Polar Alignment

[Robin Lee]

Hello guys, have been out of the astro forum for quite a while. Lately, I am doing a proposal on purchasing dome observatory and equipments.

I think a GEM has a better upgradability or the same as a fork mount. The thing that fussed me for quite some time is how quick can the polar alignment been done. Since Polaris is not visible in our latitude, do you use drift alignment?

Please share your alignment method and tips here.

[kingkong]

if you are getting an obs, i assume it is feasible to keep the mount installed in there for extended period of time, hence you don't have to worry about alignment all the time.

you can drift align your mount to your heart content, leave it, and use it for a while. when you are bored, drift align it again. repeat.

to use, just mount your scope of choice and start - no need to align at all. i've never used a fork mount before but i imagine you might have problem with going to zenith...

[weixing]

Hi,

The thing that fussed me for quite some time is how quick can the polar alignment been done.

Since it's going to be a dome observatory, it's doesn't matter how long does it take to do polar alignment... basically you just do it once.

Since Polaris is not visible in our latitude, do you use drift alignment?

Yap... drift until you can't drift anymore...

Have a nice day.

[boothee]

Please share your alignment method and tips here.

Hi!

Here are some links from me. . .

http://www.andysshotglass.com/DriftAlignment.html

http://www.darkskyimages.com/gpolar.html

Clear Skies!


boothee

[Robin Lee]

Oops.. I forgot the scope will be temporary used outside out the dome before it has been built. It will be ready around 2011, so there are 4 years to go. So, I take this into consideration.

Furthermore, we do sidewalk astronomy often. Do you guys drift alignment everytime?

Please share your opinions.

[weixing]

Hi,

Do you guys drift alignment everytime?

No... only when doing imaging.

Have a nice day.

[Robin Lee]

So, what type of alignment and how do you do when it's only for visual?

[jermng]

point north

[Robin Lee]

Mind to explain in detail?

[perseid]

For visual observation, you do not need to align your mount to a high degree of accuracy. If you have a compass, just align your polar axis parallel to the compass needle.
As you are living in the southern region, which is quite close to the equator, then you just have to tilted your declination axis just a little bit. Even if you were to fully level the declination axis, it should still be fine.