Adjusting the Polar Alignment Reticle with Polar Scope Align Pro
?I have been working on fine tuning my PA process with the Losmandy Polar Scope and am using Polar Scope Align Pro with the Kenko reticle. My starting setup as I begin this process is RA pointed north, CWD position. I have been using my watch display (synced to my iPhone) to determine the setting of the reticle, and rotating the reticle to match my watch orientation, and going from there. But Tim says the reticle can be find tuned (¡°adjusted¡±). I thought I would try it, but found myself confused.
Picking up Tim¡¯s guidance on adjusting the PS reticle, he writes:
There¡¯s is an iOS app called ¡°Polar Scope Align Pro¡± ...??Having done this, rotate the scope in RA until the Polaris line in the reticle is straight up/down (verticle). You can adjust the altitude knob on the mount to make sure Polaris glides up and down along this line.?
The?'scope'?in this sentence refers to the polar scope, not the OTA, correct? Actually, to do a PA with the polar scope, I don¡¯t need the OTA mounted at all, correct? If I ¡®rotate the?(polar)?²õ³¦´Ç±è±ð¡¯, I assume this means rotating it *within the RA axis housing*, not rotating the entire RA axis, correct?
Next, in the app, tap?the ¡°Set zero position¡± and a sub-menu asks you to read the current RA value on the ²õ³¦´Ç±è±ð¡¯s setting circle. ? ?Enter the value and click ¡®done¡¯. ?
This confuses me, b/c if I have rotated the polar scope within its housing, I have not changed the ¡°RA value on the ²õ³¦´Ç±è±ð¡¯s setting circle¡± at all. It has stayed the same, and was set when I started with the mount in the CWD position.??Is this correct?
Back on the main screen it will now provide a ¡°Zero Adjusted¡± RA time. ?Rotate the mount in RA to the zero-adjusted value (watching the setting circle on the mount). ?
"Rotate the mount in RA" now means rotating the entire RA axis, housing, Polar Scope and all, either by hand or with the HC buttons, correct?
The?¡°Zero Adjusted¡± RA time?on the setting circles does not seem clear to me either. There are two scales of 24 hours on top of each other, counting in different directions. Which one is the proper one to calibrate?
That¡¯s it¡ your polar alignment reticle is now *perfectly* adjusted.?
But it does not match the orientation on my watch face anymore, because I just 'adjusted' it, does it?
I may be *way confused* on all this, and I¡¯d be glad for some clarity!!
Thanks,
Geoff
