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Drift Alignment

  • dmcdona
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15 years 10 months ago #67765 by dmcdona
Drift Alignment was created by dmcdona
Folks - a question for those of you with a better understanding than me...

I have been doing some drift alignment following a pretty well document process.

Point the telescope to the South (on the meridian) at zero deg declination. If the star moves up or down, you alter the azimuth of the mount/pier. You ignore any East/West movement of the star.

Point the telescope to the East and if the star moves up or down, alter the azimuth of the mount. Again, ignore any East/West movement of the star.

Here's the rub - I have eliminated all the north/south movement of stars both at the Meridian and pointing East. i.e. I have my alt and az adjusters tweaked to near perfection... But if I point East or South, my star always drifts West - not by much but it drifts for sure...

Any ideas?

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  • DaveGrennan
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15 years 10 months ago #67789 by DaveGrennan
Replied by DaveGrennan on topic Re: Drift Alignment
Dave, I strongly advise you use WCS.

wcs.ruthner.at/index-en.php

It just cuts out any guess work and will have you perfectly drift aligned in 10 - 15 minutes. The best 20euro I ever spent.

Regards and Clear Skies,

Dave.
J41 - Raheny Observatory.
www.webtreatz.com
Equipment List here

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  • dmcdona
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15 years 10 months ago #67796 by dmcdona
Replied by dmcdona on topic Re: Drift Alignment
I was thinking of using polealignmax. Not sure that WCS would work with the Proline. But given that its a 30 day free tiral, I'll give it a go. Thanks for the tip!

Cheers
Dave

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  • DaveGrennan
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15 years 10 months ago #67821 by DaveGrennan
Replied by DaveGrennan on topic Re: Drift Alignment
Dave,

I had forgotten that you have pinpoint, in that case polealignmax should work out better. WCS is only better for those not ready to shell out for pinpoint.

Regards and Clear Skies,

Dave.
J41 - Raheny Observatory.
www.webtreatz.com
Equipment List here

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15 years 10 months ago #67862 by JohnMurphy
Replied by JohnMurphy on topic Re: Drift Alignment
Dave,

Is WCS suitable for an unmodified SPC900NC. Or do I have to mod it for long exposures?

Clear Skies,
John Murphy
Irish Astronomical Society
Check out My Photos

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  • DaveGrennan
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15 years 10 months ago #67878 by DaveGrennan
Replied by DaveGrennan on topic Re: Drift Alignment

Dave,

Is WCS suitable for an unmodified SPC900NC. Or do I have to mod it for long exposures?


John,

Unmodded cameras are perfect. In fact WCS doesn't support LX modded cameras.

Regards and Clear Skies,

Dave.
J41 - Raheny Observatory.
www.webtreatz.com
Equipment List here

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