The ieq45 is fitted with a polar alignment scope that incorporates an illuminated reticule. In other way i have read that ioptron is a serious company with excellent products. Simple if the procedure is too complex it will be prone to error. Improved the algorithm of two star polar alignment. Adapters are available for ioptron equatorial mounts and adapters for other brand mounts are available through a third party. Polar alignment is an essential part of your telescope set up process. Polar alignment routine for an ieq45 newbie mounts cloudy. Polar alignment with obstruction ipolar by ioptron. I kept getting star trails which i later realised may have been due to the fact that i had it set to half speed. Obviously there could be others that i am not aware of. Designed to mount externally, the ioptron ipolar electronic polar scope installs on an array of mounts using optional adapters to give you the ability to use the ipolar even if your mount doesnt have a polar scope port in the ra axis the ipolar brings the ubiquitous polar alignment scope into the 21st century by utilizing a digital camera and the downloadable computer software for your. Qhy polemaster adapter for ioptron ieq4530 and losmandy g811. I have used several methods of polar alignment over the years. The method how we achieve it is called polar alignment and it starts with a rough alignment of the ra axis.
Download polar scope align pro and enjoy it on your iphone, ipad, and. Nov 28, 2014 this tutorial will show you how to control a ioptron telescope mount with a computer or laptop by using the free stellarium planetarium software. Tutorial on how to control an ioptron mount with stellarium. Polar scope align will calculate the position of polaris or. Qhy polemaster adapter for ioptron ieq4530 and losmandy g811 mount. Works globally, no need to set northern and southern. Which is better, the orion atlas eqg or the ioptron ieq45. The ipolar brings the ubiquitous polar alignment scope into the 21st century by utilizing a digital camera and the downloadable computer software for your windows pc to provide accurate polar alignment anywhere on earth, even if your pole stars arent visible or the night is cloudy or suffers from light pollution. Qhyccd ieq45ieq30 mount adapter for ioptron polemaster. When these two symbols are aligned they represent a precise polar alignment, allowing you to get the best performance possible from your ieq30 or ieq45 equatorial mount. Youll need to enter in your latlong coordinates of your location, which you can easily find online or using the gps on your phone. Ive just recently purchased a green laser pointer, so i will give your rig a go to see if it helps. The ioptron ieq45 can be used in either altaz or equatorial modes.
Ninian boyle setting up the mount it altaz mode was very easy and doing a star alignment so the computer knew where everything was, proved very straightforward. Achieving a high precision polar alignment is not an easy feat. Using with our smart phone app, quick and accurate polar alignment is just a joy. Polar scope align is designed to be accurate within a. Introductory price new ioptron ipolar a high precision, easy to use electronic polarscope.
Since then it has gone through a few revisions so i thought it would be interesting to revisit it and see what, if anything, had changed or, more importantly, improved. When astronomical observations or imaging is done using an equatorial telescope mount, the rightascension ra axis should be parallel with the rotation axis of the earth to avoid startrails and errors in guiding. Polar scope align will calculate the position of polaris or octantis in your polar scope reticle for your location using your phones gps, allowing a quick. The software takes you through a sequential series of steps leading you to very accurate polar alignment. Ive had trouble since, mostly because i am not sure i know how to properly gain accurate zero position.
Refer to the ieq45 user manual for instructions on how to align the polar scope to the mount. Can be used on any mounts with adapters either internally or externally. Hiya, i recently treated myself to the ioptron skytracker and tried it out for the first the the other night. The reticule is in the form of a clock dial with concentric circles for use in either the northern and southern hemispheres. For me, the ideal polar alignment procedure should be. If polaris position changes or moves away from the radial circle, it may be due to the polar scope axis not being aligned to the mounts axis. Polar align your ieq45 with help from the included accualign dark field illumination polar scope. I recently bought my first tracking mount, ioptron skyguider pro, and found it much easier to find polar alignment with this app. Aug 21, 2016 i have some experience with both of these mounts as well as several others. Polar align with polar finder scopes electronic polar. Currently i use the alignmaster software with my cem60 for polar alignment with good success. All 4 tracking rates work in both northern and southern hemispheres. Today were proud to provide quality products direct to your doorstep through an experience youll enjoy.
Jun 20, 2019 the ioptron ipolar polar alignment software. Accualign tm polar scope with darkfield illumination and quick polar alignment procedure, allowing for fast and accurate polar alignment. Includes adapter for ioptron cem60 mounts internal. The new ioptron ipolar electronic polarscope is a quick, easy way to accurately polar align your mount, even when you cannot see the pole star. Although all of these methods work with varying results, i am not really happy with most of them for one reason or another. An ioptrons centerbalanced equatorial mount cem, such as cem25 and cem60, which equipped with an all time accessible polar scope, will allow you to. Polar scope align for ios free download and software. Polemaster electronic polar scope installation and user. Sep 25, 2016 hiya, i recently treated myself to the ioptron skytracker and tried it out for the first the the other night. This package is outfitted with a wide array of precision.
The app now using a 10 minute marker reticle, the same reticle used in the polar scope of ioptron r telescope mount since 2014. As an iopton newbie ive been a long time celestron user im looking for any cn experts who are willing to share their polar align routine. Polar aligning with the ioptron polar scope the basics. The ioptron ipolar external electronic polar scope brings the ubiquitous polar alignment scope into the 21st century by utilizing a digital camera and the downloadable computer software for your windows pc to provide accurate polar alignment anywhere on earth, even if your pole stars arent visible or the night is cloudy or suffers from light pollution. You also need to set the rotation center of the mount, which can be calibrated after clicking the clear rotation center button onscreen. Polar alignment with obstruction ipolar by ioptron youtube.
