Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Cloudy Nights - Official Forums of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User   You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Astrophotography and Sketching >> Beginning Imaging Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 cdndob sage Reged: 07/28/06 Posts: 468 Loc: The Great White North First drift alignment - It works!       #2675517 - 10/02/08 03:43 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   So I'm thinking I need to learn how to drift align before I head out to a dark site and potentially mess things up. A little while after super the sky is perfectly clear so I bring the gear outside and do the basic leveling, polar alignment and 3 star alignment ... all is well. I grab the laptop and webcam for the guide scope, which will serve as my illuminated reticle, slew over to M45 and clouds roll in. After a few short words directed at the sky and a brief 20 minute wait that cloud bank rolls by ... yah! Actually, the clouds gave me time to review the entire process so the waiting wasn't a pure waste. So after aligning the reticle and watching the drift I made a few minor adjustments, then watched a little longer followed by smaller mount adjustments, its done. Well ... that wasn't so bad after all but I'm thinking just how good is it? So I took a few test shots, M45 then M31 for a total of about 10 minutes and of course being in the city the skyglow is really bad. Leaving the scope tracking M31 I pop the memory card from the camera and go inside to process the pictures. Now this must have been a good 15-20 minutes before I got back outside and when I flipped up the laptop screen its still on the guide star! So, all in all, this drift alignment is pretty cool and easy to do but it does take a little time. Of course now I'm just itching to get some dark site time to really see the results. Next week's project ... auto-guiding! -------------------- Post Extras:       nofxrx Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/12/05 Posts: 1460 Loc: palm bay,florida Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: cdndob]       #2675658 - 10/02/08 07:49 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   VERY cool! It is always great to hear of someone's triumph over AG'n!!! Cant wait to see some images EDIT:Did'nt mean AG'n,actually meant,DA(DriftAlignment) AND good luck with the AG'n Man I gotta get some sleep!!! -------------------- Brent Oliver 3 Wonderful dogs: Sadie, Kara and Ozzie Celestron C10-N///C9.25///Orion 80ED///WO ZS66SD White Celestron CI-700 & ASGT Eq. Mounts Nikon D40Xa///SBIG ST-402ME/Class 1/CFW///DSI-PRO... My Gallery Ohh yeah,and a VERY undersanding wife!! Edited by nofxrx (10/02/08 01:34 PM) Post Extras:       Paul Rix Carpal Tunnel Reged: 11/06/04 Posts: 2924 Loc: Zanesville, Ohio,USA Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: nofxrx]       #2676055 - 10/02/08 12:06 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Congratulations.. drift alignment is tough to master. I ended up buying the WCS program which really helps to speed up the process (it takes the guesswork out of it).. -------------------- Climbing the Learning Curve Meade 10" LX200 Classic: WO 66SD. Philips SPC900NC, DMK21AU04.AS, Meade DSI Pro and DSI Pro II. Post Extras:       ChazK Pooh-Bah Reged: 11/23/05 Posts: 1453 Loc: Melbourne, Florida Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: Paul Rix]       #2676372 - 10/02/08 02:19 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Agreed...I built a permenant pier so I would not have to deal with it as often......very frustrating!! Congrats on your success -------------------- Tak TOA 130mm/NJP Temma2 Tak FS 60CB Canon 40D (unmodded) Astronomik CLS Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 www.digitalunatic.com Post Extras:       walt r Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/13/07 Posts: 2421 Loc: Doylestown, PA Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: ChazK]       #2676965 - 10/02/08 07:16 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Like a lot of other aspects of astronomy its just takes a little practice. Congrats on learning DA you will thank yourself when processing. -------------------- Walt Obsession 18" f/4.45 #1370 AN/SC MK67 Deluxe 6" f/12 Mak-Cass, Super Polaris GEM, JMI MicroMax DSC DIY 60mm f/6 Achromat Cookbook 245 CCD Post Extras:       cdndob sage Reged: 07/28/06 Posts: 468 Loc: The Great White North Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: walt r]       #2678288 - 10/03/08 02:33 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Ok, so maybe I jumped the gun a little and I'll chalk the first alignment up as beginner's luck. Went out last night and tried to repeat my drift alignment success with less than expected results BUT it did improve my tracking somewhat. I think I need to switch guide scopes as I don't believe my 50mm finder (with barlow) is showing me enough star movement. Anyone know if a webcam with a 50mm f/8 tasco will produce better drift alignment results? Also do you think it would work for manual tracking for 300mm camera shots? Steve -------------------- Post Extras:       NyxAither scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 09/11/07 Posts: 835 Loc: Arlington VA Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: cdndob]       #2678326 - 10/03/08 02:45 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I'm sure you'll get that success back! -------------------- Thomas ✸Orion XT8i✸Orion 80-T✸CG5 GT Mount ✸Meade DSI II Color✸Meade DSI (THANKS TODD N!!!)✸Orion 4.5" Reflector OTA✸Trusty Mac Powerbook G4✸1960's Gilbert 3" telescope✸10x50 binoculars✸SPC900NC✸ ..::*~*Clear Skies*~*::.. Post Extras:       ChazK Pooh-Bah Reged: 11/23/05 Posts: 1453 Loc: Melbourne, Florida Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: NyxAither]       #2678582 - 10/03/08 05:05 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Like everything in AP...It's the journey that counts Or so I keep telling myself! -------------------- Tak TOA 130mm/NJP Temma2 Tak FS 60CB Canon 40D (unmodded) Astronomik CLS Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 www.digitalunatic.com Post Extras:       Buhlig member Reged: 12/03/07 Posts: 60 Loc: Derby, KS Re: First drift alignment - It works! [Re: ChazK]       #2680354 - 10/04/08 06:55 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   for what it's worth, I think the bigger scope you use for drift align, the better accuracy you will achieve. I tried with an 80mm and it did pretty good....but when I did it with the 8" newtonion....much better. I also use WCS to help, but it still takes some time. Also I can't seem to isolate dec drift from az drift...meaning one affects the other. So, I do az, the do dec, then back to az, then back to dec, basically honing in each time. My last attempt (with the newt) has produced some very excellent tracking during imaging. I also drilled tiny holes in a concrete slab that I put the tripod setup on. That way I just plop the tripod down in those holes and viola, drift aligned...next best thing to a permanent pier. I've had to redo drift align when I start noticing some tracking issues, but it was 6 mos between drift aligns...much better than every time. -------------------- Celestron 80mm ED Apochromatic Refractor Orion 8" Newt Celestron 80ST achro (guider) PHD via handcontroller interface CG-5 Advanced GT Mount Canon 350D Philips SPC900NC http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbysluggers/sets/72157605255114566/ Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 4 registered and 4 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  Charlie Hein, knuklhdastnmr  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 290 Jump to *International Year of Astronomy 2009* -----   Global Coordination   Cornerstone Projects   Special Projects   Special Task Groups   Global Activities   National and Regional Activities   IYA 2009 in Africa   IYA 2009 in the USA*Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Beginners Forum   Celestial Events   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Celestron SkyScout and Meade mySky   Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   General Observing   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Other* -----   Science of Astronomy & Space exploration   AstroWebsites   Space Rocks*Speciality Forums* -----   AstroArt   Astronomy Software & Computers   Stellar Media   Astro Outreach, Clubs and Star Parties*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements Home

Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics