Completely confused by NEQ6 polar alignment

[edarter]

Hi all, 

I'm completely puzzled by the polar alignment process on my new NEQ6. I've watched a couple of astronomy shed YouTube videos about it and also read the manual. While I get most of it there is one thing that is troubling me. Both the videos and the manual rely on a polaris positional marker on the transit circle but mine doesn't have this. Therefore I have no way of knowing how far to rotate round the ra axis for correct alignment. What's more, my polar scope only has octans showing to aid alignment, no sign of the big dipper or cassiopeia. Given Im in the UK this is no use to me! 

Completely stumped so any help greatly appreciated! 

Thanks 

Ed 

[Tinker1947]

You should have firmware Ver.3.37 this has a polar alignment routine that doesn't require the use of Polaris or the Polar scope, its in the manual how to do it and it quite easy to do......

[jaygpoo]

Hi , I have a neq6 mount and the polar scope is iluminated in red when you switch it on. I have a circle on the polar transit ring. A free app on the iphone or android will show you the polar position at any given time. Are you going to operate it with a laptop and ascom. If so the software will rotate the mount into the correct position and all you do is then move the head until the polar star is in the right spot. Is the mount new? I have not seen a polar scope without the transit circle.  Jay

[edarter]

I will have a look at the firmware version and confirm but I'm fairly sure it's up to date. 

Yep, mine illuminates as well and has the transit ring, just no polaris marker on the ring or big dipper or cassiopeia. It's as though its for the southern hemisphere market. It does have 3 different transit ring sizes marked with years against each (2012 -  2032). It's as though they have changed the design but not changed the instructions. Will try to attach a photo to show you. 

[edarter]

Attached is what I see through the polar scope. I think the polaris marker would be at 6 o'clock on this but not sure! 

[kens]

You have the right polar scope but I have no idea how to use it properly. Other than that I know you need to look up the hour angle for Polaris which determines where in the circle it needs to go (I'm pretty sure there is a bit more to it than that but that is the essence of it). See how the circle is a clock face. The diagram at the right shows how much to correct for precession(?) by moving Polaris further in as the years progress.

[Leveye]

I put zero straight up and then put Polaris basically as it shows either on the HC  or the App. Refine the position using the year markers. For 2016 you would put Polaris just on the outside of the middle line of the circle.

[jaygpoo]

Hell now I am confused as my polarscope looks nothing like that. They must have changed it for no good reason. Hope that someone out there can help you. Jay

[StevieDvd]

Apparently this is the new polar reticle for both hemi-spheres.  There should be an addendum page with the mount explaining the new version, like the pic attached.

[Owmuchonomy]

You don't necessarily need an App.  You can get close enough by looking at the sky and gauging where Kochab sits.  If Kochab is ta 6 o'clock compared to Polaris then that is where you put polaris on your reticle circle.  The reticle circle should have 0 at the top as described in the above addendum.  Its that simple.

[edarter]

sorry - just getting back to this after a few weeks of work having to take priority. I do have that sheet but completely forgot about it, assuming that the astronomy shed videos would be enough to completely replace the instructions.... lesson learnt!

I'm still confused by one bit though, apologies in advance if its a really dumb question! In the first Astronomy shed video at 13.50 onwards he's doing a one time setup for the RA clock. Do I no longer need to do that then based on the above? Everything mentioned in the above posts seems to be about polar aligning on a given viewing session, not a one off setup process.

Video here: 

 

[DougM43]

 I went through the same proccess as you a couple of weeks ago so I feel your pain, I have the same reticule engraving as you on my new HEQ5 and was as equally confused by probably the same you-tube videos by people whose sole purpose in life is to make you feel inferior as a human being, at one point I was beginning to think I was just too thick and  would have a happier life digging the garde over and growing turnips for a hobby, (no offence to turnip growers intended) A couple of things that helped me out was a website by Astro-baby,(which if you haven't seen yet I'll try to find a link) particularly with aligning the polar scope to the mount and an app called "polar scope align" which shows the correct position of Polaris in your reticule and has basic no nonsense how too instructions. It may not be the the best way and it's certainly not the only way but it worked very well for me.

