I purchased the Meade LX70 Polar Scope for my LX70 telescope mount a while back. I previously created a blog post about the initial installation. The next step was the follow the instructions to align it. The manual first mentioned to point the mount at a distant terrestrial object during the daytime. I found this confusing since the mount points up. I decided to interpret this as something higher then where I was as there was nothing in the distance that was high. I selected the roof of the next door house. I then rotate the mount the 180 degrees as mentioned and the object I was pointing at moved a great distance.
So, I went to adjust the reticle adjustment screws. The first problem was finding the right size allen wrench. I went through my telescope parts and found it. The process is to tighten or loosen three screws. I tried but didn’t seem to make much difference. I keep trying and got worried I might be striping the screws. The manual warned not to do too much. It also warned that if you loosen to much it might fall in. Of course, as I got more and more frustrated, I did just that.
I unscrewed the polar scope and started looking at it. I realized the long end would unscrew and did that. I tilted it up and out came the screw. I also realized the other end would unscrew as it was for focusing. Once everything was apart, I found a better idea of how it worked. It appeared the part of the polar that had the image of the North Star wasn’t being held in place by the screws. I positioned it and tightly all three screws. I checked the alignment and better. I did one adjusted and still not correct but decided to just let go. I would try to align at night with the motor drive and then see the real affect on something like the moon or a planet.