I’ve been learning all things astrophotography this past month and testing my equipment from the roof of my home.
I seem to have encountered a few issues with my mount and have uncovered a few areas of user ignorance.
My first question is, do I need to perform star alignment before starting the PA routine on ekos or can I simply plate solve and sync? (I’ve done the latter and it just confuses the mount after slewing to a target with the solve and slew mode, constantly increasing the error as it solves)
My second question is regarding Zero position, I set it with the counterweights pointing down and the scope parallel to the ground. Is that correct? And is it essential to be meticulous with mount zero position?