@Matteo

Grrr. I would think this would be set from optical the train, as it is on other screens. thanks for pointing it out. In any event, I was not able to edit this field before starting. What IS the source of this data on the screen?

@Matteo Actually, you were right all along. I had set my focal length, and aperture size, but I lost these settings when I upgraded to the latest AstroArch. Once I reset them correctly, the Polar Alignment Tool quickly took its three captures and came up with its alignment triangle. The process now required me to fiddle with the altitude and azimuth knobs, something I was unfamiliar with. I am going to have to fiddle with them just to gain familiarity with it and try again. I continue to make progress, very slowly. Thanks everyone.

I believe the source is the optical train.
Can you post your optical train info?

For example, here's the optical train I'm using for Align (you can get that by clicking on the pencil next to the align optical train menu




and clicking on "Telescopes and Lenses" at the bottom-left of that menu shows the definition of the telescope selected in the optical train




So you can see that i have entered that I'm using a 2000mm focal length telescope with a 250mm aperture for my "Primary" optical train, which is the optical train I've selected for use in Align.

Jasem has a video on how to setup optical trains.

Hy

Thanks again for all the advice here. It's all starting to come together now.Tonight, for the first time, I achieved my EAA goal of (aside from initially turning the equipment on), doing an observing session entirely inside.Last night, I completed the Polar alignment down tofollowing the excellent advice from Hy and others. I used the Plate Solve method, as indicated by Hy, and found it easier than the triangle method. There is one thing I would like to see in future versions: Showing the last two "Updated Err" values so you could tell more easily what your last adjustment achieved. Anyway, with Polar Alignment out the way, I was able to slew to, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon and take my first decent quality capture through the thing. Now I have to learn some astrophotography stuff.



LIke, why is the caputre of the moon so sharp and clear, while, with the same focus settings, Saturn is so blurry and unimpressive.

Assuming those images are displayed at the same relative scale, I guess that it implies Saturn is over exposed somewhat by comparison. Looking at the background suggests that your exposure was longer for saturn and therefore subject to more atmospheric distortion (seeing).

My 2 cents, but others would have better answers.

Cheers