Hi folks:
Just a quick question here, but one that's been bugging me for a while. I've had reasonable success using my Skyguider Pro, and polar-alignment is a pretty straightforward process at this point, but I've always wondered if I've aligned the polar scope straight up & down prior to placing polaris in the correct spot. This isn't an issue of the scope being out of alignment, more a question of whether I've rotated the reticle so that the the line between 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock is completely level.
I know the red LED isn't supposed to light up unless you've got the reticle lined up properly, but on my unit this represents a LARGE margin of error. Given how accurate we aim to be when lining up polaris on the little ticks, that red LED remains lit even when the reticle is pretty crooked-looking.
I thought that placing the declination bracket would encourage the unit to align like a pendulum on a string, but at 49 degrees latitude, there is too much friction on the axis to allow it to move freely (this makes counterbalancing a bit iffy sometimes too).
What do people do with their Skyguiders when polar aligning? Eyeball it and hope for the best? I've been able to get up to three minutes unguided, but more often than not I'm limited to 90-150 seconds. I'd love to hear how other people manage.
Cheers,
Mark