Alignmaster....star choice

[Nathan_Pembs]

Heard lots of good things about this software, so I've downloaded the 30 day trial.

Set it all up fine, had a look at the list of stars to choose from and found a problem. Majority of them are either in the Plough or Cassieopia, which are no good because my north view is totally blocked and so is Cassieopia.

I've heard you can add your own stars to the list, but how? From my site I can see the south and west

Which stars would you guys use instead?

[oldpink]

I have the same issue with the northern sky view
mostly I have to take a pair from lower down the list in the good range so I can use Vega or stars east to west
don't know about adding your own you would have to load all the info on position etc

[daz]

If you're using a guiding set up, try the new drift align tool in PHD2

[Earl]

there is a thread on sgl with a list of stars to add, search alingmaster and you should find it.

[Gib007]

If you're using a guiding set up, try the new drift align tool in PHD2

Agreed. PHD2's Drift Align tool is very, very useful. Ultimately, drift alignment is the gold standard of polar aligning. Once done accurately enough, you can image tremendously well over very long exposures if desired. I've done up to 30 minute exposures with perfectly round stars after a 10 minute drift alignment procedure in PHD2. 

[Nathan_Pembs]

I've downloaded phd2, but not had a clear night to try it out yet.

Forecast doesn't look good for the foreseeable either