Nexstar Alignment Options

[sojourneyer]

The manual has a number of options whereby  you get your  mount aligned before use.

SkyAlign
Auto Two-Star Align
Two-Star Alignment
One-Star Align
Solar System Align

Which one do you prefer and why?

 

Thanks

[bosun21]

When I owned a Nexstar 8SE I always used 2 star alignment. I found that it just worked far more frequently and reliably than the others.

[Veloman]

Two-Star for me too, because I find it reliable and quick.  Auto Two-Star, more often the not, selected stars that weren't visible thus wasting observing time!

Rob

[Cosmic Geoff]

I mostly use Auto 2 Star, and select stars I can see from the observing position. It saves the bother of manually slewing the mount to the 2nd star.  The Solar System Align is also quite useful on occasion, for daylight observing, or observing one planet in twilight, etc. 

[sojourneyer]

17 hours ago, Veloman said:

Two-Star for me too, because I find it reliable and quick.  Auto Two-Star, more often the not, selected stars that weren't visible thus wasting observing time!

Rob

totally agree re the auto two star align

[Cosmic Geoff]

19 hours ago, Veloman said:

Auto Two-Star, more often the not, selected stars that weren't visible thus wasting observing time!

You don't have to accept the selections. You can scroll the list till you see something that you know is accessible.

[Veloman]

As a newcomer the number of stars that I can reliably recognise is small. I find it easier, rather than scrolling through a list, to just do a two star alignment. Maybe this approach is limiting my star recognition?

[Bugdozer]

On 23/09/2023 at 22:32, Veloman said:

As a newcomer the number of stars that I can reliably recognise is small. I find it easier, rather than scrolling through a list, to just do a two star alignment. Maybe this approach is limiting my star recognition?

If you really want to align quickly, use Vega and Alcor as your alignment stars because they are very close together on the menu if you go past the ends, saving even more time!