drift alignment with phd

[brrttpaul]

Hi guys just wondering as it tears my hair out sometimes and probably over thinking it but thought I should try again using the drift alignment tool in PHD, so heres basically what I see in the sky, going from polaris  to my left down to neptune on my right which two stars are suitable ? I have taken a screen grab so you can see what I got there

[Andyk93]

I had problems with PhD drift align (user error I'm sure). Have you tried sharpcap's polar align feature? It's so simple and I can get the error down to below 5 seconds in about a minute. 

[brrttpaul]

no i havnt tried that, I just thought tonight being a working night I would give it another go

[SonnyE]

I haven't had any successes with it myself.

Instead, and I do things quite a bit differently than many/most, I use a NexRemote virtual controller on my Laptop. (Celestron Advanced VX mount)

After my typical 2+4 alignment stars, I do a polar alignment. What that does is to fine tune the mount's Polar Alignment.

I also run PEC in replay. (Periodic Error Correction) PEC compensates for the mechanics of my mount, gear lash, and drag.

PHD2 is my "eyepiece" during my alignment run, and my guide scope and main telescope are adjusted very close to being spot on for centering.

So because of the above, I haven't needed to further pursue drift alignment.

Here are some links I found valuable to me: PHD2 Basics 1, PHD2 Basics 2, and this may help you, PHD Drift Tool Tutorial.

[brrttpaul]

thanks once again for your help

[brrttpaul]

Just tried that sharpcap and think i got it except i cant get to next on the polar alignment but I got the star within 00 00 07 and  00 00 01 so guess thats ok? like the look of it but up at 5 in morning so I will def be looking at some tutorials and reading up on it thanks once again

[Andyk93]

You should get to this screen and then I just turn it off. 

 

[brrttpaul]

yes thats it I had that , I was waiting for the "next" to highlight again doh lol, bit of a stupid question but isnt that virtuallythe same as the QHY polemaster? I imagine it is except that was free and the polemaster is £278

[Howie_Oz]

There's actually another way to do PA with PHD and is explained in the link below. See the section titled Drift Alignment Using PHD Guiding Software ... and it isn't using the PA routine but is instead using DEC pulse only and the DX/DY chart function available in PHD. 

http://njstargazer.org/PolarAlignment.asp

[kens]

To find suitable stars to drift align with you should first change your display to Equatorial coordinates and you also want to display the meridian and the celestial equator (or declination 0). Find one star near where the meridian intersects the celestial equator. Slightly west of the meridian is a good idea so you don't get forced into a meridian flip halfway through. Drift align on that one to adjust your azimuth knobs. Find a second star near where the celestial equator intersects the east or west horizon. The eastern horizon is better so the star doesn't disappear over the horizon. Drift align on that one to adjust your altitude knob. In both cases, "near" means within about 20 degrees.