Pulsar2 - Teleskop
Contents
1. If connected to a PC Pulsar2 can be reached through the ASCOM platform or by setting the mount type to LX200 non GPS or via the Pulsar Commander download from www astronomy hu pulsar2 html and the LAN based virtual hand controller To start using Pulsar2 connect the hand controller mount and power There is no power switch you will either unplug power or send the mount to parking and leave it powered until next use PEC on Pulsar2 will only work if the dedicated encoder is fitted to the RA worm QUICKSTART Hand Controller Menu navigation Use the keypad to reach the menus The North and South push of the Joystick navigates the menu up and down the West push is Enter yes the East is Esc no The button CE also has the Esc function Icons give a clue to the menus The controller has a multi level menu structure but most important functions are directly accessed by pressing a button see KEY TO THE ICONS OF THE KEYBOARD for more info Information on the Display The 2x16 character LCD shows Right Ascension hh mm ss and decimals and Declination dd mm ss Please note that the last digit may change abruptly due to rounding errors R r shows the status of the joystick swap mode in RA Upper case Is the default Rp pole crossed 12h added to the RA value D d shows the status of the joystick swap mode in DEC Upper case is the default PEC ON r refraction correction ON e w shows which side of the Meridian th2. Longer cable for the Hand Controller specify PEC encoder and cable standard with G 42 mount Autoguider cable specify CCD GPS cable adapter Innovation and Service since 1996 GEMINI TELESCOPE DESIGN www astronomy hu
3. Swap tube Flip correction Absolute reference Alignmaster Pole crossing GPS use Remote operation Parking position Home position or parking position is where the telescope mount is left when out of use When the unit is switched ON it is ready for use without initializing It is a necessity in an observatory but useful in the field too To program the parking position 1 Initialize on a star in the Southern half of the sky if not yet done 2 Slew the mount to the desired parking position the tube must point in the Southern sky and at least a few degrees above the horizon 3 Enter the Setup User Parameters Home position menu and save the position When you finish the observing session press the Home button for 3 sec and the mount goes to its parking position then stops the motors If you have enabled refraction correction there will be a small motion after the motors have stopped this is the compensation for refraction You can also park unpark the mount using PulsarCommander or any other Suitable sw that uses the Ascom platform Now you can switch power OFF or alternatively leave it On Power consumption will be minimal in standstill To start a new session simply switch power ON select sidereal speed and go If you have left power on press the home button for 3 sec To enhance positioning accuracy you can fine tune the internal clock see the Hand Controller menu overview Note please avoid a precisely N S position
4. The right column offers an explanation of the function The expression hotkey refers to the appropriate keyboard buttons The default values are in bold characters The first table contains the parameters of the mount You find the data in the manual or consult the manufacturer The default setting is G 40 41 42 The Microstep resolution is managed automatically Reduction Total reduction of the 100 432 10000 drivesystem MainGear Reduction of the main 100 432 10000 gear used for PEC purposes MotorRes step rev resolution of the 100 200 400 100 200 400 stepper motors Rotation L R This defines the default Left Right On hotkey 4 for rotation of the motors Will depend on DEC actual wiring of the motors Set it so that tracking is correct Germ Fork AltAz F disables swap tube and E W of Meridian menu in Initialize TrackCurr Tracking current used up 800 mA 600 is the recommended tracking speed GoToCur The current applied to motors in GoTo StopCur The current applied to 400 mA Should not be much smaller motors in than standstill tracking curr to avoid jump at start Encoder res Incremental encoder The encoders of the servo motors and resolution the independent encoders of the mount can be specified here Motor Type The motor used on the Stepper or Servo mount Red autoset Reduction automatic Finds the total reduction of the mount if setting encoders are fitted Indispensa
