HOW TO 1, 2, & 3 Star Align

[@jamesx3918]

you are the only one who spoke about the home position (BRAVO) thanks to you I just understood several things about my mount. thx

[@christopherpierce3103]

If you understood him explain to someone who might not understand you.

[@natem7440]

park scope - so critical. You are like one of the few guys who talk about this CRITICAL step,.

[@redabdab]

Actually, it's not necessary to 'park' the mount using the handset before star alignment. The mount just needs to be in the 'home' position (i.e. pointing at the celestial north pole). This will allow the mount to find the alignment stars more easily.

[@natem7440]

@@redabdab how do you set the home position? I thought that was park at current location.

[@blaircolliver5194]

Thank you very much. Your explanation was super clear. I just got an EQM-35 Pro, and you filled in a lot of the empty blanks in their alignment steps.

[@robertchisholm7615]

Awesome! Your alignment tips saved me bunches of time and aggravation... great tip on starting from the Home Position prior to every alignment.. plus getting the alignment star centered in the camera viewfinder. Your small attention to details are tops... Thanks

[@HollomanUFOLanding]

Really good presentation. You explain stuff clearly, which isn't always easy to do!

[@allenlloyd1074]

Thank you for this excellent tutorial. I found it extremely helpful, no, it was invaluable to me for setting up my HEQ5 Pro for the first time.

[@RobertWilliams-rz4ih]

Just got my new Heq5 to upgrade from my ioptron smarteq. Thanks for the tutorial l will need it.

[@sanjaya718]

Thanks for the great tutorial! Just got and am setting up the SW EQM-35 so this was very useful.

[@danielmiddleton6651]

Excellent video! Thanks so much for your time!

[@tamartin7001]

Once again, very clear explaination. Great job! thanks from Australia

[@richyp46]

Great video. I'm looking at getting a HEQ5 Pro mount and your videos are really helping me get to know it before I take the plunge.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

It's a lot to learn for sure. Glad I can help in anyway possible! Good luck with whatever route you take!

[@martynhawkes5930]

Great and really helpful and love the sounds of wildlife.

[@astrobua2343]

Thank you very much for the helpful tutorial!

[@Astro-Knight]

Great explanation of a star alignment!

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Thank you!

[@JonnyPink65]

Extremely helpful!! Thank you. Made mine work the way it is supposed to tonight for the first time!!! Thank you.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

That’s awesome! Glad to hear it, good luck and clear skies!

[@chrismurray9218]

Perfect video. Concisely and accurately answered the exact questions I had. Thanks

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

You’re very welcome, thanks for watching!

[@mipadipad]

Excellent video .very clear explanation .it will help me a great deal with my new eqm35 pro .thanks

[@SharpStarAstro]

Learned a lot, great vid!

[@Sarmadness]

This was an extremely good explanation and tutorial, thanks dude! cheers!

[@southernexposure123]

Thank you for the tutorial. I might never thought about releasing tension on the motors and gears by moving the motors a little in each direction. Oh did you make an updated version? Thanks again very much.

[@troopershill]

Really informative thank you, l have been looking for someone to explain and show how to do this procedure so thanks again.

[@BBROPHOTO]

Hey man, this was incredibly helpful and really good explanation! I really appreciate this as I've just come from the Star Adventurer to the EQ6R pro.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

That's a huge upgrade! Those EQ6's are monsters. Glad I could help man, and good luck with that new setup!

[@BBROPHOTO]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Haha dude, it's almost comical the difference between these two 😅 I finally got up and running last night and it's such a beast! the tracking is incredible. Hopefully we get a break in the weather so I can really take it for a spin.

Yes I saw her right away. That looks like a very rural area. Beautiful. I grew up on the ocean with a private beach. 40 years ago the light pollution was minual? and there was fewer residence as well. But concidering I live that close to the border it could be much worse. In Boston Ma the glare in the sky was really bad. I need to check out the local astronomy clubs because we really have some nice dry skys if you could just drive East to the mountains. I know these guys have some super equipment. At least $10.000 for the OTA. 14" smitt- cass to start with. The Tripod huge money. I have the camera , tablet holders that are not the most secure way to go. I noticed you had taken some pictures with the dob and you had some video thing that orientates you I guess. Jupiter was screaming across the screen. I assume this device records as well. Very interesting though. You could find the best way to stack the images with that nice camera you showed me in the video. You talked about the hot humid air at night so you might have that problem as well . Are you living close to that east coast dark sight? I want to go there and rent a cabin in the park. There is a place in Colorodo thats suposed to be the best in the country. I forget exactly but I think the lower middle desert area in colorodo Sliver Spring, or cliffs. Hope to hear from you again and will study your show to learn more. I liked the star alienments video. All that stuff is crucal for a correct tracking, IE, pictures. then the filters a whole new investment. A little story, I st up my binoculars and spotting scope to see palades. Came out with my coffee and some one ( Kitty) was in my favorite viewing chair. So much for that. I had to get the spare. Thank you and love your show. Kevin from TJ Mexico.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

I do live in a fairly rural area. My skies to the south and east are pretty dark but unfortunately to my west there is a town causing pretty significant sky glow. Planetary stacking is something I’m still working on... I’ve had a few attempts so far and am planning a video soon where I get a good shot at Jupiter. The way I’ve shot my planetary videos so far is pretty unorthodox, but I’m hoping to fix that soon! Thank you so so much for watching though, and cheers from Tennessee!

[@unlucky5442]

Yo thanks, your vid was really helpful. Just got the heq5 Pro and struggled a lot with the star alignment process. Thanks dude

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

You’re very welcome, glad I could help! It is certainly not the most user friendly thing in the world heh.

[@devaa.sounds5730]

Hey thanks for the video. Can you pls tell whether I have to tighten both ra and dec before performing 1-2-3 star alignment after setting up on home position? Thanks

[@robmailconway]

Thank you for the video, it was straight forward and to the point. I have the NEQ6 mount and i had some difficulties regarding the home position setup but your video has cleared it up for me. I cant wait for a clear winter night so that i can get my first deep space astro-photo. Look like you have a good dark location, I have to contend with light pollution but i have ordered an Optolong filter to help with that. Thanks again, Rob in Ireland.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Thanks for watching! I have some fairly dark skies to my south and west, but north and east is another story. Hopefully that filter will do the trick! I have an Orion sky glow imaging filter but haven’t had the chance to use it too very much yet. Good luck and clear skies friend!

[@SuperKevinFS]

Great video can I ask did u polar align it then parked it then done your star ⭐️ in that order 🙏

[@sharrajeshk]

Great video. I literally wrote down the steps! :D

[@roseschmedding5705]

Thank you so much that is really helpful.

[@karennash2937]

hi i have been having trouble doing this alignmneti have followed your video yet iam still off. doing a 3 star alignmnet will this help me to be able to find objects in the sky easier? tried to find m13 last night and never did find it. then tried to find m81 and 82 and no luck i looked where it said to look and nothing. can you help me with this problem? i use my hand controller that came with my heq5 but no results.

[@HollomanUFOLanding]

So I have a couple of questions if you don't mind :) 1. We're you already accurately polar aligned before you did your one star alignment or did you just do a roughly correct polar alignment? 2. Using the camera's screen was a great way to present your work. What field of view was being seen on the camera screen? Like, the view on the screen, what eyepiece magnification and FOV would that have been equivalent to? Thanks

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

I was pretty accurately aligned for the one star. It wasn’t perfect, but I always try to get it as close as possible. As for the fov on the camera, it matches whatever scope you have it attached to. I use the William Optics Z61 which is 360mm focal length. So that’s what you were seeing on the camera screen.

[@HollomanUFOLanding]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Thanks, and plse keep making these great videos!

[@FINSuomenPoika]

Im about to buy HEQ5 pro synscan goto and 200pds! Cant wait!

[@redabdab]

Interesting that you do your star alignment in the DSLR's live view screen. I always use a low power eyepiece to do the alignment and then attach the camera. But your way is quicker! I guess you have to fiddle with the shutter speed to get the stars bright enough in the LCD screen?

[@JAC4410]

Great video of the alignment. Living at the Equator I never saw Polaris. Totally have to rely on compass with some calculation of the true North against magnetic differences 😬😎

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Phewwww that would be tough! Heh I'm pretty lazy myself and am thankful to only have to perform basic polar alignment.

[@JAC4410]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing thats rite, quite tough when you are at 1 Degree North. Anyway, got the Lunar VS Mercury? its beautiful

[@aaronboy164]

Very informative, thanks!

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Glad to help!

[@Ano_nym122]

Thanks a lot! I was having a Problem with Bad 3 Star Alignment, my Stars are allways far away! I will try the parking Position! After a reset of the Handbox, it is allways ok....

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Some nights I have more luck doing it this way than others... it's definitely touch and go. The better polar aligned, and the better you have park set to, the better the alignment USUALLY goes. I always reset my park every session as well. Good luck!

[@Ano_nym122]

PA is Good... 2 min sub on 750mm w/o Autoguiding, round Stars....

[@peterspatz6918]

?? You want to tell that you have to set all axis into home before alignememt? Who does that not? Or did I miss something.?

[@arpadjakab-peter5431]

Nice! So before the 3 star alignment, I still need to point the scope/mount to polaris?

[@LakeBrennan]

Just what I was looking for!! Many years of visual but so many things to learn on the astrophotography side. It's like learning a new language and you just helped immensely. Thanks so much!!

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

These mounts are certainly a handful when starting out. Glad I could help!

[@deanbrown6887]

Hey great video! If you are already aligned, and then you go-to an object (say a known star), and it's not quite in the center of the view, can you center it and tell the scope that it is now central? This would tell it more accurately how the scope is positioned.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Thank you! Once you get the object in frame, you can center it up using the remote. But no, you can't tell the scope once it's centered. Once it slews to the target it begins tracking.

[@thephotogfather1061]

Big thanks on your explanation of the star alignment process. I just got an EQ6R Pro and I just find the UI on the SynScan remote to be a little funky for my taste. Now, may I ask how you went about aligning your polar alignment scopes pattern plate. Do you tighten the screw (screws) in the direction that its out by 50%, or do you tighten the screw (screws) opposite the direction that the point creeps? Thanks for the great video. Keep up the good work.

[@SuperKevinFS]

Great video

Very interesting to learn. I want a simple 10" dobsonian with 2" 30mm > with at least82 degrees field of view. I saw a beautiful cat. I have several I rescued.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Thank you!! I have an 8" dob as well and have been eyeing a few wide angle eyepieces. Heh and we actually have 2 cats that are both rescues. The one in this video is always out with me while imaging... the other one is pretty lazy and watches from afar heh.

[@papalovesmia]

When you pressed "no" and then set the mount in a parked or home position, could you have the mount in the home position prior to beginning alignment?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Yes you can start off in the park position. Most of the time I start off with it that way, but before I started filming I had been messing with it heh.

[@mykolassakalauskas3374]

I can be of home position after transportation and assembly.

[@DB2023Space]

Thanks for the tips and examples. I have set up the mount once last Friday evening and everything went ok except I did not do anything with the date rings, and I was a little puzzled why the reticle in the polar scope was rotated. I did not find a way to rotate the reticle itself. The 3 set screws are used to "align" the polar scope and don't have any affect on the reticle rotations. Makes it a little difficult to use the reticle reference when placing Polaris on the rings/lines. Did you do anything to rotate your polar scope reticle so 0 is top, 6 at the bottom etc? Or do you just rotate the RA axis so the reticle lines are vertical and horiz.?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

The reticule itself is set in place and only rotates when you rotate the right ascension axis. The way I have always aligned is to set the scope outside during the day, and align the 0/6 line in the reticule with the side of the house/power pole or something like that. That way I know the vertical axis of the reticule is as close to vertical as possible. Hope this helps!

[@DB2023Space]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Ok I get it now, thanks for the house and pole reference. On another note have you considered the SynScan wifi module yet? Looks like a much easier way to access or control the mount. I have the app installed and have looked at the menus that are accessible even without the wifi module connected. No scrolling through menus having to remember what is where might be nice! Adorama has it for $58.50 a really good price. Clear DARK skies!

[@linkedwinters]

How do I fix the "Ra offset >45° pls check time and location settings"? I have checked and everything is just fine so I don't know why it doesn't slew.

[@stephenhaythornthwaite7762]

So the only thing I have been doing different to you is not setting a park position before alignment and my alignment has been a bloody mile off. So I shall follow your method next time and see how well that works out, cheers.

[@TylerSmith_WX]

I have a meade autostar that I got for pretty cheap from a garage sale, it has a general idea of where stars are, but it likes to go way to the right of the star. Do I just adjust it back to the star and it will save?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Once it slews to the first star, you could manually adjust the mount center the star up and go from there. On some nights if mine is being fussy I will do that and it's smooth sailing from there.

[@deeber35]

I use NINA to PA. When I then move to Synscan, how do the 2-star alignment adjustments get taken up by NINA?

[@scotty1time]

PARK SCOPE everybody. Super helpful thank you.

[@theheavensdeclareastro]

Great video and very helpful! How would you say the celestron power tank is working for the heq5-pro and the dewheater? I'm looking at getting one but I also want one that will be able to run a laptop for autoguiding.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

I actually use a separate portable usb battery to run my dew heater for now. However, so far the tank seems fantastic for running the mount itself. I have no experience using the PowerTank to run more than one device so far =/

[@theheavensdeclareastro]

Ok! Thanks for the info!

[@theheavensdeclareastro]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Do you like the Protage dew strap? Has it been working well? I was looking at getting one but I wanted to see how it has been working in the field.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

@@theheavensdeclareastro So far it's served me well. My only complaint is the cord attached to it is a little short... But that can be fixed easily by attaching the power supply close by on the mount. So far so good though!

[@theheavensdeclareastro]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Ok! So it hasn't had any trouble overheating or anything? Also, I love watching your videos, they are very helpful!

