why not spending a night making a fine polar alignment using the drift method? Once this is done I can make some permanent markings on the ground, one for each tripod leg and then make a mark on the wall, so I stuck a laser pointer at the polar finder cap glued with epoxy, and now I just polar align in 2 minutes!

For this you need to make sure you have the polar finder cap allways in the same position, just paint a mark on the cap and another on the mount (see that on the pic?) Then, just set the tripod on the floor marks, align the laser with the mark on the wall (a small circle I painted) and use the mount fine tuning alt/az movements the center the laser...and you are done! And I mean very well aligned, the accuracy is quite good, very happy with this as I don't loose a bunch of time now

It's impoprtant that you aim the laser when having the counterweight shaft in the same position as the previous session, just put the counterweights on with no OTA and loose the clutch, this wiil automaticaly put the shaft straight down.

I will add some more images of the whole setup aligned for you guys to check, better whith images to perfectly understand how it works

Man, I gotta register the patent for this crazy idea!

Cheers,

Luís

[Alien 13]

Great idea I do something similar with my laser pointer fixed to the counterweight shaft so it points to the ground and as you say with the tripod location marked and the additional laser point (with my method the pointer describes an arc which is marked out on the ground) alignment is very accurate.

Alan

[Gina]

Ingenious

[Luis Campos]

Great idea I do something similar with my laser pointer fixed to the counterweight shaft so it points to the ground and as you say with the tripod location marked and the additional laser point (with my method the pointer describes an arc which is marked out on the ground) alignment is very accurate.

Alan

Cheers Alan,

Nice We all need to find these neat sollutions for our "problems" nice sollution too Alan

[Luis Campos]

Ingenious

Thank you Gina, I knew you would like this hehehehe

[sgazer]

Very good, especially in the southern hemisphere with no Polaris!

[Luis Campos]

Very good, especially in the southern hemisphere with no Polaris!

Cheers,

You are right, I didn't even think of that... It should be of great help in fact

[glowjet]

An extremely good idea indeed, I appreciate  that you set the laser using drift aligning, but have just glued the unit into the shaft hole plug. Over time the slightest deviation here may give some alignments that could be some way adrift. If I may make a suggestion for a more permanent device. You could accurately manufacture, or find a round plug being a nice slide fit, of sufficient length to avoid possible play in the shaft hole. Centre drill to accept the laser body. The laser would be glued in place in the plug, once the whole assembly has been checked for centre alignment by turning the mount body through 360° and using the laser beam to check for accuracy. Once this has been completed and you again drift align, set a permanent target mark for the laser, such as a tiny White or silvered disc would be ideal. Setting this as far from your observing position as you can, should ensure very good accuracy

I am lucky enough to have the facility of a workshop and lathe, I am so taken with your idea that I shall be manufacturing my own permanent device, as I have outlined, in the very near future.

I have also no doubt, such a devise would be of interest to those Astronomers not having the benefit of having the Pole star visible from their location, not only here, but in other parts of the World

[Ajohn]

I have the pole star problem as well - iOptron doesn't help either as it's used to set up the mount.

One thought I had to align quickly once it's been done properly some how is to use a pier rather than a tripod but It's probably possible to do the same sort of thing with a tripod. Just locate the feet so it always goes back in the same place. In my case I have to make an adapter to fit the head to the pier so when it's broken down that comes off still fixed to the head. Then it's just a case of locating the adapter on the pier tube - a tapered pin etc.

iOptron, guess I will have to take it somewhere and align the gears correctly. It doesn't have a clutch so the worm wheel teeth have to be aligned to get the axis pointing in the correct direction in it's home position - at the pole star. No scope level pointing east west with this one and mount aligned north south which on other mounts gives a decent start.  I've wondered about trying to use a Celestron SkyScout to roughly align it. Some people it seems have used these as a sort of go to but I'd guess any metal close to it might mess it up.