5. of the DEC axis as home position This may lead to false E W information at startup If you have programmed the autostop limits the home position must be within the limits Parking will not remember the side of meridian where you have set the parking position It will park the mount on the side of the tube where it was at the moment of the parking command Absolute Reference with incremental encoders If you are using a mount with incremental encoders that have an absolute position signal one in each full rotation you can use this to Initialize the mount without finding a star This is useful in remote operation You will need to watch the mount to be successful IP cam This is how to use this feature Initialize the mount as you normally would Enter the Mount Parameters Set reference menu and follow the instructions on the LCD The aim is to rotate the axes until the encoder signal has been found When finished exit the menu From now on you are able to initialize the mount without stars Enter the User parameters Get reference menu and follow the instructions on the LCD The procedure is similar to the above but now the previously saved positions will be recalled Note that the declination reading at the moment of getting the signal from the encoder must be a valid value between plus minus 90 degrees If it is not the OTA platform must be removed and rotated The RA axis is factory adjusted to have the encoder reference withi
6. rather than decreasing it Seeing should be evaluated with the actual imaging instrument as it will vary with aperture changes significantly above cca 15cm due to the size of air cells If the guide sw Is doing automatic calibration the measured speed should be decreased by cca 20 for best results If this is not possible increase the guide speed in Pulsar2 after making the calibration In case of overcorrection decrease agressiveness For unguided photography program the PEC use Refraction Correction and set the Stop Current at a value within 10 of the Tracking Current or the same To get the highest possible tracking precision programming the PEC at the actual sky position is recommended Before using an autoguider cable make sure that it has the correct pinout and orientation An alternative to cable guiding is the LX200 connection USING PULSAR2 WITH A PC First install the USB driver available at the Pulsar2 site It is compatible with Win XP and Win7 32 and 64 bit Check in My Computer Properties Hardware Device manager the number assigned to the virtual COM port and set this number in Pulsar Commander or any other softare that needs to connect to Pulsar2 It is recommended to set the computer time to UT the time format to 24h to disable daylight Saving time correction and regional settings to UK Only one program at a time can connect to Pulsar2 You have the following choices for controlling Pulsar2 1 Pulsar Comman
7. R MENU eessssssssssssssssssseereresesssrrsssssssssssreerrreees 16 TROUBLESHOOTING credn iian N EO 20 KEY TO THE ICONS OF THE KEYBOARD eeeeeeees 22 EX 00C OMPA LAV ear ce eae cena E EE EEE 29 AUTOGUIMER POR Toreon a E E 23 AUXILIARY PORT 8 PIN Jenssen Ee E 24 CATALOGUE DATA DOWNLOAD witrsecsatrwsectasasaesestanietustontontvesendsoest 24 HARDWARE OPTIONS secano kinna E Ea iaeei 26 SAFETY The unit is protected against reverse polarity short circuit of the motor cables and overvoltage The power cable is fused at 6 3Amp slow Removing the motor cables during use will not damage the circuits If you feel vibration at the DEC motor in standstill your power supply is noisy The unit runs from 12 24V DC max recommended value 18V and draws 2A max during a GoTo There is a low voltage warning below 10V on display beep All cables can be unplugged plugged also when the unit has been powered GENERAL Pulsar2 is a universal drive controller that can be user programmed for a wide range of mounts fitted with servo or bipolar stepper motors It will work with motors only steppers or motors incremental encoders The unit is LX200 and ASCOM compatible thus you can use it with your favourite Planetarium Program Cartedu Ciel Guide Desktop Universe The Sky etc and other sw like PemPro CCD Autopilot etc Pulsar will work as a standalone driver using the hand controller or connected to a PC no hand controller is needed
8. WD con Telescope Design Pulsar2 user s manual Version 5 5 10 10 12 www astronomy hu pulsar2 html Controller Pulsar 2 Connector Gemini PULSAR 2 AUTOGUIDA AUX PULSANTIERA LAN USB Hand controller Index SAFE TY secedsawtaie ena idasnad i ulaadualehaahie Sect aiad uli iad tinea sduaedateetulal dala 4 oid ahah E ides aoe reeasesl cate tease atsted lioness 5 CEG START aces seater cide bid canes aed esta is acucs pee diinbidcauesaiden ie as ceus einceteatenes 5 Hand Controller Menu navigation cccccccccccccceeseesceceeaeeseeeeaeeeees 5 Information On The Display cerceii an T E 5 MAZINE s T TE T E 6 USING THE INTELLIGENT FEATURES aeeeeeeeeeneeneenenessssennessssseeees 7 Parkin OS OU si 5 esoteric icine E aoe aes 7 Absolute Reference with incremental encoders cccccsseeeeee eee 8 e bios Be oi a0 6 00 eer ee nen nee era eens ree nes enn ro erent Ta tenn N T E 9 Swap be Meridian tip ereinen nae a EE EE A 9 Pole CTOSS INS onrein o aA E OO o ee e e a aae E nE 10 GOT Orcas a eee ccd E a taeataeaat 10 Usme your OPS coe tr cae et elated 11 ANONA SUSE aeie EE T ET EA 11 Remote OperanOmrsiiaicamerie ices 12 AS TROPHOTOGRAPELY sicssscvodudoresssvaduceovsdanete cucducuieuuni Asan E a 12 UVTI M ost atest of oad Chante oan Garner ot hed he naeses enteeewetioe 13 USING PULSARZ WIHA PO onee a ea a talus ae tients 13 Upgrading the rmwWa E sresn iacci n EE 14 PROGRAMMING PE Gnana N 15 HAND CONTROLLE
