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Old 09-11-2012, 11:12 PM
mbaddah (Mo)
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Sydney
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pluto View Post
So I assume you must have the Polarie attached to the alt/az camera tripod and then the ball head is attached to the Polarie with the camera attached to the ball head.
I could be totally wrong here but wouldn't it be the same as drift aligning an eq mount?
I would use SharpCap, or something similar, as it has an on screen reticule plus a program called ExtraWebcam which lets you use your dslr as a webcam. Then follow the standard drift aligning procedure and adjust the azimuth and altitude of the camera tripod.
I could be missing something fundamental here though...?

*EDIT forgot to mention that you would have to at least roughly align the polar axis of the Polarie to the SCP first using the alt/az controls on the tripod.

*EDIT2 this is the method I use for drift aligning (scroll down a bit): http://www.ozscopes.com.au/how-to-po...ern-hemisphere
Hi Hugh,

Many thanks for that last link. I had a read and it makes sense except for one part, how do I orientate the camera on the ball head? i.e. The 3 way gear head sits first on the tripod, then the astrotrac, then the ballhead, then the camera on the ballhead (as per screenshot on http://www.astrotrac.com/).

Say I want to do the first part, i.e. point my camera to a bright star on the eastern horizon near the celestial equator. Would I leave the gear head alone (i.e. not touch the az/alt), turn the camera only using the ball head to the east and than make the necessary adjustments with the gearhead? Does the camera have to be in a certain orientation?

Greatly appreciate the assistance.
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