tracking on a cloudy night

[poider]

I don't know if this would work or not, but I just thought that if we have clouds and want to test our polar alignment, we could connect a smartphone with planetarium running to the tracker, and then centre a prominent star, and just see how much it moves through the field of view on the phone's planetarium, Is that plausible?

[Wavytone]

So why haven’t you tried it ? Would work just as well without the clouds...

[poider]

we currently have gale force winds and pouring rain so not going outside tonight.

[bojan]

You can do it inside house as well...

[poider]

GPS and I phone compasses are not as reliable inside, I get differing readings from all apps when in the house.

[bojan]

It doesn't matter if there is differences in reading from inside and outside, it is about familiarising with and testing the whole system, and it can be done in daylight as well.

I would recommend to you (and any other begginer) not to rely on technology too much - it is distraction from enjoyment of clear skies (unless technology is your thing... ). Also, it is not needed for good understanding of celestial geometry (astrometry) anyway..

[poider]

I am not too reliant on tech, but it seems the easy way if I am going to go to any other location. Can’t always be getting to location at high noon and marking out ground etc

[Icearcher]

Plausible? I think it would be. I guess it would be a slight variation on drift aligning.

My only worry is that the accuracy of the phone might not be enough to get a tight alignment.

You could however use the phone to get you within the right area, if you are close enough then you should get a minute or more with short focal length lenses, you would also have a good foundation to start a more accurate alignment routine using something like Sharpcap and a guide camera.

I think the best answer to the question will be testing it out.

[poider]

As soon as I get a good sunny day, on the weekend, when I am home at solar
noon I will mark it all out more accurately, but until then I will go outside as long its not raining and try a few different things.