Polar Alignment App Part 1 of 2 - Position of Polaris and Daytime Alignment Preview
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2018
- PLEASE NOTE: There is no Android version of this, even though there are look alikes. The Pro version is $1.99, not $2.99 as stated. Polar Scope Align Pro is an excellent app to get the position of Polaris for use when polar aligning my CEM60. It also has a really nice daytime polar alignment routine that is shown in a live demo. It's useful for many different mount manufacturers.
Video was edited to focus more on PSA Pro and the Daytime Alignment feature
I never saw a more versatile application for what was designed.
Works great! Did it, then went inside and opened Stellarium on my PC, which is linked to my HEQ5 Pro mount, and it was bang on. Tonight will be the true test.
Got the app after watching this.... It's fantastic thanks for the video 👍
Well explained. Thanks for putting this together. Now I want to rush to the campsite and set up to try it out.
Nice little presentation...very helpful
Great video. thanks!
Daytime align seems like a good way to align an AZ-GTI in EQ mode.
Well Jeff this worked out well. My set up is an a deck with view to south, and east, partial west. Followed your guidance and set. Created a contraption to hold phone to mount and set up; daytime. For the record, I have zero view of Polaris due to obstruction from house. Once dark and alignment possible, did that, problems with focus (new scope and mount). Probs fixed two star alignment only 1 calib star. Went to Mars. Drift was minimal from what I’m used to, note only alt az before this point. Mars in view for better than 15- 30 mins without any corrections. Got zwo out and took decent/good pic. Post prcessing - PIPP- registax didn’t move at all... none! Mount Celestron eqg 5. Scope explore scientific 127 C.F.
That's awesome!! Glad to hear it worked out for you!
I've got to try this; My deck points in the same direction as yours with my house blocking Polaris!
Fantastic video :)
Hi Jeff. I am the developer of Polar Scope Align and just noticed your review. First of all thanks for the review - I am glad you enjoy the app.
Just a small clarification since you focused at the Daytime Alignment tool and it might not be obvious: It is not intended to replace polar scope alignment, as it is not very accurate (mainly in regards to the Azimuth). It is fine for visual use and it is OK when it's is your only option, but it is nowhere near the polar scope accuracy and not an option for deep space astrophotography. Daytime alignment was added for the 2017 Solar Eclipse (along with the DSLR exposure calculator), when I used it myself on the field and it was enough to keep the Sun in my Equinox 80's field of view for 2-3 hours, but I just wanted to make sure users don't see it as a replacement for the polar scope, especially if they try astrophotography.
PS. Curious, was the "it's $2.99" a mistake? You seem to be in the US where it should be $1.99...
Thanks for the clarification!! I added a note to the description of both videos for the $1.99 price. I still use this regularly to get close to aligned. You are correct in respect to using for visual. Those doing astrophotography will still need to drift align or at least use the polar scope to fine tune their alignment. Thanks for an awesome product!!
Thanks for creating this app! I use it every time I polar align. As for the daytime alignment tool, I find that creating a jig of some sort out of wood, and of good length, helps to get the phone away from the metal on the mount which helps with accuracy - but only to a point. For visual it's a pretty nice feature.
Thanks for building such a great app. The magnifier is especially good for those of us with eyesight that is not as good as it used to be. Question though...I noticed the other night that the information (hour angle and radius) were different than what I was getting in my CEM60 hand controller. At the time I recall them being different by almost 30 mins. I checked the Long, Lat & time information and both the CEM60 & your App were exactly the same in that regard and yet the position to be placed on the retical were different....Any Ideas?
It looks to me like the daytime alignment tool could be a useful aid for nighttime alignment to at least get the tracker in the ballpark and then fine tune through the scope. One of the problems in dark sky conditions is there are so many stars visible it can be difficult to find Polaris. Even with the correct latitude set and pointing the tracker as close to north as I can reasonably get, I often still have trouble identifying Polaris through the scope. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping the daytime alignment tool will get me close enough that Polaris will be visible through the scope the first time, and I won't have to hunt for it and hope 'm pointing at Polaris and not some impostor.
I installed your app today .. unfortunately the polar north just can't center it .. everything goes somewhere else (a little further down and a lot to the left) .. I tried both with iPhone and IPad .. nothing
I'm so sorry .. do you have any suggestions?
Love it
The holder for the iPad -- did you buy that or make it? Looks very handy.
I made it out of 1/4" plywood and glue. Pretty easy.
Are you really in Kenosha,Wi.?
Im Out With My New Eqm35 Pro..Thank You..New Sub❤️🔭🌏
Does this assume an inverted view thru the polar scope?
It's pretty good, but metal mounts disrupt the compass in the phone.
Do I need to remove the phone case?
It is just a normal plastic one.
is an Android equivalent (alternative) available?
i need to set the latitude 51 degrees but is it to high for my meade teleschope it is ridiglous but true so no polaris . the screw is just to short .
