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SynScan Hand Controller Manual - Sky

1. Ge 25 PART VII CONFIGURE THE HAND CONTRL 7 1 Display Keypad and 26 7 2 Alignment Star Filter APA OO EO o T 26 7 3 Sorting Method of the Alignment Star 26 2 CONTENT PART VIII AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS 8 1 Editing Date Time Coordinates Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time 27 8 2 Re aligningthe MOI ivi iii 27 E 27 8 4 Show Time and Local Sidereal Time 27 8 5 Display Version eti etd eco NOE dnd 27 8 6 Display Temperature enne nnne nnne 28 8 7 Display Power Voltage sonia 28 8 8 Display Polaris Position dade 28 8 9 Display Polar Alignment Error 28 8 10 Changing Polar Scope Illumination 28 8 11 Identifying Objects T 28 8 12 Synchronizing EnEOUGIS cirios 29 Advanced Operations PART IX CONNECTING TO A COMPUTER 9 1 Working withAstronomicalApplications 9 2 PC Direct Mode PART X UPDATING FIRMWARE 10 1 Hardware Requirements 10 2 Preparation 10 3 Updating Firmware 10 4 Trouble Shooting PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 11 1 Parking Telescope 11 2 PointingAccuracy Enhancement 11 3 PolarAlignment without Polar Scope 11 4 Camera Control 11 5 Periodic Error Correction PE
2. OBJECT LIST Named Star Solar System NGC Catalog IC Catalog Messier Catalog Caldwell Catalog SAO Catalog Double Star Variable Star User Object F Recall Object New Object Deep Sky Tour Applicable to Equatorial mounts Applicable to Alt azimuth mounts Only available after 2 star or 3 star alignment is performed Applicable only to certain types of mounts and motor controllers 17 PART IV SYNSCAN MENU TREE 4 2 Accessing Menus The SynScan hand control s menu is only accessible after the initialization or after the star alignment routine is completed If it is chosen to start Users can use the ESC key the ENTER key and the two scrolling keys to access the menu The functions of these keys are ESC key Used to return to the previous menu or to exit the current operation Press the ESC key for several times to go back to the top level of the menu structure ENTER key Used to enter a sub menu or to start the operation of the end level menu Scroll keys Used to scroll within the same level sub menu 4 3 Short cut Keys The SynScan hand control provides short cut keys for accessing the most commonly used sub menu The short cut keys may only be used while the hand control is in stand by mode that is the SynScan hand control is not executing a specific operation Users can always press the ESC key to quit the current operation if the short cut keys are not accessible Here is the list of the shor
3. NGC shortcut key to access the NGC catalog The screen will display NGC Catalog NGC The NGC catalog index number ranges from 1 to 7840 e Press the IC shortcut key to access the IC catalog The screen will display IC Catalog IC The IC catalog index number ranges from 1 to 5386 5 3 Locating Planets and the Moon 1 Choosing an Object Press the PLANET shortcut key The screen will display Solar System in the top row Use the two scrolling keys to browse through a list of star names in the bottom row which includes Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto and the Moon Press ENTER key to pick one of the targets 2 View Information on the Object e If the selected object is below the horizon at this time the SynScan hand control will display Below horizon for 2 seconds otherwise it will display the object s current az imuth and altitude Byusing the scroll keys users can browse the following information of the object J2000 celestial coordinates rise time Rise transit time Transit set time Press ENTER key to proceed to the next step 3 Locate the Object The operation is similar to that for locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for details 5 4 Locating Caldwell Objects 1 Choosing an Object Press the OBJECT shortcut key The screen will display Object List in the top row Use the two scroll keys to browse the list
4. Press any key and the SynScan hand control will ask the user to select another alignment star Press the ESC key again the LCD screen will display Exit Alignment 1 YES 2 NO Press key 1 to exit the alignment process press key 2 to go back to choose an alignment star Alt Azimuth Mounts using Brightest Star Alignment Method Aligning the 1 Star 1 Find the brightest stars the current sky with naked eyes and estimate its horizontal gion orientation 2 The hand control displays Select Region Use the scroll keys to pick one of the eight re gions shown in Fig 3 4a which matches the horizontal region of the brightest star Press ENTER to confirm selection and proceed to the next step 11 PART 11 ALIGNMENT 225 E 135 s 180 Fig 3 4a 3 The hand control will generate a list of the bright stars within the selected horizontal region The list is sorted by the brightness of the star and with the brightest stars at the top of the list Users can use the scroll keys to browse the list An example of the screen display is shown in Fig 3 4b Star Name Ems Tessa Brightness Order 1 1 011 0 11 Magnitude Orientation NE 35 3 15 7 Altitude Angle NNI ms Azimuth Angle Fig 3 4b Only stars brighter than magnitude 1 5 will appear in the list If there is no star brighter than magnitude 1 5 in the selected region the hand control will display N
5. 1 Using the SNAP port on the telescope mount Several Sky Watcher s equatorial mounts such as the AZ EQ6 GT and the EQ8 are equipped with a SNAP port Users can use a proper shutter release control cable to con nect this port to the same port on the camera 2 Using the multi purpose port on the SynScan hand control The SynScan hand control uses 2 pins The SHUTTER and COMMON pins in the dia gram of Appendix 3 of its multi purpose port to control the shutter release of a DSLR camera Users may use a proper shutter release cable to connect the SynScan hand control and a camera Setup Control Parameters 1 Press the UTILITY shortcut key access to sub menu Camera Control X Configuration and press the ENTER key 2 Edit the interval between each exposure in MM SS format and press the ENTER key 3 Use the scroll keys to browse through a list of 8 groups of parameters A sample screen shot is shown below Select a Group 1 mm ss X 000 The leading number 1 is the index number of this group the mm ss data is the ex posure time in minutes and seconds and the ending 3 digits number is the frames to be shot Press the ENTER key to pick a group and proceed to the next step 36 PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 4 The first row of the screenshot below indicates the index number of the group being edited The second row shows the exposure time of this group Edit Group 1 Exposure mm ss e Use the left and right keys
6. star alignment or 2 star alignment instead Alt azimuth Mount The Brightest Star Alignment tends to design for entry level users who cannot identify stars in the night sky and the 2 Star alignment is for users who know the names of the stars in the night sky Both alignment methods provide the same level of precision Rules for choosing alignment stars e It is recommended that the altitude of the two alignment stars are between 15 and 60 degrees and the deviation of altitude is between 10 and 30 degrees The azimuth deviation of the two alignment stars can be between 45 and 135 de grees it is best to be close to 90 degrees 16 PART IV SYNSCAN MENU TREE 4 1 Menu Structure The SynScan hand control uses menu tree to organize its various functions The following table shows the menu tree SETUP MODE Observ Site Daylight Saving Alignment 1 Star Align 2 Star Align 3 Star Align Brightest Star Polar Align Alignment Stars F Adv Filter Sort By Backlash Tracking Auto Guide Speed Elev Limit Aux Encoder Sync Encoder Handset Setting Factory Setting Note UTILITY FUNC Show Position Show Information Time Version Temperature Power Voltage Polaris Pos PA Error Identify Park Scope Home Position Current Pos Custom Pos PAE PAE Align Clear PAE Data GPS PC Direct Mode Polar Scope LED PEC Training Camera Control
7. No Press ENTER to apply change Note refer to Step 5 in Section 2 2 for detailed input instructions 8 2 Re aligning the Mount Users can execute the 1 star alignment 2 star alignment or 3 star alignment at any time with out restarting the mount 1 2 Access the menu SETUP Alignment and then press the ENTER key Use the scroll keys to select an alignment method and press the ENTER key to start the alignment process For detailed instructions on alignment please refer to PART III 8 3 Show Position 1 2 Access the menu UTILITY FUNC Show Position and press the ENTER key Use the scroll keys to switch between the following coordinates Dec RA Displays the current celestial coordinates of the telescope Alt Azm Displays the current horizontal coordinates of the telescope e AXI AX2 Displays the current coordinates of the mount Ax is the position of the dec lination or altitude axis and AX2 is the position of the R A or azimuth axis Tip Users can use the direction keys to slew the mount to specific coordinates by referring to the real time coordinates display 8 4 Show Time and Local Sidereal Time Access the menu Utility Func X Show Information Time and press the ENTER key to display the current local time and the local sidereal time Press the ESC key to exit 8 5 Display Version Information Access the menu Utility Func X Show Information Version and press the ENTER key an
8. position offset 39 PART XII USING A SYNSCAN GPS MODULE Users may purchase a SynScan GPS module to acquire accurate local geographical coordi nates and local time it will help improve the accuracy of the mount alignment and the polar alignment 12 1 Initialization of the Hand control with a SynScan GPS Module The initialization process of the SynScan hand control with a SynScan GPS plug in differs from a regular one 1 Plug the SynScan GPS module into the multi purpose port the 6 pins RJ 12 port located at the bottom center of the SynScan hand control Place the GPS module on a horizontal surface and turn on the power of the mount If the SynScan hand control detects the connection of a GPS module it will ask for the local time zone Use the left and right direction keys to move the cursor on the screen Use the scroll keys to change or switch the sign for the time zone Use for the time zones in the Eastern Hemisphere use for the time zones in the Western Hemi sphere Use the numeric keys to fill the time zone value in xhh mm format e Press ENTER to confirm and proceed The hand control will then ask the user whether to use the Daylight Saving Time Use the scroll keys to select between YES and NO and press the ENTER key to confirm and pro ceed The screen will now display GPS fixing It means that the GPS module is trying to fix to the GPS satellites After the SynSc
