Does anyone use an eyepiece with crosshairs to help with alignment? I feel like it would help with accuracy but they are not a cheap addition.
Do you mean reticle eyepieces? I think they are to attach to off-axis guider or a guide scope to center a telescope on an object right? If you have a cross on the actual eyepiece it would block the view making the eyepiece less effective. Maybe there is such a thing but I’ve never seen one for observing. I’d also be interested in knowing how they work if they exist.
Yeah, i was hoping to get one just to use during alignment and then switch it out for a normal one for observing.
I have one on the finder, but then confirming you have the object in dead centre for alignment is a little guesswork. Not a big deal, but being southern hemisphere without a polaris to help, every little bit would help to ensure alignment.
I originally purchased an illuminated reticle double cross hair eyepiece to facilitate manual guiding during astrophotography (something that I have not done since the mid 90s). It was an absolute necessity.
Most recently I used it in doing a very accurate polar alignment after permanently installing my Meade 14" LX200 GPS/SMT on a Le Sueur Mfg. Astropier, housing it in a 10’ Technical Innovations ProDome.
An illuminated reticle eyepiece with the crosshairs aligned N,S,E,W is a great help while using the declination drift method to achieve very accurate polar alignment.
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