Polar alignment, EQAlign, Astrotortilla and stuff.

[dp297]

Has anyone used EQAlign or Astrotortilla for precise polar alignment?
I would appreciate any comments on how good this software is.

Thanks

[SteveInNZ]

I'm a regular user of EQAlign simply because it's great. I like it because I can use it for my manual SP mount as well as the CG5-GT with or without a laptop connected to the mount. It's faster than the Celestron 2+4 and ASPA and it's true drift alignment. It's also very helpful for doing the adjustment - Move the star into one circle using RA/Dec and then adjust Az screw to move it to the other circle.
I just use a SPC900 webcam and ST-80 scope to do the setup and then do unguided imaging (950mm fl) for an hour or so per target.

I've used the earlier version of Astrotortilla both with and without APT but haven't really pushed the polar alignment aspect enough to comment.

[netwolf]

Steve i took a look at the eqalign wiki site but looks like there last release was 2008, is there a new site with a newer release.

[dp297]

Have you tried Alignmaster? Any comparison to EQalign as far as precision is concerned?

[SteveInNZ]

Try the website (http://eqalign.net/e_eqalign.html). There's a November 2012 version there.
I've tried Alignmaster to the extent of seeing that it does what it says, but haven't analysed it to any extent. It seems to be simple and popular.
The big advantage of EqAlign to me is that I can use it on the simplest Eq mount (and I don't have to learn the Arabic names of stars). That may or may not matter for you.

[dp297]

I have downloaded all......I am gonna try them out next time

[technofetishism]

EqAlign drove me to tear hair out last time i used it.

AstroTortilla has served me well since. :) makes it quick and easy also to build up a mount goto model as well with syncs.

[2stroke]

I use alignmaster and it is the bomb :) I level the tripod, use a compass and jig to get true south, put mount head on and use plumbob to check alt and then run it through. After 2 runs 5-6mins its pulling close to 45secs-1min unguided. When i first used it i just plonked the mount down and had a hell of a time and gave up :( Though after doing all my steps its works perfect and sure beats wasting hours drift aligning. I also use a gps but an Iphone ect can give you the precise lat and long along with time which is needed for it to work.

[mswhin63]

I use EQAlign, I have also used Alignmaster which is also good but had limitations that could be resolved at my old address.

[swannies1983]

I use EQAlign for polar alignment. It's the only software that works with my DA1 hand controller. Antonio (author) has been very helpful and replies to emails pretty quickly.