9. Exit Press 1 key to resume batch exposure or press 3 key to exit Shoot Suspended 1 Resume 3 Exit PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 11 5 Periodic Error Correction PEC for EQ Mount The periodic error correction function applies to an equatorial mount only All equatorial mount has periodic tracking error which is not critical for visual observing but might lower the picture quality of long exposure astrophotography The SynScan hand con trol has the periodic error correction PEC function to improve the tracking performance for astrophotography Depending on the model of the equatorial mount there are two types of PEC One is soft ware based PEC SPEC which applies to Sky Watcher s EQ3 EQ5 HEQ5 EQ6 Pro mount The other is permanent PEC PPEC which applies to Sky Watcher s AZ EQ6 GT mount and EQ8 mount The SynScan hand control can detect the mount model and choose the corre sponding PEC algorithm The PEC function is a training replay process PEC Training 1 2 Polar align the equatorial mount accurately and then perform a star alignment Choose a star close to the celestial equator point the telescope towards it and start the mount tracking Center the star in the telescope s eyepiece Access the menu UTILITY FUNC PEC Training and press the ENTER key the screen will display Select Speed 1 0 125X 2 0 25X This is the speed used to adjust the position of the star in the FOV of the telescope whe
10. Section 5 1 for de tails 3 Locate the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for de tails 5 6 Locating Named Stars Double Stars and Variable Stars 1 Choosing an Object Press the OBJECT shortcut key The screen will then display Object List on the top row Use the two scroll keys to browse the list until Named Star Double Stars or Variable Stars is displayed and then press the ENTER key to select the desired option Once inside use the two scroll keys to go through and find the desired object in the list of star names Press the ENTER key to confirm the selection 2 View Information on the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for de tails Note In the operation of step 2 the data of the separation angle Separation and the position angle Position Angle are provided for double stars and the data of the maximum magnitude Max MAGz minimum magnitude Min MAG period of variation Period are provided for the variable stars 21 PART V LOCATING OBJECTS 3 Locate the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for de tails 5 7 Deep Sky Tour The SynScan hand control can generate a list of the most famous deep sky objects which appear in the current sky Users can pick them one by one and the SynScan hand control can point the te
11. following is the steps l Selecting the Operation Mode of the Mount A SynScan hand control with a firmware version 3 32 or later supports both an equatorial mount and an alt azimuth mount It is able to detect the model of the mount to which it connects and select the appropriate operation mode accordingly For an equatorial Alt azimuth dual mode mount such as the AZ EQ6 GT mount the Syn Scan hand control will request the user to choose the mount s operating mode The LCD screen will display Operating Mode in the first line e Use the scrolling keys located at the bottom left and right of the keypad to choose be tween Equatorial mode EQ Mode and Alt azimuth mode AZ Mode Press ENTER to confirm the selection 2 Firmware Version Display The hand control will give a long beep and display the firmware version e Press ENTER to proceed to the next step Press ESC to return to the previous step Users can slew the mount with direction keys in this step PART II INITIALIZATION 3 Warning Message Confirmation The hand control will display a warning message about the dangers of viewing the sun with a telescope Press ENTER to confirm you have read the warning messages and proceed to the next step Press ESC to return to the previous firmware version display step Users can slew the mount with direction keys in this step 4 Auto homing EQ8 Only This step only applies to a mount with Auto homing feature such
12. is below the horizon at this time the SynScan hand control will display Below horizon for 2 seconds otherwise it will display the object s current az imuth and altitude Byusing the scroll keys users can browse the following information of the object J2000 celestial coordinates magnitude MAG rising time Rise transit time Tran sit setting time Set size SiZe and associated constellation Constellation Press ENTER key to proceed to the next step Locate the Object The screen will display View Object Press the ESC key to return to the previous step Press the ENTER key to have the mount slew towards the target When the mount stops the SynScan hand control will give a long beep and then return to the previous step The mount will also automatically start tracking the object Userscan press the ESC key to stop the mount The screen will display Mount stopped Press any key Users can press any key to return to the previous step Note The mount will not slew if The object is below the horizon or Onan alt azimuth mount the object s altitude exceeds the limit set by the hand control Section 11 3 The screen will display Target over slew limit in this case 19 PART V LOCATING OBJECTS 5 2 Locating NGC and IC Objects The process for locating NGC or IC objects is similar to that for locating Messier objects Sec tion 5 1 with the following differences Press the
13. mount The most popular astronomical applications which can work with the SynScan hand control are Planetarium Applications Users can click on an object on the sky map to command the telescope to point to the object e Autoguider Applications Corrects minor tracking error dynamically for long exposure as trophotography Note The SynScan hand control cannot work with the above application when it is in the fol lowing status When checking GPS information Section 12 2 During the PEC training process When working in PC Direct mode Section 9 2 9 2 PC Direct Mode PC Direct Mode is a special mode for the SynScan hand control to work with a PC Under this mode the SynScan hand control still uses the same hardware connection as described in Section 9 1 but the SynScan hand control becomes a repeater between the PC and the motor controller in the telescope mount The application running on the PC controls the motor controller directly Currently the PC direct mode is mainly used to update the motor controller s firmware e Access the menu Utility Func PC Direct Mode and press the ENTER key The screen will display PC Direct Mode Press ESC to exit Press and hold the ESC key more than 1 second to exit PC Direct Mode Users can still use the direction keys to move the telescope mount 30 PART X UPDATING FIRMWARE 10 1 Hardware Requirements 1 A SynScan hand control with firmware version 3 0 or a
14. mount from the parking status After the regular initializa tion steps the SynScan hand control will be ready for full feature operation like the previous observing session Press 2 key to abandon the previous saved parked position and alignment data and start a regular observing session 11 2 Pointing Accuracy Enhancement The pointing accuracy enhancement PAE function enables the telescope mount to obtain enhanced pointing accuracy in specific small areas After a 1 star 2 Star or 3 star alignment the telescope mount might still have a small pointing error due to many factors such as the flexure of the telescope atmospheric refraction or oth er mechanical issues The amount of pointing error might vary in different portions of the sky 33 PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS The SynScan hand control divides the sky into 85 small zones and users can calibrate the pointing error for each of these zones The next time that the SynScan controller tries to locate an object in the calibrated zone or a zone nearby it will automatically apply the re corded calibration data to compensate the pointing error This function is useful for locating faint deep sky objects and it is also helpful to obtain con sistent pointing accuracy for a permanent observatory Here are the instructions on using the PAE function l Perform a 1 star alignment 2 star alignment or a 3 star alignment 2 Choose a celestial object in a zone of int
15. refer to Section 2 1 6 2 Backlash Compensation If there is backlash in the motor driving system users might see a lag when moving an object in the FOV of the telescope with the direction keys The SynScan hand control can control the mount to slew with higher speeds for a specific amount of distance when the user reverses the moving direction of an axis with opposite direction keys Such backlash compensation function helps the user get faster response from the mount Users should input the amount of the backlash of both axes of the mount as follows 1 Access the menu SETUP Backlash and press the ENTER key 2 The screen will display AZM X XX XX or RA X XX XX Use the Left Right keys to move the cursor and use the numeric keys to fill in a number at the cursor position to input the amount of backlash in the azimuth axis or the R A axis Press the ENTER key to finish the input and proceed to the next step 3 The screen will display Alt XXX XX or Dec X XX XX Fill in the amount of backlash in the altitude axis or declination axis and then press the ENTER key Note Set the backlash value to 0 for an axis to disable backlash compensation for that axis 6 3 Setting the Altitude Axis Slewing Limits Some alt azimuth mounts have limited slewing range in altitude axis Users can set the upper and lower altitude limits for such mounts When a user asks the SynScan hand control to loca
