About this product
Model: qhyccd_polemaster_heq5
PoleMaster - a high precision, easy to use electric polar scope.
Includes adapter for HEQ5 / Sirius EQ-G Mounts
The QHY PoleMaster is a modern solution to an age-old problem. With only a few simple, easy-to-follow steps you can achieve perfect polar alignment in minutes, with an accuracy of up to 30 arc seconds!
"We think that QHYCCD have come up with an excellent product here which really takes the sting out of having to polar align. The accuracy of the device meant that polar aligning with the Polemaster was more a pleasure than a chore" Pete Lawrence writing for 'BBC Sky at Night' magazine Sep 2016.
How does it work?
Polar alignment sounds simple enough. You find where the pole is, determine the mechanical axis of rotation of your mount, then make the two coincide. PoleMaster makes use of a sensitive wide field imaging camera along the axis of RA to monitor the polar region in real time (not only can it detect Polaris, it also finds the dimmer surrounding stars). From the positions of these stars PoleMaster determines the position of the true pole and compares that to the mechanical axis of RA rotation. Polar alignment is now a simple matter of moving the two centres of rotation so they overlap. Easy!
FEATURES
- Speed and convenience: No need to move the telescope to specific place to unblock the polar scope. No need to kneel or crick your neck to see through a polar scope. No need for fully dark adapted eyesight. No need to level your mount and no need to enter the date and time in your handset then figure out where to rotate the mount to coincide with the current pole star position.
- Accuracy: PoleMaster's sensitive camera provides accuracy not achievable with naked eye. The camera's 30 arc second resolution means the best polar alignment that can be achieved by PoleMaster, in the order of 30 arc seconds.
- Wide angle view of the polar region: A wide field view of 11x8 degree makes it 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 polar scope.
- Real time polar alignment checking / adjustment: Using PoleMaster you can monitor your polar alignment in real time. In the event that polar alignment is lost, you can bring it back quickly and easily without starting from scratch.
- Three star alignment is no longer needed: Once you are polar aligned, you only need to perform a 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 minimise drift in the DEC axis therefore maximising the performance of your mount.
Mechanical Dimensions
What's in the box
- QHY PoleMaster
- Lens Cap
- USB Cable
- Mount Adapter
Specifications
| Resolution | Approx 30 arc seconds |
| Install method | Three M3 screw to mount adapter |
| Interface | mini USB2.0 |
| Software | QHYCCD PoleMaster Software |
| Rough precision | Approx 5 arc minutes |
| High Precision | Max 30 arc seconds |
| Weight | Approx 70g |
| Dimensions | See mechanical drawing |
| Power Consumption | Approx 0.35 watts / 70 mA |
| Available Adapters | - Sky-Watcher EQ6/AZEQ6 HEQ5
- iOpton CEM60 ZEQ25/CEM25 iEQ45 iEQ30 AZEQ5
- Celestron AVX CGEM
- EM200/EM11
|
Downloads / Manuals
The following manuals and downloads are available for this product:
Unofficial Manual
Steve Richards has kindly put together a manual for the PoleMaster which you may find is much easier to understand and follow than QHY's own manual.
PoleMaster User Manual (English, UK / Northern Hemisphere) - by Steve Richards (PDF)
Manuals
QHY PoleMaster Manual (HTML)
QHY PoleMaster 3D Drawing (DWG)
Software
The latest QHY PoleMaster Driver and Software can be downloaded from the QHY CCD website.
Customer reviews
| Average Rating (2 Reviews): | |
Makes Polar Alignment A Breeze Monday, 19 November 2018 | Steven
I live in a heavily light polluted area (16-32 nanowatts /cm2/sr) and can hardly see Polaris with the naked eye. In fact I don't think I have seen Polaris since I bought my PoleMaster. However despite this I have managed to use the PoleMaster to make accurate polar alignment in less than five minutes to a high enough accuracy that my tracking mount shows no sign of star trailing even with five minute plus exposures. This is going to save me hours of time and just for the saving in aggravation is an excellent product.
Wednesday, 25 April 2018 | Ian
Amazing.
The one thing I really hate is polar alignment on my HEQ5 as I have no permanent setup. I'm class 6 Bortle light polluted, and for me, it's all too time uncomfortable and time consuming.
Even I can look at a laptop screen and make manual mount adjustments to put a square and circle together on the screen. It really is that easy and extremely accurate.
The one problem first time out was the polemaster progeam kept freezing, but there is a document on the main page of the polemaster site advising a simple windows setting change to do with USB 2.0 and all is then perfect.
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