Polar Scope Reticle Orientation - Does It Matter?

[Seraph_69]

Hi all,

yet another question on Polar Alignment I'm afraid - but just wanted to be certain on this one:

Does the orientation of the polar scope reticle (when the mount is in the home position) matter?

By my understanding, it doesn't, because when you polar align, you're going to move RA, and thus the reticle orientation to get Polaris to be at the 6 O'Clock position first anyway;

so surely regardless of where your reticle might sit when the mount is in the home position, you will move it round to 'zero out' your RA clock anyway.

I suppose in itself, that means you could set your mount to be exactly in its home position, then [removed word] around with your polar reticle for fiddly hours on-end, trying to get back in with the Polaris circle EXACTLY in the 6 O'Clock position, so that whenever you went out to polar align, you wouldn't have to do that thing where you put a star in the centre of the crosshair, and move it down to precisely 6 O'Clock on the outer circle using ONLY the alt. bolts + rotate RA to match blah, blah, blah...each time you went out.

i.e. you would only need to:

1. Set your mount to the home position (which you've probably already marked out perfectly with a marker pen + ruler anyway)

2. Zero out RA clock

3. Find out Polaris HA + Rotate RA to match.

...But this sounds like something only a maniac would attempt to bother with   as the pay-off to frustration ratio sounds pretty awful 

One to ponder   (you can tell my scope hasn't arrived yet and I'm just driving myself insane with over-thinking stuff can't you!)

  

[jambouk]

Orientayion of the reticle in the home position doesn't matter, as you've correctly identified.

James

[jambouk]

I've set my mount up so that when the RA axis setting circle reads 0, the small polaris circle is at the 6 o'clock position. I use the handset to tell me the hour angle, the. Rotate th RA axis so the setting circle reads that time (17:34 I think when I dis it earlier tonight (my setting circle has units of 10 minutes marked)) then simple adjust altitude and azimuth to get Polaris in the Polaris circle. Easy.

James

[jambouk]

The factory fitted setting circles on the HEQ5 and NEQ6 are rubbish and don't allow this to be done easily.

[Seraph_69]

When you say factory fitted setting circles, are you suggesting there are modifications/'third party' setting circles that can be used/fitted which work any better?

Surely it is mostly a case of the diameter of the setting circle, which would equate to larger interval space between 'figures' on the clocks?

And when you say 'they don't allow this to be done easily', do you mean 'accurately'? i.e. it's just as easy to twiddle and set them, but they are just pants? Or perhaps a bit of both?? 

[jambouk]

I've not seen modifications to these setting circles, but i'm sure someone has done it. The problem is they don't lock, or at least the ones i've experienced don't; they lock a bit, but then at a certain point in rotation around he axis the setting curxle starts moving again - pointless.

You could make a band and mark it with either 24 hours or 360 degrees, and attach it to a non moving part of the mount and draw an arrow on the moving part - that would be a relatively easy mod.

James