goto aligning

[james and james mceachern]

the book on the 21$ walmart scope says put tube horizontal position facing north but i thought you get polaris centered in the ep which is it?

[gnhuftalen]

I dont know how the $21 scope works, but all of the Meade ETX and LX90 non GPS scopes (497 Autostar like mine) ask you to point to the North Star and level the OTA. So, "Point north, tube level." No need to have Polaris centered in the EP.

[NGC7000]

You put the tube in alignment with Polaris only when the fork mounted scopes are in EQ mode. I would think yours will be an alt/az situation, so level the mount and put the tube at horizontal facing celestial north.

Tom

[gnhuftalen]

Tom Wrote:

...horizontal facing celestial north.

Tom is exactly correct. I had already assumed that you would be aligning in Alt/Az. When I align my LX90 in Alt/AZ, to assure that I am spot on North, I level the tripod using a torpedo level, mount the scope, Point the OTA at Polaris, center Polaris and then bring the OTA back down to level and then check the level with the torpedo level along the tube. I know this may seem excessive and a lot of steps, but it is best to break it down in the beginning, because these steps will assure success.

Although it is necessary to center Polaris in the FOV when in Polar mode, it is not in Alt/Az. I only add the step in Alt/Az so that North is not "guesstimated." Once the OTA is leveled, it is in "home position." Then start the GOTO alignment procedure. Good luck.

[scope potato]

Hi George It's Been a while since I've talked to you I found this thread and I figured to engage you in some alignment conversation. .Can you breifly go through the upgrade and conversion to an eq format. Acording to info I recieved on the meade upgrade site the upgrade now recognises someeq mounts and from what I understand the only thing I have to change is the gear ratios. I am setting up the eq5 mount for the 497/ds units as soon as I get it.The only other thing I've got to send away for is the tripod top plate. By any chance, do you know the number of teeth on the output shafts on an antares eq 5 ??The only reason I want to put it on that mount is that on the exhisting mount I have because iI had to modify it, there's a little play in it and I am assuming the computer resolution will be hampered. With the new mount it's just a matter of making adaptors to connect the worm drive of the scope to the output of the ds units, which seems to be a no brainer. Well, we shall see. Any comments George?? Jerry

[gnhuftalen]

Jerry, even though it will be raining at Saturdays meeting, I will have my laptop, cables and will be ready to set up your scope. Mark or Tom may be able to help you with gear ratios, etc. as I only know the workings of Fork-mounted telescopes. I do, however, have the Meade Updater Software on my laptop and the latest patched file. Bring your scope, 497 Handbox, cables, and we can go to work.

[scope potato]

Hi George you say all I need is the 497 and the cable??Sounds good to me . Go figuer 5 clear nights in a row I guess we would be asking for three more in a row, but that's only in a perfect world. Oh well I'll just bide my time and I guess patience is the first thing an astronomer must have. Thank you George hopefully I'll see you sat. night I'll bring two new people who are joining. Jerry

[scope potato]

Question, Who made the first commercial go to scope? And when was it made?? Jerry

[gnhuftalen]

Sorry, Jerry, you'll need to bring the scope and the base that the 497 plugs into(where the 497 gets it's power) and the scope's AC or DC power source.

[scope potato]

OK George,I'll bring the scope with all that is needed.Jerry