AltAz 3 Star Alignment Problems

[itstom111]

Hi,

I'm trying to get a good star alignment in Altaz mode but am having problems.

I have leveled the mount. The scope is pointed north and level and I have set this as home. I confirmed that the app says "At Home". I select my 3 stars, centering them in the eyepiece and confirming each one. I get the "Success" message at the end. But when I try to slew to an object, even one of my alignment stars, I appear to be several degrees off. Even going back to an alignment star I have the error. I've tried this multiple times and the error always seems to be about the same amount and in the same direction.

I was unsure if I was truly pointed north when at home (before doing the alignment) so I slewed to Polaris and rotated the base of the mount in azimuth to be pointing north. I then slewed home and ran the alignment procedure.

I'm not sure if this matters, but I purchased this mount through a dealer as a customer return. Other than the password being changed (which was more than a little bit annoying/scary) it seems to be "as new".

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Tom

[cwoodhou]

I might be seeing something related to this. If you take off the scope, disable refraction correction and put a dovetail plate in the saddle. If you slew directly E or W using the N/S slew buttons, is the plate horizontal when the readout in Unity is zero degrees? I noticed something strange when I tried to do a TheSkyX sky model. I noticed that the slew was pretty accurate in RA but the plate solved image was just over a degree higher in DEC when I plate solved near the imaging horizon (East and West).

Hence the trick with the dovetail plate. An easy visual check with a digital level and not compounded by heavy scopes or flexure. Something odd going on.

[ColeRees]

I know this is an old post, but I am struggling with this as well. My mount when in AltAz mode cannot point well at all. It is perfectly leveled (checked multiple ways: bubble level, horizon visual alignment, and 12” spirit level. All of these read true.), I have my home position set properly. Time, date and location are correct.

I do the three star alignment. Not a single star is in the FOV during OR after the alignment. I am always off by 2-4 degrees. I was trying the 2, 3 and 5 star alignment with no success. For example, I chose Polaris, Dubhe, Procyon, Arcturus and Vega. 5 great alignment stars, all spread throughout the sky. I tried slewing back to them AFTER alignment said “success” but nope, it was off by two to four degrees. Not a single star showed up in the eyepiece (panoptic 35, C8 edge). I am both lost and frustrated. This mount should perform way better than this for the price.