Quote:
Originally Posted by mithrandir
It's another two motors, would rely on the tripod/pier head being perfectly level, known local magnetic variation, and a CCD to confirm the alignment stars were where it though they should be.
Any magnetic compass is only as accurate as the variation you feed it. A bit of reo in the concrete or a nearby steel fence throws my Silva compass off about 5 degrees. Polar alignment needs better values than "S is over thataway".
With a bit of practice it doesn't take that long to polar align, at least for visual.
|
Or, you could design a system much like what they have in fighter aircraft, using a gyrocompass and INS. But that would probably become too expensive to do.