16. small and no further adjustment is needed otherwise continue to the following steps 6 Rotate the Dec axis to bring the Polaris as close as possible to the center of the finder scope or the telescope s eyepiece 7 Slightly push the eyepiece end of the telescope in a HORIZONTAL direction while looking into the eyepiece find the direction which will bring the Polaris closer to the center of the eyepiece In this way a user can determine the direction in which you should re position the telescope on the saddle or the mounting bar to reduce the cone error 8 Use a shim or other method on the proper side of the saddle or the mounting bar to raise the telescope Look into the eyepiece while applying the shim Reduce the deviation be tween the Polaris and center of the eyepiece to HALF 9 Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to check whether the cone error is acceptable repeat Steps 6 7 and 8 if necessary Tips e Itis recommended to use a reticle eyepiece and align the track of the Dec movement with one of the lines of the reticle This adjustment can be done in day time by using a distance point object to replace the Polaris 41 APPENDIX Il SYNSCAN SELF DIAGNOSIS The SynScan hand control contains a built in self diagnosis program To run a full test users should prepare two Loop Test Plug by referring to Appendix 3 and the following instructions Short the pin 5 RX TTL and pin 6 TX TTL of a RJ 45 plug Short the pin 2 TX RS232C
17. the star and proceed to the next step Generally users can use Rate 5 or 6 to center the star in the finder scope and use Rate 2 or 3 to center the star in the telescope s eyepiece If the user has chosen 1 Star Alignment method before the SynScan hand control will now display Alignment Successful Press ENTER to complete the alignment process If the user has chosen 2 Star Alignment or 3 Star Alignment before the SynScan hand control will then proceed to the next step Aligning the 2 Star 1 Again the SynScan hand control asks the user to choose and align a 2 alignment star The operation is the same as that of aligning the 1 alignment star If the user has chosen 2 Star Alignment before the SynScan hand control will display Alignment Successful after confirmation of centering the 2 alignment star Two seconds later the LCD screen will display the polar alignment offset of the mount The Mel value is the offset in elevation and the Maz value is the offset in azimuth If the user has chosen 3 Star Alignment before the SynScan hand control will then pro ceed to the next step Selecting and Aligning the 3 Star The operation is the same as that of Aligning the 2 Star Cancellation During Aligning Process 1 While the mount is slewing during the alignment users may press the ESC key to stop the mount The hand control screen will display Mount stopped Press any key
18. until Caldwell Catalog is displayed and then press the ENTER key The screen will then display Caldwell Catalog Cald for a 3 digit Cald well index number between 1 and 109 to be entered in 2 Miew Information on the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for de tails 3 Locate the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for de tails 20 PART V LOCATING OBJECTS 5 5 Locating SAO Stars 1 Choosing an Object Press the OBJECT shortcut key The screen will display Object List in the top row Use the two scroll keys to browse the list until SAO Catalog is displayed and then press the ENTER key The screen will then display SAO Catalog SAO 0000xx to wait for input of the 4 left most digits of the 6 digits SAO index number i e SAO 0238xx Press ENTER key and then the hand control will find the first SAO number in the database that matches the 4 left most digits entered i e SAO 023801 Use the scroll keys to change the last 2 digits until the screen displays the desired SAO index number Press the ENTER key to confirm the input i e SAO 023825 Note The SAO catalog in the SynScan hand control is a sub set of the SAO catalog It only contains stars brighter than magnitude 8 2 View Information on the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to
19. 1 PEC can only compensate tracking errors on the R A axis Therefore a precise polar alignment is still required to track minor errors on the Dec axis 2 After turning on the PEC replay it is recommended to wait for at least one cycle time of the period error before taking a picture 3 Tore use the PEC data on a mount which supports SPEC users should park the tele scope before shutting off power refer to Section 11 1 This limitation does not apply to the mounts which support PPEC 11 6 Calibrating Auto Home Offset Some Sky Watcher s equatorial mounts ex the EQ 8 mount has the Auto Home function which can set the mount to a standard home position after turning on the power The offset of the home position can be calibrated and compensated with the following procedures 1 Polar align the equatorial mount accurately 2 Turn off the power and then turn it on again and then initialize the hand control 3 When SynScan hand control asks Auto Home press the 1 key to execute the au to home process 4 Finish the subsequent initialization steps 5 Atthe end of the initialization choose 1 star alignment to align the mount 6 At the end of the 1 star alignment the hand control will ask Update H P O 1 No 2 Yes The H P O means Home Position Offset Press 1 key to keep the original Home Position Offset Press 2 to use the results obtained from the 1 star alignment to calibrate the home
20. C for EQ Mount 11 6 CalibratingAuto Home Offset PART XII USING A SYNSCAN GPS MODULE 12 1 Initialization of the Hand control with a SynScan GPS Module 12 2 Checking GPS Information Appendix APPENDIX ELIMINATING CONE ERROR APPENDIX SYNSCAN SELF DIAGNOSIS APPENDIX 111 SCHEMATIC OF THE PORTS APPENDIX IV SPECIFICATIONS PART INTRODUCTION 1 1 Outline and Interface A SynScan hand control and its interfaces are shown in Fig 1 1 LCD Display Screen It can display two lines of text 16 characters per line The contrast and the brightness of the red backlight are ad justable Buttons ESC SETUP ENTER directional number shortcut keys and scroll keys Mount Port Connects to a Sky Watcher telescope mount The hand control can get power supply from the mount via this port Multi Purpose Port Connects to an external device such as a com puter a GPS module a camera etc Power Port Connects to a power supply for standalone not connect ed to a telescope mount use of the hand control It accepts a plug with a 5 5mm O D and a 2 0mm I D 1 2 Connecting to a Telescope Mount Connect the 8 pin RJ 45 Mount port of the hand control to the Hand Control port on a Sky Watcher mount using an appropriate cable The table below lists the Hand Control ports on different Sky Watcher mounts a Model Hand control Port Hand Control Port on Mount Pro D D sub 9 Male A
21. INSTRUCTION MANUAL SynScan 280313V3 Copyright O Sky Watcher CONTENT Basic Operations PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 Outline and Interface 1 2 Connecting to a Telescope Mount 1 3 Slew the Mount with the Direction Keys 1 4 SynScan Hand control s Operating Modes PART Il INITIALIZATION 2 1 Setup Home Position of the Telescope Mount 2 2 Initialize the Hand Control PART ALIGNMENT 3 1 Choosing an Alignment Method 3 2 Aligning to Alignment Stars 3 3 Alignment Method for Equatorial Mounts 3 4 Alt Azimuth Mounts using Brightest Star Alignment Method 3 5 Alt Azimuth Mounts using 2 Star Alignment Method 3 6 Tips for Improving Alignment Accuracy 3 7 Comparison of Alignment Methods PART IV SYNSCAN MENU TREE 4 1 Menu Structure 4 2 Accessing Menus 4 3 Short cut Keys PART V LOCATING OBJECTS 5 1 Locating Messier Objects 5 2 Locating NGC and IC Objects 5 3 Locating Planets and the Moon 5 4 Locating Caldwell Objects 5 5 Locating SAO Stars 5 6 Locating Named Stars Double Stars and Variable Stars 5 7 Deep Sky Tour 5 8 User Defined Objects Intermediate Operations PART VI CONFIGURE THE TELESCOPE MOUNT 6 1 Choosing Tracking Speed sprint 24 6 2 Backlash Compensation nennen 24 6 3 Setting the Altitude Axis Slewing Limits 24 6 4 Enable Disable Auxiliary Encoder nee 25 6 5 Setting Autoguider Speed
22. J2000 celestial coordinates magnitude MAG rising time Rise transit time Transit setting time Set size Size and associated constellation Con stellation Press the ESC key to exit 8 12 Synchronizing Encoders If the mount lost the correct position of any of its two axes for example the axis is manually moved the pointing accuracy will be poor when the SynScan hand control tries to locate an object Providing the base of the mount is not moved users can recover the pointing accuracy with the Synchronize Encoder operation 1 2 Access the menu Setup Sync Encoder and press the ENTER key Use the scroll keys to select an alignment star and press the ENTER key The mount will point the telescope towards the alignment star After the mount has stopped use the direction keys to center the alignment star in the eyepiece then press the ENTER key to confirm The SynScan hand control will display Sync Encoder Completed Press any key to exit 29 PART IX CONNECTING TO A COMPUTER 9 1 Working with Astronomical Applications After the SynScan hand control is initialized it can communicate with a computer via the RS 232C connection on its multi purpose port The computer must have a RS 232C serial port otherwise a USB to Serial adapter is required Connect the SynScan hand control and the serial port with the PC Link cable the RJ 12 to D Sub 9 cable which comes with the tele scope
23. JECTS e Ifthe R A Dec coordinates is chosen The screen will display the coordinates to which the telescope is pointing to at the moment e f the Axis coordinates is chosen The screen will display the coordinates of the mount s two axes The first number is the coordinates of the R A axis or azimuth axis while the second number is the coordinates of the Dec axis or altitude axis 3 Use the left and right direction keys to move the cursor and the numeric keys to edit the coordinates The scroll keys can be used to change the sign of the declination coordinates or the altitude coordinates Press the ENTER key after editing 4 The screen will display Save Press the ESC key to proceed to the next step without saving the coordinates Press the ENTER key again to start saving the coordinates Users should use the scroll keys to select a storage space index number between 1 and 25 and press the ENTER key to save the new coordinates 5 The screen will now display View Object Press ENTER to slew the mount towards the coordinates entered Press ESC to exit without moving the mount Recalling Objects 1 Press the USER shortcut key The screen will display User Object Recall Object Press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to browse through a pre defined objects list which is indexed from 1 to 25 and then press ENTER If the selected object has not been defined before the SynScan hand control wi
