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PolarDrift Calculator on Windows Pc

Developed By: Alex Koukarine

License: Free

Rating: 3,6/5 - 11 votes

Last Updated: February 19, 2025

Download on Windows PC

Compatible with Windows 10/11 PC & Laptop

App Details

Version 1.0
Size 898.6 KB
Release Date May 15, 14
Category Photography Apps

Description from Developer:
PolarDrift calculator is a simple polar alignment assistant tool helping astrophotographers to solve the question of optimum polar alignment sufficient to minimize the effects of f... [read more]

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About this app

On this page you can download PolarDrift Calculator and install on Windows PC. PolarDrift Calculator is free Photography app, developed by Alex Koukarine. Latest version of PolarDrift Calculator is 1.0, was released on 2014-05-15 (updated on 2025-02-19). Estimated number of the downloads is more than 1,000. Overall rating of PolarDrift Calculator is 3,6. Generally most of the top apps on Android Store have rating of 4+. This app had been rated by 11 users, 2 users had rated it 5*, 5 users had rated it 1*.

How to install PolarDrift Calculator on Windows?

Instruction on how to install PolarDrift Calculator on Windows 10 Windows 11 PC & Laptop

In this post, I am going to show you how to install PolarDrift Calculator on Windows PC by using Android App Player such as BlueStacks, LDPlayer, Nox, KOPlayer, ...

Before you start, you will need to download the APK/XAPK installer file, you can find download button on top of this page. Save it to easy-to-find location.

[Note] You can also download older versions of this app on bottom of this page.

Below you will find a detailed step-by-step guide, but I want to give you a fast overview of how it works. All you need is an emulator that will emulate an Android device on your Windows PC and then you can install applications and use it - you see you're playing it on Android, but this runs not on a smartphone or tablet, it runs on a PC.

If this doesn't work on your PC, or you cannot install, comment here and we will help you!

  1. Install using BlueStacks
  2. Install using NoxPlayer

Step By Step Guide To Install PolarDrift Calculator using BlueStacks

  1. Download and Install BlueStacks at: https://www.bluestacks.com. The installation procedure is quite simple. After successful installation, open the Bluestacks emulator. It may take some time to load the Bluestacks app initially. Once it is opened, you should be able to see the Home screen of Bluestacks.
  2. Open the APK/XAPK file: Double-click the APK/XAPK file to launch BlueStacks and install the application. If your APK/XAPK file doesn't automatically open BlueStacks, right-click on it and select Open with... Browse to the BlueStacks. You can also drag-and-drop the APK/XAPK file onto the BlueStacks home screen
  3. Once installed, click "PolarDrift Calculator" icon on the home screen to start using, it'll work like a charm :D

[Note 1] For better performance and compatibility, choose BlueStacks 5 Nougat 64-bit read more

[Note 2] about Bluetooth: At the moment, support for Bluetooth is not available on BlueStacks. Hence, apps that require control of Bluetooth may not work on BlueStacks.

How to install PolarDrift Calculator on Windows PC using NoxPlayer

  1. Download & Install NoxPlayer at: https://www.bignox.com. The installation is easy to carry out.
  2. Drag the APK/XAPK file to the NoxPlayer interface and drop it to install
  3. The installation process will take place quickly. After successful installation, you can find "PolarDrift Calculator" on the home screen of NoxPlayer, just click to open it.

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Download older versions

Other versions available: 1.0.

Download PolarDrift Calculator 1.0 on Windows PC – 898.6 KB

PolarDrift calculator is a simple polar alignment assistant tool helping astrophotographers to solve the question of optimum polar alignment sufficient to minimize the effects of field rotation. It is targeting typical auto-guiding setups. By understanding allowable error in polar alignment, field rotation can be controlled to be under the minimum visible threshold.

A number of details increase or decrease the requirement for precision. Factors that require higher precision include: longer exposure duration, increased distance between the guide star and the edge of the imaging field, and declinations that approach the pole. Factors that tolerate more error include: shorter duration exposure, centering of the guide star and a smaller imaging field, and declinations that approach the equator.

Drift polar alignment via a guide camera and guide scope allows a precise measurement of the rate of movement of a guide star. By using tools to measure the drift rate during ALTITUDE and AZIMUTH adjustment phases of the drift procedure, a value of error can be calculated. Some drift alignment tools report this error in pixels or arc seconds.

After entering the values in the Imaging setup parameters menu, then entering the values of Declination and Exposure Duration on the main screen, the maximum allowable error is displayed. During drift alignment, the speed star movement should be recorded and entered as Measured Drift to determine current conditions.

Note: You can tap the parameter's description on the main screen to see a more detailed explanation for the corresponding value.

This tool allows an astrophotographer to better understand the limits of their setup, so that they can determine if a configuration is feasible.

The idea, calculations algorithm, and instructions text by Stephen Migol.

Calculations are provided from:
Hook, R.N., Polar **** alignment requirements of astronomical photography, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 99, no. 1, p. 19-22 (Feb. 1989) http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1989JBAA...99...19H

Barrett, Frank, Determining Polar Alignment Accuracy, 2009 http://celestialwonders.com/articles/polaralignment/PolarAlignmentAccuracy.pdf

You may find more information and contact the developer directly at http://app.kukarin.com