Celestron Nexstar SE Polar Alignment HELP!!!!

[roboh (Mark)]

Hey!! (Thats a Fonzie hello) everybody!! Need some help here please,i have a celestron nexstar SE and i've been trying to polar align it for a while now,i do everything right(time,date,position) but nothing seems to work. I have the latest manual (they gave me an earlier one........slaps head.......but i got the latest one off the good,old net) but i still cant get it right. The scope works fine with just a normal 2 star align but i really wanna get it polar aligned properly. If anyone could help.............well,i'd be very gratefull,thanx

[roboh (Mark)]

oh yes,i forgot to mention,it has a built in wedge

[Moon (James)]

My first guess is that the manual is mainly written for the northern hemisphere, with references to Polaris etc. Does it have different instructions for the Southern hemisphere?
I never bothered to polar align when I had one - it was too easy to use it in alt-az mode.
James

[roboh (Mark)]

Thanx Moon,yeah,its writen for the northern hemisphere but shouldnt i just need to do everything upside down? It does say that i can polar align in the southern hemisphere using the same instructions.I live in Upwey in the hills but i might take you up on your offer one nite,Thanx Moon

[Moon (James)]

No worries. Also Perry is running a 'Learn to use a Telecope' session on 14th Jan that you might be interested in. Details are on the ASV home page.
James

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Originally Posted by roboh

oh yes,i forgot to mention,it has a built in wedge

Hey Mark,
Just a word of encouragement -
Yes, it can be done in Southern Hemisphere.
I have done it once with a SE4.
It took three or four attempts, (#1 back to front; #2 looked back to front; #3 back to front again; #4 looked screwy and back to front, but it was actually correct -as was #2 doh!!!!)

When I get some spare time, I will try to work through it again and write it down. Because, you are not the first to ask, I had trouble, and no one else has posted that they have done it (down under).

But in the end, I remember thinking it was pretty easy, once you work out what the instructions are really asking you to do. If I recall, the answer is not to do everything "opposite" to what it says.

cheers

[roboh (Mark)]

Thanx Allan,it would be much appreciated if you could remember,its becoming very frustrating (i think i'm loosing all my hair).I heard that once polar alligned that this scope is good for astro-photography.