Wedge mounted CPC 1100 and Polemaster

[Ford295]

Hi all,

I have a wedge mounted Celestron CPC 1100 that I have fitted with a QHY Polemaster using the small bracket from a Starsense camera. I was wondering if anyone else has fitted a Polemaster to a fork mounted scope and what success and what setup you used. I can't find any info about the process for using this system with my scope setup and hoped that someone here might have already gone through the learning curve.

Thanks in advance.

[SkyBound]

I asked this question a few weeks ago, as imjave a fork mounted Meade on a wedge, but did not get much of a response, so am watching with interest...

[Ford295]

I managed to go through an PA tonight for the first time with the Polemaster and everything seemed to go fine but I could not check how accurate it was as the fog rolled in. The process went just as every video tutorial I have seen goes. I guess the proof will be in a drift test which I will try as soon as the weather improves.

[schmeah]

There is no reason why it shouldn't work as well as with a GEM. I use it mounted off axis on my Avalon M Uno which is a single arm equatorial fork and it works perfectly.

 

Derek

[SkyBound]

7 hours ago, Ford295 said:

I managed to go through an PA tonight for the first time with the Polemaster and everything seemed to go fine but I could not check how accurate it was as the fog rolled in. The process went just as every video tutorial I have seen goes. I guess the proof will be in a drift test which I will try as soon as the weather improves.

Can you post a picture of how you mount it to your scope...?

[Ford295]

Sure, I will take a picture later and put it on, but essentially I have two ways both of which use the Starsense brackets. The first uses the small mounting bracket on a standard dovetail clamp and the second uses the larger bracket which slides onto the same base plate as the Starsense and original finder scope went on. In both cases I used an angle grinder to remove a small area of the bracket to allow for the USB connector to fit. I still have not decided which option I will end up using permanently.

[Ford295]

Hi, a little rough and ready but it works.

[SkyBound]

Thanks for that, really ingenious, I do t understand why the manufacturers does not make brackets for other scopes, apart from GEM's, as it will clearly work.

does the polemaster work by taking an image and plate solving, and then automatically moving the mount....as I don't know much about them..? 

[Ford295]

Yes and no, it takes an image and plates solves it, you then line up a template based on that area of the sky with known stars. You then do a series of RA moves of about 30 degrees each using the hand controller. The prompts on screen are easy to understand and the process is very quick. My reasons for asking my question was that I wanted to check that what I was doing was correct and if there are any watch points with regards to a fork mounted setup rather than the typical EQ  type mount.

[schmeah]

This is the simplest solution. A 69 cent conduit clamp mounted off axis on top of my C9.25 Edge. A little felt tape inside the clamp to avoid scratching the Polemaster. Works like a charm. I don't understand why everyone spends so much effort and cost on customized adapters for all of their mounts.

 

Derek

[Ford295]

Hi Derek,

Just a quick question about your fitting. As it attaches to the OTA how do you setup the OTA in the forks? Do you achieve 90 degrees pointing north. When I use mine, I go through the process apparently successfully, but PHD2 reports a really bad drift. If I then adjust the drift to bring alignment back, Polemaster shows it as being off. I am thinking it must be the way I set the scope up. I normally  get the tube to about 88 degrees and Polemaster shows Polaris on screen and as I said every thing seems to go well. 

Any advise would be great.

Kevin

[Zakalwe]

On 19/12/2016 at 14:09, SkyBound said:

Thanks for that, really ingenious, I do t understand why the manufacturers does not make brackets for other scopes, apart from GEM's, as it will clearly work.

Probably because very very few people would use a fork mounted system for imaging.

 

On 19/12/2016 at 14:09, SkyBound said:

does the polemaster work by taking an image and plate solving, and then automatically moving the mount....as I don't know much about them..? 

No, it doesn't move the mount. Its down to the user to make the necessary adjustment, depending on their mount.

 

[schmeah]

On January 8, 2017 at 14:43, Ford295 said:

Hi Derek,

Just a quick question about your fitting. As it attaches to the OTA how do you setup the OTA in the forks? Do you achieve 90 degrees pointing north. When I use mine, I go through the process apparently successfully, but PHD2 reports a really bad drift. If I then adjust the drift to bring alignment back, Polemaster shows it as being off. I am thinking it must be the way I set the scope up. I normally  get the tube to about 88 degrees and Polemaster shows Polaris on screen and as I said every thing seems to go well. 

Any advise would be great.

Kevin

Hi Kevin. Yes, I have no problems getting to 90 degrees dec because my mount is a single arm equatorial fork, si I have no issues with the CCD contacting the fork base. i suspect that this may be the related to your problem. Though the pokemaster works fine off axis, I suspect the software assumes that your mount is in a home/90 position.

Derek

[schmeah]

On January 9, 2017 at 09:11, Zakalwe said:

Probably because very very few people would use a fork mounted system for imaging.

Actually there are a lot of people who image successfully with fork / wedge mounted SCTs despite the challenges. And the Avalon M Uno and Zero are single arm equatorial forks. A simple universal dovetail mount for the PM would work well for these.

Derek

 

[Ford295]

I have now attached Polemaster to the actual forks and when I take an angle measurement it replicates my coordinates angle at my location. Got to wait for a clear night to test it all.

Kevin

[kevinphillips]

Hi my name is kevin, I have a 11 inch CPC Celestron telescope,  I tried the so call all star polar alignment which is not good at all. I read some of the forums and I was looking into using the pole master, I understand that if both folk and the tube are pointing in home position then both should perfectly align up roughly to polar star then only the base will rotate. as anyone done this before and is it feasible? thanks kevin

[Davey-T]

To give you a start as you say if you aim the forks and the scope at Polaris and then spin in RA and adjust the bolts so that Polaris rotates in the FOV using something like a 26mm eyepiece it will be a good starting point for polar aligning which I would use the DARV method for on a wedge mounted SCT, it works perfectly well, no need to buy anything else.

Dave

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/darv-drift-alignment-by-robert-vice-r2760

[Ken82]

Get one of these as I have. You can then use it to polar align multiple mounts without changing the bracket. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-misc-mounting-accessories/adm-dual-dv-series-dovetail-adapter-for-polemaster-mounting.html