This revolutionary design has been enthusiastically praised for its ease of use and accuracy by customers in both the northern and southern hemispheres. See a larger image of the reticle.
Advantages of the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope:
- Right-angle viewing eliminates neck strain during polar alignment.
- Reticle suitable for Northern and Southern Hemispheres through 2040.
- Precise adjustments are made without rotating the Polar Alignment Scope or the Right Ascension axis.
- Polar Align in light-polluted areas and during early twilight (only Polaris needs to be seen)
- Battery-powered illuminator with adjustable brightness control.
- Easily interchange between all of your Astro-Physics mounts that have the appropriate back plate/adapter.
Optical Specs:
- Objective lens: 200 mm FL, 25 mm diameter
- Eyepiece: 22 mm Widefield Orthoscopic, focusing ocular
- Field of view: 6 degrees
- Right-angle prism diagonal
Methods to Determine Position of Polaris on Reticle:
- Astro-Physics Polar Alignment Scope Utility - now a part of the AP V2 ASCOM driver
- iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch App - Polar Scope Align by Dimitrios Kechagias, There are free and Pro versions. The Pro version has a number of additional handy features. This app includes reticles for many polar scopes, so be sure to select the correct version.
- Windows Phone App
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Android App, this app is universal for several mounts, so look for the reticle that matches the RAPAS
Use with these Astro-Physics mounts:
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Mach2GTO - The bracket is an option for these mounts since it does not serve another integral function as the Mach1, 1100 and 1600 adapters do. The Mach2GTO will need a RAPM2 in order to use the Right-Angle Polar Scope.
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1100GTO and 1600GTO - All mounts (including those with absolute encoders) include the appropriate back plate to use the RAPAS.
- Mach1GTO - All mounts shipped beginning in 2014 (serial number M10670 and later) will have the adapter for the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope built in. Mounts shipped in prior years must purchase the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope Adapter for Mach1GTO (RAPM1), shown below, separately.
- All versions of the 900 mount - must purchase the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope Adapter for 900 Mounts (RAP900) described below
- 1200 mounts (except the original 1200 black version and the 1200DA) - must purchase the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope Adapter for 1200 Mounts (RAP1200) described below.
Note: 400, 600 and 800 mounts - the larger aperture of this polar alignment scope cannot be adapted to the smaller shaft diameters of the 400, 600 and 800 mounts.
In order to obtain extreme precision, it is possible to perform a precise polar alignment using a traditional drift alignment (visually or with CCD camera), or by using Ray Gralak’s PEMPro / Polar Align Wizard. Once the alignment is spot-on, the push/pull adjustment screws on the adapter are used to orient Polaris into its specific location on the reticle. This needs to be done only once and many users may find it unnecessary at all, as the RAPAS is extremely accurate out-of-the-box.
More on the way:
