this is how i have polar aligned forever this any problems with this

[iwols]

hi guys back to the beginning this is how i polar align and always have ,is there anything wrong with this heq5 pro mount

 

i have the scope in line hor and vert,the crosshatch on the polar scope is the same,i check the pa on polar finder and line the polar scope up to the same,its always worked for me but is this correct

[D4N]

Sounds right but aligning with the polarscope is prone to errors that will only become apparent when you get star trails, drift alignment is more accurate but can be tricky to get your head around at first.

[Thalestris24]

Hi

Personally, I've never used Polaris/polar scope but presumably you normally have your camera etc attached when you do it? It's worth considering using the PHD2 drift align tool instead, if that's a possibility.

Louise

[Jonk]

Polar alignment is for the mount, not the scope.

The HEQ5 polar scope might need to be aligned - take it out and align it, there are some good instructions about, so search for 'heq5 polar scope alignment'.

www.astro-baby.com/HEQ5/HEQ5-1.htm is a good one

Forget polar alignment with the scope pointing the way you have it - take the scope off, align the mount first, then put the scope on as you have it (normally this is most people's home position) and align to stars using the handset or laptop (which ever you use) for reasonable goto accuracy.

[Thalestris24]

Hi

If you don't polar align with the mount loaded you will inevitably alter the alignment when you do load it with the scope etc. Best to be fully loaded and drift align. It's probably ok to polar align unloaded if you aren't going to be imaging.

Louise

[Jonk]

18 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

 It's probably ok to polar align unloaded if you aren't going to be imaging.

I assumed this, based on the eyepiece in the photo.

Sometimes it's hard to PA using the polar scope with scope / equipment connected, as inevitably the scope gets in the way when turning the RA axis, plus the weight can put a strain on the ALT/AZ adjustment bolts.

The key is to have the tripod solid on the ground, with weights underneath if possible, and don't knock it when adjusting or loading with a scope.

For visual, it's not critical of course.

 

[Thalestris24]

37 minutes ago, Jonk said:

I assumed this, based on the eyepiece in the photo.

Sometimes it's hard to PA using the polar scope with scope / equipment connected, as inevitably the scope gets in the way when turning the RA axis, plus the weight can put a strain on the ALT/AZ adjustment bolts.

The key is to have the tripod solid on the ground, with weights underneath if possible, and don't knock it when adjusting or loading with a scope.

For visual, it's not critical of course.

 

The OP has been having problems with guiding and posted about it in another thread  Not sure why he pictured his setup without a camera...

Louise

[Jonk]

Ahh.. different altogether! I stand corrected.

If imaging, then drift alignment has to be the best way to go, even if it does take some time to get to grips with.

[MARS1960]

4 hours ago, iwols said:

hi guys back to the beginning this is how i polar align and always have ,is there anything wrong with this heq5 pro mount

 

i have the scope in line hor and vert,the crosshatch on the polar scope is the same,i check the pa on polar finder and line the polar scope up to the same,its always worked for me but is this correct

That's fine but when was the last time you calibrated your polar scope?

[iwols]

8 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

That's fine but when was the last time you calibrated your polar scope?

not sure what you mean do you mean turning 180 degrees ecah way

[MARS1960]

4 minutes ago, iwols said:

not sure what you mean do you mean turning 180 degrees ecah way

Yes that's right, i was very surprised how far out mine was, i now do it every 2-3 months just to be sure.

[iwols]

28 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

Yes that's right, i was very surprised how far out mine was, i now do it every 2-3 months just to be sure.

yes that done as well mark,currently uninstalling phd2 ,reinstall and make notes of all my settings,clearing debug files out and back to logical approach here goes

[MARS1960]

1 hour ago, iwols said:

yes that done as well mark,currently uninstalling phd2 ,reinstall and make notes of all my settings,clearing debug files out and back to logical approach here goes

Oh no, don't mention PHD2, thats why i bought a lacerta Mgen, me,laptops and software have a rocky relationship .

Good Luck iwols.

[cosmojaydee]

Sorry if I have misunderstood you, but just to set you mount up like this is not polar alignment, I would check out some videos on youtube , good luck

[iwols]

18 hours ago, MARS1960 said:

Oh no, don't mention PHD2, thats why i bought a lacerta Mgen, me,laptops and software have a rocky relationship .

Good Luck iwols.

hi mars can you still use stellarium to use the mount as a goto with this and can you use a ccd with it

[MARS1960]

1 minute ago, iwols said:

hi mars can you still use stellarium to use the mount as a goto with this

Yes you can, it's totally independant and even i had it working straight out of the box and i really am a numpty when it comes to things like this, i even have it controlling my DSLR exposures and have it dithering now too.

