Advice on accessories

[RKenning (Robert)]

Hi everyone.
I have purchased an Advanced VX mount and an EdgeHD 8" OTA. I haven't got around to playing with it yet. Because of my location in a valley with really tall gums and street lights blazing at night, I am going to need to head out of town to a remote location. I would like to practice SCP alignment and try to get as close as possible right from the start. I am wondering, would it be worth getting a polar scope for the mount or can I fire up Stellarium and set the RA and DEC to the coodinates in the program with the hand controller, along with the Az and Altitude. Would those coordinates get me in the ball park of SCP alignment? I intend to join the ASSA here in South Australia and attend the Stockport star night when it next comes around and hopefully learn a bit about the SCP process, as I would like to have a go at astrophotography eventually. Meanwhile, I am trying to wrap my brain around the drift alignment method as well. Thanks for any advice. Cheers -Rob K

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Rob,

If you want accurate polar alignment I would try to wrap your grey matter around the drift alignment...it's good practice for imaging

The AVX has pretty good software though...if you run through a two star alignment and the ads calibration stars (up to four) then your gotos will be pretty good regardless. Then you can run through the All Star polar alignment routine to get it reasonably polar aligned.

Congrats on your setup, btw, I bought my Edge 8 with the AVX and it's a cracking scope

[RKenning (Robert)]

Thanks Dunk.
Yeah I'm really looking forward to setting up and exploring. I got bitten after doing a star night at Charleville last month. I'll get the drift method off pat after I have read through the procedure a couple of hundred times. I've ordered a polar scope today anyway, so I'll see how I go when this wet weather passes over in the next few days. Lets hope for clear skies over Oz.
Just out of curiosity what EP's do you use or recommend for this scope other than the one it comes with?

Cheers-Rob

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

If you're just using the scope for visual, I wouldn't worry about drift alignment for now, just do a 2+4 (star and calibration star) alignment and it will compensate. Then the All Star will get you pretty close to the pole. You don't need a clear view - or even any view - of the pole for it to work. For your All Star, aim for something reasonably bright near the celestial equator and in the north, not too far from the Meridian (within 30 degrees or so)

The sky is the limit when it comes to EPs. What are your interests and budget? And how dark is it where you observe? Do you wear glasses? These all factor in to narrow down what EPs you might be comfortable with.

[rally]

Just go to a local oval or park and have some practice.
I am sure there are a bunch of us who could drop around and give you some pointers

[RKenning (Robert)]

We have an oval about a kilometer away, so that will do with testing. It's lined with trees, but you can see the stars at 34º Latitude. I guess the logical first step would be to set up at home, get the balance sorted out then go through the hand control menu and learn where everything is. I wear glasses, so I can go for long eye relief EPs or dioptrx EP that I can adjust with glasses off. I'm heading down to the ASSA meeting at Adelaide Uni tomorrow night, so I hope to learn a bit on the subject down there. Thanks for the suggestions so far.
Cheers -Rob

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Yeah my advice would be to go to a star party or such and mingle with folk that may volunteer to use their EP in your shiny new scope then you'd get to experience different types and it's the least expensive way to find what you're comfortable with.

With my scope I use quite a spread, depending what I'm targeting. Everything from 40mm SWA (68-70 degree apparent FOV) for the widest views at a dark site, through TV Ethos with their 100 degree apparent FOV down to little plossls and orthos for planetary. They're all different in their presentation, but there is an element of personal preference to throw in the mix. Many will say you don't need quality glass with an SCT, but I disagree...and feel it's a bit of an injustice with the Edge HD since the entire FOV is so flat and sharp

That's not to say you can't get great views for under $100...you can! Eyepieces can be a bit of a diminishing returns as you get into $100s but the differences are visible.