Quote:
Originally Posted by Pebs4
The heq 5 has a polar alignment in syscan as well have you guys used that ever?
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Yes, I use it all the time, and it works well. You can go through as many iterations as you like until you're happy with the alignment accuracy. I typically get to well below an arc minute error in azimuth and elevation within a couple of iterations. That's more than enough for my high-magnification visual use. It's important to perform a new star alignment after each polar alignment run.
After each 2- or 3-star alignment the Synscan controller will display the polar alignment error in Az and El, as a guidance.
As a quick start, when you set up the mount try to get it level and the RA and Dec axes into neutral as well as you can eyeball it, turn it on, don't continue from parked position, then enter time, location etc. and do a star alignment. When the scope slews to the first alignment star you get an idea of how far off your polar alignment is. Instead of using the hand controller drag the mount (or tripod) around to get close to the alignment star, then start over. This will get the RA axis pointing closer to the pole and make subsequent alignments easier and faster.
To save time don't bother with a 3-star alignment until you're happy with the polar alignment. Stick to 2-star alignments using alignment stars in the same hemisphere (east or west), and not too close to the pole.
PAE or any other Synscan feature has no bearing on the tracking performance. After slewing to an object the mount will not use any smarts but simply turn in RA at the set tracking rate.