QHY PoleMaster

[Demonperformer]

20 hours ago, Gina said:

AT seems a bit unreliable

I know what you mean.

Back in 2013, I was getting REALLY frustrated with AT. Three back-to-back attempts to get the AZ error (making no adjustments between the attempts) gave me results of 12.19', 53.29' and 20.21°!

That sort of thing can put a fellow off a piece of software.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/192819-polar-alignment-with-astrotortilla-seriously-screwy/

Hoping for better things from Polemaster (when I get a clear sky - or even just clear around Polaris)

[Gina]

I see!  Thank you for your reply   I'm glad it's not just me   I also see you didn't get very much "joy" from your thread about PA and the way AT didn't do what it was supposed to do!  AT seems to work for plate solving and getting the scope pointed at a selected object though, so not totally useless.  Alignmaster sounds interesting.  I don't mind paying a reasonable price for software if it does what I want without too much bother.  I think I need to do more research on PA methods - maybe post a specific thread.

[StuartJPP]

6 hours ago, sloz1664 said:

I have a permanent set-up and I still use a PoleMaster. I'm always bumping into my mount, even the slightest knock and you wonder if you've upset the PA. PoleMaster is quick and easy. Drift aligning is not. As one famous cook quotes: "Life is too short for stuffing mushrooms".

Steve

I suppose I didn't take that into consideration...of course there's no harm in having a PoleMaster on a permanent setup, just extra cost.

 

41 minutes ago, Gina said:

I see!  Thank you for your reply   I'm glad it's not just me   I also see you didn't get very much "joy" from your thread about PA and the way AT didn't do what it was supposed to do!  AT seems to work for plate solving and getting the scope pointed at a selected object though, so not totally useless.  Alignmaster sounds interesting.  I don't mind paying a reasonable price for software if it does what I want without too much bother.  I think I need to do more research on PA methods - maybe post a specific thread.

You can try AlignMaster for free for 30 days, choose your trial start date wisely  ...but I found that the star pairs it chose weren't great and backlash definitely messes with it's calculations, YMMV.

 

PoleMaster is more than accurate for my needs and definitely very easy to use , especially after you have got to understand the dialogs...which are much easier to understand than the first versions of software. I even went on holiday without taking my regular polar scope I was that confident with it.

[PeterCPC]

There is a new Beta version of the software:

Update Date ( 更新日期 ) ： 2016-07-29

V132(beta5)

Fixed: wrong message in prompt box.

Added: add a [-] and [+] button to allow a step rotation for template.

 

Peter

[nightster]

Oh nice. A + - button. Now that is a simple but useful feature. 

[mbalkham]

Anyone know if you can move crosshairs after double clicking to improve star selection? Mouse isn't very accurate and tends to jump around centre of the star.

Also is there a way to zoom (digitally) on the main screen. Zoom out would help initially then zoom in to do the star selection. 

Also on the version I'm running the green and red symbols are both white!

None of above points prevent me from achieving good results but might improve this further. 

[Demonperformer]

Gave it my first go last night and have to agree with previous poster.

(1) All the symbols were white; no red/green.
(2) In the final adjustment, I found the box in the LH column to be more distracting than useful, as, even when nothing was being adjusted, the alignment-box kept leaping all over the place. Eventually I settled for placing the cursor over the appropriate star in the main window, and using the enlarged area in the circle in the top left of the main screen. I eventually got it aligned so that the cross was always within this circle with the star in the middle.
(3) The zoom command was an absolute godsend. I first tried to run the procedure with it at 100% and the star I was following in the first part would not stay on my screen. Zoomed it down to 50% and it all fitted nicely.

Maybe it's just me, but I particularly like the circle you follow the star on when you move the mount back to its starting position. The fact that the star stayed on that circle gave me a lot of confidence that the system was actually doing what it was supposed to be doing. I also thought that, after the gibberish on the website instruction page, the on-screen instructions were very clear. I had made a text-file set of instructions to follow (from one of the early posts in this thread) but did not need that at all.

I actually spent about half-an-hour on it last night, but I am not concerned about that with several false-starts and my propensity for needing to check everything 18 times before I actually do anything on the computer itself. It (I) will certainly get faster next time.

To check it (I didn't want to get the full imaging setup going last night) I put an OTA on the mount [really useful that you can do this after aligning the mount, meaning less weight to shift - particularly in DEC] and put a (random) star in the middle of my reticle-eyepiece crosshairs. It stayed within the central box for a good ten minutes, although it wandered about a bit within it, which I guess is PE. Certainly better than anything I have managed to achieve in the past by any other method.

All-in-all, quite impressed.

Thanks.

[nightster]

Just wait till you are guiding and your red DEC line just settles down and behaves nicely.  It really is a game changing product for many of us impatient personalities.   

[Benno]

I've just purchased the QHY Polemaster and really looking forward to testing its alignment capabilities. I've had it for 3 days now and for three days I have had the pleasure of gazing at a carpet of cloud. Still the evenings have been quite warm so at least I have had three days of enjoying my garden in the dark.

I find it interesting how hit and miss the weather condition forecast is, sometimes its spot on other times it seems like a stab in dark. It just shows, I suppose how complex the weather systems are and how quickly slight changes can alter the expected outcome.

But still we perceiver (no choice really with our hobby), and the Polemaster will be used................at some point..................weather permitting.

