Drift allign...please help

[Starcrazzy]

Hi,
I am currently trying to drifta allign my eq5 to the ssp..can someone please tell me the rules for the southern hemisphere??i have a newtonian reflector...all the websites seem to contradict each other...please help...
cheers

[avandonk]

Have you got a webcam you can put on the your telescope? If not try this. Get the mount as close as you can by setting the latitude angle on the mount and RA axis aligned with true north.
Point your telescope north to a star near zero degrees declination. Get a star in the crosshairs with the drive running. Lock it in. Dont worry about drift left or right wait till the star moves up or down. leave the drive running and move the mount adjustment in azimuth till the star is back at the same height as the crosshair centre. Ajusting azimuth will move the star up or down. Repeat.
When the star takes longer to drift up or down, you are headed in the right direction for correction.

Now move the telescope to point west or east to any star lowish at again at about zero declination. Repeat the same step as above watch for movement up or down (same direction of crosshair line as before) but this time get the star back by adjusting the altitude of the mount (the latitude angle). Repeat.

Go back to the north and repeat that ajustment. and back to west or east. and very soon the star will not move up or down even after 10 or 20 minutes.

You are now very accurately polar aligned.

Notice this entails getting the star back to where it was in height,not some convoluted eastwestupdownetc meaningless recipe.

This works just as well for a webcam, better in fact as the movement is more sensitive.

I hope this is clear.

Bert
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[sheeny (Al)]

G'Day StarCrazzy,

Avandonk's method sounds pretty good to me... simple enough to remember.

Another source I use is this article from Cloudy Nights:

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php...d=1042&pr=3x85

It works, but I find I can never remember which is what and have to refer to it when I'm doing it.

The most important thing, I suggest, is patience. Drift aligning has tested mine occasionally! Especially when you seem to be doing adjustment after adjustment, and not quite sure if it's getting better or worse, and the dew arrives, etc... (these days I have a dew heater! ).

That's one of the reasons I love using k3ccdtools and my ToUcam for drift alignment. 1ponders taught me how to do drift alignment with it at Lostock, and it's great! You get feedback after each adjustment, which does wonders to satisfy my impatience!

Best of luck with it. Keep cool... and may you one day have a permanently mounted scope so you don't have to do so often! (I wish I did!)

Al.

[Starcrazzy]

Cheers avondonk...now thats what im talkin bout...such a simple way to do it...i downloaded an article and printed it out, 11 pages and confuseing as all get out...written by a yank with occasionl missgivings for us poor southern hemisphere folks...i was trying to allign useing half northern and hlf southern formula's...grrrlll...been at it for nights i have....and now after your reply, i have saturn staying put for once...still developing a little drift over several minutes but WOOOO HOOOO...im on my way...look out ezystyles, my dsi's out the back warmin up...cheers to you to sheeny..

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

lol starcrazzy. I find that the EQ6 with skyscan is very accurate without so much if any drift at all. Objects stay at the same spot on the lappy screen even leaving it for a good hour. Since i don't image a pic for 1 hour (at most 3mins). Just make sure that it is a very accurate polar alignment. The method Bert posted is really good. I haven't tried it myself but have heard of it.

Just remember when imaging with the DSI, don't combine all images but save all uncombined so then you can stack them individually.

best of luck

[solissydney (Ken)]

Hi.
You point the scope towards North with the RA shaft horizontal, point the tube upwards, towards the Meredian (a imaginary line in the sky, from South to North) and as close as possible to the path of the Sun. Pick the nearest bright star, and turn the cross hair in an illuminated recticle so that, with the drive turned off, the star drifts along one line of the crosshairs. If the star drifts UP in the recticle eyepiece, you rotate the post (or tripod) of the scope East. If the star drift DOWN, you turn the scope the opposite way (West). Don't just turn the scope a minute amount in the beginning, because you might not see any result, turn it a good amount, so that you see the star drift in the "opposite direction", (up or down), that way you will see some result, and you will then know what you are on about. You don't have to remember which way to turn the scope, East or West) as long as you turn the scope a good amount so that you see the star drifting in the opposite direction. When there is no drift of the star, up or down, the scope is perfectly polar aligned. Good luck
Ken

[solissydney (Ken)]

Hi.
I forgot to mention that once you have succeded in adjusted the illuminated crosshair so the star follows one line of the cross. The tracking should be turned on.
Ken

[matt]

Sheeny

That Cloudy Nights guide looks like it should be pretty handy but I can't make any sense of that azimuth adjustment rules chart?
I don't know whether I'm meant to read it left to right, only down one side, only one line etc etc?

An example of making something complicated/confusing while attempting to make things simple