24. a will be automatically cleared after a 1 star alignment 2 star alignment or 3 star alignment 34 PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 11 3 Polar Alignment without Polar Scope The polar alignment function can help users to polar align an equatorial mount accurately Here are the operating instructions 1 Complete a 2 star alignment or a 3 star alignment At the end of the alignment the Syn Scan hand control will display the polar alignment error refer to Section 3 3 Users can use the data to determine whether it is necessary to adjust the polar alignment 2 Press the SETUP shortcut key and then access to sub menu Alignment Polar Align gt press the ENTER key to proceed to the next step 3 The screen will display Select a Star e Use the scroll keys to browse through a list of star names and press the ENTER key to pick one as the reference star for polar alignment The mount will start slewing to point the telescope to the reference star 4 Use the direction keys to center the reference star in the eyepiece of the telescope after the mount stops slewing Remember to end the centering operation with Up and Right direction keys Press the ENTER key to proceed to the next step 5 The screen will now display the polar alignment error in altitude Mel dd mm ss Users can then use the data to determine whether or not to adjust the altitude of the R A axis in the next step Press the ENTER key to proceed 6 The moun
25. alignment offset in azimuth These data is valid only after a 2 star alignment or a 3 star alignment 8 10 Changing Polar Scope Illumination Level This function applies only to certain Sky Watcher s equatorial mounts that are equipped with a polar scope illuminator 1 Access the menu Utility Func X Polar Scope LED and press the ENTER key 2 Use the Left Right direction keys to adjust the illumination level Press the ENTER key to confirm and exit 8 11 Identifying Objects After aligning the mount the SynScan hand control can be used to identify the object to which the telescope is pointing l Center the object to be identified in the telescope s eyepiece 28 PART VIII AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS Press the ID shortcut key The screen will display Identify Searching The SynScan hand control will look up the named stars planets Messier objects NGC objects and IC objects within a 5 degrees range centered by the object in the eyepiece The screen will display No object found if the SynScan hand control cannot identify the object If an object is found within the 5 degree range then the screen will display the object s name in the top row and the deviation from the object to the center of the eyepiece If multiple objects are found use the scroll keys to browse through the list of identified objects Press the ENTER key to select an identified object and then use the scroll keys to read its data such as the
26. an GPS module fixes to the satellites the SynScan hand control will con tinue the initialization process 12 2 Checking GPS Information l Plug the SynScan GPS module into the multi purpose port the 6 pins RJ 12 port located at the bottom center of the SynScan hand control Place the GPS module on a horizontal surface Access the menu Utility Func GPS in the menu and press the ENTER key The screen will now display GPS fixing It means that the GPS module is trying to fix to the GPS satellites After the SynScan GPS module fixes to the satellites the screen will display GPS Infor mation Use scroll keys to browse through the following information Press the ESC key to exit e M O V Local magnetic declination TimeZone Local time zone Lat Local latitude e LST Local sidereal time e Lo Local longitude Elevation Local elevation e Date Local date e Quality Quality of GPS fixing UT Greenwich Mean Time Number of SV Number of GPS satellites in view LT Local time e of SV fix Number of GPS satellites fixed 40 APPENDIX ELIMINATING CONE ERROR If the telescope s optical axis is not perpendicular to the declination axis of the equatorial mount then there is cone error in the telescope mount system The cone error might lower the accuracy of locating an object or the accuracy of the Polar Alignment process Testing for Cone Error 1 Perform a precise polar alignment
27. and 5 RX RS232C of a RJ 12 plug Here are the diagnosis steps Be De P Insert the two Loop Test Plug to the corresponding port of the SynScan hand control Press 2 and 5 simultaneously and power on the hand control The hand control will give a short beep and display SynScan for a short time The LCD screen will become fully black and then fully clear for a while for the purpose of checking the LCD display If there is any problem for the RS 232C function on multi purpose port the RJ 12 outlet or no Loop Test Plug connected to the multi purpose port the screen will display COMI ERROR Press ENTER to continue If there is any problem on the mount port or no Loop Test Plug connected to the mount port the RJ 45 outlet the screen will display COM2 ERROR Press ENTER to continue If everything is fine the testing will go to Step 8 Otherwise the SynScan hand control will show EEPROM ERROR or Flash ERROR Press ENTER to continue in such case Check keypad and other features The screen will display Key in the top row If a key is pressed the name of the key will be displayed and the hand control also beeps while the key is pressed e Power voltage and the temperature will be displayed on the bottom row of the screen 42 APPENDIX SCHEMATIC OF THE PORTS 6 5 La pr COMMON 4 i GND 3 ZN TX RS232 2 SHUTTER 1 Optoisolator Power Port Multi Purpos
28. application determine whether it is necessary to update the database 31 PART X UPDATING FIRMWARE e Check the Auto detect COM port to let the application detect the proper serial port that will connect to the SynScan hand control Clear it to manually choose the COM Port and select a serial port from the COM port drop down list e Click the HC Version button to check the versions of the hardware firmware and database Click the Update button to start loading the firmware to the SynScan hand control 4 After the loading starts the application will display a percentage number at the bottom of the windows to show the progress 5 Once update is complete the application will display a green bar with Update Complete at the bottom of the window 10 4 Troubleshooting 1 Ifa window pops up and displays the message Cannot connect to a SynScan hand control after clicking the Update button or the H C Version button close the message window and click the Update button or the H C Version button to try again If the application dis plays the message again check the cable connections and ensure the USB to Serial Port adaptor is working 2 If the firmware update fails the SynScan Firmware Loader will up a window with mes sage Firmware update failed Cycle power to SynScan and try again Close the window and power off the hand control Then repeat the firmware update process again 3 If the updat
29. ar other wise it will display Choose 1 Star 2 Use the scrolling keys to browse through a list of star names and press ENTER key to pick the one on the screen as the 2 alignment star The mount will then automatically slew and point the telescope towards the 2 alignment star in the sky 3 After the mount stops the hand control will give a long beep and will display Use dir keys to center object Now the telescope should point rather closely to the 2 alignment star generally in the FOV of the finder scope 4 Now users can use the direction keys to move the telescope to align with the 2 alignment star That is center the 2 alignment star in the FOV of the finder scope and then center itin the FOV of the telescope s eyepiece Press ENTER key to confirm the centering of the star and proceed to the next step Generally users can use Rate 5 or 6 to center the star in finder scope and use Rate 2 or 3 to center the star in the telescope s eyepiece 5 If the 1 alignment star is not a planet the SynScan hand control will now display Align ment Successful Press ENTER to complete the alignment process 6 If the 1 alignment star is a planet the SynScan hand control will display Choose 2 Star Repeat from Step 2 to complete the alignment process Cancellation During Aligning Process 1 While the mount is slewing in alignment process users may press the ESC key to stop the mount The hand control screen will d
30. as the Sky Watcher EQ8 Equatorial mount e The LCD screen will display Auto Home in the first line and display 1 YES 2 NO in the second line Press 2 to skip this step and proceed to the next step Press 1 to start the auto homing routine on the mount Once complete the screen will display Home Position Established Press ENTER to proceed to the next step During auto homing routine pressing the ESC key will stop the mount s movement The screen will display Home Position NOT Established Press ENTER to proceed to the next step 5 Setting Information of the Observing Site Geographic Coordinates The LCD screen will display Enter Location in the first line and display longitude and lat itude in the second line Press the numeric keys at the cursor position to fill the longitude and latitude digits e Use the scroll keys to change east west longitude or north south latitude when the cur sor blinks on the corresponding characters E W for longitude N S for latitude Use the Left and Right direction keys to move the cursor Press the ENTER key to confirm the input and proceed to the next step Press the ESC key to return to Step 4 or Step 3 Time Zone The LCD screen will display Set Time Zone in the first line and display the current time zone in the second line e Use the scroll keys to change the leading or sign when the cursor is on it The sign
31. bove Acomputer running Windows 95 or a later version ARS 232C serial port on the computer or a USB to Serial adaptor The PC Link cable D Sub9 to RJ 12 which comes with the mount A DC 7 5V to 12V DC power supply which can output at least 100 mA current v RUM 10 2 Preparation 1 Create a new folder in the computer for example C SynScan to save relevant files 2 Download the application package SynScan Firmware Loader from http www skywatch er com and extract the file SynScanFirmwareLoader exe to the above folder 3 Download the latest firmware package and extract the SSF file to the above folder 10 3 Updating Firmware 1 Connect the computer and the SynScan hand control with the PC Link cable 2 Press and hold the 0 and 8 keys simultaneously and then power on the hand control The hand control will give a beep and display SynScan Update on the screen Release the 0 and 8 keys 3 On the computer run the SynScanFirmwareLoader exe An application window is show in Fig 10 3a SynScan Firmware Loader 5 x SynScan Firmware Loader Ver 3 2 Firmware File Browse Enforce database update Auto detect COM Port COM Port co M1 y Update HC Version Fig 10 e Use the Browse button to load the latest firmware file SSF file Check the Enforce database update to enforce updating the hand control s database Clear it to let the
