Polar Alignment Questions…

[engstrom]

Sorry in advance for possibly obvious/stupid questions. I’m a bit on the spectrum and sometimes need confirmation of stuff that might seem obvious to others (I’m grateful at parties!)

I think I’ve got my HEQ5 pointing in roughly the right direction of Polaris. Looking through the polar scope, am I right in thinking that Polaris is pretty much the only obvious, brightest POI in that region? Seeing’s not great at the moment and I don’t want to sweep using the alignment nuts and knobs as it’d take ages.

I’m just trying to get a feel for it right now so the scope isn’t on the mount. I guess I could make sure my finder and scope are aligned and use my finder for Polaris and then get it in the polar scope?

I know I could use some fancy-schmancy plate solving or 3 star alignment but I’d like to be able to do it myself before relying on tech.

 

 

Edited January 17 by engstrom

[PhilB61]

It depends on how close you are "roughly in the right direction" but to be certain yes, best to use your finder scope first.

[Ouroboros]

When I used a polar scope I found it sufficient to kneel or sit behind the mount looking north and up to make sure the mount was pointing in more or less the right direction. I usually found that good enough to see Polaris through the polar scope.  Yes, Polaris is by far the brightest star in that vicinity and pretty unmistakeable.   You’ll know it when you see it. 

[AstroMuni]

On 17/01/2024 at 00:14, engstrom said:

I think I’ve got my HEQ5 pointing in roughly the right direction of Polaris. Looking through the polar scope, am I right in thinking that Polaris is pretty much the only obvious, brightest POI in that region? Seeing’s not great at the moment and I don’t want to sweep using the alignment nuts and knobs as it’d take ages.

Polaris is pretty much the only bright star visible to the naked eye in that region and through the polarscope. So you should be able to find it quite easily in the polarscope. Using the finderscope will not help much as this is not aligned to the mount but to the OTA, and having the additional weight of the scope etc.will make it harder to move the mount.

I just point the mount using my eyes to judge that its roughly in the right direction. I then move the mount by hand to get Polaris in the polarscope. The fine alignment to match the clockface is done using the bolts. Once this is all done, I then attach the OTA, counterweights etc. HTH.

Edited January 25 by AstroMuni

[bosun21]

Using a well aligned RDF on the scope while the mount is in the home position gets Polaris in the polar scope every time for me. Just ensure that you have the home position set properly.

[PhilB61]

Given the accuracy needed for good PA (for astrophotography) I would never do the alignment without the scope and accessories already attached as the chance of sag/settlement or just bumping the mount is too high. Doing it that might be ok for visual use though. Just my opinion others may differ especially if you have a very large or robust mount/tripod combination and a lightweight OTA

[AstroMuni]

13 hours ago, PhilB61 said:

Given the accuracy needed for good PA (for astrophotography) I would never do the alignment without the scope and accessories already attached as the chance of sag/settlement or just bumping the mount is too high. Doing it that might be ok for visual use though. Just my opinion others may differ especially if you have a very large or robust mount/tripod combination and a lightweight OTA

Absolutely agree. I personally find it easier to do the initial PA without the weight of additional equipment & counterweights. Final tweaking is done with just the knobs once the equipment has been attached. The lack of good PA results in poor guiding, so for me is a good indicator of PA. I tend to just visually PA using the polarscope and if I find guiding is way off then I resort to using the tool in Ekos.

[wookie1965]

I'm visual only I point the north leg by eye level the tripod put the mount on then polar align only needs a tweak. 

Load the scope and weights check polar alignment again usually needs another tweak then I'm ready usually accurate for the session.