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This is a QHY Polemaster in excellent condition, with clean optics. It does not come with the tin box or the adapter to attach it to your mount, but does include the computer cable.
Features
PoleMaster - A High-Precision, Easy to Use Electronic Polar Scope
As any seasoned astroimager would agree, achieving good polar alignment is not an easy task. You may spend hours under precious dark sky trying to get that perfect polar alignment, but in the end you may not know whether good alignment has in fact been achieved. Even after you have obtained good alignment, a gentle knock on the mount may send the polar alignment off and you may have no other choice but to start from scratch again. With an hour here and an hour there trying to get polar aligned, it soon will be dawn and time to pack up the gear¡
The PoleMaster is a great solution to this problem. The PoleMaster is an innovative product pioneered by QHYCCD to relieve the pain of polar alignment. Using PoleMaster and following a few simple, easy-to-follow, steps you can achieve perfect polar alignment in 2-3 minutes, with an accuracy of up to 30 arc seconds.
Background
How does PoleMaster work? The idea is actually fairly simple. You find out where the pole is, then determine the mechanical axis of rotation of your mount, and make the two coincide. While the idea is simple, it has never been implemented in a commercial product - until now. PoleMaster makes use of a super sensitive wide field imaging camera along the axis of RA to monitor the polar region in real time (it not only detects Polaris but also the dimmer stars surrounding Polaris). From the positions of these stars PoleMaster can determine the position of the true pole and compare that to the mechanical axis of RA rotation. Polar alignment is now a simple matter of moving the two centers of rotation so they overlap. Piece of cake!
In comparison with other polar alignment techniques, PoleMaster has the following advantage:
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Speed and convenience: With PoleMaster you do not need to move the telescope to a specific place just to unblock the polar scope. You do not need to kneel or contort your body to look through the polar scope. You do not need to fully dark adapt just to see the pole star. You do not need to level your mount. You do not need to worry about the entering the date and time in your handset and figure out where to rotate the mount to coincide with the current pole star position.
- Accuracy: With a high precision camera, one can achieve accuracy not achievable with the naked eye. The imaging camera in PoleMaster has a resolution of 30 arc second, so the best polar alignment that can be achieved by PoleMaster is also in the order of 30 arc seconds.
- Wide angle view of the polar region: A wide field of view of 11x8 degree makes it very easy to locate the pole star
- Easy to install: PoleMaster can be easily installed onto any equatorial mount through mount-specific adapters, even on mounts without a polar scope.
- Real time polar alignment checking / adjustment: By using PoleMaster you can monitor your polar alignment in real time. In the event that polar alignment is lost, it is now a simple matter to bring it back without having to start from scratch.
- Three star alignment no longer needed: Once you are polar aligned, you will only need to perform one star alignment - a real time saver.
- Perfect companion to single axis mounts: When used with single (RA-only) axis mount, good polar alignment will minimize drift in the DEC axis therefore maximizing the performance of your mount.
Specifications
|
Model |
PoleMaster |
|
Field of View |
11 degrees x 8 degrees |
|
Sensitivity |
9th Magnitude |
|
Coarse Adjustment |
5 arc minutes |
|
Fine Adjustment |
Up to 30 arc seconds |
|
Computer Interface |
Mini USB2.0 Port |
|
Software |
QHYCCD PoleMaster Calibration Software |
|
Weight |
106g |
Installation
To install your PoleMaster onto the mount, you will need an adaptor specifically made for your mount. The illustrations below use the Skywatcher NEQ6 mount adaptor as an example, but the instructions apply to adaptors made for other mounts.
The mount adaptor comes in two parts. There is a camera base disc which is attached to the back of the camera body; and there is a mount ring which is attached to the polar scope aperture of your mount. In use, the camera disc is attached to the mount ring by thumbscrews (the picture below shows the mount ring already attached to the mount, while the camera base disc is held in the hand).