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Thursday, July 20, 2023

This Should Have Been Obvious

I have been struggling with this Losmandy G811G mount which is smarter than me about aligning on true north which is just slightly off Polaris.  I did a little more digging this morning.

I bought the optional Polar Alignment Scope with the mount.  I found it difficult to use mostly because you need to be sitting down on the ground to use it.  It sits in the polar axis and there is an illuminated reticle that lets you adjust the mount in azimuth and the angle of the polar axis until you are exactly on north.

Until I get the shorter ScopeRollers on it, the eyepiece end is a little high for sitting and a little low for kneeling.  

One of the tips that I just read about is to put you planetarium program on your phone at the eyepiece of the polar alignment scope and get Polaris lined up, then adjust azimuth and polar axis angle until you are roughly aligned.  This may be good enough for goto but it certainly gets you close enough to use the polar alignment scope without screaming.

The control unit also has a polar alignment feature that uses a series of star gotos to figure out a solution.  I need to read it again.

4 comments:

  1. You should look into the QHY PoleMaster, it has obviated the polar alignment scope. It uses plate solving to get you right onto the pole:

    https://cloudbreakoptics.com/products/polemaster?gclid=Cj0KCQjw2eilBhCCARIsAG0Pf8u-rvCjsnW3047p34jKsc9j45dcTKUNIyfF7ty_Y7xBHzrV-n64eucaAmlGEALw_wcB

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  2. Hmmm, I tried to post about the QHY PoleMaster, don't know if it worked. It has taken the place of a polar alignment scope for many people. I tried posting a link, maybe that's why it didn't work. Look it up, Clayton, maybe it will work for you. It uses plate solving to get you onto the pole.

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  3. I've tried twice to post this, it's gotten lost twice...

    Look into the QHY PoleMaster. It uses plate solving to get you onto the pole.

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  4. https://www.qhyccd.com/polemaster/

    ReplyDelete