getting it all wrong.

[Star Gazer]

Hi Bibbsy,

No offence, but I think you need to slow down and do some reading and learn some of the basics, that way you can enjoy the ride. Think of learning the basics as part of the fun, this will banish your frustration and when you do get it right, you'll be shouting from the roof tops.

If you want to gain knowledge quickly talk to your local astro society. I'm sure somone talk you through the basics.

Good luck.

[bibbsy]

hahahaha mick,i look forward to a clear sky and getting this to work keep thinking how great its going to be once im up and running,still crawling at the moment tho

[bibbsy]

thanks star gazer,i am trying lol,yup just found out that there is a meet in my village,only once a month so im waiting for that date to arrive and i'll be there

[brantuk]

Use the azimuth bolts either side at the front of the scope just above where it sits on the tripod

[bibbsy]

yup got that bit brantuk,thank you

[bibbsy]

when selecting the stars tonight for the 3 star align are there any stars that im best off using,IE brighter stars thus making life a little easier ? had a tip from mick i believe, saying choose the east first,due south 2nd then west for the third,any stars out there that im better off using for this process

[hemihaggis]

just choose 1 or 2 star alighn , works fine for visual

ok so its have the mount facing north , set your alt-az bolts to 52degrees (roughly essex ) , and have the scope in polar home position , thats it ready to go !! , switch on , and do alignment ..bingo

[bibbsy]

ok hemihaggis,

mount facing north = check,set alt-az bolts 52 deg =check,scope in home position = check,watch this space for tonight once i switch on and do alignment,thats when i'll see if i can shout BINGO lol.

[scarecrow]

I used to be in the same situation with you. I had no idea what the home position was and thought the the latitude bolts on the mount was to set elavation. My best advise would be to follow astronomysheds vids on youtube

. There are a few things you can skip or just roughly do but it was a godsend to me. Had my scope a year and never used it to its full.

[KE400]

Hi Bibbsy

I second what scarecrow suggests, the astronomyshed Utube vids are excellent and sorted the whole polar alignment for me. I ended up making my own check list from the vids which helps me out no end. It's a steep learning curve but you'll get there, keep at it.

[bibbsy]

thank you scarecrow,ive been watching those and others,im slowly getting there with bits and pieces,guess its just a case of once you know something it seems so easy,works for everything in life i guess.......i shall keep trying

[bibbsy]

thanks KE400

[scarecrow]

Whats your main problem at the moment? As a beginner myself it maybe easier to understand me or other beginners then someone who will go in great detail in what you need to know.

[bibbsy]

ok,im putting the mount facing north with a setting of 52 deg on the side clock (black plastic disc) my latitude being 51 deg 52 mins,the scope is in the home position,turn on the power and set up for the star align,first star is never in the main scope let alone the finder ? thats what happens every time,thanks for trying to help

[Celeste]

Out of curiosity, have you set your long/lat, date/time etc properly on your handset? Ihave a GPS unit for this so I don't need to enter it in.

[scarecrow]

Ok from the beginning

Have you set up the mount for home position?. If not then this is a must and its something that you need to do asap. Watching astronomy shed you can see him setting it up with the setting circles but you don't need to do that. Just get it levelled and put a pen mark so you can get to the home position whenever you set up.

When you get the mount outside make sure its level. Follow how it does it in the video or just do it by the bubble on the mount and it will be fine .

When you look through the polar scope, if you can see Polaris there then just keep it as that for now as it will work fine. There is not much point in setting it up closer as that's only really needed if you are imaging.

When that's done your pretty much ready to go. Don't forget you need to balance to mount so just follow the videos on how to do this.

I take it you have the correct coordinates for you location?. If you have then that's great and just follow along with the synscan setup. We are also still in summer time so make sure that's set to yes.

My 2 stars I align to are Vega and Alkaid as they are very bright and easy to spot. Use your largest lense which is the 25 and slew around to the star is dead centre. To change the slew speed just press the rate button and set it to about 6. It shouldn't be too far from where the scope stopped.

Once that's done your ready to tour the skies.

[bibbsy]

yes i believe so celeste,i must have done this hundreds of times now and even got the other half to check,she even had a try herself but with the same results as me lol.

[Celeste]

Hmm....how far out is the scope to the star? One other thing that I was told, is the handset set to north? I didn't realise they could be set for southern skies too lol...I think I was lucky this one was all set up ready to go by the previous owner, and it's pretty easy to learn it's uses

[bibbsy]

thank you scarecrow,i shall try again tonight...if clear,and hope this time to get it cracked,thanks again

[scarecrow]

The star im aligning too is not always in view as well and needs a little tweak to find it.

[bibbsy]

handset is all a ok as for how far the star is out....well i have to move the scope about 2ft.

[scarecrow]

If all else fails im only round the corner so give me a shout and i will help you out.

[Celeste]

2ft? seems like your time/date/long/lat is out.....mines not THAT far off even with a VERY rough polar align

[bibbsy]

google maps say longitude 0 405163 E latitude 51 deg 52 min 5807 sec,my clock is set to 52 deg on the mount ?

scarecrow where is just around the corner,i have a felling i might be needing your services lol.

[scarecrow]

51 31N 000 24E should be what you put in for location