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Polar Aligning in the Daytime – Northern Hemisphere
Use the Park 1 or Park 4 position to polar align your telescope in the daytime or when Polaris is not visible. Note that Park
4 has been chosen for this procedure, as it is our recommended “horizontal” park position. Park 1 is only seconds away
from tracking into a counterweight up status and, depending on your position, slews from Park 1 to western objects will
cause the scope to point toward the ground when beginning the slew.
CALIBRATING IN THE DAYTIME
Before calibrating on the sun, you MUST install a safe, quality solar lter. DO NOT use eyepiece solar lters as
they may break in the intense heat of the sun. When you are slewing to any object in the daytime, the telescope
may slew across or very near the sun. DO NOT look into the eyepiece as the telescope slews. DO NOT attempt
to view any object, e.g. Venus, when it is near the sun. Permanent damage to your eye may result if you look
directly at the sun with your telescope. Refer to the section on “Slewing During the Day” for further information and
warnings.
This is a great method in these situations:
● Solar observing.
● Get you up and running at a star party or observing site. You’ll have some fun pointing out the planets at twilight when
the seeing may be steady.
● Get a head start on a night with a busy observing schedule. No more wasted time waiting for stars to appear to
complete your setup.
The accuracy of this method depends on how accurate your Keypad’s clock and your location has been set. Tests
completed with an ordinary 7” carpenter’s level shows that the mount can be adjusted level to accuracy within 15 arc
minutes. We used a Mayes brand “SUPER-CEDE” model that was purchased at a local hardware store. This level has a
groove for accurate alignment on curved surfaces. It works well on both the counterweight shaft and the telescope tube.
1. Set Park 4 (or Park 1) position. Note: Park 4 has been chosen for these instructions, but Park 1 can also be used by
substituting the appropriate position changes.
a) Set up mount WITH the telescope and counterweights in a balanced state. Be sure that your clutches are
loose so that the telescope will not slew to an awkward position.
b) Point the mount roughly north; a compass would be handy. Remember that magnetic north is not true north.
Compensate accordingly for your location. A little experience will tell you how many degrees magnetic north differs
from true north at your site. See: < http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/#declination > for a calculator.
c) Go through the Keypad start-up routine.
i) If auto-connect was set to “NO”, select your location and press GoTo. Next select “3=ResumeLastPosition”.
This will take you to the Main Menu. Proceed directly to step “d.”
ii) If auto-connect was set to “YES” (i.e. you always set up in the same spot), the Main Menu will appear right
away.
d) Enter “2=Setup” and then enter the “4=Park / Mount Opt.” Menu.
e) Select Park 4. Ensure that your Dec. and R.A. clutches are loose. Hold your scope until the motors both stop.
You are simply doing this to re-park the mount and temporarily stop the default sidereal tracking. When it is nished
slewing, it will stop tracking and put Park 4 into memory. You will need this later. DO NOT press any more Keypad
buttons at this time or tracking will resume!
2. Manually move mount to Park 4 position.
a) Point the scope south and approximately level both axes. Refer
to the photo at right. The telescope tube should be on the EAST side
of the mount. DO NOT use the Keypad buttons to move the mount.
Move the axes via the loosened clutches.
b) Place a carpenter’s level on the counterweight shaft and move the
R.A. axis manually until the shaft is precisely level. This will place
your mount in the Park 4 position. At this point, the telescope tube
does not need to be precisely leveled.
PARK 4
Northern
Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
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