Polar Align Assist 

After you have cold started and completed the first   Align Telescope

Synchronize,   

select the   Align Telescope

Polar Al. Assist   menu item.  You will be in the menu of 

stars you can use for polar alignment.   

You will need to select 2 stars for this alignment process.  The first one should be near 

the celestial equator (Dec. near 0) and within about 20

 of the eastern or western horizon.  

The other star should be near the meridian (such as Polaris in the northern hemisphere).  

Use the DEC buttons to scroll through the list of stars and select the first one by using the 

RA+ button.  Gemini will display   Calculating    briefly and then once again display the 

menu of stars.  Scroll through the list and select the second star.   

After you use the RA+ button to select the second star, the mount will slew to the first 

star. Once it reaches the star,   center object   will appear on the display. If the star is the 

one near the meridian, center the star only using the mount' s elevation adjustment knob 

(ignore azimuth).  If it is in the western or eastern part of the sky, center the star using 

only the mount' s azimuth adjustment knob (ignore elevation).  Having done this, 

completely center the star in both RA and Dec. using the Hand Controller.   

Press the MENU button and the telescope will slew to the other star.  Center it using the 

procedure described above.   Repeat this about 3 times, each time pressing the MENU 

button to slew back and forth between the two stars. When you are finished, press the 

MENU button once more, and when the telescope starts to slew, press the RA+ button to 

escape from the loop and finish the polar alignment routine.  You can expect to get to 

within one degree of the pole using this method.

Important:

 Because this method depends on the mount pointing to where the stars 

should be if the mount were polar aligned, you cannot use this function if modeling 

parameters have already been calculated.  You should only use it after a Cold Start before 

you do any Additional Aligns, or immediately after selecting the   Reset Alignment   

menu item. 

Polar Axis Correction 

This feature assists you in accurately polar aligning your mount.  Because Gemini 

s 

modeling feature calculates the mount 

s deviation from perfect polar alignment, it can be 

used to guide you to alignment as you adjust the mount 

s azimuth and elevation.  It is 

important to note that before you can use this function, you must build an accurate 

pointing model by doing several Additional Aligns.  

After you have done several alignments on different objects, select an object from the 

Object Database that is near the intersection of the celestial equator and the meridian.   

GoTo the object and center it in the eyepiece using the HC buttons.  Now, select "Align 

Telescope

Polar Axis Corr." from the menu.  Gemini will move the mount to where the 

object should be if the mount were accurately polar aligned.  You should adjust the polar 

Gemini Users Manual 

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