[Davey-T]

Don't get involved with setting circles or you'll be even more confused, just rotate so that the circle in the polar scope is the right way up ie: 6 at the bottom then adjust the bolts to put Polaris in the place on the circle as shown by any of the available apps.
You can also use Stellarium, with north at the bottom zoom in on Polaris and put it at a point diametrically opposite in the polar scope.

Dave

[edarter]

Thanks guys, was happy that I would be able to get polaris in the right place on a night by night basis, just worried that there was a 1 time setup step that I was missing. Sounds like that's not the case so won't worry about it ?

[brantuk]

This is the guide I always got on with when I had my NEQ6 Pro: http://www.stevebb.com/polar_alignment.html

Hope it helps you too

[wornish]

16 hours ago, brantuk said:

This is the guide I always got on with when I had my NEQ6 Pro: http://www.stevebb.com/polar_alignment.html

Hope it helps you too

Thanks for providing this link very easy to understand.

Am I missing something -   at the very end he says rotate the RA to get Polaris in the same position as shown on polar finder.   BUT  then he says adjust the tension bolts to get polaris right in the middle.  That can't be right can it?  Polaris should be where polar finder shows it.

Our am I having a senior moment ?

[StevieDvd]

He means right in the centre of the 'little' circle - where Polaris is indicated to be by the polar app.

[brantuk]

Yup - like Stevie said - in the middle of the smaller circle.

[Davey-T]

Don't think the latest polar scopes have the little circle to put Polaris in.

Dave

[Paul M]

If you are just looking for functional GoTo use then you can be real rough like me.

As already said, forget the setting circles for now if not forever. Experienced/advanced users might have a use for them but for now they're just an irritation.

I just get Polaris somewhere inside the circle. If there is no circle just get Polaris as near to the center of the cross hairs as you can without too much stressing.

Then go straight to 2 or 3 star alignment. I've never had a failure yet and it's near enough for visual observing. As you pick up more familiarity and perhaps your aims become more technical then you can refine your polar alignment accordingly.

[wornish]

I thought the circle was actually the orbit of polaris around the actual pole.  The polar align app I have  shows Polaris somewhere on the little circle depending on the time of day you are looking at it.

 

If you put it in the very centre then you are going to be out of alignment.   But if its only temporary while you do a 2 or 3 star alignment then fine I agree.

[Paul M]

1 minute ago, wornish said:

I thought the little circle was actually the orbit of polaris around the actual pole.  The polar align app I have  shows Polaris somewhere on the little circle depending on the time of day you are looking at it.

 

If you put it in the very centre then you are going to be out of alignment.   But if its only temporary while you do a 2 or three star alignment then fine I agree.

Agreed, you can worry about Polaris' offset from the pole and it's position angle for better precision, particularly if the user is intending some imaging. But for functional GoTo, SynScan is quite robust and in my experience will work fine just for visual use by getting Polaris within the HA circle in the polar scope.

It's worth remembering that all that messing with the HA may well be a waste of time if the polar scope isn't collimated!

I know I'm lazy and perhaps I'm rough but usable nights are so rare I really wouldn't want to waste my time refining a process unnecessarily 

 

[wornish]

47 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Agreed, you can worry about Polaris' offset from the pole and it's position angle for better precision, particularly if the user is intending some imaging. But for functional GoTo, SynScan is quite robust and in my experience will work fine just for visual use by getting Polaris within the HA circle in the polar scope.

It's worth remembering that all that messing with the HA may well be a waste of time if the polar scope isn't collimated!

I know I'm lazy and perhaps I'm rough but usable nights are so rare I really wouldn't want to waste my time refining a process unnecessarily 

 

I was only thinking of astrophotography use where for long exposures its critical if you are not using tracking.  For visual only then anywhere in the circle is good enough.