7 replies to this topic

[Artem]

Good evening, my is Martin, from Vienna and I did decide after having an SKYWATCHER MOUNT and then also an MACH1GTO to move to an ASA DDM60 which I did buy as used..

Since I have been working with monuts with ALTITUDE / AZIMUTH bolts..

With the ASA DDM60 I totally miss this future..

I did read the ASA HANDBOOK and did watch many Videos..

But now I must ask..

Let us assume I must adjust ALTITUDE or AZIMUTH, to achieve a better POLAR ALGNING RESULTS. how can I achieve this ?

Maybe someone with ASA DDM 60 knowledge can assist a new member !!

Thank you

Martin

Edited by Artem, 26 March 2018 - 06:35 PM.

[w0mbat]

Hi Martin,

I am not absolutely sure what it is that you are asking about but one thing comes to mind.

When you first run Autoslew you can choose which type of mount you have. The DDM 60 azimuth adjustment is achieved by tilting the base and not by rotating the base as is done in the larger mounts such as the DDM85. If you have chosen the DDM60 in Autoslew the instructions for moving the mount are different during the polar alignment procedure. Other than that everything is the same.

I hope this helps.

Ian

[Artem]

Thank you Ian, in few dsys and once i have my Berlebach Planet Tripod, i shall try to test under real conditions,
I have another tripod, but i do not trust that one to put my ASA DDM on it..

Cheers and thank you for your answer

Martin

[MikePaling]

Hi Martin ...

My set-up is a permanent one ... and it is a long time since I first Polar Aligned my DDM60.

 

However ... I remember that the whole process was not that difficult provided that you follow the steps in the manual properly. I had to read it many times !!! You need to get the latest version of the manual as the earlier versions were a bit mixed up :-(

 

Cheers Mike

[Artem]

Hi Mike,

 

I understand, the latest version of the manual  is what I need to read..

 

Thank you

 

Martin

[photon]

Servus Martin,

 

I live near Vienna, if you need hands-on help please let me know and send me a private message :-)

 

Best regards,

Gerald

[Artem]

Servus Gerald,

 

Thank you, I will most probably will contact you, at this moment I am experimenting how the The DDM 60 azimuth adjustment achieved by tilting the base would work.. 2 days ago I did make 3 Star Synching and then did let Autoslew calculate the error and then did push the button to move the star.. and that was the end of the session.. did never again find that star.. way too off..

 

Despite "tilting" the AZIMUTH..

 

I shall retry again soon again.. and this time I will try to align the moiunt much better than I did last time.. with a compass and align to GEOGRAPHOCAL NORTH.. that is also a challenge, each time I align and then check my alignment I have to find out that it is still wrong..

the compass changes the value or results every time " do not have view to POLARIS "

 

But I will not give up..

 

But thank you Gerald for your kind offer.. I will for sure contact you now I am enjoying to play around with the ASA DDM60PRO..

Did just find how the HOMEFUND works. that was also a challenge.. the documentations available are not very good explained

guess I will have more success by asking questions here than reading the documentations available.. 

 

Regards

 

Martin

Edited by Artem, 09 April 2018 - 06:04 PM.

[MarkS]

Hi Martin,

 

Forget anything to do with compasses for getting a true north!! And forget Polaris unless your system has a very wide field of view.

 

I use a plumb line (string with a weight at the bottom) suspended from a tripod on a sunny day. At exact noon - which your planetarium software will tell you for your GPS position - the shadow cast by the plumb line string will oriented true north-south. Mark this line on the ground as a fixed reference. Then find a feature on the horizon aligned with your sun line and use this as your final reference. I get within ~10 arcmin this way.

 

I set the altitude by laying a digital inclinometer on the telescope tube and setting the reading to my local latitude.  Again I can usually rely on this being within 10 arcmin.

 

You must get the initial Azimuth and altitude accuracy of your rig within the field of view of the camera, or you will lose the star when you 'Move Star Now' - as you now know!

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mark