Polar Alignment

[DBushell]

My Astromaster 130eq has an EQ mount, however after aligning the scope north and finding the pole star, I'm struggling to see how the mount then works ie how do you rotate it so that it can track Jupiter? What axis do I rotate to get the pitch of the planet? Horizontally seems to be straightforward but once the pitch is at 52 degrees how then do I rotate the scope to get to jupiter without the eyepiece being in a position where i cannot easily reach like on top?!!

Are there any videos that show how the scope she be used once polar aligned?

It sounds like a really stupid question.....

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

You rotate around the polar axis. As this is now aligned with the earth's axis, rotating once every day around the polar axis (in the opposite direction of the earth's rotation) keeps the object in the FOV. It takes a bit of getting used to, but when star hopping I think in terms of RA and dec motions, rather than altitude and azimuth motions. The advantage is that the RA and dec motions are independent of observing time, unlike altitude and azimuth steps. I never bother with setting circles, just use a good finder

[MartinB]

Your mount has 4 axes, not 2. When you set the polar alignment you should move the mount either vertically (altitude) and horizontally (azimuth). The azimuth controls are normally found at the base of the mount just above the tripod. Typically there will be a pair of knobs on the side of the mount which should be pointing north. These act against a small peg attached to the tripod and allow fine control of azimuth. Coarse control is achieved by moving the whole mount and tripod. If you line the scope up with the mount the scope should be pointing up in the direction that these two knobs are facing. You need the scope and knobs to be looking towards the north. Arrangements for adjusting altitude vary but basically you move the top part of the mount against the bottom part along a vertical axis. Having ajusted dec so the mount is pointing north and lined your scope up you then adjust the altitude so that the scope/mount are pointing towards polaris.

Once you have polar aligned you lock these axes off and don't go near them again! To move the scope around you use the mount's RA (right ascension) and dec (declination) axes by loosening the clutches and moving the scope.

[Spanishfly]

To keep the eyepiece from getting into really awkward positions arrange the scope so that the eyepiece points in the same plane as the balance shaft.

[JamesM]

You might

his video helpful as a good starting point to get you up and running.

Clear skies

James

[magic612]

See this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7HVDKAZ6eM

[magic612]

See this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7HVDKAZ6eM

Ooops, didn't post right - try this:

[magic612]

Ummm... okay, what I see in the "preview" is not showing up in my posts for some reason (and I wish I could edit my previous posts to fix them).

Anyway, hopefully one of THESE will work this time:

[bomberbaz]

Sorry DBushell I don't want to hijack your thread, so hope you don't mind me asking this question whilst this topic is fresh.

I have been a little confused about this and so decided to bury my head until reading this thread.

Do you need to align your scope EQ mount each time you setup and even if your mount is not motorised. (mine in manual)

Until now I have seemingly managed but I wonder if I am missing something.

Steve.

[foundaplanet]

Sorry DBushell I don't want to hijack your thread, so hope you don't mind me asking this question whilst this topic is fresh.

I have been a little confused about this and so decided to bury my head until reading this thread.

Do you need to align your scope EQ mount each time you setup and even if your mount is not motorised. (mine in manual)

Until now I have seemingly managed but I wonder if I am missing something.

Steve.

Yes you do. Every time, unless you have a permanent mount, but you can generally get away with some markings on the floor. I have glued some washers on the floor for my eq.

I would assume that is what the fellow on the video will tell you about.

[bomberbaz]

Ok foundaplanet, I thought so but now I know for sure. I shall bookmark this, study it tomorrow and get my head around it.

Thanks for the info

Steve.

[JamesM]

For visual work, the alignment process doesn't need to be that accurate although it's not a bad idea to do the best that you can as part of your setup routine. Imaging is where alignment discrepancies will show up most and where greater care is required at all times.

Clear skies

James

[bomberbaz]

just watched this video and also the one on alligning the mount, I have just learnt where I have been going quite wrong lol. Thanks David, great tutorial

[DBushell]

Ummm... okay, what I see in the "preview" is not showing up in my posts for some reason (and I wish I could edit my previous posts to fix them).

Anyway, hopefully one of THESE will work this time:

Thats a superb video that all beginners should watch. Although I have an EQ mount until now I didn't know how to use it properly and were doing the two adjusts to track objects - not I have the right idea from watching your video - which should make things far easy for my imaging!!

Thanks for the help.