Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulloch
With the DARV method, how low on the horizon does the star need to be? In my small backyard, I can only really go down to around 15 degrees elevation to the east or west, is this too high?
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Nah, I wouldn't say so...in my postage stamp back yard I can only get down to about 22 degrees, and it seems to work well enough.
The general plus side to good polar alignment is that GOTOs tend to be pretty good from the start...forgiving any clock misalignments of course.
Having both east and west "horizons" means you can flip over and check on the other side to see if it holds true. It's not impossible that mount mechanics (being mainstream mounts of course) results in a mismatch. It's a question of ascertaining which one is right.
What you're ultimately looking for is that the star tracks back over itself during the period of time that you need to expose the main imaging camera for. It doesn't (much) matter if the line is a little wavy...that will be periodic error which should be smoothed out either by guiding (or PEC). But one thing at a time
