HEQ5 Polar Scope

[SAW]

Hi,

Last night was the first time I got to use my new scope and mount :-) when the amount is powered up the polar scope lights up red but when I look though it I can not see polaris, if I turn it off I can see polaris but then can't see the markings on in the polar scope ? BTW I am using the new style polar scope the one the that has 0,3,6 and 9 around the dial. 

Am I doing something really stupid ?

[Yearofthegoat]

You can turn down the brightness of the red illumination, I found that helped. Also, do your alignment on Polaris in twilight - it's one of the brighter stars so easier to pick out when fewer other stars are showing.

[SAW]

Just now, Yearofthegoat said:

You can turn down the brightness of the red illumination, I found that helped. Also, do your alignment on Polaris in twilight - it's one of the brighter stars so easier to pick out when fewer other stars are showing.

How ? Is it in the SynScan controller ?

[Yearofthegoat]

Yep, under Utilities IIRC but it's in the manual.

[SAW]

Just now, Yearofthegoat said:

Yep, under Utilities IIRC but it's in the manual.

Great, thanks very much. 

[Dinglem]

1 hour ago, Yearofthegoat said:

Yep, under Utilities IIRC but it's in the manual.

What's a manual?

[spillage]

I think you might find that you do not have polaris in the fov. When I moved from my old eq5 without an illuminated polar scope to my neq6 I spent ages mucking around with the brightness only to find that as soon as polaris was in the fov I could actually turn up the led to max and still see it.

Because I have to strip down my set up every time I made a sight out of wood that fits into my mount when parked. I then line up the two markers (nails) like a gun sight on polaris and this put it near enough in the center.

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, spillage said:

Because I have to strip down my set up every time I made a sight out of wood that fits into my mount when parked. I then line up the two markers (nails) like a gun sight on polaris and this put it near enough in the center.

That sounds a great idea. Any photos?

Jeremy

[kirkster501]

You should be able to see Polaris even with the LED illumination on, ensure you do indeed have Polaris in the FoV.  However, I would dial down the illumination regardless. You can also do this with EQmod dimmer utility if you are connected via a PC.

TIP: ensure your Polarscope is accurately aligned, they rarely are when new.  There are videos on YouTube that show you how.  Dion's on Astronomy Shed is the best.

 

[spillage]

sorry at work but its really basic. Wood that fits on the mount and a couple nails. This is a poor attempt with paint. It just sits in the mount and  mark in the middle lines up with a mark on the mount so its in the same place every time. Once you have polaris in the middle of the polar scope you then adjust how far the nails need to stick up to align. I used very small panel pins and just cut them down with side cutter and the pin nearest the rear of the mount sits just a little bit out of the wood. A small bolt catch would be better for the rear but its just something I put together in a couple minutes.