38
PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS
• Use the scroll keys to browse through a list of star names and press the
ENTER
key to
pick one as the reference star for polar alignment.
• The mount will start slewing to point the telescope to the reference star.
4.
Use the direction keys to center the reference star in the eyepiece of the telescope after
the mount stops slewing. Remember to end the centering operation with
Up
and
Right
di-
rection keys. Press the
ENTER
key to proceed to the next step.
5.
The screen will now display the polar alignment error in altitude (Mel=dd°mm’ss”). Users
can then use the data to determine whether or not to adjust the altitude of the R.A. axis in
the next step. Press the ENTER key to proceed.
6.
The mount will slew to a new position. When it stops, the screen will display “Adjust Alti-
tude:”. By using ONLY the altitude control of the mount (do not touch the azimuth control),
bring the reference star back to the closest point to the center of the FOV of the telescope’s
eyepiece. Remember the reference star’s current position in the eyepiece for later adjust-
ment. Press the ENTER key to confirm the centering operation.
7.
The screen will now display the polar alignment error. Users can then use the data to deter-
mine whether or not to adjust the azimuth of the mount in the next step. Press the ENTER
key again to proceed to the next step.
8.
The mount will slew to a new position. When it stops, the screen will display “Adjust Azi-
muth:” By using ONLY the azimuth control of the mount (do not touch the altitude control),
bring the reference star back to the closest point to the previous position (at the end of Step
6). Press the ENTER key to confirm the centering operation.
9.
The screen will display the polar alignment error again, press the ENTER button to end the
polar alignment process.
10.
Go back to the “
Alignment
” menu on the SynScan hand control and execute another 2-Star
or 3-Star alignment, and then check the polar alignment error data reported at the end of
the 2-star alignment or 3-star alignment. Repeat Step 2 to Step 9 until the error is small
enough and acceptable. Generally, users can get up to 1 arc-minute polar alignment accu-
racy after repeating this polar alignment process 2 or 3 times.
Note:
• Users can press the
ESC
key at any time during the polar alignment process to exit.The
initial polar alignment should not be too far off to avoid the polar alignment error in azimuth
axis from exceeding the adjustment range of the mount.
• It is necessary to use a reticle eyepiece in the 2-Star alignment, 3-star alignment and polar
alignment process.
• Generally, the cone error in a telescope-mount setup might reduce the accuracy of this
polar alignment process. Therefore, it is recommended to reduce or eliminate the cone
error before the polar alignment process
(Refer to
APPENDIX 1 : ELIMINATING CONE ERROR
ON EQUATORIAL MOUNTS
)
.
