Hello Jasem,

Thank you for the explanation. I was particularly confused after reading about 'Polemaster' products on the web and how one is supposed to set it up.

Here's my understanding now:
For polar alignment using Stellarmate, there is no need for the camera/telescope to be exactly aligned with the axis of the mount. It helps if they are both generally in the same direction and the mount is more or less pointing at Polaris.

The system will take photos of the sky while rotating the mount, plate solve and figure out the exact center of the arc the camera just described. So now it knows exactly where the mount's axis is pointing. It will then guide you to turn the knobs on the mount so that the mount's axis is pointing exactly at the celestial pole. Pretty cool.

(And you don't waste $300 + additional complexity due to Polemaster).

Thanks!
Sanjaya

Read More...