Polar Alignment or B U S T !!!

[SteveS]

I am a newbie to astrophotography but am committed to getting my setup configured and running properly.
Mount: EQ6-R-PRO
Scope: Skywatcher Esprit 100 ED
Main camera: QHY268C
Guide Camera: ASI290 (ZWO)
Software: APT, PHD2, Platesolve2,Sharpcap, All Sky Plate Solver, Polemaster, Pegasus Astro, ASCOM Platform, Stellarium

I can not get my scope polar aligned: Tried 3 nights with Polemaster and 3 nights with Sharpcap.
Last nights experience was very frustrating. In Sharpcap I was able to successfully get step 1 completed but could not get step 2 to solve no matter what. In step 1 I can see that I am well with 5 degrees of Polaris, can see the green center rings around Polaris, I can plate solve anything fine here. When I hit next and go to rotate RA (either way) I have plenty of stars but never get a calculated error. How can my RA be so far off?

[admin]

Hi Steve,

sorry to hear you are having problems. There are a few things to check...

1) What is your guide camera field of view? You don't mention what you are using as a guide scope - if it's a typical 200mm focal length finder/guider then that should be fine, but if it's a longer focal length (or an OAG) then the field of view of the guide camera could be on the small side for polar alignment - maybe that causes issues

2) If you have a guide scope, is it fairly well aligned with the main scope/mount ? While a misalignment doesn't really cause problems in general for SharpCap's polar alignment, it could push the second field of view too far from the pole if the first field is already near the edge of the 5-7 degree working area. You can use the whole sky plate solving in SharpCap (Tools-> Plate Solve Only) to check the co-ordinates that you end up looking at in the second image.

There are more things listed here that might be worth trying : https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Troubl ... 0Alignment

In the end though, if all else fails, snapshot a pair of images (one before rotation, one after) and then share them here so that I can have a look and advise further.

cheers,

Robin

[SteveS]

My guide scope is Williams Optics Uniguide. 200 mm focal length and 50 mm aperture.

I will snap a few pics when the weather allows.

I also just purchased "Polar Scope Align Pro" and built a small plate to allow me to place my ipad onto my mount.
I will then be able to complete a "rough polar alignment" BEFORE I move ahead with SC or Polemaster polar alignment.

Fingers crossed!
If I am able to get a good alignment, then I will move on to my next set of learning curve obstacles, so stay tuned for more noob questions....