Does the EQ6 Syntrek come with a polar alignment scope?

[jonathan]

Would I need one for this mount? I've watched videos of people setting up an HEQ5 with a polar alignment scope and it appeared to be a part of the mount.

[Steve 1962]

Hi Jonathan

If you're talking about one of these:

Skywatcher - Skywatcher EQ6 Syntrek

...then yes it does come with a polar alignment scope.

Cheers

[jonathan]

OK thanks, it must be covered up by a cap in the photos which sort of threw me a bit, no mention of it in the description.

[ollypenrice]

It is not necessarily going to be accurately aligned, though. You need to get the polar axis/polar scope pointing at a distant object and then rotate it to see if the centre of the polarscope crosshair remains fixed or rotates in a circle. It needs to remain in a central position. Then your polar scope is aligned with the polar axis of your mount and will work properly. They are a bit primitive and plasticky on the EQs but are good enough for jazz, as they say. Back this up with a drift alignment if imaging and you are laughing. For visual use, rely on the polarscope.

Olly

[jonathan]

Ah yes, I was just watching a video on YouTube about aligning the polar scope to the mount.

When you say primitive and plasticy, is there a better type of polar scope and would it actually make the mount better to use over what's there already?