[@demhs]

The problem in my case is the following: when i press the 3 alignment, the telescope shows stars like vega arcturus deneb etc and they are not inside tve horizon. All setting sare correct date time hemispaire north east time saving. I want sirius to appear

[@3zzyascanBe]

How did you change your grid display colour/luminance? Mine is currently black at the moment, which makes centering stars pretty difficult.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

I have searched and searched to help answer this. Unfortunately I'm not sure if there is a way to change that =/. On my Canon t3 and t5i they have always been that same color.

[@gunnarjensen5910]

Neat finderscope. What is it ??

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Heh it’s actually a green dot sight! I mainly used it while using my SkyWatcher Star Adventurer to help line up my targets.

[@markmuller3086]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Thanks for your video! Do you use your green dot scope at all with this gear in the Star alignment, and/or polar alignment process?

[@FINSuomenPoika]

Do you have to do 1,2 and 3 star aligment? Is it enough to do only 1 star or 2 stars?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

I typically just do a 1 star anymore, especially for brighter easy to see targets. 2 star for dimmer targets.... very seldom will I do 3 star alignment.

[@FINSuomenPoika]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing thanks! Just ordered HEQ5 pro synscan goto and skywatcher 200P!

[@FINSuomenPoika]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing btw i just spent most money of my life... (almost) full astrophotography set without camera about 1700€ and camera will be around 600€ hopefully i will get great pictures :D

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Good luck! Heh unfortunately with this hobby, it’s a pretty large money pit up front. But man is it worth it!

[@FINSuomenPoika]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing thanks! The set will come at end of december so i still got a little bit of time to learn more.

[@jackgibson6902]

When i view Jupiter through my Celestron astromaster 130mm eq Jupiter is always so bright. Do u have any advice?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Hmmm for just looking through the scope, maybe check out some of Celestron’s planetary filters.

[@Nottsboy24]

Jack Gibson...you can also try a lower powered eyepiece like a 13mm, 10mm or 6mm ☺

[@Nottsboy24]

@@hughmongus1233 I know my friend, I did comment regarding the lower powered eyepiece 👌

[@racheltgal]

Thank you help a lot i am new to all this

[@tip184]

Thanks for the great videos - I'm just getting started, and your videos are very helpful. Just a suggestion for star alignment: can't you change the grid view in your camera, so that two grid lines cross right in the center of your viewfinder? This would make centering the star much easier or more accurate.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

There may be a setting in the camera somewhere to change the grid... I haven't really thought of that heh. Something to look into!

[@Kemagic]

Lovely music mate.

[@hubertpontus3012]

Is that GO TO system as good as some guiding system (I mean some system connected to computer) for astrophotography?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

The accuracy of the GO TO really depends on the star alignment process itself. However, as for guiding the GO TO doesn’t have much of anything to do with it. This mount without any sort of auto guiding system does track well with a light weight setup... but an auto guider will make a world of difference.

[@hubertpontus3012]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Thanks And what can you tell about EQ5 mount? Is EQ5 mount much less comfortable in use than HEQ5?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

@@hubertpontus3012 I don't know much of anything about the EQ5. I believe it's roughly the same skeletal mount without all of the electronics of the HEQ5.

[@FINSuomenPoika]

Liked and subscribed!

[@petelopez5826]

Do you live in Middle TN?

[@Nottsboy24]

Nice upload 👍

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Thank you!!

[@Nottsboy24]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing your welcome ☺

[@Nottsboy24]

Subscribed to your channel ☺

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

And I'm glad to have you here! Clear skies!

[@Nottsboy24]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing ☺👍

[@PhearaXT]

How does telescope knows where the stars goes?

[@adventureswithfrodo2721]

This is good but the key pad is not random. Remember a telescope flips the image top to bottom. But left and right are the same.

[@CarolinaSkyAstronomy]

Good video and what is your target?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

Been working on M81 & M82 for awhile now. But every time I start a session, something goes wrong heh. Like this night, 5 minutes into imaging my dew heater power supply goes out.

[@nrate1669]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing i remember when you had just your star adventurer you were trying to get a shot of those galaxies. Good luck on imaging man and because of you i got my star adventurerhave been loving astrophotography so far.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

The SWSA is a SUPERB platform to get into astrophotography with. I've still got some big plans for it! Clear skies!

[@papalovesmia]

Is it possible to add GPS to the HEQ5 mount?

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

It has GPS built in!

[@papalovesmia]

@@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing Then I'm curious as to having to set the time.

[@AmateurAstronomyStormchasing]

@@papalovesmia After setting your LAT/LON, I believe the time is there so the onboard computer knows roughly where to point in the sky.

[@geoffnash3098]

So after I do a 3 star alignment then can I use the pole master for polar alignment or what do I do?