John

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[Alien 13]

An extremely good idea indeed, I appreciate  that you set the laser using drift aligning, but have just glued the unit into the shaft hole plug. Over time the slightest deviation here may give some alignments that could be some way adrift. If I may make a suggestion for a more permanent device. You could accurately manufacture, or find a round plug being a nice slide fit, of sufficient length to avoid possible play in the shaft hole. Centre drill to accept the laser body. The laser would be glued in place in the plug, once the whole assembly has been checked for centre alignment by turning the mount body through 360° and using the laser beam to check for accuracy. Once this has been completed and you again drift align, set a permanent target mark for the laser, such as a tiny White or silvered disc would be ideal. Setting this as far from your observing position as you can, should ensure very good accuracy

I am lucky enough to have the facility of a workshop and lathe, I am so taken with your idea that I shall be manufacturing my own permanent device, as I have outlined, in the very near future.

I have also no doubt, such a devise would be of interest to those Astronomers not having the benefit of having the Pole star visible from their location, not only here, but in other parts of the World

The EQ3/5 mounts used to come fitted with the polarscope holder with its 3 adjustment points and the additional polarscope I purchased had the same so I have a spare ready for another laser to slide in and be fully colamateable.

The idea from Louis is great though because you are efectively creating a virtual NCP that can be seen day/night and setup does indeed take 1 or 2 minutes.

Alan

[Luis Campos]

An extremely good idea indeed, I appreciate  that you set the laser using drift aligning, but have just glued the unit into the shaft hole plug. Over time the slightest deviation here may give some alignments that could be some way adrift. If I may make a suggestion for a more permanent device. You could accurately manufacture, or find a round plug being a nice slide fit, of sufficient length to avoid possible play in the shaft hole. Centre drill to accept the laser body. The laser would be glued in place in the plug, once the whole assembly has been checked for centre alignment by turning the mount body through 360° and using the laser beam to check for accuracy. Once this has been completed and you again drift align, set a permanent target mark for the laser, such as a tiny White or silvered disc would be ideal. Setting this as far from your observing position as you can, should ensure very good accuracy

I am lucky enough to have the facility of a workshop and lathe, I am so taken with your idea that I shall be manufacturing my own permanent device, as I have outlined, in the very near future.

I have also no doubt, such a devise would be of interest to those Astronomers not having the benefit of having the Pole star visible from their location, not only here, but in other parts of the World

Hi John,

If I had a lathe you would live in my garage...

Indeed it would be really neat you you could machine a cap and insert the laser inside, the laser doesn't even have to be collimated with the polar axle for this to work, a rough approach is just fine.

This laser I got is a very small and light one, it just sits in there with no movement but I allways make sure to press the cap and check if it's nice and fit before I aim it

John, do let us know when you build your polar aligner, I'm most curious

Best wishes,

[Luis Campos]

The EQ3/5 mounts used to come fitted with the polarscope holder with its 3 adjustment points and the additional polarscope I purchased had the same so I have a spare ready for another laser to slide in and be fully colamateable.

The idea from Louis is great though because you are efectively creating a virtual NCP that can be seen day/night and setup does indeed take 1 or 2 minutes.

Alan

That would work great Alan Let us know then if it worked for you

Cheers,

[Luis Campos]

I have the pole star problem as well - iOptron doesn't help either as it's used to set up the mount.

One thought I had to align quickly once it's been done properly some how is to use a pier rather than a tripod but It's probably possible to do the same sort of thing with a tripod. Just locate the feet so it always goes back in the same place. In my case I have to make an adapter to fit the head to the pier so when it's broken down that comes off still fixed to the head. Then it's just a case of locating the adapter on the pier tube - a tapered pin etc.

iOptron, guess I will have to take it somewhere and align the gears correctly. It doesn't have a clutch so the worm wheel teeth have to be aligned to get the axis pointing in the correct direction in it's home position - at the pole star. No scope level pointing east west with this one and mount aligned north south which on other mounts gives a decent start.  I've wondered about trying to use a Celestron SkyScout to roughly align it. Some people it seems have used these as a sort of go to but I'd guess any metal close to it might mess it up.

John

-

Hi John,

Yes, if you can fix some anchor points on the ground (perhaps some conical receptacles) you could then make some mail adaptors to apply on each tripod feat, this would ensure a firm and accurate setup every time.