Can this procedure work if u have an obstructed view of Polaris? Does the app have function similar to what is described in this vid if not. I have the app but just got GoTo eq mount.
I would say yes in order to get you close, but without a view of Polaris a polar alignment scope would be useless to fine tune, so you'd have to drift align once it's dark. Hope this helps.
Do you happen to know if the app would work on an Ioptron ZEQ25GT for daytime polar alignment?
I think as long as you can get the device flat on the declination plate it will work. See video 2 for a demo of this.
When we going to see a picture
hi jeff should we use magnetic north or true north ?
This helps you align your mount to the north celestial pole, or true north. It doesn't ask you to put in any numbers for magnetic declination/offset.
Hmmm, I need that at night. There's a cliff to the north so I can't see Polaris.
Does the app only work for the CEM60? Particularly would the daytime alignment work with a fork mount?
Disregard question. Figured it out with another called SkEye. Thanks for the video.
Several types of EQ mounts (polar scopes) are shown at about 4:20 in the video.
I think it would work for a fork mount if it's on a wedge. Then you would have to figure a way to attach it to the wedge plate before mounting the OTA. Haven't seen SkEye, I'll check it out, thanks!!
A helpful blog post from when the Daytime Alignment feature of this app was released: astro.ecuadors.net/daytime-polar-alignment-for-the-2017-solar-eclipse-of-course/
It shows 4 daytime alignment methods, of which only the first requires this particular app. For a wedge as you figured out it is "method 3" using SkEye or similar planetarium app - but it has caveats (in that you still have to deal with magnetic interference).
Man my compass never seems to work well
I have this but cannot find the alignment function you describe. Mine does not open to the screen you show.
Hit Polaris, then Scope on the bottom left of the circle, then day alignment is at the bottom of the screen.
What's the margin of error?
This isn't very accurate because it relies on wonky magnetometers in phones, and it also sits on metal mount. It's for very rough estimates only.
I have a sct fork, clock drive mount. Im in the southern hemisphere will it work for me?
Just take a screenshot and pinch zoom if you don’t have the pro version to magnify.
I did that a few times. Works like a charm!!
What settings to use in iphone compass? "Use true North" ON or OFF?
TRUE North
Yes true north since magnetic declination varies around the world. Can be positive or negative 30 degrees. Polaris is around true north. Remember being around a lot of metal will throw a compass off. I think phones use magnetic then adjust to make true north so watch out for metal near phone. Stepping back from metal device or poles aligning to check can help verify.
Polar Scope Align Pro accesses true north independently from the iPhone compass setting. The only way the app (or any app) cannot get true north from the system is when "compass calibration" is disabled in your ios settings. However, unlike other apps, even in that case the app can still calculate the true north from the magnetic north using the world magnetic model - it will warn you when it will do so.
@@nightwaves3203 I'm using whats called Sky Map. It gets the true north part correct but then messes up on a lot of other stuff.
It's not a bad app to get you looking in the right part of the sky but not perfect. There are other versions too.
where do have the phone while doing this??
OH I see, you have a specialty part.
Every mount should have LCD controller, camera ,GPS, and other sensors that can help with the alignment. There is no reason to struggle with polar alignment where the tech in my crappy phone can do it...
Very true! Thankfully mounts are getting closer and closer to that.
The free version has ads which ruins night vision. I'm hesitant to give them money if they want it so badly they're willing to ruin the experience rather than upsell you on the free version's own merits.
I'm a bit puzzled by your comment. Most people actually do upgrade the app because of the free version's own merits, and those that do not are glad there is a free option out there that tries to use unobtrusive ads (it is a small banner at the bottom that is red-tinted and darkened as much as I can get away with it). The other apps don't have free versions, so you have to buy them, usually to find out they are disappointing. On Android where there is no Polar Scope Align the situation is even worse, e.g. there's a pretty basic free app that every now and then throws a full screen full brightness advert that completely blinds you, or you can pay to get various mediocre apps...
No, I do not want your money badly, I do it for fun (the revenue/effort ratio is horrible!), but the paid version is the way to receive people's appreciation and makes up my astro gear budget. That's why I continue to add new requested features after all these years to everyone including those 20 users that still use an iPhone 4*...
*Apple store rules will break required iOS 7 features this year, so next version will probably be the last compatible.
**Update: it is now iOS 9 minimum due to app store requirements, but still runs fine on even iPhone 4S.
Not a good ap. Android is affected by the steel in the mount and so the alignment is worthless.
Yeah it'll get you close but you'll still need to drift align.
The Android version doesn't even have half those apps and cost even more than Apple version, Total Ripoff and not worth it.
Oh wow! That's good to know. Thanks for the input!
Just to clarify, there is no Android version of Polar Scope Align. And there are no plans to make one unfortunately. You might see similarly named apps on Android (one is a bit suspiciously similar in name), but they are unrelated and look/work nothing like Polar Scope Align.