2 hours wasted

[todd8137]

Can not find lead for cam download or look at this book mark it ect

http://www.telescopes.com/images/pdf/CELE054.pdf

Pat

[todd8137]

This

[Ant F]

well tomorrow nights supposed to be clear, so im giving it one last shot. tomorrow before sun set im going out leveling out my scope etc and setting it all up. see what i do is i remove the polar scope so theres a hollow hole looking up then i try to get polaris in the view then i screwed it bk in and shon a torch near to see. i dont have problems getting polaris in view its knowing what to do once i can see it. do i just put polaris on the line as i dont have a clue from there. 

[allcart]

Thats where Polarfinder comes in handy. If you have set YOUR TIME in polarfinder, it will show you where on the circle line to place Polaris. Use the lat bolts to adjust the elevation and the other knobs to adjust the azimouth. If you have markers in the ground, it should be pretty damned close next time you set up. Then if you follow Todds aligning advice you will be good to go.

[Ant F]

so that clock thing on the polar scope i have to put that to the time im outside yeh? or another time?  i dont get it

[knobby]

Through the polar scope, you should see a circle... On the circle is a smaller circle... You need to move the scope to get polaris in the little circle.

The position of the circle can be read from polar finder as it changes constantly. See attached

If its on your phone then it will probably pick up your location and time automatically

[allcart]

This is what I see when I open Polarfinder.

It tells me that at 23.44 pm, Polaris is just a wee bit before 6 oclock on the circle. Adjust your mount so that polaris is wher polarfinder tells you. You have to set your location and time in Polarfinder first if it does not show the correct time.

[Ant F]

so i dont need to worry about the numbers on the polaralign?? just turn the round circle where polaris should be to the same as the software and meet them both up?

[allcart]

If you are talking about the numbers on the setting circles underneath the polarscope, forget them. Just rotate the polarscope a little bit until the crosshairs look like the pic above. then just think of it like a clockface.

polarfinder shows you where polaris should be on the circle, eg just before 6 oclock. Now use the bolts on the mount to move up down left right and position Polaris at the right place.  Then proceed with the star align routine.

You know how to use the latitude bolts to change the elevation. When you want to move the mount left or right you use the Az bolts. Slacken them a tiny bit, make adjustment then tighten and check. repeat until done.

[Alien 13]

so i dont need to worry about the numbers on the polaralign?? just turn the round circle where polaris should be to the same as the software and meet them both up?

Hi, if you are using something like polarfinder you can ignore all the setting circle info, what i often do is set up the position of the finder 1 hour in advance while in the house and lock it off so that when i take it out an hour later it should be in the correct position.

[Ant F]

cheers peeps, that clock thing confused me. just been out and set my gear up ready. thats all what was confusing me. the clock thing. so when i got my clock thing like the software says it should be and polaris in the little circle, Do i go back to index marks and then do 2 star alignment.  tonight i want it to work out right lol. 3rd night of tryin and we all know clear nights in the uk are hard to get.  with snow on the way from the 25th nov i dont think i will get much chance of looking in the sky.   i did however get my adapter for my sammy scb2000 to slip into my telescope HAPPY DAYS 

[allcart]

Ok Ant lets get ready. Firstly, download Polarfinder to your comp or laptop and set your time and location in it with the little menu icons. Do this so that you can check that its the same as your phone app.

Assuming your mount is on its marks and pointing north, align the index marks on the mount. Now rotate the scope so that you have a clear view through the viewfinder, and set the reticule to the same position as Polarfinder. eg like a clockface. 

Now when you go out tonight, check polarfinder to see where Polaris is on the clockface, then adjust your lat and az bolts to bring Polaris into position on the circle. Tighten the bolts making sure Polaris doesn't move out of position and rotate the scope to align the index marks again..

Now do the star align.

All being well, the next time you put your scope out on the marks, it should be very close and may only need a slight tweak.

[Ant F]

cheers for that. i have some pegs in the ground where i push my legs of the mount upto it so its always in the polarscope, did that the first night and i also have small holes in the ground to pop the legs into. i plan on being out there about 6pm so i went to polarfinder and i looked at where polaris would be. i then went outside and copied that with the polarscope so when i go out at 6pm i gotta pop polaris into the tiny circle. is this right. sorry im a bit slow on this kinda stuff. gimme a computer or software and im well away but stuff like this boggles my brain.

[allcart]

Sorry Ant, I may have confused things a little. There is no crosshair on the polarscope reticule so you just have to imagine it does.  when you look through it, just visualise where the 12 3 6 9 oclock positions are and put Polaris where it shows you in Polarfinder.

If you have configured polarfinder correctly it will show you the correct time on the chart and the position of Polaris on the circle at that time. Using the mount bolts, position Polaris as near to that position as you can.. Do it as early as you can and leave it for a while. You can check it at intervals to see if it is still following the circle line. If all is well, align the index marks on the mount and do your star align. 

When everything is right, Polaris moves around the circle on the line. You can't really set anything until you can actually see the stars, but If you have preset the polarscope reticule to the same position it should be at 6pm, then it should not be far out. All you have to do is line it up.

[Ant F]

right been and sorted out the polar alignment as you said, ill go bk out in 30 mins and see if its on the circle still and adjust to whats is needed. i copied the diagram in the software. 

[allcart]

good man, keep us infomed.

[Davey-T]

Good luck with the PA Ant, as you say you're freezing your bits off you need to invest in some sort of thermal clothing if you intend going out in sub zero temp's , probably some sort of dew heaters as it can be quite confusing wondering where all the

stars have gone only to find the end of the scope misted up.

Dave 

[Ant F]

haha had lots of misting up. i wanna build a nice warm shed to keep it all in and slide the roof off thats my target this winter.