Setting up the Nexstar GPS on a wedge

1) Assemble the tripod and wedge, with the wedge facing Polaris (as
close as possible). Also make sure the wedge is level.

2) Mount the scope with accessories and power on. The most important
thing here is making sure the first bolt has at least 3 full turns
into the base before putting it on the wedge. If at all in doubt,
take it out and re-thread it. You don’t want it to fall!

3) Do an initial alignment. When you look at the screen, it says

"Press ENTER for alignment options, press align for GPS Alignment"
Press ENTER then use the up or down button until you see "EQ North
align" then press enter. If I remember correctly it then asks to
move the scope such that it is on the index mark press ENTER. Then
it will ask you to rotate the scope to point at the meridian
(Perpendicular to the arms and pointed up). Press ENTER again. Then
it will ask you if you want to do an EQ Autoalign or EQ
Twostaralign. The two types of EQN alignment are Autoalign which
slews the telescope to the star and Two Star Align where you
manually slew the scope to the star. NOTE: I usually do the GPS
alignment mainly because I’ve only been in this hobby for 2 years
and I don’t know the stars that well. If doing the auto align, it
will link with the GPS system ask you to validate for the time.

4) Follow through the alignment process.

5) Do a Wedge Alignment. Press the 3 key to get the top menu. Scroll
to Utilities, press Enter. Now scroll to Wedge Alignment and press
enter. Next select North or South and press ENTER. The controller
will say that your prior alignment would be lost. (This is a down
fall of the system. As soon as you mess with the wedge, your alignment is
no longer correct. Think of it this way. If you draw a map then someone
changes the road, the map is no longer correct. The same thing applies.
When you move the wedge or disengage a clutch and move the scope, the old
map that is within the memory is no longer valid.) When you press enter
for Wedge Align, the scope will move to where it thinks Polaris
should be. When it stops, use the wedge knobs and put Polaris in the
center of the EP. (I sometimes then back off a quarter turn so I
know which way to turn the knobs during the drift align.)

6) Go back and do another alignment. Press UNDO until you get to the
main message (Press ENTER…) Again press ENTER and then the up or
down button to get to the north equatorial alignment and follow it's
procedures. Some people skip this step (I usually do).

7) Drift align azimuth. (Drift alignment will mess with your alignment
again.) Aim at a star near the Meridian. The star you choose
should be +- 20 deg from the celestial equator for this step and the
next. This is where the quick sheet off the link below is useful.
Track the star and note the direction it is moving (either up or
down). Ignore motion in RA (left/right), you are only concerned
with up or down drift.

Oh, another tip, when using a reticule EP when you have the star in
the center, use the hand set and move the scope left and right. Turn
 the EP such that the star stays on the line. Otherwise it looks like
it is moving in two directions instead of the one you are interested
in.

8) Use the AZIMUTH knobs on the wedge to make an adjustment. The star
should move against the drift when using a diagonal (i.e. if the
star is drifting down, turn the knob so that the star moves up in
the EP. Again don’t worry about the left/right movement). Find the
star again and repeat until the star stays in one place (up/down)
for at least 5 minutes. The longer it says, the better the
alignment. (Note: Don’t be afraid to really turn the knob. If I’m
setting up in a new place I will give it a full turn each time until
the star moves the other way. Then I know that I’m close.) Here are
a few links for you to look at:

The long winded explanation of why things drift the way they do:
http://members.aol.com/ccdastro/drift-align.htm

Here is a quick guide that I used the first few times:

http://www.darkskyimages.com/quick.html

9) Drift align altitude. Aim at a star due east (or west) near the
celestial equator and about 20 degrees off the horizon and track
it. Use the latitude knob to adjust it using the same procedure in
step 7. Again only look at the up/down movement.

10) Repeat steps 7 - 9 until you are satisfied with your drift
alignment.

11) Do a final equatorial alignment for your go-tos. (Or touch up the
alignment from step 6.)