32. d then use the scroll keys to browse through the following information Press the ESC key to exit 27 PART VIII AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS 8 6 8 7 8 8 8 9 Firmware The firmware version of the SynScan hand control Database The database version of the SynScan hand control H C Hardware The hardware version of the SynScan hand control Motor Controller The firmware version of the motor controller of the mount Serial The serial number of the SynScan hand control Display Temperature Access the menu Utility Func X Show Information Temperature and press the ENTER key to display the current temperature Press the ESC key to exit Display Power Voltage Access the menu Utility Func X Show Information X Power Voltage and press the ENTER key to display the power voltage applied to the mount Press the ESC key to exit Display Polaris Position Access the menu Utility Func X Show Information X Polaris Pos and press the ENTER key and then use the scroll keys to switch the screen display between Polaris Position in P Scope HH MM and Hour Angle of Polaris HH MM Press the ESC key to exit Display Polar Alignment Error Access the menu Utility Func Show Information P A Error and press the ENTER key The screen will display Mel DDD MM SS Maz DDD MM SS The Mel value is the polar align ment offset in elevation and the Maz value is the polar
33. e Port Telescope Mount Port APPENDIX IV SPECIFICATIONS Object Catalog Messier NGC IC SAO Caldwell Double Star Variable Star Named Star Planets Pointing Accuracy Up to 5 arc minutes RMS Tracking Rate Sidereal Rate Solar Rate Lunar Rate LCD 16 Characters X 2 Lines Adjustable Contrast and Backlight Keypad Rubber Adjustable backlight PC Connection RS 232C 9600bps No parity check 8 data bits 1 start bit 1 stop bit Power Supply DC 7 5 to 12V 100mA Power output on Multi purpose port Power Supply Voltage 0 7V Maximum 100mA current output 43 MZ NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WILL RESULT USE A PROPER SOLAR FILTER FIRMLY MOUNTED ON THE FRONT OF THE TELESCOPE FOR VIEWING THE SUN WHEN OBSERVING THE SUN PLACE A DUST CAP OVER YOUR FINDERSCOPE OR REMOVE IT TO PROTECT YOU FROM ACCIDENTAL EXPOSURE NEVER USE AN EYEPIECE TYPE SOLAR FILTER AND NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO PROJECT SUNLIGHT ONTO ANOTHER SURFACE THE INTERNAL HEAT BUILD UP WILL DAMAGE THE TELESCOPE OPTICAL ELEMENTS
34. e below 75 degrees or within the altitude limits defined by the user Section 6 3 7 3 Sorting Method of the Alignment Star List 1 Access the menu Setup Alignment Stars Sort by and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to select Magnitude and press the ENTER key to sort the list by mag nitude from the brightest to the faintest 3 Use the scroll keys to select Alphabet and the press the ENTER key to sort the list alpha betically 26 PART VIII AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS 8 1 Editing Date Time Coordinates Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time L 2 Press the SETUP shortcut key Use the scroll keys to select Date and press the ENTER key to edit the date Press the ENTER key to apply change or press the ESC key to exit Note The setting of the date is in mm dd yyyy format i e 10 24 2012 Use the scroll keys to select Time and press the ENTER key to edit the time Press the ENTER key to apply change or press the ESC key to exit Note The setting of the time is in 24 hours format i e 18 30 00 is entered for 6 30pm Use the scroll keys to select Observ Site and press the ENTER key to edit the geographic coordinates Press the ENTER key to apply the change or press the ESC key to exit Edit the time zone Press the ENTER key to apply change or press the ESC key to exit Use the scroll keys to select Daylight Saving and press the ENTER key and then use the scroll keys to select between Yes and
35. e process failed in the middle of updating try to press the SETUP button on the SynScan hand control to use other communication speeds Mi or Lo e Mi Medium speed e Lo Low speed 32 PART ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 11 1 Parking Telescope If the mount of the telescope have not been moved after an observing session the user can park the telescope to keep the alignment data PAE data and PEC data and start observing in the next session without redoing the alignment and calibration Parking 1 Access the menu UTILITY FUNC Park Scope and press the ENTER key 2 The screen will display Park to Use the scroll keys to choose one from the following parking position and press the ENTER key Home Position Park the telescope to the Home Position Refer to section 2 2 1 Current Pos Park the telescope at the current position Customer Pos Park at the previous parking position which is used in the previous serving session 3 The mount will slew to the parking position except parking at the current position and the SynScan hand control will give a long beep when the mount stops The screen will display Position saved Turn off power 4 Users may now turn off power to the mount or press the ESC key to cancel parking Resuming Turn on power to the mount e Pass through the initial steps e When the screen will display Start from park pos 1 Yes 2 No Press 1 key to resume the
36. ece and then press the ENTER key to proceed to the next step Aligning the 2 Star 1 The LCD screen displays Choose 2nd Star Use the scrolling keys to browse through a list of star names and Press ENTER key to pick the one on the screen as the 2 alignment star The mount will then automatically slew and point the telescope towards the 2 alignment star in the sky 2 After the mount stops the hand control will give a long beep and will display Use dir keys to center object The telescope should point rather closely to the 2 alignment star generally in the FOV of the finder scope 3 Now users can use the direction keys to move the telescope to align with the 2 alignment star To align center the 2 alignment star in the FOV of the finder scope and then center itin the FOV of the telescope s eyepiece Press ENTER key to confirm centering of the star and proceed to the next step Generally users can use Rate 5 or 6 to center the star in finder scope and use Rate 2 or 3 to center the star in the telescope s eyepiece 4 The SynScan hand control will now display Alignment Successful Press ENTER to com plete the alignment process Cancellation During Aligning Process 1 While the mount is slewing during alignment users may press the ESC key to stop the mount The hand control screen will display Mount stopped Press any key 2 Press any key and the SynScan hand control will ask the user to select another alignment
37. er repeating this polar alignment process 2 or 3 times Note Users can press the ESC key at any time during the polar alignment process to exit 39 PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS The initial polar alignment should not be too far off to avoid the polar alignment error in azimuth exceeding the adjustment range of the mount e Itis necessary to use a reticle eyepiece in the 2 Star alignment 3 star alignment and polar alignment process Generally the cone error in a telescope mount setup might reduce the accuracy of this polar alignment process Therefore it is recommended to reduce or eliminate the cone error before the polar alignment process Refer to APPENDIX 1 ELIMINATING CONE ERROR ON EQUATORIAL MOUNTS e t is recommended that the user verifies the accuracy of the 2 star alignment or 3 star alignment before starting the polar alignment process by locating several objects in dif ferent areas of the sky If the pointing accuracy is low try to use another set of alignment stars for the 2 star or 3 star alignment process 11 4 Camera Control The SynScan hand control can control a DSLR camera to do astrophotography It can accept 8 groups of Exposures Time Frames parameters and then controls the camera to take batch exposures without manual intervention To use the camera control function the camera must be equipped with a shutter release con trol port and can be set to the bulb exposure mode Connecting the Camera
38. erest as reference by referring to a sky map or planetarium software In general it is a rather bright star but users can also use other objects Use the SynScan hand control to control the mount to point the telescope to the reference object 3 Use one of the following operations to start the PAE calibration e Press the UTILITY shortcut key access to sub menu PAE PAE Align and then press the ENTER key Press and hold the ESC key for two seconds 4 The screen will display Center Object in the first row and display the name of the refer ence object in the bottom row If the last object is launched from a PC then instead of the name of the reference object it will display The last target Now use the direction keys of the hand control to center the object in the telescope s FOV and then press ENTER to confirm Remember to end the centering operation by pressing the Right and Up direction keys together 5 Repeat Step 2 to 5 for viewing different portions of the sky Note Whenever the SynScan hand control locates an object it will automatically check whether a PAE calibration data is available and apply the compensation accordingly No manual intervention is required f multiply PAE calibration is performed in the same zone the previous calibration data will be overwritten Users can access the menu UTILITY gt PAE gt Clear PAE data to clear all PAE calibration data The PAE calibration dat
