Drift aligning and orientation with Star Adventurer

[DarkKnight]

Several bits of my HEQ5 Pro set-up have sold and I've invested the proceeds in a SkyWatcher Star Adventurer, much more manageable for an old fart like myself, and better suited to my requirements.

OK, I've downloaded the manual, batteries are on the charger, and I'm trying to get my head around using it.

Unlike the HEQ5 Pro, where you enter your location's co-ordinates and time zone, I figure this thing doesn't care where you are, or what your local correct time is. It only seems to care whether you are in the Northern or Southern hemisphere.

Correct me if I'm wrong, please, but the mounts only input about location is a N/S switch, which I figure is only to tell the mount which way to run the sidereal tracking.

So, I'm thinking that if I want to photograph, say M42, which is in the Northern Hemisphere, and I set my mount up pointing North, set the mounts rotation switch to 'N' to rotate for the Northern Hemisphere, and do a drift alignment, I should alleviate the need to rotate my camera 180° to start taking photos, which I would have to do if I did the alignment for the Southern Hemisphere.

I'm bloody sure I'm missing a salient fact here, so please feel free to put me straight.

[xelasnave]

Hi Kev
I may have miss understood but I say the mount points south at all times, it points at the celestial South pole...which is a point direstly South but above the horizon by the degrees expressed as your latitude...at no point should you point the mount anywhere but at the celestial south pole....

or have I missed yout point?
alex

[AstroJunk]

Treat it exactly as your old HEQ5.

Point it south at all times and dial in the appropriate latitude. As you say, the NS switch should always be on S. The fact that you are pointing to a northern hemisphere object makes no difference to the way the mount operates or is set up.

If you can do a alignment on the south pole using the polar scope, then you will find that the mount tracks very nicely!

[OzEclipse]

Hi Kev.
The switch is to tell the mount which hemisphere of the earth you're standing on. It's not which hemisphere of the sky you're looking at.

When you are in Australia or anywhere south of the equator, put the switch on S. The mount always points to the south celestial pole and always turns the same way regardless where you're pointing.

There are many way to align. Unless you have a scope on the tracker, drift alignment isn't on of them. There have been some posts on the subject this year on IIS. Joe

[DarkKnight]

Thanks for the replies Gents.

Due to my inexperience with, and ignorance of things astronomical, I probably tend to form an overly simplistic view. In the words of Julius Sumner Miller, I have always wanted to know "Why is it so'.

We are in the Southern Hemisphere, and if we look South the stars seem to be rotating in a clockwise direction, and I do realise that it is actually the earth rotating in an anti-clockwise direction, so we need to set our mount's sidereal tracking to 'clockwise', or 'S' on the Star Adventurer, to compensate for the apparent counter rotation.

If we turn 180° and look at the sky, the stars appear to be moving in a counter clockwise direction, and in my naivety I deduced that all I needed to do to alleviate the necessity of swivelling the camera 180° was to align my mount in a Northerly orientation, do a North facing drift alignment, and reverse the mounts sidereal tracking direction by changing the switch from 'S' to 'N'.

My head is starting to hurt. :help:

[AstroJunk]

Ah the joys of Celestial Mechanics!

Many a learned head has exploded trying to contemplate the complexities of the universe and its movements, so you are in good company :thumbsup:

[DarkKnight]

Thanks Jonathan, I think. :P

My tired old brain is taxed just getting through life's daily complexities,

[OzEclipse]

Kev,

You are sort of correct and this is why you need the N/S switch. However, only the south celestial pole is visible in the sky from south of the earth's equator. You can point the scope north, flip the switch but then you would have to point the polar axis down below the horizon at the north celestial pole which is 32 degrees below your north horizon.

So keep the mount pointing south. Regardless of which way you point the telescope on the mount, the mount polar axis is always pointing to south and so the mount always has to rotate clockwise.

Joe

[DarkKnight]

Thanks Joe.

Once I had the mount assembled it all became apparent. :thanx: