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Old 27-12-2006, 08:52 PM
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sheeny (Al)
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oberon NSW
Posts: 14,336
G'Day Dennis,

to IIS!

Do you have a magnetic compass? If so, you will need to find out your magnetic declination (or deviation as some call it). I will hazard a guess and suggest that for Toowoomba you will need to subtract your magnetic declination from 180 degrees to get the magnetic bearing for true south. (You should check this! ).

Stand back at least 3 metres from your scope (so it doesn't affect your compass) and shoot a bearing through your scope with the compass, make adjustments until the polar axis is aligned with the compass bearing. Tis should get you within +/-2 degrees of true south... close enough to start drift aligning (or to use your polar scope) anyway.

If you don't have a compass, I suggest you get one. It will help with setup until you get to know the sky well enough to find the SCP without it. If you want to learn how to find the SCP without a compass have a look here:

http://alsworld.topcities.com/bwgg/index.html

but I still suggest a compass is a good thing to have!

Al.
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