Polar Alignment guides?

[Adz]

Hey all,

I had a go for the first time last night at using my new polar aligner.

Holey moley did I not find it easy...!

Are there any guides online or the forum that could help me out. Or perhaps I am making a simple job stupidly hard...

Surely something so important to imagine, guiding, goto etc would not have been designed this way. I had a hard enough time just bending over backwards to find Polaris, let alone make out all the black writing that was supposed to help me locate the constellations. So I tried shining my head torch down to help and all I successfully managed was to look like some kind of circus act.

Thanks,

Adam

[jgs001]

I don't know the CG5 (that is the mount with the C8-NGT isn't it ?), but on the HEQ5, powering up the mount during polar alignment, illuminates the polar scope making the reticule very easy to read.

CG-5 Easy polar alignment using the polar scope

Might be of help.

[Adz]

I don't know the CG5 (that is the mount with the C8-NGT isn't it ?), but on the HEQ5, powering up the mount during polar alignment, illuminates the polar scope making the reticule very easy to read.

CG-5 Easy polar alignment using the polar scope

Might be of help.

Yeah it is John, it doesn't have the feature you mention but it would be great! Thanks for the link I will check it out asap.

[yesyes]

There is also an excellent guide by our very own Astrobaby here:

Astro Babys HEQ5 Polar Alignment

It's for the HEQ5 mount, not the CG5, but the procedure is exactly the same. That's the guide I used to align the polar scope and learned how to use it.

Aligning the polar scope itself is very important. Without it, it's no use at all. So you need to go through that procedure.

[The Bat]

If you are doing visual observation, rough polar alignment is good enough: just sight Polaris through the polar axis.

If you're going on to do astrophotography, then it needs to be much more accurate and you will need to align Polaris accurately, which means aligning the polar scope properly (as in the link).

I have a CG-5, although not computerised, but it sounds similar to yours. I find shining a red light torch across (not straight down) the opening helps to see the reticule, and Polaris is just bright enough to shine through that. It involves a small degree of contortion and arms the length of a gibbon's, but it's possible.

Rachel

[NGC 1502]

If you are doing visual observation, rough polar alignment is good enough: just sight Polaris through the polar axis.Rachel

Spot on, Regards, Ed.

[Adz]

Thanks for all your help guys and gals, with valuable answers from helpful people I never cease to think my questions are foolish.

Adam