Star alignment

[dreamcatcher]

HI to all.

I am new to astronomy at age 70yrs.

I have bought a Sky Watcher star discovery 150mm with synscan version 4 goto  reflector. 

My query is this. I am somewhat confused and am getting conflicting advice.

Once the initial 2 star alignment is carried out is it necessary to do the alignment every time I use the scope. Some tell me it is and others say it is not necessary.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation.

[Tinker1947]

If the scope is left in the same place, then the previous alignment will work, if its packed away then provided the tripod can be place in the same spot then Polar Alignment will be good enough and just a 2 star align to get the GoTo working will be good enough, this is for viewing, Imagine would need PA as well....

[michael8554]

Hi dreamcatcher

I agree with what the others have said.

This is why we have permanent piers and observatories, particularly for imaging, as it avoids the time-consuming alignment process each time.

Age 70? Prime of your life.

Michael

[Ruud]

I think this is your telescope's manual. The relevant section begins on page 17.

From a quick scan, I understand that have to align the telescope each time you turn the power on. Per observing session you use the hand controller to point the telescope to that night's targets. This does not require a new alignment per target, as long as you don't move the tripod or turn off the power.

So, you'll need to align once at the beginning of each observing session. 

Good luck! 

 

[cloudsweeper]

Mine's a Celestron - similar arrangement I believe.  Set it up, level it, enter date and time, then do the alignment process.  It stays aligned and tracks thereafter.

As others have said, if you move it, you have to do it again.  Ditto on your next session.

(Mine remembers the lat/long, so I don't have to enter that info every time.)

Don't forget though - you don't have to align it every time and use GoTo/tracking.  You can just aim it and move it round (with the motors) as you please!

Doug.  

[dreamcatcher]

Hello to those who offered their advice.

It has been most helpful.

Thank you all.

[markthg]

18 hours ago, dreamcatcher said:

HI to all.

I am new to astronomy at age 70yrs.

I have bought a Sky Watcher star discovery 150mm with synscan version 4 goto  reflector. 

My query is this. I am somewhat confused and am getting conflicting advice.

Once the initial 2 star alignment is carried out is it necessary to do the alignment every time I use the scope. Some tell me it is and others say it is not necessary.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation.

As others have said if you use your scope in the same place then no, not really.

 

What I have done, as others will probably tell you also is to mark the position of your mount feet where you normally use it, as long then as you place the mount (in the same orientation) back on these markers then once you've aligned once you shouldn't need to again.

 

If you take the scope elsewhere then you will need to re-align to use, then when you place it back in your garden in the marker areas, unfortunately, you will have to align again.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[cloudsweeper]

With mine, even it was put in exactly the same place, if would still need re-aligning if it had been switched off.  And you'd still have to re-enter date and time.  Also, if I had adjusted the tripod, then it would need to be levelled once more.  Maybe other 'scopes are radically different to the Celestrons??

[markthg]

21 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

With mine, even it was put in exactly the same place, if would still need re-aligning if it had been switched off.  And you'd still have to re-enter date and time.  Also, if I had adjusted the tripod, then it would need to be levelled once more.  Maybe other 'scopes are radically different to the Celestrons??

Would the park function not alleviate this, assuming you place it back in the exact location?

[cloudsweeper]

55 minutes ago, markthg said:

Would the park function not alleviate this, assuming you place it back in the exact location?

Very good point - I'm still quite new to all this, so I checked the manual and there is a Hibernate Function with Celestrons.  

It remembers alignment after being powered down, and states it is for use when a 'scope is left in a given position for a long period.

It adds that the 'scope should never be moved manually if the alignment is to be retained.  Whether trying to place it in the exact same position would create a problem I wouldn't like to say, but I move mine all over the garden anyway, and alignment is easy after a bit of practice.

Bouncing ideas round in this way is great - it helps to advance learning!  Thanks!

Doug.

[bomberbaz]

if you are going to use it for visual, once the scope is polar aligned you can mark the position of the feet and it would not need polar aligning again as long as you do not change the settings on this part of the mount.

If you then parked the scope and put it back into the same position at the foot "marks", you would not need to polar align again. Actually it would be fine parked or other wise. However I doubt very much you would get the feet accurate enough to allow the goto function to be accurate good enough to find any given "target" accurately. (is there too many accurate's in that last sentence?)

Anyway, I would say star align each time to get maximum "goto" accuracy. It takes but a few minutes and once you have done it a few times it becomes second nature.

 

[Adamchiv]

On 06/02/2016 at 20:21, aeajr said:

Once aligned, the scope knows where it is and then knows where everything else is in relation to itself.  Move it 10 feet and you introduce errors.   Rotate it 10 degrees and you introduce errors.  Result is it can't find things.

If you had it in a permanent position AND, if you "parked" it at night then it would know where it was and you would not have to realign.  But most of us who have telescopes don't leave them in place, we put them away.

I suppose you could set hard points in the ground so that you could put the exact foot back in the exact same spot every time.  Then, at the end of the night you "park" the scope and it would be exactly where it was when you parked it.

Just a quick question regarding this post, obviously polaris doesnt move but all the other stars would have moved into new positions by the next session. So how would it know? or would it know what time it was etc and therefore know where the stars are based on that? Thanks

[cloudsweeper]

I think there are two types of alignment going on here - the one for GoTo and tracking capability, which is probably best done each time you set up.  It is very easy after a few runs.  It has been established that a 'scope can store the alignment data and be used at a later session, as long as it has not been moved.  Yes, it will (I presume) allow for stellar movement which has been programmed into it.)

The other type is the Pole Star for lining up equatorials, so if you do that then place the 'scope in the same position later, it should still be lined up, but I must stress that when it comes to equatorials, the opinions of others carry more weight.  (I'm an alt-az sort of observer!)

Doug.

 

[jaygpoo]

Keep the tripod legs the same length and do not move them after you have set and leveled it. Mark the position of the legs with a spot of paint etc and if you set it down each time in the same spot the polar alignment and 2/3 star alignment will be so much quicker. Also remember that everytime you lock on to a object and have it centered press the enter button to sync its position. The more times you sync objects in your session the better the the scope will be at finding and centering objects you select. Jay