Polar Alignment of Permanent equatorial Pier

[marcopolo]

Hi all, i've finished my 1930's scope refurb and put it back on top of a permanent steel/concrete pier. The EQ head is set up for a latitue of approx 56degN and i've put it **ROUGLY** into polar alignment. The way Iv'e set it up with the M12 mount bolts it has full 4 DOF movement. The motor drive will get completed by next month probably so I want to try and understand how to accurately polar align and what my options are or if I need to buy some auxilliary equipment that would help.

The problem is when I do searches on how to polar align they nearly all apply to tripods with EQ heads or scopes with setting cicles on the side and bubble levels. Mine has none of this, and I can find very little on the alignment process for a permanent pier scope.

Here are a few pics so you can see what I mean. The 3 positional M12 bolts have captive nuts (you can't see them) that let the head tilt any way you want and the ends of those bolts are just pushing against the top of the steel/concrete pier (so not embedded in hte concrete). The centre bolt is simply to adjust height and rotation and lock it back down. So full rotation and tilt. It's totally solid BTW!

Best option i've seen so far is the drift alignment method. But i'm open to suggestions. I've seen ASIair but it appears to be a full imaging system not just polar alignment and a bit expensive looking.

Thanks,

Marco.

[Albir phil]

Hi you could look at Pole master by qhc. You can get all kind of adapters. So you can fit it on your mount.I use one they are very accurate. Hope this helps you.👍

[JeremyS]

Lovely instrument, @marcopolo. Who made it and what’s the story? With a latitude of 56deg I presume it’s always been in the Edinburgh (or Glasgow) area.

[marcopolo]

Hi Jeremy, thanks kindly. I wrote an article about it and it was published in Astronomy Now April 2023. Yes Edinburgh!!

[AstroKeith]

It's probably going to be drift method. It will take a while, but at least only once (hopefully!)

BTW, the three bolts you have are usually studs. This makes it a lot easier to bring down the top nut on each stud to lock it all up, without disturbing your adjustments.

[Steve Ward]

Best method I've ever used that did not rely on anything too technical is Robert Vice's D.A.R.V. method of drift aligning .... https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/darv-drift-alignment-by-robert-vice-r2760

[michael8554]

You have an EQ mount that happens to be on a pier instead of a tripod, so adjustment of polar alignment is the same.

You can use software such as SharpCap, pointing towards the NCP.

Or Drift Alignment, PHD2 or a reticle eyepiece, pointing south for the Az adjustment.

Then west or east, for the Alt adjustment.

Time will tell whether your adjustment method retains a good PA.

Michael

[Elp]

The asiair is a great device. But for a permanent setup (or any setup) drift alignment will be your most accurate.