urgent help with polarscope needed.

[guiseppe]

o, I'm outside right now, trying figure out how to use the darned thing.I've attached it to the mount with seemingly no problems. And now when I look through it. I noticed that it isn't centered, and the three screws on the side of it do nothing. Also, am I supposed to move the whole tripod to get polaris in view? Because that seems highly illogical. Urgent help needed here, so any at all would be much appreciated.

[bogdog]

your scope and mount need to point northwards,the lattitude bolt will raise scope so polaris comes into view in viewfinder then set it so its centred on whatever mark in viewfinder

that should be you set

[knobby]

you need to adjust the bolts that face each other to adjust the mount left / right and the 45 degree ish bolts to adjust up / down.

remember that you need to undo one side a bit before tightening the other side if that makes sense (otherwise the bolts bend)

also slightly loosen the bar that locks the ep tray / leg spreader or the left / right movement will be very difficult ...

[bogdog]

also watch these two vids in this post

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/210970-alignment-troubles/

will help you

[knobby]

also, the polar scope needs to be aligned itself ... or you're wasting your time 

see http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/127147-permanent-polar-scope-reticle-centring/

this accuracy only really matters if you are imaging though.

For visual a rough point north and adjust your latitude will be fine 

Good luck

[sidelight]

Hi first of all the polar scope should be centered, read the instructions and look up your polar scope, you can easily  detach things if you are not careful.

But for tonight lets concentrate on what you do with it.  

If your declination is about right you should be able to find Polaris by moving the whole tripod around.  once you have found it use the adjusters front and back to adjust declination and the two knobs opposite each other to fine tune the RA.  With both of these remember they work as opposites, so for example as you turn the left hand know in half a turn, turn the right hand out half a turn.  failing that make sure you put some slack in the system on the right before tightening the left.

Can I recommend software such as polar finder to show you where Polaris should be around the center.

Cheers

Ross

[guiseppe]

Hey again, first of all, I really want to thank you all for coming to my aid so quickly. That said, I didn't quite figure it out despite all your help. I can't for the life of me figure how the polarscope is NOT centered in the tube. It can't move at all in there, and there is no slack, so it should be centered, no? Anyway, I did what I could and I'm now shooting away with my camera. I'm guessing it can't get worse than my previous attempts, since those were only eyeballs in terms of alignment. Using 60 second exposures this time around and it looks quite good so far. I'm also going to use flats this time to see if it will help.

Again, thanks to everyone who replied. This forum is awesome.

[Johnny666666]

Hi :-)

I think I have the same mount and separate polarscope as you, so you may have this issue: the polarscope on the left of the photo is how it was delivered, and the mount is shown on the right. If this is the case you will need to take the polarscope holder and its setting scale (right) out of the mount with a quick sharp anti-clockwise turn to release it, then unscrew it fully. Screw the separate polarscope (left) into the hole and tighten until fully home. I only mention this because you say the 3 screws on the side of it do nothing, which they won't because they are only tightening on the barrel of the polarscope and not aligning it.

Once you've done this you will need to align it as others have mentioned, using the tiny grub screws in the polarscope holder.

Hope this helps :-)

[guiseppe]

Hi :-)

I think I have the same mount and separate polarscope as you, so you may have this issue: the polarscope on the left of the photo is how it was delivered, and the mount is shown on the right. If this is the case you will need to take the polarscope holder and its setting scale (right) out of the mount with a quick sharp anti-clockwise turn to release it, then unscrew it fully. Screw the separate polarscope (left) into the hole and tighten until fully home. I only mention this because you say the 3 screws on the side of it do nothing, which they won't because they are only tightening on the barrel of the polarscope and not aligning it.

Once you've done this you will need to align it as others have mentioned, using the tiny grub screws in the polarscope holder.

Hope this helps :-)

P1110418s.JPG

Hmm, Looks like you've got the same stuff as me. Still, am I supposed to take out the entire thing in the mount? That is, the setting circle and the little black thing (holder?) with the three thumb screws? BEcause that's what I did. I then put the setting circle over my polarscope before pushing it into the mount and screwed it on. But I read on some other place that I was supposed to remove the tiny screws on the polarscope and replace those with the thumbscrews that were in the holder. Now I fear that might have ruined it ^^. I wish I could show you guys pictures, but my equipment isn't at home.

[glowjet]

I seem to recall that changing the grub screws in the Polar scope has been mentioned, to enable easier adjustment of the reticule to centralise the image. The screws should be changed one screw at a time.  if you have not done this, then your reticule may have come loose, which could be the reason why you do not get any adjustment with the screws. This will necessitate taking  the eye piece out to reassemble it. This not the first time it has happened to anyone, but is a bit of a pain to have to rectify it all the same, but be careful when you do the reassembly