9. and is used to reveal the cause of a problem if there is one TROUBLESHOOTING The mount does not Still rate selected e g auto stop function track activated You connected the DEC cable to the RA motor two connector models only The mount tracks in RA motor rotation incorrect See Initialize the wrong direction Significant RA drift in Clock error not corrected See the system menu in tracking the table above Incorrect rate selected e g Lunar Solar User instead of Sidereal Incorrect mount motor parameters Check the setup menu Refraction correction disabled or incorrect Initializing info incorrect Note you can correct any residual drift with the user rate This correction will be accurate for the actual sky position only GoTo command not The object is below the horizon executed Knocking of the DEC motor at start affects guiding precision Knocking of the RA motor during tracking Mount goes the wrong way in DEC during GoTo or manual slew Swap tube command is not accepted PEC does not function Large GoTo error Incorrect date time or geographical position setting See Initialize Stop current too low Increase to match the tracking current setup menu Supply voltage too low Tracking current too low Adjust in Mount setup Power supply problem DEC motor rotation setup skipped or you crossed the meridian manually Joystick direction sw
10. apped accidentally N S button pressed The actual scope position and the tube are not on the same side of the Meridian Setup information is incorrect including E W of Meridian PEC turned off no p on the display appears Missing magnet in the RA coupling Magnet inserted with the wrong side out applicable only if the magnet has been removed Faulty sensor or contact problem at the mount end Broken cable Incorrect polar alignment Database error check the coordinates Motor stalled during the goto low supply voltage small goto current too high goto speed Controller You must make an upgrade on the USB port with a accidentally pushed bin file to upgrade mode KEY TO THE ICONS OF THE KEYBOARD E W Press briefly swap E W button setup press for 3 sec Swap tube eo a Select Guide speed Select Progressive speed one push of the joystick gives an offset of cca 10 4 N S Press briefly Swap N S button setup press for 3 REA sec reverse DEC rotation e 8 Goto Home position press for 3 sec 6 Select tracking rate also map light on Ver2 HC PEG Pecmens O OoOO o Press briefly Recalibrate after GoTo PEJ Select active speed GoTo clear entry or Escape GoTo menu 7 se toggle sign for coordinate entry Initialize Exit Guest mode PIN needed Press any button to emergency stop a GoTo LXZ00 COMPATIBILITY The Pulsar2 controller accepts many commands from LX200 co
11. ble for a friction drive like G53F or MoFoD Follow the instructions on the LCD correction Inhibited over 85 deg declination Set reference saves the absolute position info of the encoders if fitted by Matthias Garzarolli instructions on the LCD The table below is an overview of all other user dependent hand controller menu functions Menus in red are ready after Initializing and correct parameter entry Init E W Lat Long Time only down Guiding speed 9 9 sideral Center 0 1 6x sideral 0 0 GoTo speed Can be set separately for RA Max 9999 7deg sec Max 9999 7deg sec and DEC Ramp All telescopes must accelerate and 1 9 1 small 1 9 9 higt decelerate Otherwise the mount will be acceleration acceleration damaged soon Backlash compensation Not available here Enter in min sec of arc Swap Tube delay You can enter a delay in seconds for the DEC rotation to start later than the RA Pole Crossing On Off Enables pole crossing for GoTo commands Submenu Tube rotation North South The mount will not rotate 180 deg in RA if you want to look at the Northern sky Tube rotation defines the direction of the polecross Useful when you have cables on the telescope camera Latitude Longitude in decimals Your The longitude is negative to the East 0 180 observing site s data The optional GPS and positive to the west 0 180 module updates it automatically Autostop Local Select your obje
