QHY PoleMaster

[StuartJPP]

I have had it on occasion that I can't see the two circles on top of each other as one of the colours dominates the other i.e. the red overwrites the green completely (or vice versa). This happened when I did two iterations of the alignment routine.

I really like the PoleMaster, hopefully QHYCCD release an improvement to the software that does not require direct views of Polaris, basically an interactive AstroTortilla polar alignment routine (e.g. adjust azi bolts to place star on cross...)....if not I will get around to it one day.

[nightster]

16 hours ago, PeterCPC said:

I have noticed that, when you do the precise PA, the image of the two circles (red/green) is not exactly the same between the image in the PA panel on the left of the screen and the magnified view you get at the top if you hover the mouse over the 2 circles.

I raised this issue on the QHYCCD Forum and have been told that you should use the smaller image on the PA panel (the one on the left) rather than relying on the magnified view at the top of the screen. They say that this will be more accurate.

Pity, I found it much easier using the magnified image at the top.

I hope that all makes sense as it's difficult to describe.

Peter

I agree its easier to see with the mouse zoom window. Since the software is in a fast update refresh cycles I wonder if they could simply allow the zoom feature to work inside that little target area over on the left that your talking about. 

[fireballxl5]

I received my Polemaster yesterday and had the opportunity to try it last night on my Astrotrac with a 60mm refractor @ 255mm focal length. I also have the AT wedge and TH3010 head with the scope fixed to this on a Vixen dovetail bar. I fixed the PM to the underside of the dovetail using a dovetail clamp, so the PM was visually aligned with Polaris to rotate in RA with the scope. There is definitely room for improving alignment of the PM with RA/Polaris.

With manual polar alignment using the PS, I'm usually limited to 2 min exposures at this focal length. Sometimes even this results in some trailing although I've made best efforts to PA using the PS only (no drift aligning).

Last night, after only using PM, 2 min exposures were spot on and so I went for longer exposures upto 6 mins. From this quick and dirty test, I'd say the acceptable limit for last night was 4 minutes. If I was able to align the PM and scope separately (ie point the scope at the imaging target whilst polar aligning) then I'm confident that this would improve.

One observation with PM and AT I'd make after this first use, is that there was lots of almost random movement of the green circle around the red 'target' in the final fine tuning stage. In fact, I wasn't able to get the two circles fully aligned and just left it the nearest I was able. Maybe it was the seeing? The scope seemed pretty solid and there was minimal wind (if any). Even so, this gave much better PA than visually through the PS. 

So, I'm fairly happy with my purchase and look forward to using PM with AT in the future...

Andy

PS, the PM software ran fine on my Linx tablet but it did need external power to drive the camera.

 

[PeterCPC]

Version V131 is on the Polemaster site http://www.qhyccd.com/PoleMaster.html

Peter

[Droogie 2001]

Okay so I have purchased a PoleMaster and I am hoping to try it out tonight if the weather holds...

Having read through this thread several times I cannot be 100% on whether I should perform a PA with the Polemaster first and then carry out a basic 2 Star Alignment with 2 calibration stars? Or is it the other way around?

I think it is the first option but if can someone can confirm this then that would be very helpful, I am using a Celestron AVX mount.

Thanks

[Shelster1973]

10 minutes ago, Droogie 2001 said:

Okay so I have purchased a PoleMaster and I am hoping to try it out tonight if the weather holds...

Having read through this thread several times I cannot be 100% on whether I should perform a PA with the Polemaster first and then carry out a basic 2 Star Alignment with 2 calibration stars? Or is it the other way around?

I think it is the first option but if can someone can confirm this then that would be very helpful, I am using a Celestron AVX mount.

Thanks

Droogie.....I would do the PA then the 2 star alignment. The 2 star routine is for the mount to know where it is so that it can do accurate gotos

If you did it prior to PA then you would need to redo it after as the mount would have shifted and the model would not be correct

[Droogie 2001]

Thanks. Yes that makes sense.

Hopefully I can get some good results back...Will post my findings as and when I get them...

[PeterCPC]

Yep, Shelster is correct. Make sure you do the precise align using the small red and green circles on the left hand side of the screen and not the magnified view.

