last one as I think I,m getting there

[brrttpaul]

Ok guys I am going to have another go tonight just for the hell of it here is what I will be doing if I am wrong could you correct me.

Set up mount level it facing North, add weights and scope, find polaris through the polarscope, use polar app and copy that image through the polar scope putting polaris in the little circle, Now here is where I think I go wrong, plug in synscan and start doing date etc. when it comes to long/lat it on syncscan I do West first then North? again im using polar finder and just looking at it now for example it says Lat 51.72* and Long -3.36*. I have got it right havnt I ? lat is North on syncscan and long is west?. After that i will do two star alignment I was thinking of Alderamin first then Dubhe as I am facing East . After that I,m hoping its done, Am I on the right path? its the West and North that gets me

Cheers

Paul

[goose35]

I get my lat/long figures from here puttjng the pointer in my back yard on the google map part

http://www.latlong.net/

[brrttpaul]

Just tried that it came back exactly the same 51.72  -3.36, but what im asking is in syncscan it  comes up as west and North I am right that Nort is Latitude arnt I?

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi Paul. Don't forget to 'Park' your scope by loosening the clutches and lining it up by eye once you have completed the polar alignment. Yes your assumptions regarding Lat/Long are correct but you need to use degrees and minutes not decimals. There are 60 arc minutes in one degree and 60 arc seconds in one arc minute. For example 52.5 deg would be 52 deg 30 minutes.

[goose35]

Ah got ya.

Yes latitude is north/south and longitude east/west

[brrttpaul]

what do you mean park? I have seen it on the hand controller but havnt used it. so would my 51.72 become  51 degrees and 42 minutes and my -3.36 become -3 degrees and 6 minutes

[Davey-T]

Why do you need to put - sign East is East of Greenwich and West is West of it what's the minus for ?

Dave

[tingting44]

i did not see you mention balancing the scope...... good luck for tonight

[brrttpaul]

Why do you need to put - sign East is East of Greenwich and West is West of it what's the minus for ?

Dave

im just copying what its saying in polar finder

[brrttpaul]

Now that you have said that though makes sense why am I putting a blumming minus number in of course doh

[Owmuchonomy]

'Park'; well if it's like my HEQ5 then once you have used the polar scope to do your polar alignment your scope may have been rotated in RA to account for Polaris's position. It sounds like your are using some sort of App for that bit. Once you have finished you put your scope back to the home position i.e., weights vertically down and just check with your eye by sighting along your scope that it is pointing pretty much at Polaris. Lock the clutches and fire up the handset.

-3.36 is 3 deg and 20 minutes approx.

[brrttpaul]

yes I am using polar finder on my phone,  yes I can see that now with 20 mins ,  my other one I did right though ? 42mins?

[brrttpaul]

when I "park"  it as you said would I tell synscan that its in a parked position?

[Owmuchonomy]

No, forget I said park. Let's call it the 'Home' position. You move it manually not with the handset. Handset should be off until you have finished your visual polar alignment and your manual positioning to 'Home'. Your handset will assume your scope is in the Home position when you power it up. If it asks you if you want to start from 'park' you should answer NO.

[brrttpaul]

thx very much for your help been much appreciated

[Owmuchonomy]

I'm off out to my obsy now to do some imaging but I am online out there all evening if you have troubles.

[brrttpaul]

Cheers thx again for your help

[A-N-Y]

what do you mean park? I have seen it on the hand controller but havnt used it. so would my 51.72 become  51 degrees and 42 minutes and my -3.36 become -3 degrees and 6 minutes

It should be 51°43'12.0"N (latitude) and 3°21'36.0"W (longitude)

For the latitude:

51°=floor[51.72]

43'=floor[60*(51.72-51)]

12"=floor[3600*(51.72-51-43/60)]

and in a similar way you could calculate the longitude.

If you have a (-) sign in the latitude it would mean South and in longitude it would mean West, else it is North and East (respectively). I more convenient way to directly get the calculation you could just write coordinates in decimal format in google maps (on your phone or browser) and it will give you the result in degree minutes seconds format.

[brrttpaul]

Well I got there in the end, dont ask me how I dont know I lined up polaris done 1 star align and then looked for the only thing I recognised 100% which was Jupiter, it slewed to the direction and stopped just short, so looked through my finder scope and wernt to far off it. I then adjusted the main scope using directional keys untill it was centre, then I pressed identify not knowing whether it would correct it, spent an hour watching jupiter untill it went over my roof. then I thought right lets get the chart out, I stuck with the plough as it was easy to spot and went into named star, and Mizer is it? a double type star it slewed and again a bit short but it was in my eyepiece. Wont boar you with the rest but have to say Jupiter WOW

[Owmuchonomy]

Well I got there in the end, dont ask me how I dont know I lined up polaris done 1 star align and then looked for the only thing I recognised 100% which was Jupiter, it slewed to the direction and stopped just short, so looked through my finder scope and wernt to far off it. I then adjusted the main scope using directional keys untill it was centre, then I pressed identify not knowing whether it would correct it, spent an hour watching jupiter untill it went over my roof. then I thought right lets get the chart out, I stuck with the plough as it was easy to spot and went into named star, and Mizer is it? a double type star it slewed and again a bit short but it was in my eyepiece. Wont boar you with the rest but have to say Jupiter WOW

Glad you made it! It will only get better....

[brrttpaul]

Thx I followed everything but was wary of putting it back to home position, but as you say got there in the end