Yep you'll have no problem with the polemaster picking up sigma octanis it's just up to the user to be able to identify it and its surrounding stars. As you go through the steps with the software there is a overlay that covers sigma octanis and three other stars in its little asterism and three more near the celestial pole so it should be easy to distinguish if you have it right. Also the polemaster has a decent fov to so if your initial alignment with your tripod and mount is ok it should be pretty close .
What I did was this - the software allows you to save a screenshot of what the camera is picking up (as a bitmap file). I converted it to JPG and then used astrometry.net to plate solve.
Although I had sigma octans in the field of view, a lot of the stars I needed were obscured by a house.
The plate solve still marked them, and with that information I was able to use the software.
What I did was this - the software allows you to save a screenshot of what the camera is picking up (as a bitmap file). I converted it to JPG and then used astrometry.net to plate solve.
Although I had sigma octans in the field of view, a lot of the stars I needed were obscured by a house.
The plate solve still marked them, and with that information I was able to use the software.
Tonight will be my third night with the unit -- the first time I used it, Octans was immediately visible from the moment I started the Pole Master software. Last night, after starting off with a more rigorous polar alignment via the Synscan software, it wasn't even within the cameras field of view and there was some hunting around required. Integrated plate solving would be useful, I reckon.
used my Polemaster last night for the first time. I was able to use it before complete darkness with the lowest exposure and gain settings. I live in a light polluted site a kilometre from the centre of a city of 250,000 people- Geelong.
I was amazed at how easy it was to use. Took about 5 minutes to nail the alignment- most spent reading the instructions on screen. Could probably shave a couple of minutes off this second time around.
Found my permanent pier mounted G11 was a bit off - and that was after a several hours spent drift aligning it. Never again! My dec guiding figures were the best I've ever had - almost no guiding required.
used my Polemaster last night for the first time. I was able to use it before complete darkness with the lowest exposure and gain settings. I live in a light polluted site a kilometre from the centre of a city of 250,000 people- Geelong.
I was amazed at how easy it was to use. Took about 5 minutes to nail the alignment- most spent reading the instructions on screen. Could probably shave a couple of minutes off this second time around.
Found my permanent pier mounted G11 was a bit off - and that was after a several hours spent drift aligning it. Never again! My dec guiding figures were the best I've ever had - almost no guiding required.
I have a metal lathe so spent a couple of hours making an adapter to screw in to the hole in the dec axis (normally has an aluminium plug screwed in to it. Probably there for a polar alignment scope). I got an AZEQ6 adapter with the Polemaster and basically copied it but with a G11 thread.
If you need to make one, the thread in the G11 is a 1.5x25mm metric thread.
You could probably make a push fit adapter as an alternative.
used my Polemaster last night for the first time. I was able to use it before complete darkness with the lowest exposure and gain settings. I live in a light polluted site a kilometre from the centre of a city of 250,000 people- Geelong.
I was amazed at how easy it was to use. Took about 5 minutes to nail the alignment- most spent reading the instructions on screen. Could probably shave a couple of minutes off this second time around.
Found my permanent pier mounted G11 was a bit off - and that was after a several hours spent drift aligning it. Never again! My dec guiding figures were the best I've ever had - almost no guiding required.
FWIW
Gary
Excellent news, Gary. I found it was easier to do on second and subsequent attempts and apart from a couple of minor bugs in the software, the results are more accurate (and quicker) than what the Synscan alignment is able to provide.
Good to see that it'll work on the G11, too. Maybe QHY will consider making an adaptor available for that mount.
Found my permanent pier mounted G11 was a bit off - and that was after a several hours spent drift aligning it. Never again! My dec guiding figures were the best I've ever had - almost no guiding required.
Bah! We are astrophotographers damn it guys. What's going to happen if everyone can polar align in 5 minutes without swearing? Its the end of this hobby as we know it!
When using Synscan (or EQMod) you can do exactly the same on a SW EQ Mount using the polarscope....just rotate the Octans template to suit by slewing the RA axis and then use the Az/Alt adjusting screws to align the stars in the little circles.
When using Synscan (or EQMod) you can do exactly the same on a SW EQ Mount using the polarscope....just rotate the Octans template to suit by slewing the RA axis and then use the Az/Alt adjusting screws to align the stars in the little circles.
This is true, Ken... but using the built-in polarscope is difficult to impossible from the suburbs, depending on light pollution. The resolution provided by the camera also trumps what you could expect from looking through the supplied polarscope.
You're right, but being a Scotsman...just trying to save money.
(If you need the accuracy provided by the QHY polemaster finder then I'd assume you are about to do some serious AP - not sure this would be contemplated from the Melbourne CBD. )
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