Neq6 polar alignment

[Nigella Bryant]

Hi all, I've a neq6 mount now permanent in observatory but I've never done an exact polar alignment. I don't want to waist any clear nights so was wondering if you can polar align even if there's a 30%chance of clouds. I know you must actually see the stars, lol. I was thinking of using sharpcap Pro, only a £10. I use the free version anyway. So thought's would be good. 

[Anthonyexmouth]

sharpcap is great. as long as you have a view of the area around polaris you'll be ok. well worth the £10

[paul mc c]

I was out trying to polar align the other night, after i removed the mount from the obsy to a tripod to see Jupiter,and had a real nightmare getting it aligned,i put it down to having patchy clouds and not completely clear so give up after an age,i have done it successfully in the past,also you can no longer use sharpcap free version to polar align,although maybe it you have the old version still downloaded you can.

[Freddie]

11 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi all, I've a neq6 mount now permanent in observatory but I've never done an exact polar alignment. I don't want to waist any clear nights so was wondering if you can polar align even if there's a 30%chance of clouds. I know you must actually see the stars, lol. I was thinking of using sharpcap Pro, only a £10. I use the free version anyway. So thought's would be good. 

Depends on if the 30% of cloud cover gets in the way of the stars you need to see!!!😀

[Nigella Bryant]

1 minute ago, Freddie said:

Depends on if the 30% of cloud cover gets in the way of the stars you need to see!!!😀

Yeah, I didn't know if intermittent clouds would disrupt the alignment procedure of sharpcap polar align. 

[michael8554]

Do a PHD2 SPA (Static Polar Alignment), each adjustment is quick so hopefully inbetween the clouds, and gets you close.

Then drift align with an eyepiece to fine tune. 

You only need to see the star twice - at the start, to centre it, and sometime later, to see which way it has drifted in Dec. 

If your mount has a troublesome amount of Dec Backlash, then PHD2 recommends getting PA to about 5 to 8 arcmins, which results in a small controllable drift in one direction. Then balance to push the mount in that direction, then it shouldn't wobble over to the other side, which might takes ages to pull back because of the backlash. 

Michael 

[newbie alert]

If it as on a pier I'd drift align, no hesitation..it's not like you have to do it again for a very long time..hopefully!!

[Nigella Bryant]

1 hour ago, newbie alert said:

If it as on a pier I'd drift align, no hesitation..it's not like you have to do it again for a very long time..hopefully!!

Yeah, it's on a pier, thanks newbie alert.