The problem I had with the Polar Align in auto mode is that it would take the program 8 minutes to move the mount. So I also adopted the "manual slew" mode. Works great.
The polar alignment scheme has a speed control, see the image below.
You can see mine is set to 600x in the screenshot. I have seen, unfortunately,
that after some updates the speed can default to a very slow slew rate, e.g. 2x or 4x.
As you can see, I use a fast slew, e.g. 600x.
If you don't change it from a very slow default like that, the mount will take a long time to move.
Perhaps that's your issue--e.g. if you notice the rate is set low, try it at 600x.
Is this selection mount dependent? I watched Jasem's tutorial, then went to duplicate his results. My highest choice was 9x which caused some strange results. I have a Celestron CGX mount.
If I chose the default 5x, the program would wait 8 minutes after solving the 1st frame, then move the mount which only took about 30 seconds. So the manual move was an easy choice.
Regardless, the user interface to move the Az/El once the pointing error is determined is simply marvelous.
I took a quick peek at
the Indi Celestron driver
(though I'm not at all familiar with it, or for that matter any of the mount drivers) and it looks to me like there are just 9 "presets" that Celestron uses, and that the numbers 1-9 don't reflect actual multiples of the sidereal rate, the way the Skywatcher EQMOD mount driver that I use does (e.g. in my driver 600x really is 600 times the sidereal rate). So, I guess if you were interested in a little more automation, you could play with the different presets and see how they work and if one's fast enough. I'll admit that manual can work very well. The main advantage for me of the semi-automated one is that I'll check the polar alignment while I'm inside, and not actually go outside unless I need to adjust.
Glad the manual movement and new polar alignment scheme is working well for you.
Yes, the word "manual" can mean many things. Maybe I "unclutch" the RA axis and move the scope a skosh. Or I use the hand controller to move some amount. Or I use the mount control panel from Ekos to move 2 hours in whichever direction. It was the latter that I used.
I experience exactly same on my ATM EQ fork mount and Astroberry @ RPi 4. I also use OnStep firmware. My RA motor doesn't stop after 30 degs. Should the mount be exactly at the home position first (not just +/- several degs?) as it's written in the screenshot posted by HY MURVEIT? I didn't try to use the half speed, I'm gonna do it next time.
Because of the fault I used the SharpCap Pro for the PA, but recentrly I've bought an iOptron iPolar camera, which in opposition to the Polemaster doesn't require to rotate the fork at all. After the rough PA using the iPolar I perform PA using a drift method provided by the PHD2, which is possibly the most accurate.
Martha
Last edit: 2 years 6 days ago by Martha. Reason: Cosmetic syntax improvements
Checking the manual slew button for PA works fine. Someone else pointed that out when I asked the same question in this thread some months ago. The PA of Ekos works really well, very nice implementation.