Quote:
Originally Posted by CalvinKlein
Do you have your iPhone set to point to true north or magnetic north ? You want it set to True North - there's 12 degrees difference in Sydney (Settings / Compass / Use True North)
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Yes the true north setting is turned on... hence my thinking of the compass app not working as it should be...
Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
Make sure the scope is in line with your polar axis.
Tape you phone in place if you don't have a holder but make sure it does not move during the following...point the scope (and the mount actually) at where you think CSP is likely to be...take a photo say every minute or so for as long as you can but at least ten minutes...what you can do by looking at all the images is mark out the circles they are making ...the centre of those circles is the CSP...you then can adjust your mount accordingly...ideally you should be able to take a group of photos that has the centre of the circles in the centre of your photos.
Last night ( because I am trying to find the CSP thru trees) I set my had my pole master camera take a ten minute shot in sharpcap which showed exactly where CSP was and I was able to work out octans with one star hidden by a branch.
Anyways with that photo I adjusted the mount so the centre of the star circle was in the centre of the screen and then went into pole master to nail it perfect..I was amazed how close I was just by doing the ten minute exposure and adjusting using it.
But I did not notice the rest of the sky had clouded over so I did not get any imaging done...but polar is good to go maybe tonight hopefully.
Good luck.
Hope this helps.
Alex
You can use a long exposure on your camera ..better still...either just the camera or thru the scope a long exposure will show the arcs which you centre to get near perfect PA...the mount is off during this process.
Alex
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This is a neat trick
Thanks for this
So you could potentially use this method if octans/CSP is only partially visible ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek
Solar noon shadow stick method , maybe old fashioned and crude but it works and enabled me to find a fairly accurate true south line at both my imaging sites ( permanent line scored in the pavers )
I found solar noon time on Stellarium at both sites when to mark the line , so easy. I did the same thing ( true south line and digital inclinometer) for a friend who has my old 10” push nudge Dob, he usually finds his reference star and then main target in a minute using the Az Alt co ordinates off Stellarium
For SCP I just use a digital inclinometer to set local latitude
At both sites , first alignment Star usually ends up in the FOV , then some minor centering , then Synscan PA routine ( 2 or 3 iterations ) and we are done !!
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I need to google this... solar noon shadow stick method...
thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanJones
Hi Ed,
I started off with one of these scopes so hopefully I can help. You only have to be pretty approximate with your starting setup towards south. Remember that your scope has quite a long focal length for its size at 1350mm so hoping that you’re going to get octans in the field of view manually is probably going to end in frustration. Thankfully your hand controller is there to help. If you get it setup reasonably close to south ( as good as you can with your compass on true south ). Do a 2 star alignment. Then pick one of your two stars you used for alignment and slew to it. Then you’ll find in your menus a thing called align mount. Select that and it will take you through a process where it will move away from the star you had centered and you adjust both the elevation of your wedge and physically move the tripod to bring it back to the star being centered without using the hand controller. If you’re planning on using it for photography then it is recommended you do this every time you setup. However if it’s just for goto accuracy you can mark a point on the elevation rod and 3 marks where your tripod legs go on the surface you have it sitting on and every time you setup you can put it back in the same spot.
I hope this helps
Ryan
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Thanks Ryan.
I assume this can be done with octans/CSP partially visible ?
I am going to try this later tonight...
With this alignment can you get up to 30 secs of exposure without star trailing ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CalvinKlein
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Thanks mate...
"The primary aim, and from what I can ascertain the biggest problem especially those new to polar alignment, is to find the four very faint stars that make up the Octans alignment shape found in many polar-scope reticles. "
Yes this is one of my problem... almost all pattern in the southern part of sky look like trapezium to me
Is this your website ?
