Quote:
Originally Posted by gbeal
Hi Marcus,
OK, will do, I'll give it a go. I may have to refine the polar alignment a little though, as it isn't perfect. Good or bad, I'll report back.
Gary
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Look forward to it!
As long as your polar alignment is good enough to keep the guidestar in the autoguide window for 15 minutes or so you'll be right. You're measuring the accuracy of the RA drive not polar alignment. By the way, you may also see a linear trend in the graph (polar alignment plus maybe the sideral tracking rate isn't perfect for the elevation of the target). I did, just subtract it out.
It's a shame more people don't do this kind of simple analysis on their equipment - for the sake of those looking to buy. It's says a lot about a mount's quality. Of course, PE can be corrected by autoguiding (depending on the magnitude and frequency of the PE), but that's not really the point. I like to know how well engineered the mount is before I buy.
Cheers, Marcus