39. ght also impact the alignment accuracy Please refer to Sec tion 3 7 on the rules of choosing alignment stars for various mounts and alignment methods 3 7 Comparison of Alignment Methods 1 Equatorial Mount with 1 Star Alignment Advantage Quickest alignment Preconditions An accurate polar alignment for the mount Small cone error in the telescope mount setup If the cone error is large there will be noticeable offset in the R A when the SynScan hand control locates an object that is On the other side of the meridian from the alignment star gt Deviated significantly with the alignment star in declination Rules for choosing an alignment star Choose an alignment star with smaller declination It will help to obtain higher resolu tion in R A movement in the telescope s eyepiece If there is cone error in the telescope mount setup or if users are not sure about it it is recommended to choose an alignment star that is close to the object s to be observed 15 2 3 4 PART ALIGNMENT Equatorial Mount with 2 Star Alignment Advantage For visual observing the mount does not need to be polar aligned accurately Preconditions Small cone error in the telescope mount setup Rules for choosing alignment stars The deviation in R A of the two alignment stars should not be too small or too close to 12 hours the recommended deviation is between 3 hours and 9 hours e If there is cone error in the te
40. is Pro EQ5 Pro EQ3 Pro seu Mas RJ 45 All Alt Altazimuth mounts All Altazimuth mounts 6 pin 6 pin RJ 12 6 pin RJ 12 1 3 Slew the Mount with the Direction Keys In many situations users need to slew the mount at different speeds with the directional keys Here are the guides for this operation PART I INTRODUCTION The left and right keys are used to control the movements of the Right Ascension R A axis for an equatorial mount or the azimuth axis for an Alt azimuth mount The up and down keys are used to control the movements of the Declination Dec axis for an equatorial mount or altitude axis for an Alt azimuth mount n most cases pressing the RATE 2 key will invoke the operation of choosing a slewing speed TheLCD screen will display Set Speed followed by the current speed as Rate x Press a number between 0 and 9 to select a new speed Press the ENTER key to return to the previous display Ifthe user does not press the ENTER button he she can continue to change the speed while using the direction keys to slew the mount If there is no keypad operation in 5 seconds the most recent speed will be kept and the LCD display will return to the previous ones following table lists the available speeds Rae o h bB b P je 9 Rate 7 8 9 is primarily used to quickly slew a mount Rate 5 6 is primarily used to move a targe
41. is used for time zones in the Eastern Hemisphere Europe Africa Asia Oceania while the sign is used for time zones in the Western Hemisphere North and South America Press the numeric keys at the cursor position to fill the time zone digits Press the ENTER key to confirm the input and proceed to the next step Press the ESC key to return to the previous step PART II INITIALIZATION Date Time Daylight Saving Time e When Date mm dd yyyy is displayed enter the current date in the indicated mm dd yyyy format i e 10 24 2012 for Oct 24 2012 press the ENTER key to confirm and pro ceed to the next step Press the ESC key to return to the Geographic Coordinates step e When Enter Time is displayed enter the current local time in 24 hour format i e 18 30 00 for 6 30pm Press the ENTER key to display the entered time in 12 hour for mat Press the ENTER key again to confirm and proceed to the next step Press the ESC key to return to the previous step When Daylight Saving is displayed use the scroll keys to select Yes or No YES indicates the time entered in the previous step is daylight saving time while NO indi cates the time entered is in standard time Press the ENTER key to confirm and proceed to the next step Press the ESC key to return to the previous step Display Polaris Position This step applies to an equatorial mount only The LCD screen will display Polaris P
42. isplay Mount stopped Press any key 2 Press any key and the SynScan hand control will ask the user to select another alignment star 3 Press the ESC key again the LCD screen will display Exit Alignment 1 YES 2 NO Press key 1 to exit the alignment process press key 2 to go back to choose an alignment star 13 PART ALIGNMENT 3 5 Alt Azimuth Mounts using 2 Star Alignment Method Aligning the 1 Star 1 The LCD screen displays Choose 1 Star in the first line Use the scrolling keys to browse through a list of star names and Press ENTER key to pick the one on the screen as the 1st alignment star 2 Now the screen will display Point scope to ZZZ Z TT T which means point the telescope to the direction whose azimuth is ZZZ Z degree and altitude is TT T degree This is also the direction of the selected 1 alignment star Users can use the direction keys on the Syn Scan hand control to move the mount to point the telescope to the star and center the star in the FOV of the finder scope or the red dot finder and then press ENTER key to proceed to the next step If the telescope has clutches on its axes user can loosen the clutches to move the mount manually to point the telescope to the target 3 Now the screen will display Ctr Star NNNN where the NNNN is the name of the selected 1 alignment star The star should have been in the FOV of the telescope User can use the direction keys to center it in the eyepi
43. lescope mount setup or if users are not sure about it itis recommended to choose two alignment stars that are on the same side of the meridian The absolute values of the two alignment stars declination should better deviate between 10 to 30 degrees Note If the polar alignment of the mount is good it is not necessary to choose 2 Star alignment to align the mount use the 1 star alignment instead Equatorial Mount with 3 Star Alignment Advantages Good pointing accuracy even the telescope mount system has cone error e For visual observing the mount does not need to be accurately polar aligned Preconditions The skies of both sides of the meridian are clear of obstructions Rules for choosing alignment stars The 3 alignment stars should be spread out on both sides of the meridian e For the two alignment star on the same side of the meridian the deviation in their R A should be greater than 3 hours and the absolute value of the difference of the two alignment stars declination should be between 10 to 30 degrees 10 Dec1 Dec2 30 e If there is cone error in the telescope mount setup or users are not sure about it avoid the situation that all 3 alignment stars have small declination close to the ce lestial equator Note If users are sure that there is no or very small cone error in the telescope mount system then it is not necessary to choose the 3 star alignment to align the mount Use
44. lescope to them for observing automatically This is the Deep Sky Tour function 1 Choosing an Object Press the TOUR shortcut key The screen will display Deep Sky Tour in the top row User can use the two scroll keys to browse through a list of the common names of the deep sky objects and can press ENTER key to pick one of them 2 View Information on the Object The screen will display the catalog to which the deep sky object belongs as well as its catalog index number in the top row The object s current azimuth and altitude will be displayed in the bottom row Use the scroll keys to browse the objects J2000 celestial coordinates magnitude MAG rise time Rise transit time Transit set time Set size size and asso ciated constellation Constellation Press ENTER key to proceed to the next step 3 Locate the Object The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects refer to Section 5 1 for de tails 5 8 User Defined Objects Users can define up to 25 objects for observing Defining New Objects 1 Press the USER shortcut key The screen will display User Object Press the scroll keys until New Object is displayed on the screen then press the ENTER key 2 The screen will display Coord Type 1 RA Dec 2 Axis Press 1 to enter R A Dec coordi nates for a celestial object press 2 to enter coordinates for a land object 22 PART V LOCATING OB
45. ll stay at this step for the choosing of another object otherwise it will pro ceed to the next step 3 The screen will display the coordinates of the selected object Press the ENTER key again to proceed 4 The screen will now display View Object Press ENTER to have the mount start slewing towards the selected object If the object is a celestial object the mount will start tracking the object automatically after it finishes slewing Press ESC to exit 23 PART VI CONFIGURE THE TELESCOPE MOUNT 6 1 Choosing Tracking Speed 1 Access the menu SETUP Wracking and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to browse through the following options and press the ENTER key to pick one Sidereal Rate Enables the mount to track celestial objects at the sidereal rate for ob serving the stars deep sky objects and planets Lunar Rate Enables the mount to track at the lunar rate for observing the Moon e Solar Rate Enables the mount to track at the solar rate for observing the Sun Stop Tracking Stops the mount e PEC Sidereal Enables the mount to track at the sidereal rate and turns on the periodic error correction PEC function Applies to equatorial mounts only Note Users can turn on the tracking without doing a star alignment process In this case the polar alignment should be rather accurate for an equatorial mount and the mount must be setup to the proper home position before turning on the power
46. mounts are equipped with auxiliary encoders on their primary axes to support manually rotating the axes without worrying about losing the mount s alignment sta tus Users may turn off the auxiliary encoder to obtain the best pointing accuracy The auxiliary encoder can be turned on again at any time for manually moving the mount 1 Access the menu SETUPMux Encoder and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to select between Enable or Disable and press the ENTER key Note After re enabling the auxiliary encoders it is recommended to use the direction keys to move both axes for a little bit before asking the hand control to locate an object 6 5 Setting Autoguider Speed For an equatorial mount with an autoguider port the SynScan hand control can change the guiding speed of the port 1 Access the menu SETUP Auto Guide Speed gt and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to choose one of the following guiding speeds list 0 125X 0 25X 0 5X 0 75X 1X and then press the ENTER key 25 PART VII CONFIGURE THE HAND CONTROL 7 1 Display Keypad and Beeper 1 Access the menu Setup Handset Setting and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to select LCD Contrast then use the left right direction keys to adjust the contrast of the LCD screen 3 Use the scroll keys to select Beep Volume then use the left right direction keys to adjust the volume of the beeper 4 Use the scroll keys to selec
