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I would have thought polar alignment would have been straight forward...but certainly can be complicated by the RA and Dec axis not being perfectly orthogonal.
Plonk an OTA on the mount. Point it at DEC -90. Look though the optics with a nice widefield eyepiece and star diagonal while spinning the mount in RA.
Do the stars appear to spin around the centre of the field of view?
Or do they move in an arc ?
If no amount of adjustment in Dec will give you a "central spin" then the DEC axis is off. You'll need to shim the OTA or its saddle to align the Dec and RA.
Once that is literally "squared away" , polar alignment should be a doddle.
Last edited by Peter Ward; 28-08-2020 at 04:48 PM.
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