Polar Scope Reticule Alignment?

[Ian McCallum]

My polar scope reticule looks something like the photo below, sitting at an angle. 

My question is, does it need to be perfectly aligned in the viewfinder, as in the bottom picture, or can it be somewhat offset, like in the top photo? 🤔

[LaurenceT]

AFAIK  the position of Polaris is in a different position relative to the orientation of the mount in each of those images. Is it not possible to re-orientate the rotation of the  reticule in the  polar scope?

I had a similar  problem with the polar scope of my Skyguider Startracker  and I had to rotate the reticule in the tube.

[ONIKKINEN]

You can rotate the lens to which these markings are etched on a Skywatcher polar scope, although you will need to collimate afterwards (you also did not mention what polar scope you have).

But an easier way is to rotate RA so that the orientation is the right way up when polar aligning.

[Ian McCallum]

8 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

You can rotate the lens to which these markings are etched on a Skywatcher polar scope, although you will need to collimate afterwards (you also did not mention what polar scope you have).

But an easier way is to rotate RA so that the orientation is the right way up when polar aligning.

It's the SW Polar Scope for the EQ5 Deluxe mount. 

[barbulo]

I strongly recommend not to bother aligning the polar scope reticle to place 0 at the top. I had a bad experience in the past. 

Just check it is collimated by pointing the reticle to an object (can be done during daytime) and rotating the AR axis. If the object is still in the center, it is Ok; I wouldn't touch anything.

To do the polar alignment I put Polaris in the center of the reticle, then move the mount to one side using the AZ knobs. After that, rotate the AR axis to put a reticle's horizontal axis over Polaris (use the closest, don't bother placing 0 in the top). Finally I do the standard polar alignment placing Polaris in its correspondent place, regardless where the 0º is placed. 

HTH.

[edarter]

are you using a laptop or similar to image? If so I would not bother with the polar scope at all and use sharpcap to polar align, it will be far more accurate than you can get visually using the polar scope!