Approximate daytime no polarscope polar alignment tool. An ioptron s centerbalanced equatorial mount cem, such as cem25 and cem60, which equipped with an all time accessible polar scope, will allow you to make a quick and precise polar alignment in a few minutes. Same for solar alignmenta little difficult to find a way to mount the phone which is not the apps fault, but kept the sun in my cameras viewfinder at 500mm for more than an hour. Not least because the reason that i bought one was because i wanted a portable, affordable mount for astroimaging purposes. Ninian boyle the ioptron ieq45 telescope mount was looked at in this magazine a couple of years ago see astronomy now, october 2011. I spent a few years runing the loaner scope program for my club, which has a pretty good ineventory of telescopes and mounts.
An integrated electronic polar scope ipolar makes polar alignment a breeze, even when the pole star is obscured. The zeq25 polar scope cannot be aligned to the mounts axis by the user, the adjustments are buried within the mount housing. Tpoint by software bisque, used in conjunction with thesky tpoint will provide polar alignment data which can be used to polar align the mount. The ioptron ipolar utilizes an electronic camera that is aligned with both the axes of your mount. Ioptron ipolar electronic polarscope sponsor announcements. Using experience gained during the development of their cem series, ioptron have removed unnecessary weight resulting in a portable 7. Introduction and polar alignment walkthrough duration. Two different things ioptron used to sell a branded version of the polemaster which was identical, apart from the branding.
A precise polar alignment is also important, which can be done using the builtin polar finder, or with the aid of the ipolar electronic polarscope accessory. How to polar align your telescope mount eq polar alignment. It provides a fast and accurate polar axis alignment with quick polar alignment procedure. However, you still need to bend yourself, or knee down on the ground to perform the polar alignment. Accurate polar alignment has never been so simple, just put the x on the spot. The following is a list of all the polar alignment software that i am aware of. Jan 22, 2014 5 thoughts on ioptron skytracker mount and polar alignment anonymous 30 may 2014 at 11. Large levers on the quicklock drive engagement system make it easy to snap its drive gears into place even when wearing gloves. It all started with a great idea and a little hard work. I wanted to test the pointing accuracy over a large sweep of the sky so sent the telescope to view m31 in andromeda, which. The best aid for this is to use a polar finder scope with a reticle.
A must have for ioptron r skyguider pro, ioptron r skytracker. Download polar scope align and enjoy it on your iphone, ipad, and ipod touch. Has anybody got any of the digital two star polar alignment routines of the hc got to work with ioptrons september firmware. Polar alignment routine for an ieq45 newbie posted in mounts. But i also had a lot of trouble with the polar alignment and i. I intend to include more detailed comparisons, but in the short term, i hope that the following is useful. Jun 07, 2019 two different things ioptron used to sell a branded version of the polemaster which was identical, apart from the branding. Octantis in your polar scope reticle for your location using your phones gps, allowing a quick and accurate polar alignment. Adapter are available for ioptron equatorial mounts and adapters for other brand mounts are available through a third party. The skytracker tm pro features four tracking rates, 1x or sidereal, 12x for sky and landscape, solar and lunar. This tutorial will show you how to control a ioptron telescope mount with a computer or laptop by using the free stellarium planetarium software. Drift alignment software for german equatorial mounts. Same for solar alignment a little difficult to find a way to mount the phone which is not the apps fault, but kept the sun in my cameras viewfinder at 500mm for more than an hour.
The ioptron ieq45 pro goto equatorial mount with tripod is the next generation premium astroimaging mount. It can be done with an aftermarket polar scope spacer however. The problems i have, but they do not depend of the mount, are. I had that done along with a routine maintenance tune up by the ioptron technicians. Apr 17, 2019 polar alignment with obstruction ipolar by ioptron. Its features include stepper motor instead of servo, higher gear ratio and a number of visual changes ex. In my experience with a zeq25 but i assume ioptron uses a similar. Same for solar alignmenta little difficult to find a way to mount the phone which is not the apps fault, but kept the sun in my cameras viewfinder at. The observer only needs to modify the mount accordingly until the two points overlap to achieve a highly precise polar alignment upwards of 30 arc seconds. Upgraded from skytracker tm, the pro is more compact, small enough to fit on your palm, better precision, silent tracking, it even has a builtin rechargeable power source that runs for up to 24 hours of continuous operation. Survey of polar alignment methods celestial wonders.
The ipolar is a completely new product that uses a different methodology and software to do the polar alignment. The ioptron skyguider pro is a tremendous hit with the astrophotography community thanks to its balance of size, performance, and affordability. Altaz alignment error display for mounts that calculate it after star alignment e. The motors are unbelievably quite and the gotos are extremely accurate with good polar alignment which is pretty easy to do with the included and attached polar alignment scope. Polar aligning with the ioptron polar scope the basics first. Can be easily installed inside the ra shaft on all ioptron equatorial mounts except smarteq pro. Today were proud to provide quality products direct to your doorstep through an. Otas will my ota work with the smartstar goto mounts. Polar scope align pro assists you in daylight polar alignment, useful for solar observing eclipses, or also for nighttime alignment where you dont have a line of sight to the polar star. Very popular software for web cam imaging, which i believe can also be used for polar alignment. The list includes polealignmax, align master, eq align, wcs, pempro, polar finder, star targ 2.
Polar alignment routine for an ieq45 newbie mounts. Polar alignment for ioptron skytracker getting started. The minipier fits on various ioptron tripodspiers, as well other brand tripod with some diy. With its integrated electronic polar scope ipolar, polar alignment is a snap, even when the pole star is obscured. I have some experience with both of these mounts as well as several others.