Remember when you could just point a scope at the sky and find something?

Honestly, I spent like three months trying to get a decent polar alignment from my driveway in Phoenix. My old manual mount was fine, but I got a used motorized one and the instructions were useless. Tbh, it took watching a specific YouTube video from 2017 and using a literal carpenter's level to finally get it right last night. Ngl, I almost gave up and went back to just using binoculars. Has anyone else had a fight with an equatorial mount that just would not cooperate?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_sanchez672mo ago

That whole struggle sounds self-inflicted. You said you had a manual mount that worked fine. Swapping to a complicated motorized one was the problem. The old way of just pointing and looking is still right there. All that tech just gets in the way of actually seeing the stars. The hobby is about looking up, not fighting with a level and old videos. You made it hard on yourself.

paulb982mo ago

Different goals need different tools, man.

jade_hernandez1mo ago

all that tech just gets in the way" ... WAIT @spencer_sanchez67 are you actually saying a manual mount is BETTER than a motorized one? I'm genuinely shocked you think that. I get that simple setups can work fine but motorized tracking is a GAME CHANGER for astrophotography.