12. ct to be To mobilize the mount after Autostop slew tracked first East first then select Sidereal rate Then take the tube in RA to the West until the desired Stop position where the tube would hit he pier Now enter the menu select RAlimit and save the position Go back to your object reenter the menu and select ON S appears on display if stopped and relax The mount will switch into Still rate when it reaches the limit Home pos save There is an internal battery that keeps the This is the sleeping position of the clock running when the unit is switched off telescope in your Next time you switch it ON you can skip observatory Slew the scope to this Initialize position enter the menu and save Works only with valid geographical position and time Active speed only with hotkey 0 Menu available with hotkey 0 or select Selects the active speed for directly with hotkeys 2 3 guide speed and progressive Refraction correction this is the real On Off On Off time King rate in both directions plus r on display r on display correction for GoTo positioning Guest mode enter your password four To exit press Initialize hotkey enter your digit and password select ON Only the joystick slew function If you forget your PIN power Off On is active now Umod sp lim Stepper driving mode The value is the speed limit for the voltage limiting speed mode in acceleration Above the limit current mode is us
13. der to load databases set parameters parking and unparking etc 2 The ASCOM platform after installing the Pulsar driver available from the downloads site 3 Any planetarium software either by selecting LX200 non GPS or ASCOM telescope Upgrading the firmware USB mode Install SamProg available from the Pulsar2 site will work on WIN XP only on the PC Get the latest binary file firmware from the Pulsar2 site Then proceed exactly as written below Switch Pulsar2 ON In the Setup System Upgrade menu select Yes wait cca 10sec until you hear a double beep Switch Pulsar2 OFF connect Pulsar2 to the USB port of the PC Switch Pulsar2 ON open SamProg you must see Active connection 1 browse and select the latest binary file click write flash in SamProg 10 wait until done 11 click exit in SamProg 12 switch Pulsar2 OFF and ON O CON DUB WN FE 13 you are ready now your settings and PEC remain unchanged Please read also the PulsarFAQ before starting the upgrade It is also possible and recommended to upgrade using a web browser Please read the relevant documentation FAQ available for download at our internet site This method is OS independent works also on a MAC There is a tutorial video at www astronomy hu manuals html PROGRAMMING PEC PEC will work only with an installed worm encoder standard on Gemini G4X mounts To program PEC you have the following options 1 Use the hand controlle
14. e tube is S Stopped autostop function select Sidereal rate to exit E Error motors stopped after reset or power failure to exit select sidereal speed in the rate menu H Pulsar is in park mode Low voltage signal from PEC encoder received If you press the side button maplight the RA worm position counter value appears at top left and the effect of refraction is removed from the values of the coordinates for information only values are not actually changed IMPORTANT NOTE Initializing Initializing this is the first step of use It aligns the telescope with the equatorial coordinate system Pulsar2 uses a one star alignment You must do it every time you set the telescope up in a new position Polar align the mount first For permanent setup it is enough to do it once if you shut down by parking the mount 1 rotation of the dec axis pressing the joystick North must move the OTA North If not long press the N S button to change motor rotation 2 The star or coordinates you are pointing at 3 The side of pier meridian where you have placed the OTA If you have a G40 41 or 42 mount you can just follow the instructions on the display Autoinit after powering the unit up If you have a different mount check the mount parameters and enter the correct values When done power off on and use Autoinit Example a German Equatorial Mount is initialized with the OTA on the Western side of the pier Usi
15. ed Current mode is noisier but gives more torque GoTo mode Selects goto logic See p Using the Intelligent Features and position from a GPS on encoder information Set User rate 1 2 3 hotkey 7 and u Min sec 1 100s Deg min sec This rate is superimposed on the tracking rate This function is designed for sleepy astrophotographers Solar rate sec hr hr Still e g for terrestrial viewing Coordinates will be updated when you exit to Sidereal User Defined Rate 1 2 3 Min sec 1 100s Tiger minute oF time per minute of time waka ea eee Use the databases here Pulsar will ask for Initializing on reference objects E W meridian position directly Time Date set Enter the date and time in UT Time Date Sid Check time here default when switching the unit on accessible Select Catalogue You can write your own database in Excel csv Star M NGC USER format for any catalogue not just user See the example star csv below Swap tube only with hotkey1 long Enabled when the tube and the object where press the telescope points are on the same side of the Meridian If Autostop global limits are set and Swap tube is enabled meridian flip will be automatic before GoTo if necessary to avoid the autostop zone Slews to Alt Az coordinates GoTo Home only with hotkey 5 long Takes the mount to the user programmed press home position If you turn the unit off this Programming The mount must be in the way i
