Polar Scope Daft Question

[mikey32shaw]

Hi there, was wanting to ask a daft question re polar scopes so though here would be the best place. I have a SW200p on a eq5 that I have just recently bought the Synscan upgrade kit for so polar aligning is going to become more important.

My question is this the constellations that are etched on to the polar scope and the crosshairs are obviously in black. Of a night how on earth do you see them when you looking through the polar scope? I managed a rough polar align at the weekend but really struggled.

Many Thanks in advance

Mike

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[Stephen]

There's an LED in the upgrade kit I think, it shines down the polar scope

However as you now have the SynScan can I recommend you try the handset PA routine? I find it very good

[mikey32shaw]

Where would I find details of the handset polar align if you don't mind me asking? Would this be sufficient for a small amount of astrophotography to start off with?

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[Stephen]

Where would I find details of the handset polar align if you don't mind me asking? Would this be sufficient for a small amount of astrophotography to start off with?

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You will need to update the handset to version 3.35 and all the information you need is in the manual

All the files (updates and updated manual) are available on the skywatcher web site - http://www.skywatcher.com/

Personally speaking I'd say it's more accurate than looking up a polar scope ... however as with anything, you mileage may vary

Note : I've done up to 1800s using the handset method with no notable field rotation (what you get if you are not polar aligned)

[triton1]

I normally use a torch and shine it down at an angle from the top just enough to illuminate the markings

Jonn

[mikey32shaw]

Think I'll check out the update at the end if the week. I'm in no rush as it's not stopped raining all week :-/

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[lensman57]

Hi there, was wanting to ask a daft question re polar scopes so though here would be the best place. I have a SW200p on a eq5 that I have just recently bought the Synscan upgrade kit for so polar aligning is going to become more important.

My question is this the constellations that are etched on to the polar scope and the crosshairs are obviously in black. Of a night how on earth do you see them when you looking through the polar scope? I managed a rough polar align at the weekend but really struggled.

Many Thanks in advance

Mike

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 I used to have an EQ5 SynScan but I don't recall it having an illuminated Polar Scope, my HEQ5 does have an illuminated polar scope but it is so bright that it is useless. I just hold my red LED torch just off the opening of the Polar Scope and it illuminates the circle inside. The position of the constellations in the polar scope are of no consequence. Download the sofware called Polar Finder and it will show you the position of Polaris as seen in the finder scope at any given time, once you have put Polaris in the correct position in your polar scope then you are properly polar aligned provided that your polar scope is well centered and aligned to the axis of the scope, you then can do either a two star align or 3 star align folowed by a polar align routine to fine tune the alignment.

A.G

[Tinker1947]

To use the Polar align routine you need to do a 2 or 3 star align first other wise you won't get the PA option show on the handset, it becomes the 4th option in the star align section.....

[Sandancer10]

Hi Mike, depending on how accurate you need your Polar alignment to be you might be interested in Alignmaster. 

Here's the website www.alignmaster.de/ 

[rob0971]

I used to have an EQ5 SynScan but I don't recall it having an illuminated Polar Scope, my HEQ5 does have an illuminated polar scope but it is so bright that it is useless. I just hold my red LED torch just off the opening of the Polar Scope and it illuminates the circle inside. The position of the constellations in the polar scope are of no consequence. Download the sofware called Polar Finder and it will show you the position of Polaris as seen in the finder scope at any given time, once you have put Polaris in the correct position in your polar scope then you are properly polar aligned provided that your polar scope is well centered and aligned to the axis of the scope, you then can do either a two star align or 3 star align folowed by a polar align routine to fine tune the alignment.

A.G

I thought the brightness could be adjusted on the handset somewhere?

[starnut]

I made this

[m37]

 I used to have an EQ5 SynScan but I don't recall it having an illuminated Polar Scope, my HEQ5 does have an illuminated polar scope but it is so bright that it is useless. I just hold my red LED torch just off the opening of the Polar Scope and it illuminates the circle inside. The position of the constellations in the polar scope are of no consequence. Download the sofware called Polar Finder and it will show you the position of Polaris as seen in the finder scope at any given time, once you have put Polaris in the correct position in your polar scope then you are properly polar aligned provided that your polar scope is well centered and aligned to the axis of the scope, you then can do either a two star align or 3 star align folowed by a polar align routine to fine tune the alignment.

A.G

Sorry if this sounds patronising (it's not meant to!) but have you got the brightness all the way up? I have mine right down at about 2% and it works great. UTILITY FUNCTION > POLAR SCOPE LED.

Also, alignmaster is indeed awesome. Star choice can be limiting though depending on how much sky you can see. I've found the handset routine to be excellent, and if you hook up to EQMOD it uses an even better method!

cheers

Chris

[lensman57]

Sorry if this sounds patronising (it's not meant to!) but have you got the brightness all the way up? I have mine right down at about 2% and it works great. UTILITY FUNCTION > POLAR SCOPE LED.

Also, alignmaster is indeed awesome. Star choice can be limiting though depending on how much sky you can see. I've found the handset routine to be excellent, and if you hook up to EQMOD it uses an even better method!

cheers

Chris

The brightness could be adjusted, and I have put it to minimum but that is still too bright for me, maybe it is not functioning correctly. I also do my polar adjustment with no power to the mount, I find  that shining the little LED torch does the job quicker for me without all those wiring hanging around my neck, it is just a personal choice. While we are on the subject there is one more point with the polar align routine that is worth mentioning, while trying to center the star during the routine the best results are obtained if all the adjustments are done in one direction if possible. The handset has no real way of knowing how much the axis have moved as these are not indexed so if the movement is all over the place the handset is not able to calculate the back lash and error is then accumulated. I have found that when my movements are backward and forwrads the error reporting is erratic.

Regards,

A.G

[m37]

Gotcha.