Polar Finder Alignment to the Mount

The polar finder scope was not perfectly aligned from the factory. The manual did not include instuctions on aligning the polar finder scope to the mount, so I've written this guide to help. There are three hex set screws that affect the alignment of the scope. Adjusting them requires a perfectly orchestrated task of loosing one or two while tightening the hex screws. This took me nearly a hour and thirty minutes to get right. Be patient, make small adjustments, and if you start getting aggrivated, quit and try again later.

• Setup the mount without the OTA, without the counter weight, and without the shaft.
• Point the mount towards a ground based target, far away or more than a mile.
• Rotate the Ra axis to one side and the Dec axis so you can see through the polar scope.
• Center the target on the cross hair of the polar finder using the altitude and azimuth adjustment knobs.
• Rotate the Ra axis to the opposite side. If the crosshair moves off target, it needs adjusting.
• Adjust the finder using the three hex screws. Adjust only half way back to the original location.
• Center the target again, using the altitude and azimuth knobs.
• Rotate the Ra axis to the opposite side, adjust again if necessary, and center the target.

Perform this last action until the object no longer moves when you rotate the Ra axis from one side to the other. After you make a couple of adjustments, the movement will begin to decrease and therefore you must be really careful when loosening and tightening the hex screws. Too much and you'll set yourself back and need to spend more time on this procedure.

Once this task is complete, alignment of the OTA axis and mount axis can be performed.
The manual describes two different methods to accomplish the axis alignment and descibes it well.
Look at pp. 51-52 for the procedures.