How do align an ETX during the day?

I want to track and photograph the sun.
How do I align my Meade ETX 125

Steve

Enter the usual data. Point the scope to North (or approx) Align the scope
and accept any alignment stars without even looking. Ask for the sun from
your menu if it has this option, if not, ask for Mercury. Then guide the
scope with your autostar handset until the shadow of your scope on the
ground has its smallest profile. Remembering to use the appropriate filter,
guide the sun into your eyepiece. The scope will keep a resonable track on
the sun and as exposures will be in the order of milliseconds; this will be
enough.

Hope this helps

Regards


Chris


"Steve" wrote in message
...
I want to track and photograph the sun.
How do I align my Meade ETX 125

Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I want to track and photograph the sun.
How do I align my Meade ETX 125

Steve

I normally ask my ETX105 to "go to" Mercury, and manually adjust from there.
If you're asking as to how I get it aligned in the first place, I've got an
accurate meridian marked in my garden, accurately levelled and laid frogged
bricks which take the points of my Meade #884 tripod, and I've added a level
vial to my ETX optical tube. If I set up at night my initial alignment is
accurate enough to get both reference stars in the field of view, so there's
no reason to doubt it during the daytime.
I use a variant of the BCF accessory for the finder, which casts a shadow of
the sun, (made from a Fuji 35mm film canister and a length of 4mm studding)
and have found that for comfortable viewing, 4 thicknesses of ND film (~1
stop per thickness) are required.
HTH
--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

The alignment process only teaches the ETX where it is which in theory you
don't need for observing the sun. If you have the scope in polar mode simply
point it towards north and set the motors tracking and it should follow the
sun. You will probably need to adjust it every so often.

Lilian



"Steve" wrote in message
...
I want to track and photograph the sun.
How do I align my Meade ETX 125

Steve