Home > Accessories > Polar Scopes > iOptron iPolar
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Model: iop_ipolar_3339-cgemPart Number: 3339-CGEM
Includes adapter for Sky-Watcher NEQ6 / AZEQ6 / EQ6-R & Celestron CGEM Mounts.
The new iOptron iPolar electronic polarscope is a quick, easy way to accurately polar align your mount, even when you cannot see the pole star!
Accurate polar alignment has never been so simple, just put the 'X' on the 'Spot'! Well the 'X' does look more like a '+' and the 'Spot' isn't there but instead a representation of the celestial pole's location. Using the iPolar's graphical interface, the two overlaid symbols represent a precise polar alignment ensuring peak performance from your equatorial mount.
The iPolar utilises an electronic camera aligned with both the axes of your telescope mount. The software processes the camera images calculating the true pole's location, then guides you through adjustments needed to align your mount to the celestial pole. Gone will be the days of crouching behind a 'through the mount' polar scope, the iPolar facilitates making altitude and azimuth adjustments by just glancing at your laptops monitor. This system needs as few as four stars to locate the pole, and can do so even when the pole location itself is blocked by clouds, tree branches or other obstructions.
iPolar electronic polarscopes are available for most iOptron and other brand equatorial mounts.
Manual:
iPolar Operation Manual Installation-CEM25 (#3339-025) Installation-CEM60 Internal (#3339A-060) Installation-SkyGuider Pro (#3339R-SGP) Software and Driver:
iPolar Software
I've been getting pretty good at polar alignment by eyeballing it and using an app. The problem I found was that when polaris was in one the "In between" positions it was a little harder (I use and older NEQ6 with no graduations on the scope).I was pretty skeptical about electronic polar scopes. I thought the polemaster was a cool idea, but the pricing put me off.Having watched a couple of youtube vids on iPolar I was impressed how it did not require mount movement once calibrated. It is also better priced.So with a bit of spare cash I decided to buy one. It's a game changer.It's super simple to fit - just specify the mounting kit for your mount and it fits into your polar scope hole with some grub screws. Calibration is easy, you just move the mount as prompted.The software is simple to use. The autozoom when you get close to the pole is really useful. Overall the software is a little basic and looks a little dated. It reminds me of something you might use to fire a torpedo down a small exhaust port or bullseye womp rats. The important thing is that it works, it's accurate and fast. My guiding graph has never looked better.The real saving here is time. When you are fighting against clouds, short evenings and everything else astrophotography throws at you, shaving a few minutes off setup time matters. Plus you have the piece of mind that you are aligned.
I've really struggled getting decent polar alignment with our 'AZ-EQ6 GT Pro GEQ & Alt-Az' mount, with it being difficult for me to look through the polar scope & simultaneously judge how far to rotate the RA in order to get the reticule in the correct orientation. I tried fitting a webcam & converting a DLSR right angle viewer, but still never managed to get good alignment, and wasted loads of valuable time trying to do so.Now with the iPolar, I'm easily getting within a 3-4 arcmins error, as reported by the Synscan handset after a single 2-star align and instead of wasting an hour or so it now only takes less than 10mins, including if I do a recalibration (which just involves rotating the RA & letting the software plate solve).The software interface isn't perfect, and the end cap on the lens is a bit tight, but otherwise I can't recommend the iPolar highly enough. It's made setup a whole lot easier and a lot less frustrating. I'm no longer getting any star trails when imaging and the GoTo now seems to center targets much more successfully.