16. es selectable in user parameters menu 1 horizon commands below the horizon are rejected Select this if you use a fork mount 2 Pulsar2 Logic pulsar2 logic an advanced goto management that selects the optimum track for each goto try it and have fun Using your GPS The Pulsar2 controller accepts serially connected GPS units using the 4800 baud NMEA protocoll a GPS reciever is not sufficient Pulsar2 will ask for the UT and geographical coordinates if prompted This feature allows for the trouble free use of the intelligent features when you are travelling to dark sky locations You will need a special cable for connection The 8 pin Aux iliary connector has the necessary contacts The Ver2 hand controller has a bult in GPS unit that will find the coordinates and time after each startup if enabled in User Parameters Read GPS menu 1 Make sure that you have selected NMEA 4800 baud as the communication protocol Setup Interface menu on the GPS 2 Let he GPS collect the navigation signal connect it to the Pulsar2 Aux port with the adapter 3 Enter the GPS menu user parameters Pulsar will acknowledge GPS data Now you can remove the cable and use the driver You will need a dedicated cable available from Gemini or DIY to connect your GPS to Pulsar2 with the serial cable avilable from the GPS manufacturer Alignmaster This is the algorithm developed by Matthias Garzarolli and implemented in Pulsar2 hardwa
17. ite the name here e g USER to Double Load the catalogue from its directory Click Send Catalogue Wait for the Sent message may take several minutes for larger databases e WwW N O UI A Star Messier and NGC database is available now as preloaded before shipping The following data fields are defined Star 500 Messier 500 User 500 IC 8000 Pk 8000 Planet 8000 NGC 9999 The numbers in parentheses are the capacity limits in entries There is a tutorial video at www astronomy hu manuals html Example for database structure Excel file format csv extension values must be separated by S hh mm sss deg min sec Mag Data Data Const Name e 1 1car 4car 10 ri car car al 9 9 9 9 2 19 50 47 8 52 6 0 77 0 0 Aql Alp Aql 8 4 2 7 10 23 27 45 2 0 0 Ari Alp Ari 5 Display 1 st line from table above You can write your own User Database 500 entry and can edit all other databases The Deep Sky 2000 program is very nice in producing an EXCEL table via SQL commands From the result only some columns have to be removed and resorted So it s an easy task to fill the Pulsar tables G W Austria HARDWARE OPTIONS The standard shipping package includes Driver unit Hand Controller with 2m cable Power cord extension with banana plugs alligator clips cigar lighter pug RCA plug please specify You will need a standard A B type USB cable to connect Pulsar2 to a PC Options
18. mpatible software To see the list please visit the Pulsar page at www astronomy hu pulsar htm Coordinates are handled in the full or compressed format according to the request of the planetarium software Planetarium programs tested with Pulsar2 Desktop Universe Guide 7 The Sky Skymap Pro Carte du Ciel note The Sky does have port problems under W Millennium Disable Power Management AUTOGUIDER PORT Pulsar2 accepts Meade CCD type autoguider cables Earlier SBIG cameras with Dsub connectors will need an adapter Details are on the Pulsar homepage The image below 12345 6 1 N C 2 COM 3 X 5 Y shows the Pulsar2 autoguider socket pinout STV needs a reversed cable STAR2000 a direct cable AUXILIARY PORT 8 PIN The auxiliary port may be used for connecting a GPS unit serial port connecting an external parking signal e g cloud sensor and other devices that may be useful 1234567 8 Front view of AUX connector 15 Volts External Parking bus 3 3 Volts GND GPS D9 pin5 bus RS 232 out GPS D9 pin3 RS 232 in GPS D9 pin2 CON DU BWN FE CATALOGUE DATA DOWNLOAD Catalogue data download the catalogues are in Excel csv format 1 Connect the unit power ON to the USB port of the PC 2 Start the program Pulsar Commander Please download Open the virtual COM port you are using Select the catalogue you want to program in the pull down window of the Init menu you can overwr
