POLE FINDER FREE SOFTWARE CALLED
POLE FINDER PORTABLE STAR TRACKER

Save with.Polar alignment is an essential first step towards a night of visual observation or astrophotography. Lowrance 00015515001 Hook Reveal 7X Fish finder Triples hot with Down scan/Sides can Imaging without Mapping, 7' 31 3.5 out of 5 Stars. It’s a sticker you put on your ski pole that lets you measure slope angle by line-of-sight.Lowrance 00015515001 Hook Reveal 7X Fish finder Triples hot with Down scan/Sides can Imaging without Mapping, 7' Add. The PoleClinometer slope meter is the quickest/easiest way to get accurate on the go slope angle measurements. The Finder incorporates a small etched star chart of the areas around the North and South Poles that are visible at night in the eyepiece of the Finder with the aid of an illuminator.Polar Alignment for Beginners – Step by StepKnowing slope angle is a critical factor in assessing avalanche hazard. The Vixen Pole Finders incorporate an analog dial scale where the local date, time, and latitude can be factored in during initial set up.

Pole Finder Portable Star Tracker

Polar alignment for beginnersThis tutorial is for users in the Northern Hemisphere, who are able to view the “North Star”, Polaris. This process should be well understood before diving into astrophotography.See more astrophotography tips. Simply put, you need to make sure that your telescope mount is rotating on the exact same angle the sky turns on. The polar axis does not move when you move the telescope. Accurate polar alignment is essential for all types of long exposure astrophotography from wide-angle nightscapes, to high magnification deep-space imaging.Once you’ve got the basics down, the entire polar alignment process can be done in less than 10 minutes.Polar alignment is the process of accurately aligning the polar axis of your mount with the north (or south) celestial pole. It’s a rather simple process for German equatorial mount (GEM) owners.Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Finder 55.34.9.024.0074 4 Pole 7 Amp Relay 24vdc Coil at the best online prices at eBayThe same process applies to a portable star tracker and is completed via the built-in polar finder scope.

Pole Finder Free Software Called

A polar scope makes aligning the polar axis of this mount with the North celestial pole much easier.Celestron telescope mounts are equipped with a feature called All-Star Polar Alignment. All of the telescope mounts on the list above include a polar alignment scope (depending on the version you order), with the exception of the Celestron CGEM. It is very similar to the following models:The Sky-Watcher HEQ5 in this example features a built-in polar scope with an illuminated reticle. This is a very popular telescope mount for beginner to intermediate astrophotography enthusiasts. The Drift align method can be used in either hemisphere by using free software called PHD2 guiding.The equipment used in this example a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 German equatorial mount.

The mobile version of Stellarium is a fantastic tool to use when you are outside under the stars. Polaris can be spotted in the sky quite easily, as it is much brighter than any surrounding stars in the immediate area.Use the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper to help you locate Polaris.Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris – “The North Star”Use a free planetarium software such as Stellarium to help you learn the night sky and its constellations from your location on Earth. This can be accomplished by physically moving your tripod and mount at dusk, and aiming the polar axis in a general North direction. Finding Polaris – The North StarStart by roughly aligning your telescope mount in the direction of the North Celestial Pole. It’s not absolutely necessary, but at least you’ll know that the star is completely centered, rather than “close enough”. This method is handy if you own a Celestron mount, and Polaris is not in view.You’ll want to use an illuminated reticle eyepiece with a crosshair to center the star in your field of view.

I prefer to make a visual observation at nightfall to align with Polaris. Otherwise, you’ll have to rotate the tripod and possibly re-level. I like to place a level on the tripod before the mount is attached and make sure it is level on each axis.It is important to note that the tripod needs to be pointing North before leveling. Many german equatorial mounts have a bubble level built-in. An uneven tripod will result in an inaccurate position of your mount in relation to the altitude scale. Level the TripodMake sure that the tripod of your telescope mount is as level as possible.

The telescope mount should have a latitude scale posted on one side, with an indicator of what latitude your mount is currently in line with. It’s the latitude we’re interested in.This is the coordinate we will use to adjust the position of the telescope mount to align with the North celestial pole. Adjust the AltitudeNext, you’ll want to find the latitude and longitude coordinates for your location.

Position Polaris using PolarFinderA mobile app such as PolarFinder will tell you the exact spot to position the North Star for a near-perfect polar alignment.The app uses your mobile device’s GPS to automatically calculate the position of Polaris for your latitude and longitude. On the Sky-Watcher HEQ5, the declination needs to be rotated 90° for a clear view through the polar scope. You may be able to crouch down and see Polaris through the polar scope reticule at this point.It is now a matter of moving the mount left or right until Polaris comes into view.Depending on the telescope mount, the view through the polar scope may be obstructed when the telescope is in the rest position. The overall weight of the telescope attached will determine how hard it will be to turn the bolts.By this point, the telescope mount should be roughly aligned with the height of the North Star. To turn one bolt, the other has to be loosened.If your telescope has already been attached to the mount, turning these bolts can be hard. My latitude happens to be 43° N, so the altitude adjustment scale is set to 43.The altitude adjustment bolts can be a little difficult to get the hang of.

This will ensure that nothing moves or shifts during your observations or astrophotography.If you are experiencing tracking issues or severe star-trailing in your images, it may be useful to re-check your Polar alignment later on. At this point, Polaris should be very close to the exact position for a near-perfect Polar Alignment for the night.Remember to tighten the adjustment bolts and knobs when you are satisfied with the accuracy of your placement. Continue this balancing act until the North star appears in the approximate horizontal plane that was displayed in PolarFinder.Now, go back to the Altitude adjustment bolts to raise or lower the mount further. Polaris should have moved to either the left or the right.

It displays this information on a screen so you can quickly make the adjustment to the mount.The nice part about the PoleMaster is, you don’t need to kneel down or contort your body to look through the polar finder scope, or worry about entering the time and date to the handset. Along with the device, you’ll need to order the correct adapter for your specific EQ mount model.The QHY PoleMaster Electronic Polar Alignment DeviceThe QHY PoleMaster uses a high sensitivity camera to capture an image of the northern sky to calculate where true north is. The QHY PoleMaster is a high-precision electronic polar alignment scope. The QHY PoleMasterIt’s worth mentioning the PoleMaster device here, although I have not used one myself. These compact little mounts can rotate along with the night sky for long-exposure astrophotography, but they must be polar aligned accurately to work properly. SharpCap can help you align the RA axis of your telescope mount with the NCP by comparing images.The same process applies when using a small star tracker to take wide-angle nightscapes using a camera and lens.

For those lucky enough to have a permanent home observatory, you can be sure that every measure was taken to ensure that the telescope mount and pier were precisely polar aligned.The beauty of a permanent setup in an observatory is, that the polar alignment process only needs to be done once.