Very nice rant for 3 posts in.
I can get my alignment pretty well in the ball park without the illuminated retical.
I don't own a perm setup and i don't have spots drawn or angles set so i can set up quickly. I set my gear up every night from absolute scratch. I also don't use a guide scope to guide with so that kills that precept as i use my main telescope to do the alignment, this takes into account that I have tried to make sure that the mount head, dovetail, rings and scope are as close to concentric as possible.
If you actually went in and looked at the resources page of my website and had a look at how to set up the EQ6 or any GEM for that matter you would see that no where in that guide i mention anything about software. I actually put in a really quick way to get polar alignment and then how to drift align, you see i have come from a newbie and after nearly 4 years of astrophotography know just a few little tricks. I don't need to setup in daylight to make everything work correctly and my friends know this as i have finished exams at 9pm driven 3hrs into the sticks and setup at midnight to be imaging by 1-130am.
As for pieces of wood that would have to be one of the best ways to nail your approximate south setup as every time i do it im within a degree or two of true south with a poxy little 9 dollar compass. The reason why this is one of the best ways is it doesn't count on you guessing that your at a perpendicular to your tripod. This will also smash the time it takes you to drift align in half. The other thing about drift aligning that i don't like is it takes so damn long and unless you are on a perm setup is a waste of your time as you will pull your gear down and pack up at the end of the night.
No mean for disrespect but sometimes understanding what is out there and the products that can be used is better than using ways of the past that where the best method only because technology wasn't at that level. Digital astrophotography is leaping ahead nowdays and those who love to hold onto old ways do it for nostalgia, people like me love to get the best that they can and are ever trying to improve. You'll pick which one you want to travel and that suites you. Till then ill help people with what i know to work and work well.
End rant
Brendan
P.S
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJT
Hmmmm...Hi Brendan, in typing this I recognize you are right about software, planks of wood etc however...as a newbie...so no disrespect intended...
I just spent 7 months trying to get alignment right as a newbie and what nailed it was buying an illuminated reticule and using the link below...(reverse for southern hemisphere) as well as discovering that shonky Jim did the finishing work on my mount late on a Friday afternoon..
Www.petesastrophotography.com
and look under techniques, polar technique , drift alignment. Theres even a little widget so you can practice and in fact I am sure I got this link from this site...
I also discovered that whoever glued the declination scale on my heq5 was a nutter as it is 6 degrees out which puts paid to any attempt to find the right angle using iPhone, inter web, etc
I bought a guiding setup for Christmas ( rather, Santa did..) but as I don't have a permanent setup then benefits of using software are lost if guide scope is knocked out of alignment when dismantling after a nights imaging which it invariably is and by the time you have cooked for wife due to guilt trip generated by knowing you are going to be gawping at dso as soon as its dark, it's dark and you can't align the guidescopes with the main scope cos you can't see a damn thing blah de blah...
So, learn to drift align, it's really not that difficult..I cheated by hammering brackets into lawn after finally getting it right, which fit snuggly around legs of mount ( wife was not impressed...) and have left the mount installed as weather is ok, but I know I will need to move it sometime if only to try a new dark site and to be frank, 30 mins drift aligning in a no fuss way against time spent realigning scopes in the dark and then using the software to actually align isn't in my view, at least given my circumstances, going to save much time and you do learn a new skill 
Rant over, thanks brendon
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