Am I doing this right?

[Sirius_Starseed]

The first time I set up my 130P Supatrak I did exactly what it said in the instructions - point it North and set the dial thingie (sorry, newbie alert) to 0. Then set the long/lat of my area, I did this.

Apparently once this is done I don't need to do this again??? Is this correct?

OK, my main questions is this. I keep hearing people mention polar aligning. Is this what I did (read above)? When I take my 'scope outside do I just wait for it to temperature adjust and then switch on and use, or do I need to be doing something else first? I keep hearing people mention pointing their 'scope in a certain direction first and then they start to use it I thought I only had to do this once and then I could just simply go outside, switch the Supatrak on and away I go. Or am I missing something?

Can someone please explain the procedure of using a 130P Supatrak (alt/alizmuth mount) to me.

Thanks Folks!

[TheThing]

You only need to polar align with an Equatorial Mount. As yours is Alt/Az, you just follow the procedure you have been and the SuperTrack will deal with everything else.

[Rui]

But be prepared to repeat the procedure everytime you move you telescope outside...

[Sirius_Starseed]

But be prepared to repeat the procedure everytime you move you telescope outside...

Which procedure? This is what I'm confused with. I'm not sure what I'm meant to be doing every time I take my 'scope outside.

[Capricorn]

I presume that the scope tracks and is not a goto.

In which case you will just need to set the scope up and pointing north and then set the dials as you did.

Since you locate whatever object all the scope needs to do is it track the object as the earth rotates.

What you have done is define to the scope the axis of the earth so that the scope and the earth rotate in unison.

Alignment usually refers to the antics of setting up a goto.

As said if you move the scope then you have to do the procedure again from the new position.

[Sirius_Starseed]

I presume that the scope tracks and is not a goto.

In which case you will just need to set the scope up and pointing north and then set the dials as you did.

Since you locate whatever object all the scope needs to do is it track the object as the earth rotates.

What you have done is define to the scope the axis of the earth so that the scope and the earth rotate in unison.

Alignment usually refers to the antics of setting up a goto.

As said if you move the scope then you have to do the procedure again from the new position.

It was simply a Supatrak until this afternoon when my Synscan handset arrived so now it's a Goto.

Do you know the procedure now? The manual says something about star alignment and two-star alignment. Do I do this every time? If so, which one?

[Doc]

Yes you will have to do the two star or three star alignment everytime, unless you have parked it and have not moved it since the last time you used it.

[Doc]

Out of the two you mentioned the two star will be the more accurate.

[Sirius_Starseed]

Out of the two you mentioned the two star will be the more accurate.

Excellent! Thank you!!!

[Doc]

Every extra star you are telling the computer to use you have made your go-to more accutate. But I would definitely use two as with this method you have triangulated your position so accuracy should be pretty good.