13 replies to this topic

[JohnPlenge]

I just bought a SkyGuider Pro to get started in wide-field imaging using a DSLR and am considering getting a PoleMaster for help in polar alignment.  Is it worth considering for a mount like this, or should I wait until later when I "graduate" to using a telescope on a larger equatorial mount or place my fork-mounted scope on a wedge?

 

Thanks.

 

John

[Megrez]

Hello, mine was just shipped to Canada yesterday. I'm super excited!  Purchased it a NEAF fora light travel system for the solar eclipse. I think that the PoleMaster may be overkill for this system as it is supposed to be quick and easy to polar align with the phone AP.

[JohnPlenge]

Thanks!!

[Chuckwagon]

What is the focal length of the longest lens you intend to shoot with on this setup?  Generally speaking, because image scale when using mounts like this is usually pretty large, if you can get a moderately accurate alignment on the pole it should be good enough that drift caused be alignment error won't be an issue.  As you get longer focal lengths, the periodic error of the mount will be a bigger issue. 

 

For example, if you simply pointed the mount directly at polaris, which gets you around 45 arc-minutes of error, and you were imaging an object at 45 degrees DEC, the drift induced by your alignment error over the course of a 5 minute image would be about 42 arc-seconds.  If you were shooting with a 70mm lens, using a APS-C sensor equipped DSLR, that equates to about 4 pixels of shift in the image.  That's not a lot, and that's without even trying to get a good alignment.

 

So, if you do even a half baked job using the PA scope on the mount, odds are that for most wide field camera lenses you'll be fine.

 

Cheers

[rmollise]

I just bought a SkyGuider Pro to get started in wide-field imaging using a DSLR and am considering getting a PoleMaster for help in polar alignment.  Is it worth considering for a mount like this, or should I wait until later when I "graduate" to using a telescope on a larger equatorial mount or place my fork-mounted scope on a wedge?

 

Thanks.

 

John

 

Unless you are contemplating a lens longer than about 300mm, the polar scope is more than good enough. This would fall into the "waste of money" realm unless you have another mount you can use it on.

Edited by rmollise, 09 May 2017 - 01:06 PM.

[George N]

I have the earlier version - the SkyGuider.

 

These units use the same polar alignment method as the bigger iOptron mounts.

 

The polar scope has a lit reticle with mult-line circles and half-hour markings. You look up the proper position on the web, or with a cell phone app, and put Polaris on the correct mark using the alt/az adustments. Search the web and you will find a nice chart that does the same thing - you use the date and local time, with no need for 'electronics'. I printed out the chart on card stock and keep it in the case with the SkyGuider. It works great for any imaging rig you are likely to put on a SkyGuider - and..... you can auto-guide it in RA if need be.

 

 I own a PoleMaster and love it, but see no reason to use it on my SkyGuider.

Edited by George N, 09 May 2017 - 01:26 PM.

[JohnPlenge]

Everyone,

 

Thanks for all the info, it sounds like the best thing to do is wait until I get a wedge to put my bigger scope on and am ready to try imaging with it.

 

The longest focal length I plan to use is 300 mm, although I might try using the doubler I have to see how 600 mm does.

 

A quick web search didn't turn up any charts for polar alignment, but there are a bunch of apps out there and most of them are free, so that's probably the route I'll go.

 

Thanks again.

[George N]

The "chart" I was referring to is specifically for use with iOptron polar alignment scopes, including the one in the SkyGuider.
 

There is a tread about it right here on CN: https://www.cloudyni...nment-question/

[JohnPlenge]

Thanks for the link, that thread was a good read.  I think I'll stay with a phone app though, it's a little move "goof proof" than reading from a printed chart, and I need all the help I can get in the "goof proffing" dept.

[George N]

Thanks for the link, that thread was a good read.  I think I'll stay with a phone app though, it's a little move "goof proof" than reading from a printed chart, and I need all the help I can get in the "goof proffing" dept.

Print out the chart too as a backup...... it's batteries never go dead! 

[JohnPlenge]

Good point.

[threemcs17]

I have the earlier version - the SkyGuider.

 

These units use the same polar alignment method as the bigger iOptron mounts.

 

The polar scope has a lit reticle with mult-line circles and half-hour markings. You look up the proper position on the web, or with a cell phone app, and put Polaris on the correct mark using the alt/az adustments. Search the web and you will find a nice chart that does the same thing - you use the date and local time, with no need for 'electronics'. I printed out the chart on card stock and keep it in the case with the SkyGuider. It works great for any imaging rig you are likely to put on a SkyGuider - and..... you can auto-guide it in RA if need be.

 

 I own a PoleMaster and love it, but see no reason to use it on my SkyGuider.

Can you or someone here point me to how to just guide in RA with PHD2?  I'm coming up empty.  Still learning and have done guiding in both RA and DEC in PHD2 but must be missing the obvious as to how to turn off DEC guiding.  Thx.  

[George N]

 

I have the earlier version - the SkyGuider.

 

These units use the same polar alignment method as the bigger iOptron mounts.

 

The polar scope has a lit reticle with mult-line circles and half-hour markings. You look up the proper position on the web, or with a cell phone app, and put Polaris on the correct mark using the alt/az adustments. Search the web and you will find a nice chart that does the same thing - you use the date and local time, with no need for 'electronics'. I printed out the chart on card stock and keep it in the case with the SkyGuider. It works great for any imaging rig you are likely to put on a SkyGuider - and..... you can auto-guide it in RA if need be.

 

 I own a PoleMaster and love it, but see no reason to use it on my SkyGuider.

Can you or someone here point me to how to just guide in RA with PHD2?  I'm coming up empty.  Still learning and have done guiding in both RA and DEC in PHD2 but must be missing the obvious as to how to turn off DEC guiding.  Thx.  

 

Wish I could help you, but I don't use PHD2 to guide. I use Bisque's old CCDsoft or their camera control module in TheSkyX - and those programs do have a check box to turn off guiding for either, or both axis.

[Chuckwagon]

I believe you disable DEC guiding under the Algorithms tab in the Advanced Setup section.  Set the Declination pull-down to none.

 

I'm not at home and cannot check to be sure, but I think that's where you find it.

 

Cheers

 

Edit - Sorry, it's not the pull-down, it's the Dec guide mode setting, set it to off.

Edited by Chuckwagon, 17 November 2017 - 01:15 PM.