drift aligning

[msh1]

hi all as im now obsy based i had a go at drift aligning can someone confirm i have done it right please

from the top

2 star + 3 star callibration

polar align utility in handset

back to home

turn off then on

2 star + 3 star callibration

slew to rigel in south

centered with illuminated reticle and 2x barlow

rigel drifed down

moved star to the left in eyepiece with az bolts then re-centered with handset

no movement up or down for 5 mins a little right / left

slew to regulus in east

centered with illuminated reticle and 2x barlow

drifted down a tad

moved mount with altitude bolt north re-centered with handset

no movement for over 5 mins

back to home

turn off/on

2 star + 3 star callibration

fired up phd best graph i have ever had osc=0.35 rms = 0.10

please say this is right it took 2 hours cramed into a 4 foot obsy

[dephelis]

Can't speak to the non drift aligning parts of that as I only use and EQ3-2, but the drift aligning sounds about right.

Generally you want to repeat the drift aligning until you get no drift for 10-20 minutes according to your needs. You certainly need to repeat it every time you make adjustments as the adjustments you make in one axis can affect the other axis.

[Freddie]

This is a nice method you can use with your CCD

http://www.observatory.digital-sf.com/Polar_Alignment_CCDv1-1.pdf

[dephelis]

You also might want to give EQAlign a go: http://eqalign.net/e_eqalign.html

[msh1]

cheers guys looks like i did it right

[Mik3]

I wouldn't bother doing the star align and polar align utility, takes up to much precious time that could be used taking images.

just quick polar and drift align, 1 star align then use astro tortilla.