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JR#8
super member
Reged: 08/31/04
Posts: 191
Loc: Edison, NJ
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Hey all. Here is my predicament. Is there any way to alaign and EQ or my scope LX200 on a wedge with out the seeing Polaris. I have 100' Oak trees in my back yard which limits my viewing to about 15 degrees below Zenith. So I cant see any planets or M 45. But if I set the scope up in the front I can see them but cannot see Polaris.
Thanks BruceThese are the trees
Edited by JR#8 (11/05/09 06:54 PM)
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JR#8
super member
Reged: 08/31/04
Posts: 191
Loc: Edison, NJ
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Why do I get a 404 when trying to view the attachment
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Meade 10 LX200-SMT GPS
Orion ED 80 APO
Solar Filter
Canon Powershot 80
Canon 20D
Tarmon Lens AF28-80,AF70-300
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2068
Loc: Union,NJ
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Hi Bruce,
I have a go to scope and can not see polaris, here is the secret once you align a star and more or less nowhere polaris is, mark your space, now when ever you go in the back, your scope is pointing at the right spot.
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
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Michael A. Earl
vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research
Reged: 11/17/08
Posts: 1103
Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada
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What you need to do is to set the equatorial mount to an azimuth of due north and to an elevation of your latitude on the Earth.
First, make sure that your equipment is level. I cannot stress that enough!
To get your mount to the azimuth of Polaris, find due south. It is certain that directly opposite that is due north! The mount's R.A. axis of rotation has to be aligned to an azimuth of zero, but the directly opposite axis has to pointing to the due south azimuth (180 degrees). If you can find due south well enough, you will be able to align the R.A. axis to due north by making sure that the opposite direction points to due south. You can use your scope by finding a star near or on the southern meridian and adjusting the azimuth adjuster until the star is in your FOV.
Setting the elevation is a little more tricky. If you have a scale on the elevation portion of the wedge, you can set the scale to your local latitude (make sure that your equipment is level before doing this). However, on my NexStar 11-inch I find that the scale is badly calibrated. At least you will be in ball park (within a few degrees) if you use the scales.
To better calibrate elevation, you need to find a star near the meridian. After your initial polar alignment (and 1-star alignment if using a goto), slew to a star near the meridian. Since you will be off in elevation only, the star will either be above or below the field you actually see. Without adjusting in either R.A. or Dec., adjust your latitude (elevation) until the star is perfectly centered in the FOV. This works beter for a scope with setting circles, since a goto will try to compensate for alignment errors.
This should be good enough for an initial polar alignment and should allow you to do casual eyepiece viewing. You can use the drift method if required if doing long exposure imaging.
Your utlimate goal is to get the scope's coordinate system and the real coordinate system as synched up as possible. Without the NCP to look at, it is more difficult, but certainly not impossible.
Hope this helps!
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Michael A. Earl - Vendor
Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research
www.castor2.ca
Celestron NexStar 11 GPS
Celestron NexStar 8i SE
SBIG ST-9XE CCD
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JR#8
super member
Reged: 08/31/04
Posts: 191
Loc: Edison, NJ
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finding a star near or on the southern meridian
For some reason I tried to post an image of my position and there are 100'+ oak and ash trees in my southern view. my original post said that I can only see about 15 degrees south of Zenith. and maybe 20 north of zenith, 60 east, and almost to the western meridian. pretty much Im in a gully of trees. Cant cut down the neighbors trees either.
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Meade 10 LX200-SMT GPS
Orion ED 80 APO
Solar Filter
Canon Powershot 80
Canon 20D
Tarmon Lens AF28-80,AF70-300
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Michael A. Earl
vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research
Reged: 11/17/08
Posts: 1103
Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada
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You don't need to see to the southern horizon to use this method. If you can only see about 15 degrees off the zenith to the south, then all you need to do is find a star near the southern meridian about 15 degrees south of zenith (or less).
Using a planetarium software would really help you here since you will have a larger database in which to choose your target star(s).
Hope this helps!
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Michael A. Earl - Vendor
Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research
www.castor2.ca
Celestron NexStar 11 GPS
Celestron NexStar 8i SE
SBIG ST-9XE CCD
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exile
super member
Reged: 01/15/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Guangzhou, China
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I use an inexpensive compass, one that doubles as a bubble level. This is attached to a point on my (mostly non-ferrous) EQ mount. If the mount affects the compass reading, you may need to place the latter some distance away. The latitude setting of my mount is accurate and stays the same until I move to another part of the country, so it should never need changing.
All I do is make sure the R.A. axis is parallel (set to 'zero', if you like) to the rest of the mount. Using eye only, I swing the mount around - allowing for local magnetic variation (you will need to check yours) - until the needle is parallel to the mount head and pointing North and make SURE (as Michael said) the tripod is level using the bubble indicator. Assuming the latitude setting of the mount is correct and the R.A. axis is straight on, your scope will now be pointing to (or very close to) the direction of Polaris.
I can NEVER see Polaris, but I move my set-up several times an evening and quickly re-align it ('through the wall') accurately enough for visual work. No problem. Many nights it is spot on. If it's not, a few tweaks eastwards or westwards of the tripod legs to correct the drift is enough to bring it VERY close.
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90mm Scopos f6.7 Apo Triplet on EQ2
Tak FS78 f8.1 on Vixen SP
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Ptarmigan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/23/04
Posts: 2340
Loc: Arctic
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Useful information right there!
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Ptarmigans=Cute and Cuddly
Meade Starfinder 8
Nikon 10x50
Rebel XT
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dgpilot
member
Reged: 09/25/09
Posts: 96
Loc: San Ramon, California
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I also can't view polaris from my balcony. I just point the scope north using a compass.. do a "fake" 2 star alignment and have it point to jupiter. Then.. i rotate the tripod until jupiter is in view through the scope. That method, for me at least... is precise enough to track for exposures up to 60 seconds if I hook up the DSLR, which is not bad 
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LXD75 8" SN f/4
Canon 50D, 350D (unmodded)
Autoguiding:
Orion ST80 Guidescope
Meade DSI II Pro
San Ramon, California: 
My Astro Gallery - Revamped!
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stevecoe
"Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Posts: 2628
Loc: Arizona, USA
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A 15 dollar device at a hardware store, called an inclinometer, will help. It is a bubble level that is made for setting things at exact angles. Hold it onto a level portion of the tube and set you your latitude.
Then a compass will get you close if you are careful about your magnetic offset, remember the compass points to Greenland, if you are in the US. That will set you up for visual. For imaging, you will need to learn to drift align, or buy a new scope with an electronic polar alignment routine.
Clear skies to us all;
Steve Coe
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TeleVue 102 refractor on CGEM mount
10 inch f/4.7 Newtonian
Author "Deep Sky Observing" Springer-Verlag
Author "Nebulae and How to Observe Them" Springer
Canon Xt astrocamera with Hutech modification
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