[Chris Murray]

hia, astroshed has a realy good and simple way to show you how to ballance and set the circles so you can always have your mount alighned, then just set your tripod to north, if you set up in the same place regularly mark the ground so you are almost there, just check level and then drift, or for visual dont worry about drifting, just a 2 star alighnment, some times you gota just play a little to see what you get on with cheers, chris

 

 

 

 

[carastro]

Hi Iwols,

Presumably you rotate the scopes so they are horizontal during PA so you can see through the polarscope, and then put them back to Home position afterwards and you have confirmed you have checked your polarscope is aligned.

Then you have also confirmed you use Polarfinder to work out where Polaris is.  Have you put your correct time & location into Polarfinder? 

If so then that is also the method I always use and it's always been fine for me.  There are fancier ways of doing PA, I have on occasion used Alignmaster, but not every time I go to camp.  

Drift alignment is a no go for me - too many obstacles.  

Carole 

 

 

[iwols]

thanks yes thats what i do, at least im getting this bit right

[carastro]

I find it better to rotate the RA axis to get the polaris ring in the right place before adjusting the latitude and alt/az bolts as I am often looking through the polarscope at an angle for more comfort, so this makes sure I get the position of polaris in the right place. 

Are you able to get to any of the star parties, (there is one at kelling Heath in Norfolk end of the month), maybe some-one could give you a hand with your guiding. 

Carole 

[iwols]

unfortunately not, work all weekend and time is limited at the minute..re guiding decided what im going to do next session is,ive found some software that records your laptop screen ,going to level,pa slew westish and record my session and see if anyone can see something im missing and put all in one thread(sorry guys i was a bit all over before) fingers crossed cheers carole

[Owmuchonomy]

Are you using Synscan?  If we could see your kit list in your signature then it would help us to formulate an answer please.  If you use the handset routine as Jonk says then you don't have to mess around with the Polar Scope at all.  It is a complete doddle to do even if you can't see Polaris.

[iwols]

7 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Are you using Synscan?  If we could see your kit list in your signature then it would help us to formulate an answer please.  If you use the handset routine as Jonk says then you don't have to mess around with the Polar Scope at all.  It is a complete doddle to do even if you can't see Polaris.

yes i was only asking about polar alignment as i had issues with phd guiding,think i can assume now my pa alignment is good,now for phd2 again

[Thalestris24]

Hi

A couple of hints and tips...

Firstly, make sure you've constructed a dark library and a bad pixel map in PHD2. You can only use one or the other - a bad pixel map seems to work the best for me. You only need do this once for a particular setup.

Make sure you are balanced in all three axes (RA, DEC, vertical), and balanced for imaging. That is, slightly east heavy. This is so the slight imbalance weighs the scope against the cogs to reduce backlash in RA.

In PHD/2 make sure you have quite good focus with your guide scope. You want to get a good signal to noise ratio on your chosen guide star but without clipping (I find if just the very top of the star profile is marginally clipped, it's usually still ok). Some people suggest you can be slightly out of focus. However, my sky is always very noisy and I find it better to have close focus and better snr. Do display the on-screen star profile from the view menu. Do also display the on-screen target. Generally, you want to select stars using a 2-3 sec exposure time.

Make sure your mount is pointing true north using a compass app. If you always place your mount on the same spot, that makes it easier  Make sure you are on a firm, hard surface. (I actually have mine on floorboards, lol, but I can't go within 2-3 metres of the mount when imaging!)

PHD/2 won't do anything until you have completed calibration. However, it's up to you to ensure the calibration is sensible. It's perhaps a bit of a quirk that you have to have your PA close before you can do a decent calibration. Sometimes you have to iterate - PA - calibration - PA - calibration

If, for any reason, you can't get a sensible calibration then you have to investigate why that is, and put things right before proceeding. The Guiding Assistant tool is useful for giving a hint as to what might be wrong though you have to use it carefully. PHD2 is quite well documented

To get the PHD2 graph to display in arcsecs you have to enter the focal length of your guide scope (guiding tab) and the pixel size of your camera (camera tab). Use the 'calculate' button (guiding tab) to get a calibration step size. Sometimes you have to increase/decrease the value PHD offers. I have the fast recenter box unchecked when calibrating and aim to do 10-12 steps. Also I have the 'assume DEC orthogonal' box unchecked. 

Hope that's helpful. Good luck!

Louise

 

 

 

[carastro]

That all sounds very complex Louise in PHD2.  I am still on PHD1 and don't have to enter any of that stuff.   I like to keep things simple and feel that as Iwols has been struggling he should endeavour to keep things as simple as possible - until he is up and running at least.

Quote

 If you use the handset routine as Jonk says then you don't have to mess around with the Polar Scope at all.  It is a complete doddle to do even if you can't see Polaris.

That's interesting, I use the handset and have been doing PA through the polarscope for years.  Does the handset work something like Alignmaster?  I must give this a go as bending down and craning the neck at the polarscope is a right "Pain in the neck" (pun intended).

Carole