[Vermin (Tom)]

I'm considering purchasing a Losmandy GM8 and was wondering if the polar alignment scope is necessary as it does not come standard.

For visual use a rough alignment using a corrected compass and known latitude should be ok, and for imaging a drift align is necessary anyway.

Also how important is it to have the OTA aligned with the polar axis? How could this be done without the polar alignment scope?

The universal dovetail plate that fits a Televue TV101 does not seem to have any method of adjusting the OTA alignment anyway. Would I be better off with tube rings?

Thanks,

V.