on my knees.

[moonbeam]

this may sound like a silly question but is there some kind of optimum height your scope should be? i was crawling round on my hands and knees last night in the snow looking through the polar scop trying to get it aligned i gave up in the end i just couldnt get my head to the right position to look through the scope. Is that normal? or have a made a mistke??

jim.

[TheThing]

What sort of scope do you have Jim?

With the polar scope thru the mount, then the only adjustment is to raise the tripod legs to a reasonable height. Most people will still have to bend to look thru it though.

One thing, some mounts need you to remove (or move) the counter weight bar as it hangs down over the polar scope and inhibits your view thru!

[moonbeam]

hiya

i have an eq3 mount. i guess i'll be extending the legs a bit more then i was more frustrated than anything, by the time i gave up and thought id just have a look around it clouded over again

thanks thing

[Wobbly Bob]

this may sound like a silly question but is there some kind of optimum height your scope should be? i was crawling round on my hands and knees last night in the snow looking through the polar scop trying to get it aligned i gave up in the end i just couldnt get my head to the right position to look through the scope. Is that normal? or have a made a mistke??

jim.

NO Jim, you are not alone. I have knackered knees and have NEVER been able to polar align using the Polar scope. A young lad tried to assist once as he was very nimble and able assume a comfortable position at the PS, BUT trying to explain to him what we were looking for was a challange to say the least.

For an observing session I use a Wixy inclineometer to set the Latitude and a good compass for North. For Imaging, drift aligning seems to do the trick.

[jgs001]

I find it awkward to look through the polar scope, but I find it's worth it. I keep the mount legs short for stability which means I'm almost on my knees to look up through the polar scope. I do have to make sure the Axis (RA I think) is turned so the dovetail plate is across the mount not along it, or the hole to look through is closed...

[Talitha]

Hi Jim, perfect polar alignment is (from what i understand) unnecessary unless you're doing imaging. I've never polar aligned my CG-5 or EQ-3 and only need to make occasional minor adjustments even while locked onto a target for an hour, doing one of my sketches. All i do is eyeball things and it's usually pretty accurate unless i'm not levelled properly, but that's easy enough to correct.

[John]

I agree with Carol (Talitha) - as a visual observer I don't use the polar alignment scope at all. I just make sure that the polar axis is pointing roughly north using a compass or polaris. That seems to be enough to ensure reasonably accurate tracking in RA, with the occasional adjustment in DEC from time to time.

[moonbeam]

I have the goto mount and thought id finally get it working :S, at one point i thought id aligned it properly so sent it to star align on vega but it was too low. I wish id bought a dobsonian sometimes

Thanks for the replies

[LukeSkywatcher]

With my EQ scope i never really properly polar aligned it. I cant see Polaris from my location thanks to a neighbours house. I just used a compass to align the polar axis as near as i could. It was pretty spot on. There wasnt much drifting of objects.

Being in a wheelchair my observing height is pretty fixed so i was pretty much stuck with having the tripod of the EQ mount set to low (just a couple of inches extended at best). Most objects high up were simply not an option for me to observe (Cassiopeia,Perseus etc). NOW with my SW 130P Heritage Dob...............i can observe ANYTHING visible from my location. The BEST views i am getting is of objects HIGH UP the higher the better). The scope can point directly upwards and i can extend it from the ground up so that while observing at Zenith....the EP is almost directly infront of my eye. I dont have to lean too far forward out of my chair and risk falling out of it onto my scope. Broken bones heal but i would HATE to damage my Heritage. The Heritage is giving me the best views of my life........not only because of the larger apeture but because it can be positioned at any/every angle and is STILL very easily within reach of my eye. It is sooooo lightweigh and portable that i have no problems hoofing it outside (with one hand) on any given night even if it is for 10 mins observing.

I'm thinking i may sell my Celestron 90EQ (plus the supplied EPs and RDF), but i seriously doubt i could sell it because there are bigger and better scopes available for the price i would be asking (its only 2 yrs old......used a handfull of times and is in as new condition). I'd be hoping to get 150 euro for it. Most likely would not get that as there is bigger and better available for that price. I bought it cuz at the time it was about the only scope available that i could handle.

Not the case anymore................

God bless the SW Heritage 130P.

[Deneb]

Nearly all my alignments are done when im kneeling on my knees, I find it I can get it quite accurate doing it this way, just remember to put a plastic sheet or something on the ground to kneel down onto, soggy knee caps are no fun.

Cheers

Nadeem.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have the goto mount and thought id finally get it working :S, at one point i thought id aligned it properly so sent it to star align on vega but it was too low. I wish id bought a dobsonian sometimes

Thanks for the replies

Dobs are fun. Mine is so compact though, that i really cant even use my RDF with it. I would have to be laying on the ground on my belly to use it. The scope is sold as a "table top" scope but if i were to put it on a table...............i'd never reach the EP.

I'm slowly learning to accept the upside down views and not being able to use a RDF. I just start off with a 32mm EP to find a pointer and star hop from there to where i want to go.