Cheers,

[k9wis]

this is an awesome idea...I was just on ebay looking for parts for a different project when I ran across a guy selling laser pointer heads,10 for $5,  I wonder if we could mount or epoxy one of those to the back of the polar shaft...hmmmm...

kudoes

[Stargazer33]

This is a great idea Luis; and a good example of like minds coming together to expand and improve on an idea. I can see Polaris from where I set my scope up, but this idea means I wouldn't have to contort my aging 6' 4" frame in order to look through the finder scope.

I have already marked the ground where my tripod sits. I drilled into the concrete with a masonry drill; just enough to make a small depression. Nothing too deep. I have a spare finderscope holder with the three alignment thumb screws. I will set a laser pointer in that so that it points at the ground and make another small mark after doing a DARV.

[Luis Campos]

Cheers K9wis & Bryan

[Demonperformer]

I really like the sound of this idea (having failed miserably at getting polar alignment sorted on my NEQ6 - even using AT). I have a pillar set up, so would not even have the problem of making sure the tripod feet were in the same place.

A couple of thoughts (sorry if I am being dumb):
On all the mini laser pointers I have found, you need to keep the button pressed to keep the light on. Are there any out there that can be just switched on/off? This would probably make doing the job easier and would also minimise any movement in the pointer itself during the 'pressing the button' stage.
I see what you mean about setting up without OTA and shaft straight down to make sure it is always in the same position. Just to be clear, this presumably means that you do the initial DARV, then remove OTA to get the shaft pointing downwards before marking the target for the laser? As long as the act of removing the OTA does not mess up the alignment ...

Thanks.

[Demonperformer]

Another (possibly silly) thought:

Does it need to go on the polar cap? Would it not work equally well if attached to the main body of the mount? This would give a greater proportion of pointer attached to mount and thus increase stability? Indeed, would it not work irrespective of where it was pointed, as long as it was fixed to the body of the mount? When it is set up with the shaft pointing downwards, the laser would always be pointing at the same spot on the wall (when polar aligned), even if it was perpendicular to the polar axis?

I don't have anything resembling an engineering mind, so I may be talking complete rubbish - if I am, please let me (and everyone else!) know.

Thanks.

[David Smith]

Simple, yet brilliant!

[Luis Campos]

I really like the sound of this idea (having failed miserably at getting polar alignment sorted on my NEQ6 - even using AT). I have a pillar set up, so would not even have the problem of making sure the tripod feet were in the same place.

A couple of thoughts (sorry if I am being dumb):

On all the mini laser pointers I have found, you need to keep the button pressed to keep the light on. Are there any out there that can be just switched on/off? This would probably make doing the job easier and would also minimise any movement in the pointer itself during the 'pressing the button' stage.

I see what you mean about setting up without OTA and shaft straight down to make sure it is always in the same position. Just to be clear, this presumably means that you do the initial DARV, then remove OTA to get the shaft pointing downwards before marking the target for the laser? As long as the act of removing the OTA does not mess up the alignment ...

Thanks.

Hi there.

What I use to keep my laser button pressed is a very hi-tech approach...a clothes clip Just put it on the laser pointer when aligning and remove it when done simple but effective.

No, here I align with OTA and conterweights on, after doing the DARV align just take the mount to home position (on my case shaft pointing down) and mark the spot on the wall, then proceed allways the same way, with the OTA and counterweights on.

Cheers,

[Luis Campos]

Another (possibly silly) thought:

Does it need to go on the polar cap? Would it not work equally well if attached to the main body of the mount? This would give a greater proportion of pointer attached to mount and thus increase stability? Indeed, would it not work irrespective of where it was pointed, as long as it was fixed to the body of the mount? When it is set up with the shaft pointing downwards, the laser would always be pointing at the same spot on the wall (when polar aligned), even if it was perpendicular to the polar axis?

I don't have anything resembling an engineering mind, so I may be talking complete rubbish - if I am, please let me (and everyone else!) know.

Thanks.

No, It doens't have to be on the polar cap, take for instance the EQ8 mount, it has a separate attachment for the polar finder external to the polar axle, you can put it on the side of the mount if you prefer as long as it's allways on the same exact position.

Another thing, you don't even have to worry on making the pointer aligned with the polar axis...what counts is the initial markings with shaft pointing down, if it's like 50 cms out it doesn't matter

Cheers,