Regards,

Benno.

 

[Gina]

The number of times I find the weather forecast quite opposite to what we get is too often to count!    Lovely clear night (rare) when forecast was for cloud and more often the opposite.  Clear night forecast, get all set up and clouded out!!!

[geordie85]

That's happened to me the past 2 nights gina. My new Neq6 and polemaster arrived on Friday just before I went to work. Skies were clear Saturday morning but I finished work late so didn't see up. Saturday and Sunday nights were both forecast to be clear. 

Saturday was cloudy before it when got dark. Sunday stayed clear and I managed to start my  first try with the polemaster. Just finished and looked up after staring at my laptop screen to see thick clouds rolling in. 

I'm hoping tonight's clear forecast holds true as I'm back to work tomorrow and haven't been able to image for a while due to selling my eq5 

[Gina]

I see Bern is selling an EQ8 version of PoleMaster but I can't see how to fit it unless it uses the EQ8 polarscope add-on - which I haven't got.  So I imagine I shall have to make an attachment.  I now have a ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool on its way so to make best use of my equipment I shall want to use my no.2 mount - NEQ6 Pro which I shall put in my second pier (SW pipe on 3 legs - currently uncovered but I expect to alter that with a mini dome).  Consequently I'm thinking of buying the NEQ6 PoleMaster and making an adapter to use it on the EQ8 as well as the NEQ6.

The plan is to use the ASI1600 camera with a scope on the EQ8 unguided and put my widefield triple imaging rig on the NEQ6.  Or other permutations of equipment.  I think my "mojo" is coming back

[Gina]

The PoleMaster arrived this morning so apart from the very simple process of mounting it on the NEQ6 I can see what's wanted for the EQ8.  Probably check it out on the NEQ6 when we get a clear night so don't expect a usage report very soon!

[PeterCPC]

There is another Beta on the Polemaster site:

Update Date ( 更新日期 ) ： 2016-07-29

V132(beta5)

Fixed: wrong message in prompt box.

Added: add a [-] and [+] button to allow a step rotation for template.

 

Sorry - just realised that I have already posted this update.

 

Peter

[Droogie 2001]

I am liking the steady improvements they are making to the software. However, does anyone else think changing the colour of the cross from green to grey/ white an odd choice?
It makes locating the centre of Polaris very difficult.

Hopefully they switch the colour back soon…

[sloz1664]

17 hours ago, Droogie 2001 said:

I am liking the steady improvements they are making to the software. However, does anyone else think changing the colour of the cross from green to grey/ white an odd choice?
It makes locating the centre of Polaris very difficult.

Hopefully they switch the colour back soon…

I find it hinders rather than helps. I did like the red / green scenario much better.

 

Steve

[StuartJPP]

The change in colours from green/red to white/grey came from a user complaining about not being able to see the green with a red filter on the screen, like being at a star party.

The change would have been better if there was an option to select night vision or not...

[Droogie 2001]

44 minutes ago, StuartJPP said:

The change in colours from green/red to white/grey came from a user complaining about not being able to see the green with a red filter on the screen, like being at a star party.

The change would have been better if there was an option to select night vision or not...

I agree about be being given the choice. I would suspect there are less people using a red filter than not...

[Gina]

+1 for the choice.

[StuartJPP]

Used the latest version of PoleMaster last night and despite the red/green cross issue I still managed to get aligned in less than 5 minutes.

So I am not too bothered about that as in use it didn't really make much difference...a choice would still be better though.

[Skipper Billy]

If anyone is reading this and considering getting a Polemaster - a word to the wise - check the focus !! The instructions claim it is focussed at the factory - mine wasn't - I didn't understand why I had massive furry snowballs on the screen until I checked the focus - the locking grub screw was completely undone and the lens screwed all the way down !!  

MUCH better now !!

Apart from that its GREAT!!!

[Droogie 2001]

49 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

If anyone is reading this and considering getting a Polemaster - a word to the wise - check the focus !! The instructions claim it is focussed at the factory - mine wasn't - I didn't understand why I had massive furry snowballs on the screen until I checked the focus - the locking grub screw was completely undone and the lens screwed all the way down !!  

MUCH better now !!

Apart from that its GREAT!!!

I had to do the same. My stars were looking like mini comets, much better after tweaking the focus.

[PeterCPC]

Having used the Beta 5 version a few times now, I think that it is more accurate but there is the issue of the white cursor which you cannot see against Polaris. I have raised this on the QHYCCD Forum but no response as yet. I suggested that it should be red.

Peter

[Droogie 2001]

I am holding off the upgrade yet for no other reason that I have upgraded a number of ACOM drivers and other software elements (PHD & SGP) This will just add to confusion should I start having general issues. I also find the icons after you click Start Monitor confusing. I cant really explain but there seems to be extra boxes over the place. It use to a case of just moving it into another box and whilst that's still true these other boxes are distracting, hope that makes sense?

Goodness know why they thought white was a good colour for the white cursor when Polaris is bright white ?! 

[StuartJPP]

6 hours ago, PeterCPC said:

Having used the Beta 5 version a few times now, I think that it is more accurate but there is the issue of the white cursor which you cannot see against Polaris. I have raised this on the QHYCCD Forum but no response as yet. I suggested that it should be red.

Peter

Something like this perhaps? I chose green instead of red when I was messing around...