Polar alignment

[Legin]

I currently own a AZ EQ6 GT mount and I am trying to refine the polar alignment.

I can align the mount fairly well that is I point the mount aligned with true north south. Then adjust the azimuth if necessary. It can be fiddly but I usually end up with alignment that is good enough for visual use.

I would like to try my hand at Astrophotography. I can hardly see anything through the polar scope. Finding Sigma Octantis is near impossible. Though I suspect this is due to the alignment being off.

I have tried drift alignment but I have lots of trees around here that do not allow me to see stars close to the horizon.

Any help in refining my alignment would be appreciated.

[kens]

There are many methods available for polar alignment these days. What you use depends on your setup. Are you imaging with DSLR or astro camera and are you autoguiding or not?
Also, drift alignment near the horizon is for adjusting altitude as that is dominant near the hroizon. If you can't image down there then it doesn't matter as much. Just do the altitude alignment as low as you can get but realise that the drift will be a combination of altitude and azimuth errors.

[RickS]

PhD2 has a neat Polar Drift Alignment tool that I have been using with my Star Adventurer. It is based on analysing the drift of a star close to the pole imaged though your guider. It is accurate enough for the short focal length stuff that I'm doing. Maybe not good enough for your purposes but it should be adequate to get the magic asterism into the polar scope FOV.

Cheers,
Rick.

[xelasnave]

I purchased a Polemaster brfore I knew about PHD and I think Sharpcap has something...but the polemaster is great and it takes so little time once you get to know it...I like that is sort of seperate from everything...but for me I got what I paid for which was not spending hours drift aligning.
What I would like is a program that enables you to get polar when you cant see the csp.
The house blocks it and because there is just a window of sky above even drift aligning is difficult.
My EQ6 is still off but each time out I try to get it better but have yet to hit the sweet spot.

Alex

[RickS]

Hi Alex,

For me the SCP is behind a tree but the PhD2 polar drift alignment works for a star that's several degrees away.

Cheers,
Rick.

[xelasnave]

I dont know exactly I will get a ruff estimate of how far away I am.
Alex