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Altair astro pier


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Hi there everybody, I have been trying to obtain a good polar alignment using various techniques but have not managed to obtain it, the closet I can get before it falls off again is 89 deg 26 min 26 sec. I have been told to check that my pier head plate is truly level which I have found out it isn't, its just over 1 deg off level and have been told this is preventing me from getting to the pole, what I need to know is do I have to take all my scope and mount off to re-level the top plate or can it be done with it all on or will this stress the bolts and nuts etc that are used to keep the top plate on and adjust it ?

Cheers and thanks in advance

Carl.

 

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I don't think that the levelness of your pier has much effect on your polar alignment.  Should it not be level then the adjustments on the mount will compensate. I have an Altair Astro pier and I have achieved accurate polar alignment using Polemaster. This is quite expensive and likely only worth using if you set up each time. However it is not necessary for your mount to be level to get polar alignment. It is convenient  but not necessary.

Dave

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5 hours ago, 2Dragons8Buddhas said:

Hi there everybody, I have been trying to obtain a good polar alignment using various techniques but have not managed to obtain it, the closet I can get before it falls off again is 89 deg 26 min 26 sec. I have been told to check that my pier head plate is truly level which I have found out it isn't, its just over 1 deg off level and have been told this is preventing me from getting to the pole, what I need to know is do I have to take all my scope and mount off to re-level the top plate or can it be done with it all on or will this stress the bolts and nuts etc that are used to keep the top plate on and adjust it ?

Cheers and thanks in advance

Carl.

 

Have you tried the  sharpcap polar align feature ? cheaper than a polemaster  ,what mount head are you using ,you have altitude bolts and azimuth adjusters to fine tune on an EQ  so being level is not an issue.

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My pier doesn't have any levelling bolts and I've never had any problems with PA. The adjustments on an EQ mount will take care of it.

What mount do you have, and what method are you using?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there everybody, a big thank you for your answers :) further to my polar alignment attempts, I have gone from 89 Deg 20 min to 89 Deg 55 min 04 sec but at one point I managed 89 Deg 57 min 58 sec but then thinking amother tweek might get me there, I lost it :). I am using plate solving on this currant attempt and my mount is a CGE PRO :) has any one out there actually tried to obtain a critical polar alignment and if so is there any specific technique to adjusting all the knobs with out loosing the hours of work in the last few turns when tightening them down ? Could Celestron not of put a final fine gear on the mount to perform the last few turns similar to 10 to 1 focuser ? ? ? ? ? ? 

Carl.

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Hi there, are you polar aligning just using the dials or are you using a polar finder? I would try the above suggestions , either invest in the Polemaster or a software program like sharpcap , I dont have the mount but it looks like it has very nice user friendly adjustments knobs compared to say the  Skywatcher HEQ mounts 

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