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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2015 20:56:47 GMT
Hi Folks, a couple of the many options for polar alignment.
Align Master - 14 Euro with 30 day free trial. Excellent software by Matthias Garzarolli and at a very reasonable price. Align Master does compensate for the J2000/JNOW offset and can be used with either a CCD camera/web cam or illuminated cross hair eyepiece. It is very easy to use and there is an excellent Youtube video tutorial on the Align Master web site. Because it is so quick and easy to use and doesn't require any sophisticated equipment, it is ideal for both permanent and portable mounts. From my experience, Align Master is capable of achieving polar alignment accuracy to around 1 arc minute and at 14 Euro, I consider that it is definitely worth having it on your computer.
EQ Align - Freeware by Antonio Fraga. EQ Align is an excellent program, capable of achieving very accurate polar alignment. According to Antonio Fraga it is capable of polar alignment to within 5 arc sec's. EQ Align can also be used to measure and analyses a mount's periodic error, be used for autoguiding and as a complete go-to platform. Because EQ Align calculates polar alignment error using drift alignment, the JNOW offset is not an issue.
Align Master Tutorial:
Clear skies... Shevill
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Post by johnno on Feb 26, 2015 15:20:22 GMT
Shevill,
So in theory I could make a wedge for my Alt Az mount, stick the head on and put a camera directly into the scope focuser and put the mount software into EQ mode and I should be able to polar align? if so that would be great. I could make a wedge out of wood to see if it works.
I was thinking of getting a de-rotator but these can cost as much as a EQ mount
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 16:30:42 GMT
One downfall of de-rotators is they only work with the camera attached to them. Any other lens/scope/camera combination mounted on the system will have field rotation. As people upgrade their cameras many will be tempted to use their older cameras on wider field lenses. Believe me it is well worth the trouble. Eq. mounts are more time consuming to set up but that time can be reduced with experience and good software. Although my setup is permanently mounted I used PemPro to make the alignment easier and still use it occasionally to check the alignment. Let the machines do the work. They always make life easier. All you have to do is realize that.
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