8
Polar Aligning an Equatorial Mount
The following procedure shows the polar alignment of an NEQ6 mount. This
procedure can be adapted to most equatorial mounts.
Step 1 : Place the Tripod in position so that the
locating lug seen in this picture is facing roughly North.
If you are using your telescope in the same place every
time, ie a patio, it’s a good idea to mark the patio in
some way so you can quickly put it back in the same
position each time.
Step 2 : Level the tripod in all directions. I use a
small level as this is much more accurate than
the bubble levels built into mounts. Once this is
done place the mount head on the tripod and
tighten the bolt underneath
Step 3 : Roughly set your altitude using the
altitude bolts. You can find this info using
your phone/ Google maps etc. I use a free
app for the iPhone called Scope Help that has
a few useful features .
The following steps 4, 5 and 6 only need doing the first time you set up the
mount.
Step 4 : Now loosen off the RA clutch and rotate the mount though 90 degrees.
Place the level on the
counter weight shaft and get it perfectly level before locking the clutch. Adjust
the RA clock by loosening the
small screws and
rotating the clock ring until the
arrow is pointing to 6 o’clock
and lock the ring in place. Now
loosen the RA clutch again and
rotate in RA so that the clock
OAS EZINE