PoleMaster is the unique invention of QHYCCD which solved the pain of getting precision pole alignment. Accurate, Easy and Fast!
High Precision: The PoleMaster's pixel resolution is approximately 30 arc seconds. The camera's pixel matrix itself is a good ruler, so the accuracy it measures is much higher than the accuracy of the macroscopic lens. In the best case it can achieve an alignment accuracy of 30 arc seconds. Wide Field of View: The electronic polar mirror has a large field of view of 11 degrees x 8 degrees, so it is easy to find the Polaris.
You don't need to rotate the telescope to some uncomfortable position to keep the optical polar axis of the equatorial mount unobstructed. Also, you don't need to squat down to look through the polar axis scope. You don't need to turn off all the light sources to allow the naked eye to adapt to the darkness and look for the Polaris in the field of view. You also don't need to enter the date and time and then rotate the equatorial mount to a strange angle, finally you don't need to adjust the equatorial level.
Once you have calibrated with a PoleMaster, you only need to perform a single-star sync (one-star calibration). This greatly facilitates the setup of an equatorial mount.
With the PoleMaster you can observe the alignment of the polar axis at any time, as well as continuously monitor the polar axis. When the equatorial mount moves inadvertently, you can also tune it back without having to redo everything.
Can be mounted to any equatorial mount: With a suitable adapter ring, the PoleMaster can be mounted to any equatorial mount, even an equatorial mount without a polar axis scope because the PoleMaster itself replaces all the functions of an optical polar alignment scope. Even single-axis equatorial mounts that have no ability to correct in declination will benefit because with the PoleMaster, after the polar axis is aligned, the amount of drift in the declination direction will be very small, which can further improve the performance of such an equatorial mount.
Patented Product
The PoleMaster electronic polar axis alignment device is a patented product of QHYCCD and is protected by Chinese patents. At present, QHYCCD also provided the PoleMaster as an OEM product for iOptron and licenses iOptron to use the iOptron LOGO logo on the PoleMaster product. This is only for use on iOptron Equatorial Mounts. For other brands of equatorial instruments, please look for the QHYCCD trademark.
Highly Popular Tool
The PoleMaster is an easy, convenient and fast way to achieve excellent polar alignment. It has been recognized by astronomy enthusiasts around the world and has become a must-have for anyone using an equatorial mount for visual use or for imaging.
Technical Background
The PoleMaster achieves polar axis alignment following this simple idea: Find the position of the pole and then make it coincide with the center of rotation of the equatorial mount's RA axis, so that the right ascension axis of the equatorial mount is aligned with the axis of the Earth's rotation. The PoleMaster can be mounted in front of the Equatorial Mount's RA axis. It contains a highly sensitive camera that dynamically captures star images near the North celestial pole in real time. Its sensitivity is higher than the naked eye, so not only can you see the North Star, but you can also see a few dim stars near Polaris. Based on the location of these stars, the software calculates the true north pole position. At the same time, the PoleMaster detects the position of the center of rotation of the right ascension axis and then marks the position of the two points on the screen. All you have to do is adjust the equatorial mount so that the two points overlap and the polar axis is aligned.
