celestron cpc alignment ??

mickjfawcett (MICK) · #1 13-03-2007, 03:34 PM

gday everyone.

have a quick question/problem regarding my 11" cpc celestron.

im finding that the when i use auto align that the alignment gradually is lost over a period of say 1hour

(it is lost by a full 17mm 2" view)

ive checked the tripod level and that seems fine but cant think of anything else it could be?? (maybe my alignment bubble is buggered??

i usually align with my 32mm but was thinking maybe the results would be better with my 11mm televue but i used 1 star align on saturday night on sirius and it still wasnt accurate.

i have updated to the latest software for the hand controller and the gps seems to be working properly

any thoughts or suggestions would be very appreciated

[1ponders] (Paul) · #2 13-03-2007, 05:30 PM

I'm not familiar with your particular setup, (I used to have an LX200 so the issues may be similar) but can only suggest that the more accurate your initial alignment the better your nights accuracy will be.

Have you considered doing a 2 star alignment (or more if available) and use a 12mm illuminated reticle to get your alignments as close as possible. Also consider doing your alignment without the star diagonal in.

Just a few ideas.

casstony · #3 13-03-2007, 06:23 PM

Hi Mick, if you don't get the info you need here there is a cpc yahoo group http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Celestron-CPC/ and a cloudynights cpc forum http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea...hreads.php?Cat=

sejanus (Gavin) · #4 14-03-2007, 11:31 AM

hey mick

1 star align will rarely be accurate. it's more for when you have the scope in a permanent observatory.

You should get an illuminated cross hair eyepiece to do the alignments with. A 12mm one would be a good bet.

Try and do a 3 star alignment on it with one of those.

mickjfawcett (MICK) · #5 14-03-2007, 12:14 PM

thanks guys

i usually use the 3 point star align system and use the main telescope to align the star rather than the finder scope. i have only used the 1 star method once on saturn to see if would track differently ( ive recently got a red dot finder as well and find it excellent

)

i was looking through the gps info on the hand controller last night and the time was set to universal time. i have now set the correct time zone in the hope that may have been the issue but i would think that the alignment would fail if this is the case. all other setting are correct. will try again tonight if the weather is good and see.

Rigel003 (Graeme) · #6 14-03-2007, 10:15 PM

I have a celestron nexstar and have used the CPC for a period. It is important to use a shorter focal length eyepiece or a cross hair as suggested. The eye isn't sufficiently able to judge the centre position accurately with such a wide field. 12 mm would be good. Also choose alignment stars well spaced across the sky.