47. n a user presses the Left or Right direction key on the SynScan hand control Choosing a 0 125X sidereal rate is recommended for a smaller FOV of telescope and a 0 25X sidereal rate is recommended for a wider FOV of telescope Press the 1 or 2 key to make a selection and proceed to the next step The screen will display the elapsed time Use the Left and Right direction keys to con trol the mount and keep the star at the same spot in the FOV of the telescope until the SynScan hand control gives a long beep and stops displaying the time The total time for this training process depends on mount models PEC Replay Once PEC training is completed access the menu Setup Tracking PEC Sidereal and press the ENTER key to start the PEC replay that is start to compensate the period error Choosing other items the menu SetupWracking will turn off the PEC Notes It is recommended to use a high power telescope and a reticle eyepiece for the PEC train ing A digital eyepiece with a computer is preferred For the equatorial mounts that support PPEC such as the AZ EQ6 GT and EQ8 mounts an autoguider can be used to replace manual guiding in PEC training process In such cases it is recommended to turn on the autoguiding for at least one minute before starting the PEC training process The total time for the PEC training of these mount can be as long as two cycles of the period error 38 PART XI ADVANCED FUNCTIONS
48. nates The operating steps of aligning to alignment stars may differ depending on the type of mount used as well as the chosen alignment method Users should read the following section which meets your mount and alignment method e Section 3 3 Alignment Method for Equatorial mounts e Section 3 4 Alt azimuth mounts using the Brightest Star Alignment method e Section 3 5 Alt azimuth mounts using the 2 Star Alignment method Alignment Method for Equatorial Mounts Aligning the 1 Star 1 The LCD screen displays Choose 1st Star in the first line Use the scrolling keys to browse through a list of star names and Press ENTER key to pick the one on the screen as the 1 alignment star The mount will then automatically slew and point the telescope towards the 1 alignment star in the sky 2 After the mount stops the hand control will give a long beep and display Use dir keys to center object Now the telescope should point rather closely to the 1 alignment star gen erally in the FOV of the finder scope and the mount s tracking function is also turned on by the hand control to prevent the objects drift in the FOV of the telescope 10 3 4 3i PART ALIGNMENT Now users can use the direction keys to move the telescope to align with the 1 alignment star That is center the 1 alignment star in the FOV of the finder scope and then center itin the FOV of the telescope s eyepiece press ENTER key to confirm centering of
49. nt the telescope to terrestrial targets for observing The User Defined Objects function refer to Section 5 8 of the SynScan hand control is a useful tool for terrestrial observing 9 3 1 PART ALIGNMENT Choosing an Alignment Method At the beginning of the alignment process users are asked to choose an alignment method The available alignment methods differ between the mount types as listed below For an equatorial mount 1 Start Alignment 1 Star Align 2 Star Alignment 2 Star Align or 3 Star Alignment 3 Star Align e For an alt azimuth mount Brightest Star Alignment Brightest Star or 2 Star Alignment 2 Star Align Note For a detailed description and comparison of each alignment method please refer to Section 3 7 Operation e The LCD screen displays Alignment in the first line Use the two scrolling keys to select an alignment method in the second line of the LCD screen e Press ENTER to confirm selection and proceed to the next step Section 3 2 e Press ESC to skip the alignment process and enter standby mode 3 2 Aligning to Alignment Stars 3 3 In this step user will be asked to choose one or multiple alignment stars from a list provided by the SynScan hand control and then control the mount to center the star s in the FOV of the telescope s eyepiece The SynScan hand control will then use the data collected in this process to transform between the mount coordinates and the sky coordi
50. o object found in this region e f multiple bright stars appear in the list users can identify the names of the stars the real sky by matching the azimuth altitude and magnitude provided by the SynScan hand control e Pick one of the star s Generally the brightest one as the 1 alignment star and press ENTER key to proceed to the next step Press the ESC key to return to the previous step Select Region 12 PART 11 ALIGNMENT 4 Now the screen will display Point scope to RR 27 2 TT T which means point the telescope to RR region the exact azimuth is ZZ Z degree and the exact altitude is TT T degree Users can use the direction keys on the SynScan hand control to move the mount and point the telescope to the 1 alignment star selected in the previous step Center the 1 alignment star in the FOV of the finder scope or the red dot finder and then press ENTER key to pro ceed to the next step If the telescope has clutches on its axes user can loosen the clutches to move the mount manually to point the telescope to the target 5 Now the screen will display Ctr Star NNNN where the NNNN is the name of the selected 1 alignment star The star should have been in the FOV of the telescope User can use the direction keys to center it in the eyepiece and then press the ENTER key to proceed to the next step Aligning the 2 Star 1 If the 1 alignment star is not a planet the LCD screen will display Choose 2 St
51. on the equatorial mount and then perform a two star alignment The alignment stars should be located on the same side of the meridian and their declination deviation should be within 10 to 30 degrees 2 Use the SynScan hand control to locate a few objects on the same side of the meridian as the alignment stars The pointing accuracy should be quite good 3 Use the SynScan hand control to locate a few objects on the other side of the meridian as the alignment stars e If the pointing accuracy is still good then the mount system has small or no cone error e If the pointing accuracy becomes poor and most of the error is on the R A axis that is the object can be brought back to the center of the eyepiece using the left or right di rection keys it means that the cone error of the telescope mount system is quite large Eliminating Cone Error 1 Rotate the R A axis to level the counterweight shaft 2 Center the Polaris in the polar scope 3 Pointthe telescope to the Polaris rotate the Dec axis to bring the Polaris as close as pos sible to the center of the finder scope or the telescope s eyepiece 4 Fine tune the azimuth and latitude of the mount to center the Polaris in the telescope s eyepiece 5 Rotate the R A axis 180 degrees the counterweight shaft should be leveled and pointed to the other side of the mount If the Polaris can be put to the center of the eyepiece by rotating the Dec axis only it means the cone error is
52. osition in P Scope It tells the orienta tion of Polaris in the polar scope s FOV User can imagine the large circle in the FOV of a polar scope as a clock s face with 12 00 at the top and put Polaris at the HH MM position of the large circle when using a polar scope to do the polar alignment Press ENTER key to confirm and proceed to the next step Press ESC key to return to the pre vious step The LCD screen will display Hour Angle of Polaris Press ENTER key to confirm and proceed to the next step Press ESC key to return to the previous step Starting Mount Alignment This is the last step in the hand control s initialization process The screen will display Be gin Alignment 1 YES 2 NO to ask the user to make a choice Press 1 to start the alignment process The SynScan hand control will operate in Full Feature mode refer to Section 1 4 after the alignment Press 2 to skip the alignment process The SynScan hand control will enter standby mode Users may start the tracking functions refer to Section 6 1 or use the GOTO function refer to PART V to roughly locate celestial objects Both operations will let the SynScan hand control work in the Easy Tracking mode refer to Section 1 4 Step 2 Users can also start an alignment process refer to Section 8 2 to let the SynScan hand control operate in Full Feature mode Users may slew the mount with the direction keys to poi
53. owered on and the Initialization process is complete users may begin using the SynScan hand control to look up data of celestial objects and other information ex Sidereal time Polaris s orientation etc PART INITIALIZATION 2 1 Setup Home Position of the Telescope Mount Before powering on the telescope mount it should be setup to a particular home position The home position differs between an equatorial mount and an Alt azimuth mount 1 Home Position of an Equatorial Mount Tripod head is leveled R A axis points towards the Northern Celestial Pole in Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Celestial Pole in Southern Hemisphere e Counterweight rod is at its lowest position The telescope points towards the Northern Celestial Pole in Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Celestial Pole in Southern Hemisphere 2 Home Position of an Alt azimuth Mount To operate the SynScan hand control in Full Feature mode no particular home position is required To operate the SynScan hand control in Easy Tracking mode the mount should be setup as close as possible to the following home position Mount base is leveled The telescope s tube is leveled and points towards the true North note not magnetic North 2 2 Initialize the Hand Control Once the mount has been setup to the home position a user can turn on the power to the mount and start the initialization process on the SynScan hand control The
54. st commonly used mode of operation 2 Easy Tracking Mode The flow chart of the Easy Tracking operation is shown below Initialization Locate a celestial Observing or other Initialization Start Tracking object manually gt Fig 1 4b In Easy Tracking mode the hand control also needs to connect to a Sky Watcher tele scope mount The mount must be setup at a proper Home Position refer to Section 2 1 for details before turning on the power After turning on the power to the mount the hand control must complete an Initialization routine Then the user can choose to skip the Alignment routine and start the tracking function directly refer to Section 6 1 Choosing Tracking Speed Users will need to locate a celestial object in the sky and then use the hand control to manually point the telescope to the target The object locating function may still be used but it can only give a rough result The Easy Tracking mode is suitable for quick setup for visual observing of brighter celestial objects such as planets the moon or the sun If the user does not turn on the tracking function the Easy Tracking mode can also be used for observing terrestrial objects 3 Standalone Mode The flow chart of the Standalone operation is shown below Initialization e Other operations Fig 1 4c In Standalone mode the hand control does not need to be connected to a mount Once the hand control is p
