Michael Covington wrote:
<<1-star alignment is inherently inaccurate and very much at the mercy of
leveling and site data. Do a 2-star alignment and you'll be pleasantly
surprised. In my opinion, it was a mistake for them to even offer 1-star
alignment -- it is a flawed concept. Two stars are necessary (and
sufficient) to determine the position of the celestial sphere.>>

Michael, I'm curious why you think the 1-star alignment should not have been
offered. I always use the 2-star alignment before I begin an observing
session, but there are times when I find the 1-star handy. For example, two
nights ago I was setting up in bright twilight and I wanted to do a 2-star
alignment on Arcturus and Pollux. Arcturus was easy, being high in the east,
but Pollux was lost in the bright western twilight. So I did a quick 1-star
alignment on Arcturus, then did a GoTo to Pollux. One look through the
finder allowed me to find Pollux easily, then I did my 2-star alignment on
Pollux, then Arcturus. I know I probably could have found another star
besides Pollux to do the 2-star alignment, or just waited until it was
darker, but the 1-star procedure sure made things simpler for me.

OK, maybe that's not an overriding reason for offering 1-star alignment, but
I can think of several other examples where it would come in handy.

Why do you think the 1-star alignment is so flawed that it shouldn't be
offered?

On a slightly different topic, there have been many posts lately about
getting the time and location correct in order to ensure accurate slewing.
You've said it before, but apparently many missed it. Time and location
entry in the LX-200 brains have NOTHING to do with accurate slewing, once
you've done a good 2-star alignment. I haven't tried it myself, but I
believe you can enter any time, date, and location that you want, and once
you do a 2-star alignment, you should still be able to accurately slew.
There are only two problems with this that I can think of: (1) The computer
may tell you than an object is below the horizon when it is not, and (2)
slewing to planets or the moon may not be correct. But for all deep sky
objects, time and location should have NO EFFECT on accurate slewing. So
look elsewhere for the source of your problem if your slewing is not
accurate.

If I'm wrong about the above, I'm very sure someone will correct me.

Clear skies,
Kevin Wigell

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