QHYCCD Polemaster

[Hailfire101]

Hi guys. 

After finally getting a few hours out in the garden last night, and struggling to PA I've bitten another bullet. 

I've now ordered  QHYCCD polemaster. 

I'm hoping it will help me out with the PA, so I can spend more time looking and shooting. 

Has anyone else got one? Do they really help as much as I'm hoping they do?

[xanthic]

I bought one a while back. Definitely makes life easier.

[Hailfire101]

That's what I needed to hear. Haha

It was a bit of an Impulse purchase after getting miffed the other night not getting a good PA.

[Toxophilus]

I have had a polemaster for about 6 months now and I'm getting great goto's and guiding when imaging. I can get PA'ed within 10 minutes. I certainly don't regret buying it.

[RayD]

10 minutes ago, Toxophilus said:

I have had a polemaster for about 6 months now and I'm getting great goto's and guiding when imaging. I can get PA'ed within 10 minutes. I certainly don't regret buying it.

Yep and it's great.  I just bought the adaptor for each of my mounts and use it on whichever one I'm using. 

Very easy to use and once you're proficient at it you can have a pretty accurate alignment done in no more than 5 minutes.

[iapa]

1 hour ago, Hailfire101 said:

Hi guys. 

After finally getting a few hours out in the garden last night, and struggling to PA I've bitten another bullet. 

I've now ordered  QHYCCD polemaster. 

I'm hoping it will help me out with the PA, so I can spend more time looking and shooting. 

Has anyone else got one? Do they really help as much as I'm hoping they do?

Goneone just after they came out.

Have an adapter so I can use it on each mount, much as @RayDhas done,

Once set up on a mount, as long as it is left in place you can take another minute off set up time  so planning to get a second one so I don't need to swap and realign as I switch from mount to mount.

[Hailfire101]

Going off the comments, I think I have certainly made the right choice. 

I'm hoping this is the last thing I buy before trying to buy a Eq6 pro...... 

Need a good mount now. 

 

 

 

[iapa]

errrrmmmmm.

There is a lot to be said for getting the best mount first.

You will get better tracking and payload management making the 200P  'easier' to deal with and you should, I hear, get longer unguided exposures.

I upgraded mounts before getting a pole master - the Celestron's have an All Star Polar Alignment function built in, not the fasters, but gives pretty good results. I think the EQ5/6 models have an equivalent.

May be better to use the £300 on the mount upgrade and work that rather than £300 on something you use for 5 minutes a session ?  

Sorry, I may have complicated the issue?

[Hailfire101]

I know I probably should have got the Eq6 already...

But the next one to come up for a decent price.... I'll see what I can do. 

It'll be a case of save up for new Optics again then... But that will take a while. 

 

[Toxophilus]

12 hours ago, iapa said:

errrrmmmmm.

There is a lot to be said for getting the best mount first.

You will get better tracking and payload management making the 200P  'easier' to deal with and you should, I hear, get longer unguided exposures.

I upgraded mounts before getting a pole master - the Celestron's have an All Star Polar Alignment function built in, not the fasters, but gives pretty good results. I think the EQ5/6 models have an equivalent.

May be better to use the £300 on the mount upgrade and work that rather than £300 on something you use for 5 minutes a session ?  

Sorry, I may have complicated the issue?

I would argue that it does not matter how good your mount is. If it's pointing in the wrong place then its never going to have a chance of doing good tracking. The fact is that you need both. Which, as always cost money.

[Hailfire101]

Agreed, if I can get this mount to guide for a bit longer, just while I wait to have the funds for my dream mount, I'm happy.
I dont mind throwing away some bad shots for now, if the mount shakes or so on.
Long term plans.

I do think I have majority of what I need now though, apart from the mount, for some good DSLR shots.
After the mount... maybe CCD, or maybe a much better scope/lense.

[Guest Tuomo]

12 hours ago, iapa said:

errrrmmmmm.

There is a lot to be said for getting the best mount first.

You will get better tracking and payload management making the 200P  'easier' to deal with and you should, I hear, get longer unguided exposures.

I upgraded mounts before getting a pole master - the Celestron's have an All Star Polar Alignment function built in, not the fasters, but gives pretty good results. I think the EQ5/6 models have an equivalent.

May be better to use the £300 on the mount upgrade and work that rather than £300 on something you use for 5 minutes a session ?  

Sorry, I may have complicated the issue?

But if you want, you can use PM camera with right adapter as a guide cam too. So, I use it entire session.

[iapa]

2 hours ago, Tuomo said:

But if you want, you can use PM camera with right adapter as a guide cam too. So, I use it entire session.

Good point - now you mention it I remember reading a topic on that.

[iapa]

2 hours ago, Toxophilus said:

I would argue that it does not matter how good your mount is. If it's pointing in the wrong place then its never going to have a chance of doing good tracking. The fact is that you need both. Which, as always cost money.

Point I was making is that it may be worth checking any built in polar alignment options first.

Admittedly unlikely to be as quick as PoleMaster, but, these tools are used by people, and I expect that many are getting good results.

If that is the case, then the £300 can go to new mount.

If it doesn't work for OP, then, yes, get the PoleMaster.

[bottletopburly]

Have you  ever tried the pa function in Sharpcap?  

[Helen]

1 hour ago, bottletopburly said:

Have you  ever tried the pa function in Sharpcap?  

I want to try this before commiting to a polemaster too, but you need these things called stars for testing....   Off to Spain next week, was hoping to get it all tested before then, but it looks like testing will be done in Spain instead - not ideal!!

Helen

[Filroden]

1 hour ago, bottletopburly said:

Have you  ever tried the pa function in Sharpcap?

I'm having my own PA woes and started to look at the Polemaster. However, I think I'll give Sharpcap a try. Although it seems to be doing something very similar to how my StarSense/ASPA combination does it already so it will be interesting to see the difference.

[Hailfire101]

2 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

Have you  ever tried the pa function in Sharpcap?  

I have indeed... 
But was still having issues.  
In the long term, the PM looks best for me, especially going off what people have siad, who already own one.

 

[iapa]

I should probably point out that my PoleMaster arrived from the Finance Director, not personal funds.

My personal preference was to pursue other alternatives, as I was looking for a kit upgrade.

The surprise delivery allowed that kit upgrade

For those who have difficulty with polar alignment, I would not hesitate recommending this.

For those where there are still avenues for evaluation, I would suggest they be explored first as they may provide the necessary accuracy, after all polar scopes and drift alignment techniques are tired and tested by professionals so must have some merit :).

I use mine every session as I tear down the rig just now.

Caveat - PoleMaster does require Polaris to be visible unlike some alternatives including ASPA and drift alignment.

[Waldemar]

4 hours ago, Hailfire101 said:

I have indeed... 
But was still having issues.  
In the long term, the PM looks best for me, especially going off what people have siad, who already own one.

 

The PoleMaster works like a charm. You will not regret your purchase.  Give it some undivided attention and try to pull out the best you can. It will be rewarded!

[Hailfire101]

It's arrived! Excited. 

Just need some clear skies now..... 

 

[RayD]

Great stuff!  Looking forward to seeing what you think, it's a great piece of kit.

[Hailfire101]

I've fitted it already.

Fits like a glove, really soild feel and fit. 

The camera itself is housed in what I think is milled aluminium. Solid feel. The camera cap is solid too, screws in. Feels like it's been made so it's not going to easily break. 

Right clouds.... Give me a break, it's been horrible so far in 2017....

[Hailfire101]

I'm guessing this means I'm polar aligned?!