Pier positioning.

[Drakester]

Hi All,

I have recently moved house, and am planning installing a pier in the garden, with a view to a permanent obsy in the next few months.

My view is quite obstructed with trees and buildings though, so I'm a bit restricted as to where to position the pier.

My question is do I need a clear view of Polaris to polar align? (I'm planning to use my kit primarily for astro-photography)

Thanks in advance. Drakester.

[rfdesigner]

No.

Look up "Drift Alignment"

View wise, check out how things look up a ladder.. pushing the scope up a bit can work wonders.

Derek

[Davey-T]

See thread in software forum about Alignmaster, haven't tried it yet but seems to work on pairs of stars like Vega and Albireo so presumably you don't need to be able to see Polaris

Davey-T

[JamesF]

I think in one of the recent threads on the new beta release of software for the HEQ5/NEQ6 someone was saying that it can manage pretty good polar alignment without being able to see Polaris.

I'll see if I can find the thread.

James

[JamesF]

Here you go:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/153702-eq6-polar-align-beta-ultimate-test/

James

[skybadger]

Is this about the mount or about the pier ??

I aligned my pier at noon usng the shadow, a drill template with shadow-stick, compass and finding out the equation of time for the date. Worked well enough that I could plonk the mount on it and it be in range of adjustment for polar alignment by one of the many methods available.

I did build the pier about 12" too high - or just right if you ask.

regs

Mike

[Drakester]

Thanks for the advice chaps, the syncscan firmware update sounds interesting, I'll take a look. Cheers. Drakester.

[nightvision]

I have a similar problem with tall trees all round, I will be placing my mount at about 2.5 metres above the ground, I did what Derek proposed and checked out all my options from the top of a 3 metre step ladder, made a big difference to what was visible.