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3.
Engage the motor drive by tightening the thumbscrew that connects
it to the R.A. axis of the mount. Turn on the motor drive, ensuring that
it is set to the correct hemisphere setting. Let the motor drive run for
about 5 minutes.
4.
Look into your eyepiece after the motor drive has been running for
about 5 minutes and note which direction the star has drifted. If the
star has drifted to the right, the mount is pointed too far to the west.
If the star has drifted to the left, the mount is pointing too far to the
east. Reverse these directions if you are aligning in the Northern
Hemisphere using this method. To make your correction, loosen the
Mount Base Screw and re-center the star in the eyepiece. Any drifting
up and down in the eyepiece is a result of your motor drive speed
setting and can be corrected by adjusting the motor drive speed.
5.
Disengage the motor drive. Loosen the Mount Base Screw and rotate
the telescope back 6 hours (opposite the direction you rotated it in
Step 1). Find another bright star in the viewfinder and center it in the
crosshairs. Work up to the highest power eyepiece and continue to
center the star as you did with the previous star. Re-engage the motor
drive, turn it on, and let it run for another 5 minutes.
6.
Check to see which way this second star has drifted. Repeat the
adjustments made in Step 4 on this second star. Be sure that it is
precisely centered, and remember that any drifting up or down means
adjusting your motor drive speed.
ADVANCED OBSERVATION
