Christopher
Erickson Consulting Engineer Summit Kinetics Waikoloa, HI
96738 www.summitkinetics.com
From: ap-gto@...
[mailto:ap-gto@...] Sent: Monday, September 01, 2014 8:17
AM To: ap-gto@... Subject: RE: [ap-gto] Polar
laser
Kyle,
I
think you’re making it more difficult than you need to. Yes, I’ve had
trouble in the past getting my mount close enough to True North to get Polaris
in the PA scope’s FOV, but since discovering a simple and cheap SmartPhone
compass APP, I don’t have that problem any more.
The
APP I’m using is called “Smart Compass” and it’s for Android devices. The
free version doesn’t convert to True North, but the “Pro” version does.
The APP uses your device’s camera and superimposes the compass rose over the
camera’s image. So I just stand back a couple of feet from the mount (to
get the phone and compass away from any magnetic parts) and stand so the tripod
leg pointing North is centered between the back two legs – and then rotate the
tripod until the compass lines everything up to True
North.
It’s
amazingly accurate and fast. And I think it cost me less than $3.00.
Using this method for aligning to True North and an electronic level to set the
mount’s altitude to a 1/10th of a degree, I can get quick-and-dirty
PA so close, my solar scope stays centered on the sun for an hour. And I
can do it during the day or any time I can’t see Polaris.
This
method isn’t accurate enough for real imaging, but it’s good enough for solar,
and most definitely gets Polaris in your FOV.
Woody
From:
ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...] Sent: Monday,
September 01, 2014 4:50 AM To:
ap-gto@... Subject: [ap-gto] Polar
laser
Has anyone mounted a green laser pointer to the polar axis of a mount to aid
in initial rough polar alignment when setting up the mount in an unfamiliar
location? I find it sometimes takes me a bit of initial adjustment to get
Polaris in the polar finder. I usually use a compass and set latitude before
dark but if I don't know the magnetic north offset at the location I can still
end up off.
