Get polar aligned in minutes

[allan gould]

I've put this link to direct you to a new computer program for polar alignment. Some of you will be aware of and using Matthias Garzarolli's guiding program Guidemaster. Well I have been beta testing his new program - Alignmaster. The title says it all.
Using an illuminated reticule the program allows you to select two stars visible to you and using ASCOM drives the mount to these stars in sucession. Aligning using the reticule each time then the program takes the last star and offsets it so that a tweak of AZ and then in ALT gets you polar aligned.
No webcam or 30 minute drifts involved.
Quick and accurate.
Guiding is much improved due to the lesser number of corrections using this program.
The site for registration is http://www.naa.net/garzarolli/alignmaster/index.html
There is a 30 day free trial

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Thanks for the link Allan. Downloaded and will give it a spin when the sky clears a bit.

Cheers
Bill

[White Rabbit]

now that is interesting. i'll give it ago 2night and report back in the morning

[allan gould]

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.
Its interesting that either everyone is able to polar align in a snap or there is little interest in such a program judging from the lack of comments.

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by allan gould

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.
Its interesting that either everyone is able to polar align in a snap or there is little interest in such a program judging from the lack of comments.

Hi Allan

Okay – you’ve thrown down the gauntlet!

I’ll download the application and compare its polar alignment accuracy and ease of use to my excellent Tak EM200 Polar Alignment ‘Scope!

Cheers

Dennis

PS – when I’m over this horrid cold, upper respiratory tract infection and sore back due to lying in bed! LOL! At least it wasn’t the dreaded SF!

[Matty P (Matt)]

Looks interesting. Will give it a go and see how accurate it is.

Thanks Allan.

[Tandum (Robin)]

I don't use ascom to control my scope, my handset works fine.

[mldee (Mike)]

Originally Posted by allan gould

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.
Its interesting that either everyone is able to polar align in a snap or there is little interest in such a program judging from the lack of comments.

Didn't receive the registration key until late last night.

Installed the program today and it seems to set up OK on my PC Dell Laptop.

I tried it earlier tonight using Canopus and Regulus, as they were convenient for me to see. Seemed to do all it's things, and I reran it about 3 times. I seemed to be offcentre when trying to final az el align the mount to the stars, but it could well be me. I'll try again tomorrow.

If it works as it's supposed to, it will be a neat and tidy little program.

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

I downloaded yesterday and am still waiting for the rego key to be emailed-course I dont know if I will have a clear night over the next 30 days to be able to try this software

[allan gould]

For those interested, there are several caveats in using the program to get good alignment. The mount must be well leveled , the laptop time must be accurate and lastly, the GPS co-ordinates accurate.
Hope that helps. I sometimes re-check my initial alignment using a set of stars in the East if done initially using stars in the west (or vise versa).

[Dennis]

Ah ha, that’s one advantage the Tak EM200 Polar Alignment ‘Scope (PAS) has over this new SW method then – the mount does not need to be level (within safety limits of course!).

However, I’m still keen to give it a go, just to compare the set up accuracy of both. It will be an interesting and educational exercise as so far, I’ve just relied on the Tak PAS and really need to get my head around drift aligning, albeit with some very nice software!

Cheers

Dennis

[Tandum (Robin)]

For those that don't know, set your Internet update clock to au.pool.ntp.org for local updates.

[keppar (Graham)]

Allan
Have reg key and downloaded I have put in Location (Melb) and set coordinates what do I put into "time",I,m using laptop time is it 0 or + 10 .
Thanks Graham

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by keppar

Allan
Have reg key and downloaded I have put in Location (Melb) and set coordinates what do I put into "time",I,m using laptop time is it 0 or + 10 .
Thanks Graham

Graham,
You dont need to add anything here as this is taken care of when you put in the location from the select location box (it should show a 10 in the small box which means +10). The select location box sites are ordered in country and then city - a little weird. So scroll down til you see AU then the city you need. In the next version there will be the facility to add your own locations ie prefered dark sites with the GPS co-ordinates etc.
Hope this helps
Allan

[oggie doggie]

The site stipulates that "Goto Mount that can be controlled via ASCOM".

Does this cover the Skywatcher EQ mounts? I have the Heq5pro.

The program sounds to good to be true.

[telemarker (Keith)]

I tried it out tonight using a DSI and the bullseye in PHD to do the aligning. I quite like it. I'll try it some more but I think the author will be getting my money.

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by oggie doggie

The site stipulates that "Goto Mount that can be controlled via ASCOM".

Does this cover the Skywatcher EQ mounts? I have the Heq5pro.

The program sounds to good to be true.

Thats exactly the mount that I use with ASCOM. Wait til the clouds roll away and try it.

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by telemarker

I tried it out tonight using a DSI and the bullseye in PHD to do the aligning. I quite like it. I'll try it some more but I think the author will be getting my money.

Glad its working for you as its now my prefered method for aligning the mount

[oggie doggie]

Originally Posted by allan gould

Thats exactly the mount that I use with ASCOM. Wait til the clouds roll away and try it.

Allan, I have installed ascom drivers and alignmaster and am now going through the setup of Alignmaster. So far so good.
A couple of quick questions for you.

Where do I get additional locations from? They don't appear on the website. Or isn't this important if I have accurate lat/long settings.

It also asks me to select a the type of telescope, I am not sure which option to select for the Heq5pro. The options are: ASCOM Dome, Generic Hub, Pipe Diagnostic, POTH Hub and Simulator.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mark

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by oggie doggie

Allan, I have installed ascom drivers and alignmaster and am now going through the setup of Alignmaster. So far so good.
A couple of quick questions for you.

Where do I get additional locations from? They don't appear on the website. Or isn't this important if I have accurate lat/long settings.

It also asks me to select a the type of telescope, I am not sure which option to select for the Heq5pro. The options are: ASCOM Dome, Generic Hub, Pipe Diagnostic, POTH Hub and Simulator.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mark

Mark
You can set your own lat and long settings in the box provided and it will remember these the next time that you start the program. So if you have an accurate GPS setting just enter it. The next version of the program will have the ability to add additional sites which will be there for further reference. Make such your laptop has an accurate time setting as well and that the time zone is accurate for your position.
For the HEQ5PRO mount select the generic ASCOM driver for EQMOD relating to HEQ5/EQ6 mounts and use that with EQMOD. Download from EQMOD or ASCOM (cant remember which as I'm at work at the moment). In the properties box for the EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 select your port (Com) settings etc and away you go. You can either plug into the bottom of the handset the serial adapter that came with the mount (to update programs) and use this to communicate with a planetarium program thru ASCOM or get a dedicated single cable connection that does away with the handset. See post by Peter_4059 regarding this as he is the expert. See this post http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=46168
Hope this helps