I really like the polar alignment. Its one of the reasons I'm using Kstars. But it can be really annoying to use. The tiny little postage stamp image is hard to see, and the correction vector obscures the star I'm trying to use to correct the alignment, and the end of the correction vector is an "X" or a "+" that also obscures the star you are trying to place at that point. It would be better to use a circle so the star can be placed inside.
Also, the tool could tell the user which way he has to adjust the mount, north south east west. I haven't been out in a while - weather - but I think It just gives total error, and the graphics are so small and hard to read that I really have no idea which way to correct. Maybe a tutorial would clear this up but I haven't seen one address these issues.
Attached is the largest I was able to make the image. Better than what I originally worked with - defaults to about 2" across - but the largest possible space for the image would really help. After all, we are working interactively with the image update. But still, the selected star is obscured by the correction vector.
I don't mean to complain but the mechanics of Kstars is a bit odd. When I click that button, what I see is a reconfigured window but the full screen image panel was completely obscured as it was in the background. I didn't even know it was there until I searched to figure out what was going on.
So just as a suggestion. I think it would be good to sit down with a complete noob, starting with Kstars install, and see what the user experience is like. I just got a friend to start using it but he had issues with the python and astrometry install (on Mac) and it took a bit of doing to clear it up. I believe Kstars auto installs all that but he read the readme and it directed him to custom install procedures. Anyway, it did not go according to plan!
Kstars is turning into a great solution for non-windows users and I'm recommending it on other forums.
I'll second your Doh! I had been looking for that button for a while. I kept looking at the bar at the top of the image window. You know, the one with the controls for the image