Using Sharpcap polar align with Celestron AVX mount

[pmg]

Does anyone know how I would use Sharpcap Pro polar align with the Celestron AVX mount. I have been using this feature with an iEXOS-100 mount and I really did not need to do anything - I just followed the Sharpcap instructions and the iEXOS just defaulted to assuming the mount was aligned and worked perfectly. Will the Celestron mount work the same way or do I need to tell it something after following the Sharpcap procedures?

[admin]

Hi,

I haven't personally used a Celestron EQ mount, but I suspect that you will need to do a 1, 2 or 3 star alignment using the handset after the polar align is complete. If your polar alignment is good and you are also using plate solving in SharpCap to recenter targets that are a bit out of view then you can probably get away with a 1 star align (the two and three star versions use the extra info to try to calculate and correct for polar alignment and cone error issues).

cheres,

Robin

[turfpit]

pmg

I have a Celestron AVX mount. This is the procedure I follow to align the mount.

• Turn off the mount

• Polar alignment via a polarscope or Sharpcap

• Ensure the the RA and DEC index marks are aligned

• Turn on the mount

• Choose 2 star align

• Follow the handset instructions for 2 calibration stars (to the west)

• Use alignment stars (up to 4) to the east, I always use 4 alignment stars

• Check alignment on the handset

• Optional - perform an All Star Polar Align (ASPA), I always do this

• Check alignment on the handset

The procedure takes me 15-20 minutes. Attention to detail of the above will ensure a happy capture session.

Tip: when slewing to a star try to finish the slew with UP and RIGHT keys on the hand controller to eliminate mechanical backlash.

The hand controller will need to be configured with time, date, location.

This is the result of an alignment check after completing ASPA showing accuracy to within a second.

ASPA-result.JPG (33.01 KiB) Viewed 1177 times

Dave