Polar alignment

[Paolo2710]

So could it work? I attach image.

[admin]

Hi,

It's certainly worth a try. Remember that you can run the polar alignment all the way through to the stage where it tells you your alignment error without needing a licence. If that all works okay without any problems then you should be good for the full polar alignment routine.

Cheers, Robin

[Paolo2710]

I tried using Sharpcap's polar alignment. For 3 evenings it worked fine.
On the other 2 evenings, however, he was unable to keep the reference stars fixed.
So the error ranged from excellent 0.14, to 0.55 good. I tried to change the exposure values but it did not lead to the desired results.
Do you have any suggestions?

Paolo.

[admin]

Hi,

I suggest some careful experimentation with both the exposure and the star detection settings that you see in the first page of the polar alignment routine. What you are looking for are settings where the stars that are highlighted in yellow boxes are consistent from frame to frame and the yellow boxes themselves are as steady as possible around those stars. SharpCap usually tries to stick with the same reference star once the adjustment has started, but it will move to an alternative star if the current reference star moves off screen or is not picked up for some other reason.

For some initial settings, consider resetting all the star detection settings to default in the polar alignment window, setting the exposure to 2 seconds and turning up the camera again certainly above the halfway point and possibly to almost maximum.

Hope this helps, Robin

[Paolo2710]

I have used typical settings at all times

[admin]

Hi,

If you continue to have problems the next best thing to do is to capture a frame from the camera while you are aligning – just press the snapshot button – post the image here in PNG or JPG format and include the camera settings that you used to capture it and we can give more advice.

Cheers, Robin

[Paolo2710]

Ok thanks

[AussieHowie]

Robin ... I know I can shoot jpegs with DSLR and via the Monitored folder I can livestack jpegs (without any ASCOM drivers etc). Will the PA routine use the monitored folder as the source for the images?

[admin]

Hi,

An interesting question – I've never tried it and I'm really not sure whether it would work or not. If anyone does give it a go I'd be interesting to hear the results!

Cheers, Robin