Thread: Aligning scope
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Old 16-01-2006, 11:32 PM
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[1ponders] (Paul)
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Location: Obi Obi, Qld
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Depends on what you want to do Don. Do you have a polar alignment scope built into your mount? Using that would probably be the quickest way to get an accurate enough alignment for your goto to function.

For DSO photography though drift aligning is probably the most accurate, though time consuming. Though at f/15 you probably won't be taking too many DSOs so critically accurate alignment won't be necessary. I'd suggest finding a spot in your yard that you will always use and do a quick and dirty drift alignment (*)and then mark the spot where your tripod rests. That way each time you come back out and sit up your scope, as long as you haven't moved your Az and Alt adjustments, your alignment should be accurate enough for your goto alignment process to give accurate slewing to objects.


* As an alternative to drift aligning and if you don't have a polar alignment scope, try to set your altitude adjustment as close as you can visually by using the scale on your mount. Set your AZ adjustment near the middle of its range. Now comes the tricky part. Try to find the group of stars near the south pole containing sigma Octanis using binoculars. Once you've found sig Oct, with you binoculars parallel (I actually rest the binocs on the top of the OTA) move the mount tripod until sig oct is in the field of view of the binocs again. Now check your finderscope and see if your lucky enough to have the group of stars visible in the finderscope. If you do then simply adjust your alt and az adjustments until sig oct is center of the finder and then move to your scope eyepiece and adjust again. That should be more than close enough. If however sig oct isn't in the finder scope, hold your binocs against the side of the OTA and adjust the alt adjustment until sig oct is in the field of view of the binocs. Check your finder scope again. If not do the top check again. Keep iterating like this until sig oct is in the finderscope. The secret here is to have your binocs as parallel to your OTA as possible. This process is not accurate enough for imaging DSOs but should be accurate enough for your goto to function effectively and to image planets using a webcam. This method take a bit of getting used to, but once you've mastered it you can quickly adjust your mount where ever you take it to. After a while you get to know where sig oct is and you can eyeball the process (assuming your sky is dark enough )


or check out here http://www.celestron.com/polar.htm

Hope all that made sense
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Last edited by [1ponders]; 16-01-2006 at 11:53 PM.
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