19. n 3 hours of the meridian There is a tutorial video at www astronomy hu manuals html Flip Correction If the OTA optical axis is not perpendicular to the declination axis a meridian flip will be imprecise In the extreme vicinity of the Pole you will not be able to reach your targets if this error is present However up to 85 degrees Pulsar2 offers the possibility to correct for this error by first learning it Enter the Flip correction menu in Mount parameters and follow the instructions P2 will automatically select a suitable star that you can precisely center and then do the flip After re centering the star the correction is saved Once a value has been saved the feature is active If you want to disable it re run the learning routine without making any corrections This will save zero as correction value There iS a tutorial video at www astronomy hu manuals html Swap tube Meridian flip This command takes the tube from one side of the mount to another Swap tube is activated by pressing the bottom left button for 3 sec This function works only if the tube is already approaching the mount head in other words the tube and the object are on the same side of the Meridian In any other case the command is not accepted for safety reasons After the flip is completed the telescope points at the same position as before To have an accurate Swap tube it is important to check the orthogonality at 90 degree of the DEC and tube optical axi
20. ng Autoinit this is the default menu after switching the controller on check the rotation of the dec axis as prompted align OTA at the meridian or due South in other words see photo at right Eas align OTA at cca DEC 0 za Va degree the equator OTA W4 f at right angle to the hour 4 sie axis a mount starts to slew to the nearest reference star d when stops center the star in the finder and press button 9 as prompted tell which side of the meridian the OTA is on the West in the illustration above You are facing South yy A F ATTENTION If you want to use Swap tube and the Pulsar2 goto logic functions you MUST initialize using the Hand Controller OR the virtual Hand Controller PC OR the Pulsar Commander Init menu PC Using a planetarium software is NOT sufficient because it does not tell Pulsar2 on which side of the pier the OTA is This will lead to collisions between the pier and the OTA Please always initialize the mount in the Southern half of the sky from E to Ww Note you can initialize using an LX200 compatible planetarium program but in this case the controller will miss the OTA Meridian position info This will lead to incorrect Swap tube and GoTo operation with a German Equatorial mount Fork mounts do not need meridian information and can be initialized from a planetarium program USING THE INTELLIGENT FEATURES The features covered in this paragraph are Parking position GoTo
21. o If you Start an exposure without a delay the image might be trailed Use the Ascom driver with observatory automation sw Generally speaking to automate an observatory you will need to have PC control of the following Dome roof opening and closing rotating Surveillance webcam Robotic Focusser and rotator Tube dustcap opening closing Cloud sensor An independent e g laser beam attached to the tube home position sensor will add extra security in an emergency If encoders are not fitted to the mount A UPS is necessary to prevent unwanted system shutdown ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY Recommended settings For guided astrophotography set a guide speed of 2 5 depending on the pixel resolution 2 for 1 pixel Your system is well tuned if the residual guiding errors after each correction do not exceed 0 1 0 3 pixel The Smallest accepted correction time is 0 02sec The Stop Current Setup Mount parameters Stop current should be close to the Tracking Current Guiding hints A pixel resolution smaller than 1 pixel will not result under normal sky conditions in more image detail but more trouble and longer exposures only It is strongly recommended NOT to go below the actual seeing conditions with the image scale Alternatively you should set the low threshold for guiding at a higher value during poor seeing conditions The reason is that seeing changes star positions faster than guiding so frequent guiding will increase blurring
22. r to enter the PEC New Pec menu and guide manually until you hear the double beep Alternatively you can guide with an autoguider In this case the autoguider must already be guiding when you enter the PEC menu You may use the virtual hand controller of Pulsar Commander for the above operation 2 Use PemPro to get an accurate PE curve and load this to Pulsar You will need the latest Ascom driver for Pulsar2 installed and the latest version of Pempro During the learn period the display shows the corrections you have made and the worm counter position You can check the counter position at any time during normal tracking by pressing the lamp button at the side of the hand unit The learning period is 1 worm rotation There is a 10 sec waiting period before learning starts beep and a double beep at the end Hints for programming PEC Choose a night with absolutely no wind and good seeing Use a crosshair eyepiece with at least 500x magnification Position the telescope around 0 deg Declination and near the Meridian PE is the largest here but drift due to refraction is small Polar align precisely make a reference and enable refraction correction Set the Guide speed to match your magnification e g 500x 3 The PEC learn algorithm accepts input from the USB port LX200 the autoguider connector and naturally the joystick HAND CONTROLLER MENU In the tables below the left column contains menu names and short explanation