Peter

[Droogie 2001]

Thanks Peter for the confirmation and tip about the circles.

[StuartJPP]

Another good session after polar aligning with the PoleMaster. I didn't balance my mount properly because I had a load of wires hanging from it as I am trying to control everything via my netbook, once I am satisfied everything is working the wires will be clipped to the right length and routed properly to avoid any snagging. Despite this I was only getting one DEC correction every so often, first was after 30 minutes.

 

 

 

[Singlin]

I have just received the Mesu adapter for Polemaster and am impressed.

After installing the polemaster it took me only 3 minutes to polar align and am very pleased with the results.

Here is my guide graph of my Moravian guide camera and St80 guide scope piggy backed on my 10" Quattro.

 

 

 

 

 

[Zakalwe]

Long time, no speak guys.

 

Ive picked up one of these devices to have a play with. Daft question...how do you enter a negative longitude in the Astroomical Refraction setting? If I put a "-" sign in front of my longitude then it resets to zero when I click out of the window. It's probably something very simple that I'm missing!

[Singlin]

Can't you see Polaris from your Observatory?

If you have a view of Polaris their is no need to enter data in the  refraction settings.

[Zakalwe]

37 minutes ago, Singlin said:

Can't you see Polaris from your Observatory?

If you have a view of Polaris their is no need to enter data in the  refraction settings.

Yes, I can see Polaris.

I left it as zero and it seemed to work OK. My guide graph is nowhere near as flat as yours though.....I use a ST80 and QHY5L-II.

 

[Singlin]

At the end of the polemaster procedure where you adjust the Ra and atlt  I kept the software window open when finally tightening my mounts Ra and Alt bolts to check that the alignment would not move when tightening.

I found that the Alt alignment would not move when tightening but the Az would shift when tightening the central bolt of my Mesu.

I basically checked to see the direction and amount of shift the alignment would move when tightening the bolt by looking at the 2 alignment circles in the software panel.

I then aligned with bolts lose in the opposite direction of the shift in order to have the 2 circles aligned when the mount bolts were tight.

Sorry for my long winded explanation.

[Zakalwe]

Thanks Simon,

Yeah, there's a bit of shift when tightening things up. I'll have another play with it, though it's got it pretty close. The bad guiding could be down to poor conditions as well...there was lots of thin hazy clouds about.

[Singlin]

One the the big benefits of this software is the fact that you can tighten up the mount and see in real time your alignment.

It makes the final lock down of the mount much more precise.

With the drift align method one would have to go through the whole process again in order to see if their was any shift.

[Singlin]

One the the big benefits of this software is the fact that you can tighten up the mount and see in real time your alignment.

It makes the final lock down of the mount much more precise.

With the drift align method one would have to go through the whole process again in order to see if their was any shift.

[gnomus]

Where does the device fix to on the Mesu?  Does anyone have a photo of it in situ?  Will it work with a dual or triple rig?

[Shelster1973]

Are the people on here using it only tripod users, or are there any people using it with a pier to do the lockdown and then re-check on occassions?

[Shelster1973]

Are the people on here using it only tripod users, or are there any people using it with a pier to do the lockdown and then re-check on occassions?

[sloz1664]

Just now, Shelster1973 said:

Are the people on here using it only tripod users, or are there any people using it with a pier to do the lockdown and then re-check on occassions?

I'll be using mine on a pier.

 

Steve

[sloz1664]

Just now, Shelster1973 said:

Are the people on here using it only tripod users, or are there any people using it with a pier to do the lockdown and then re-check on occassions?

I'll be using mine on a pier.

 

Steve

[Shelster1973]

1 minute ago, sloz1664 said:

I'll be using mine on a pier.

 

Steve

Interesting to know.....have been contemplating gettgin one but was wary of how much use would it actually get if used with a pier....which in theory should keep your dialled in PA for a long time before needing checking and adjusting.

[Shelster1973]

1 minute ago, sloz1664 said:

I'll be using mine on a pier.

 

Steve

Interesting to know.....have been contemplating gettgin one but was wary of how much use would it actually get if used with a pier....which in theory should keep your dialled in PA for a long time before needing checking and adjusting.