EQ3-2 Polar scope alignment - another confused user

[Matt S]

Hi all,

I feel like there’s plenty of posts about this already, but you can count me as one of the many confused by the polar scope I’ve just bought.

The manual obviously says one thing (although it seems to vary as the newer one’s instructions seem clearer). The simple instructions that came with the polar scope really just say to ‘rotate the RA until the 0 is at the highest point, then match the position of Polaris given to you from the Synscan device or an app’. Not entirely helpful…

I’ve found Astro-baby’s guide (via here), which I found useful - it bothered me that the instructions with the polar scope just seem to completely ignore the date/longitude marker on the scope and where that should be placed (I guess for those who might use a manual method!?).

I’ve found that I think I’ll need to calibrate the scope (a centred object shifts if I rotate in RA) - the tiny screws seem like they don’t really intend for you to do that though. Has anyone got any tips for adjusting those?

But to get my head round this, to get a better alignment is my process essentially:

1. Get my scope calibrated as best as possible 
2. Get the mount facing North, then centre Polaris using the alt/az controls / latitude adjustments (whilst in my home ‘0’d’ position)
3.  Then either:
   • rotate the RA / adjust alt/az to position the reticle so it’s vertical (0 at the top) and Polaris positioned where an app says.
   • use something like PS Align Pro with the rotation offset applied so I don’t bother rotating the mount in RA to position Polaris where it tells me (again just using alt/az and maybe the latitude adjustments).
4. Finish / put the mount back to home position if it’s been moved, drop my scope on and carry on

Does that sound right? It’s all been getting quite hard to follow when looking for things like transit times and the lack of meaningful instructions has confused me!

 

 

[malc-c]

Basic polar alignment isn't really that difficult.  Think of it as a clock face, and all that is needed is to place Polaris at the "time" it is in its rotation around the NCP.  Maybe this site might help you ?

[Steve143]

Hi,

As a beginner I've struggled with this too, but I've also got the added complication that I don't have a clear view of Polaris from my garden. I have a GOTO mount and found a video on YouTube that shows you how to polar align using the SynScan controller to do a 3 star alignment, but I was thinking of getting the PS Align Pro app as this will also allow me to polar align in the daytime too.  

[Jiggy 67]

PA does appear confusing at first but it is actually very easy and after a couple of attempts you will be doing it in minutes. A couple of points:

PA has nothing to do with the scope so don’t factor the scope into it 

PA is just the act of aligning the RA axis with the NCP so you can track an object with your slo mo controls 

Gain an accurate home position, mount pointing North and counterweight pointing to the ground 

Get Polaris in the fov of the polar scope. You can rotate the RA axis if you want to put 0 at the top but it isn’t necessary.

Open an app like Polar Align Pro and match the placement of Polaris in the app with the view in the polar scope using the alt/az bolts only.

If you have rotated in RA return to the home position.

You are polar aligned, with practice, in under 5 minutes.

Tip- Polar Align Pro has a daytime routine you can use in daylight to get Polaris in the fov of your polar scope 

[Mr Spock]

It would help if Skywatcher had Ursa Major and Cassiopeia in there like it used to, instead of Octans. When I set up my EQ5 I thought I'd been sent the wrong mount!

[Neil H]

Hi I use polar alignment pro it's ok but it's out a tiny bit , I only use it if I have to set up on my patio , so you can trust it to be 100% right 

[Jiggy 67]

5 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Hi I use polar alignment pro it's ok but it's out a tiny bit , I only use it if I have to set up on my patio , so you can trust it to be 100% right 

That’s not my experience, I have as perfect pa (manually) as you can get by using this app. I would say that if you use the daytime routine you should use a piece of wood or something to take your phone away from mount as the metal of the mount will affect accuracy. I don’t bother doing that because I just want Polaris in the fov for tweaking later and final pa. I would say that just placing my phone in the mount saddle has got Polaris in the fov 95% of the time….good enough for me. The actual placement of Polaris on the app is 100% accurate as far as my experience has been

[Jiggy 67]

….Also one of these makes life 100% easier, there’s actually one up for sale in the for sale section

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-right-angled-eyepiece-for-polar-scopes.html

[Roy Challen]

55 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

It would help if Skywatcher had Ursa Major and Cassiopeia in there like it used to, instead of Octans. When I set up my EQ5 I thought I'd been sent the wrong mount!

Isn't Octans for southern pole alignment?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octans

I suppose the process is the same though.

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Roy Challen

[Mr Spock]

26 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Isn't Octans for southern pole alignment?

Yes - absolutely no use for anyone in the northern hemisphere.

[Mr Spock]

Here's a response from FLO which might help.

We have had a few people tell us that. Sky-Watcher have decided to change the layout of their polar finder.

The polar finder reticules are dual purpose and can be used in both the northern and southern hemisphere.

They used to look something like this, with The Plough and Cassiopeia (which couldn't be seen in the view) to rotate until it matched their positions in the sky. This made it easy.

The Octans pattern is ignored, unless you live in the southern hemisphere.

Then you adjusted the mount so that Polaris fitted in the little circle located on the bigger circle in the centre:

The new reticle looks like the one below:

At first glance all you see is the Octans stars, but it still has the graduated circle.

If you know the hour that Polaris is on at the time of setting up, you need to set Polaris in the circle at the correct hour.

There is a PC (and phone) app you can use to get this figure.
http://www.polarfinder.com

The sky and mount will rotate, so the two have to be synchronised, hence the angle of the graticule will be different, depending on where the mount is pointed.

You usually set the polar alignment in the parked position. Rotate the declination so that incoming light from the sky around Polaris can pass through the aperture.

Then move the mount in RA to the correct position calculated, before getting Polaris located on the part of the circle it need to be.

But in most cases, as long as you get Polaris located somewhere within the central circle, it will be good enough.
 

[Mr Spock]

Actually, you can still do it by sight using Octans. If you compare position of the two images above, you can see Polaris in the lower one should be at the 6 O'clock position following a line through the dimmest of the two lower stars to Dubhe.

[Matt S]

Thanks everyone, I think I’ve got my head around much of it now. I spent my lunchtime centering my polarscope’s reticle, so hopefully that should get me better accuracy now.

@malc-c - thanks I’d not seen that article before, very helpful!

@Mr Spock - Thanks, I’d not emailed FLO yet as I figured there would be plenty of good advice on here (I’d rather they got the time to fulfil everyone’s orders than trying to help me out with general usage). I think I’ll get my date/longitude marker set to what I ‘think’ is the correct place via Astro-baby’s guide. Although I doubt I’ll ever end up using the dials, I feel like I want an option in case whatever app I’m using isn’t working / goes out of service.

 

I don’t have go-to yet, but I’m finding PS Align Pro to be useful - having the ability to offset the rotation of my reticle and reposition Polaris on recalculated position is quite handy.