23. re 2 2 only fw version 5 06 and above You can select a star from a list as the starting point and make a goto to a second star From the pointing error of the GoTo the polar misalignment is calculated You will center a third star which can be identical to the first then P2 will offset the OTA slightly At last you must re center the star using the Alt Az screws on the mount You should be aware that GoTo errors are the result of 1 polar misalignment 2 centering errors in the eyepiece e g diagonals 3 perpendicularity errors of the axes 4 database errors and atmospheric refraction 5 encoder resolution limits 6 mechanical flexture It must be clearly stated that a polar alignment method based on GoTo error does not consider factors 2 6 Until the misalignment is large several degrees this method may give good improvement but for a precise alignment you will need a polar finder or a drift method Remote Operation The German Equatorial mount is not the best choice for a remotely operated telescope but the P2 goto logic provides safe access to all sky positions The only drawback compared to fork mounts is the longer GoTo time in some cases and the reduced pointing accuracy that is the result of auxiliary motions It is recommended to use reduced GoTo speeds e g RA3000 DEC4000 and lightly locked slip clutches in remote mode If refraction correction is used the correction will be executed within 10 sec of the last GoT
24. s see the G 41 42 manual for details A precise polar alignment is a must Alternatively you can set the correction in the Flip correction menu in Mount parameters The error saved will be used to correct all goto s which include swapping of the tube If the DEC axis starts turning the tube when the RA motion starts the tube might hit the mount To avoid this there is a programmable delay for the DEC motion This is programmed in the User parameters menu Pole Crossing Reaching the Northern sky may be very difficult if you must rotate nearly 180 degree in RA Instead crossing over the Pole provides simple access When you give a GoTo command the software optimises the route and decides if it is more economic to approach the target by crossing the Pole or rotating the Hour axis and staying on the same side of the Pole You can enable this feature in the Pole Crossing menu If you have a fork mount you may want to disable this feature Pole crossing is set in the Setup User Parameters Pole crossing menu The submenu Tube rotation defines the direction of the declination slew With cables at the sky end Newtonian you will want to slew North with a refractor or SC to the South This way you can avoid tangled cables Go To German equatorial mounts do not provide free access to all sky positions because the telescope can hit the pier mount or the mount hits itself as it moves away from the Meridian Pulsar2 has the following GoTo mod
25. t will be ready for use when you switch desired home position Enter the User Para it on without initializing again Long menu Home Pos Save pressing when parked unparks the driver PEC hotkey 8 SaaS Sa SS aS Pec On Off The PEC data is not lost after upgrade For RA pec p on diplay shows the status New PEC Starts the learning period Guide speed is Wait for the beep to start corrections automatically Double beep indicates the end selected PEC is turned off After saving the PEC data the correction is automatically turned on in RA System hotket6andup temperature of the driver unit Reset All Resets all parameters to This may help in case the driver freezes default Clock adjust You can correct clock frequency here to the entered value is not affected by increase long upgrades term accuracy Unit seconds 10 days Example you have measured the internal clock to be fast 46secs in 10 days So you enter 46 For direct internet access via Ethernet IP settings o LX200 baud Set the speed for serial communication for the serial port on the aux connector Shows actual encoder position for debugging ae Encoders gt Upgrade See p Upgrading the firmware Do not experiment with this menu unless you know Restart Program restart without loosing settings USB mode serial drive Selecting drive will let you read the internal log like from a pendrive This log contains goto information
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