I did this too. I wanted to know which polar alignment was the most accurate..... I has been using Sharp Cap. I bought a very nice used complete imaging rig off Craigslist. It came with a pole master. And i was trying to switch to NINA for everything. And for reference sake, i am using a Celestron CGX mount with a 102mm Explorer Scientific with all the bells and whistles which is probably right about at the sweet spot as far as weight goes. To be fair, i spent about 3 nights with each method AFTER I watched some good tutorials. I also made sure to set up on the concrete instead of my soft grass to make sure my fat butt wasn't messing with my results and i was very fortunate not to have any wind while doing the tests and actually that week was VERY clear atmospherically speaking. Which was the driving force behind making sure my polar alignment was PERFECT. The idea was to use all three alignment procedures over three days while using a different alignment method first to see which one got me the closest to perfect alignment assuming that the less adjustments made in the second and third method should mean the first was the most accurate.... Heres what i found. The most fidgeting i had to do and was quite frustrated at thw end of becaise it took the most time was when i used the polemaster FIRST, NINA SECOND and Sharp Cap THIRD. I had to make fine adjustments at each level. It was quite frustrating. I found that getting the stars lined up into the little holes on the polemaster software wasnt really as accurate. The holes were larger than the stars so i could technically have everything lined up but there was some wiggle room. I did, after further adjustments with NINA, manage to get everything set to 0° total error when i finished with sharp cap. Now when i STARTED with Sharp Cap completely zero'd out..... I had no changes made in NINA and the polemaster software said i was dead on. Now with that all said. Sharp Cap can some times go whacky on me on the middle of an alignment. When that happens i just start over. It almost always ends up happening when im splitting hairs trying to make it perfect and also when i balance the scope "TOO PERFECTLY". I then restart it and ill find out im basically on both zeros. I think if the scope is too perfectly balanced what can happen is theres a tiny amount of backlash in the gears and the scope sort of bounces between them when the wind hits it or something. I try to make mine just a touch camera heavy and a little bit heavier towards the counterweights. Im talking an almost imperceptible amount. I get it perfect and then i remove the cap from the guide scope. That usualy does it.

Thanks for the comparison. I’m just starting out and playing around with different polar alignments. I have an ASIAir and used their two polar alignment processes. I have decided to try NINA so now trying this polar alignment. There is another KZfaqr who did a review on this NINA procedure and he says to perform the procedure twice. I have a polar scope in my AVX mount and will use that first so I hopefully don’t have to move the alt azimuth controls so much at the start the procedure. My understanding is with higher focal lengths like my C8 SCT even with the 6.3 focal reducer, 1280mm, getting the polar alignment right is crucial for PHD2 to guide accurately.

I don’t have a view of Polaris from my observing location, so I’ve had to reply on Celestron’s All Star Polar Alignment, then I switched to drift alignment in PHD2, and then 3-point polar alignment in NINA. I actually think methods such as PHD2 and NINA are the most precise (ASPA is sort of eyeballing it) compared to the Polemaster. I know people swear by the polemaster but the major weakness I see with it is that to be accurate it has to be precisely aligned with your mount. However if you are using your imaging camera to achieve polar alignment with PHD2 or NINA, you are aligning the system as you’ll use it. Nice video, appreciate the effort to show the comparison of these two methods.

I have been following your channel for well over a year now. I appreciate your style and "beginner" inquisitiveness. I am about ready to light off an EQM-35 Pro (with Polemaster) topped by an AT70ED. I am also moving to NINA/Carte du Ciel to control the mount. This comparison was quite relevant for me. Did you ever ascertain why Polemaster and NINA were off those 2' 30"? Jason Coon's explanation makes a lot of sense. It would not take much milling error for a 2-1/2 minute error in angle. Keep up the great work!

Sharpcap Pro is great for Polar Alignment. It also allows you to get a good polar alignment versus excellent plus you can turn on sound as you get closer or far away. I was never able to get NINA to work.

I heard the best results is to point to your target that night and use that as your starting "Three Point Polar Alignment" point. This is where I wish the mounts had fine thread bolts for the Azimuth/Altitude adjustments.

The issue you have is which one is correct. If you getting acceptable results with one or the other just carry on. One big benefit of NINA is using any part of the sky to PA so good if Polaris is obstructed another of course is its free to use.

If you do a PHD2 Guiding Assistant run, especially near the celestial equator and the meridian, it will give you a good measurement of your polar error using drift. That way you can check your Polemaster vs. NINA 3 PPA to see which is closer.

Thank you 🖖🏼

I have a DSLR, tracker, and manual mount only. Can I still use NINA? Can I choose manually where the 3 points are that are used?

I do the 3 star polar alignment using Nina. Once I'm under one minute, I try to get it to 30 seconds or less I then do a plate solve sync and go on my way. I have not tried sharpcap pro

I wouldn’t chase polar alignment if it’s within 30” in either axis. Your guider will take care of the rest.

Never used it before and so you do an impression video ...why can't I get excited?

Maybe the adapter is not sitting perfectly aligned with the RA axis ,or the hole the adapter slips into isn't perfectly aligned ( after all it was only designed to take a cap to keep the objective of the polescope clear so not originally a high spec orifice. I think the NINA 3 star alignment will be correct, and like you said , the celestrial pole may not be accessible . If you are autoguiding the errors are so small that the 2 dual axis guiding will get rid of any Polemaster errors anyway. On the strength of that I've recently bought a Polemaster and I'll running in tandem with my autoguider using my venerable old 12.6" Latitude Laptop or if I can't be bothered running the laptop, using the Android App to run the polemaster to set up using my Galaxy 5G smartphone for widefields.

I use Sharpcap Pro it’s just simple.

Less than 1 arc minute is great. If your mount is not 'perfectly' level the one will effect the other. No mount is perfectly level. So it can be a bit of robbing peter to pay paul. So ity bity movements and again anything less than 1 arc min is great. At about 11:45 you were more than done. Of course when you tighten the bolts it will change. Don't spend too much time chasing perfection. Less than 1 arc min.