55. star 3 Press the ESC key again the LCD screen will display Exit Alignment 1 YES 2 NO Press key 1 to exit the alignment process press key 2 to go back to choose an alignment star 14 PART ALIGNMENT 3 6 Tips for Improving Alignment Accuracy Eyepiece It is very important to put the alignment stars at the center or the same spot of the FOV of the telescope s eyepiece during the alignment process Thus e It is recommended that a reticle eyepiece is used for alignment e Ifa reticle eyepiece is not available try to use an eyepiece with shorter focal length to yield a smaller FOV Users can defocus the telescope to obtain a large star disk in the FOV Centering the star disk in the FOV is easier than centering a sharp star During the alignment process avoid changing or rotating the eyepiece and the diagonal mirror Mechanical Backlash All mounts have more or less mechanical backlash on both axes To avoid introducing align ment error from backlash users should keep the following rules in mind When centering an alignment star in the eyepiece the operation should always end by using the UP and RIGHT direction keys to move the axes e If there is overshoot when centering alignment star in eyepiece with UP or RIGHT keys use the LEFT or DOWN keys to pull the star back to the edge of the FOV and then use the RIGHT or UP keys to center the star again Alignment Stars Selection The choice of alignment stars mi
56. t LED Backlight then use the left right direction keys to adjust the brightness of the keypad s LED backlight 5 Use the scroll keys to select LCD Backlight then use the left right direction keys to adjust the brightness of the LCD screen s backlight 6 Press ESC to exit the adjustment 7 2 Alignment Star Filter Not all combinations of alignment stars are good for a 2 star alignment or 3 star alignment The SynScan hand control uses a built in advanced alignment star filter to show only the stars which is suitable to work with the 1 2 alignment star s when asking the user to choose the 2 or 3 alignment star It helps to improve the successful rate of the alignment Some advanced users or those who have limited visible sky can turn on off this advance filter with the following steps 1 Access the menu Setup Alignment Stars Adv Filter and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to choose OFF and then press the ENTER key to disable the filter 3 Use the scroll keys to choose ON and then press the ENTER key to enable the filter Note Even if the advanced filter function is turned off the SynScan hand control will still apply the following rules to generate the list of alignment stars The alignment star s altitude must be above 15 degrees For an equatorial mount the alignment star s declination must be between 75 and 75 degrees e Foran alt azimuth mount the alignment star s altitude must b
57. t cut keys and their functions SETUP Access to the Setup sub menu TOUR Access to the Deep Sky Tour function UTILITY Access to the Utility Function sub menu M Access to the Messier Catalog sub menu NGC Access to the NGC Catalog sub menu IC Access to the IC Catalog sub menu PLANET Access to Solar System OBJECT Access to the Object List menu and stay at the Named Star sub menu USER Access to the User Object sub menu ID Access to the Identify function 18 PART V LOCATING OBJECTS Users can access several popular celestial object catalogs stored in the SynScan hand control and control the telescope mount to locate a specific object in the catalogs The object location function is available for either Full Feature mode Section 1 4 Step 1 or Easy Tracking mode Section 1 4 Step 2 of the mount 5 1 Locating Messier Objects 1 2 3 Choosing an Object Press the M shortcut key on the SynScan hand control The screen will display Messier Catalog Messier to wait for input of the digits Messier index number which is between 1 and 110 e Use the number keys on the keypad to enter a number at the cursor position e Use the left or right direction keys to move the cursor e AG3 digit number starting with a O is acceptable 001 01 1 Press ENTER key to proceed to the next step View Information on the Object e Ifthe selected object
58. t in the field of view of a finder scope Rate 2 3 4 is primarily used to move a target in the field of view of an eyepiece Rate 0 1 is used to move a target in the field of view in high magnification observations or manual guiding Note 1 Speed is represented as multiples of the Earth s rotation speed 2 3 For Equatorial mounts the speed is the drift speed of an object in FOV while the mount s tracking is turned on it is not the axis s rotation speed 4 Maximum speed varies on mounts For most Sky Watcher mounts it is higher than 800X 3 4 degrees sec 1 4 SynScan Hand control s Operating Mode The SynScan hand control has 3 operating modes Full Feature Mode Easy Tracking Mode and Standalone Mode 1 Full Feature Mode The flow chart of the Full Feature operation is shown in Fig 1 4a Locate a celestial Observing or other Initialization Alignment object autgmatcally EE Fig 1 4a PART I INTRODUCTION In Full Feature mode the hand control must connect to a Sky Watcher telescope mount After turning on the power to the mount the hand control must complete an Initialization routine followed by an Alignment routine which establishes a model to transform the co ordinates of the mount and the coordinates of the sky Only after the Alignment is done can the SynScan hand control s high precise GOTO function be used to locate a celestial object The Full Feature mode is the mo
59. t will slew to a new position When it stops the screen will display Adjust Altitude By using ONLY the altitude control of the mount do not touch the azimuth control bring the reference star back to the closest point to the center of the FOV of the telescope s eyepiece Remember the reference star s current position in the eyepiece for later adjustment Press the ENTER key to confirm the centering operation 7 The screen will now display the polar alignment error Users can then use the data to determine whether or not to adjust the azimuth of the mount in the next step Press the ENTER key again to proceed to the next step 8 The mount will slew to a new position When it stops the screen will display Adjust Azi muth By using ONLY the azimuth control of the mount do not touch the altitude control bring the reference star back to the closest point to the previous position at the end of Step 6 Press the ENTER key to confirm the centering operation 9 The screen will display the polar alignment error again press the ENTER button to end the polar alignment process 10 Go back to the Alignment menu on the SynScan hand control and execute another 2 Star or 3 Star alignment and then check the polar alignment error data reported at the end of the 2 star alignment or 3 star alignment Repeat Step 2 to Step 9 until the error is small enough and acceptable Generally users can get up to 1 arc minute polar align ment accuracy aft
60. te an object whose altitude exceeds the altitude limits the SynScan hand control will display Target is over slew limits and will not start the mount slewing 24 PART VI CONFIGURE THE TELESCOPE MOUNT When a user uses the Up or Down direction keys to slew the altitude axis to exceed the al titude limits the SynScan hand control will automatically stop the altitude axis and display Over slew limit Slewing stop User has to press any key and the SynScan controller will bring the altitude axis back The following are the steps to set the altitude slewing limits 1 Access the menu SETUP Elev Limits and press the ENTER key 2 Use the scroll keys to choose options Enable or Disable and then press the ENTER key to confirm 3 If Disable is chosen the SynScan hand control will turn off the altitude limit 4 If Enable is chosen the SynScan hand control will turn on the altitude limit and users can input the upper and lower limits as the following e The screen will display Set Alt Limits in the top row and Upper XXX X at the bot tom row Use the Left Right keys to move the cursor and use the numeric keys to fill the upper limits The leading sign can be changed with the scroll keys Press the ENTER key to end the input and proceed e The screen will display Lower XXX X at the bottom row fill in the data in a similar Way 6 4 Enable Disable Auxiliary Encoder Some Sky Watcher s
61. to move the cursor and use the numeric keys to fill the dig its with the cursor Press the ENTER key to end setting the exposure time Now the screen is changed to set the frames to be shot for this group as shown be low Use the left and right keys to move the cursor and use the numeric keys to fill in the digits with the cursor Press the ENTER key to end setting the frames Edit Group 1 Repeats 000 The SynScan hand control will return to the status of Step 2 for users to choose and edit another group of parameters Note To disable a group set either the Exposure or the Repeats parameters to O 5 After setting all groups of the parameters press the ESC key to exit the configuration pro cess Batch Exposure 1 Set the camera to bulb exposure mode 2 Press the UTILITY shortcut key access to the sub menu Camera Control X Shoot and press the Enter key 3 The SynScan hand control will start to take batch exposure and display the progress data on the screen a sample screenshot is shown below Shooting 1 003 Release mm ss The top row shows the group index and the frames pending The bottom row shows the remaining exposure time of the current frame e Atthe end of each frame the SynScan hand control will give a beep and wait for 2 seconds before the next exposure 4 During the batch exposure users can press the ESC key to suspend the operation The screen will display Shoot Suspended 1 Resume 3

SynScan Hand Controller Manual - Sky

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