Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System
Contents
1. Replacement printed documentation will be provided at cost if requested by a registered user What do I do now After reading the next section on installing the G 11 RetorKit please proceed as follows 1 If use of ATCS in SkyWalker mode is planned then read the SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual It is anticipated that many installations will never use ATCS in SkyWalker mode In this case reading the SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual is optional 2 Before using ATCS in System mode it is recommended that the SkyGuide User s Manual is read Since the SkyGuide User s Manual is rather voluminous and since you probably want to start using ATCS as soon as possible we have written the first two chapters to cover installation and use in an introductory way Please read at least the first two chapters of the SkyGuide User s Manual before using ATCS for more than the installation testing described at the end of this document 6 Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Installation of the SkyWalker Servo G 11 Retrofit Kit This chapter describes how to install the SkyWalker Servo system on the Losmandy mount It is very important to follow the installation procedure carefully to assure reliable operation Improper installation of the Drive Units can lead to poor tracking accuracy inability to s2. Figure 4 SkyWalker Servo Drive Units and Handpaddle installation Note in the following steps you will install the Drive Units on the mount It is important to handle the Drive Units with care especially with regard to protecting against static electrical discharge To assure this always discharge yourself prior to touching the Drive Units and prior to touching the Drive Units while in your hand to conductive objects such as the mount Step 7 Locate the Dec Drive Unit in bag labeled Dec Drive Unit and install the part of the Oldham coupler set aside in Step 3 or 3A onto the shaft of the Drive Unit use small Allen key wrench Make sure that one of the two Allen screws tightens against the flat on the Drive Unit s shaft These Allen screws should be quite snug but do not strip out their threads Step 8 Install the Dec Drive Unit onto the G 11 using two of the four flat head Phillips screws provided in the Cables and Hardware bag Make sure the slots in the Oldham coupler line up It is convenient to line up the slots in the Oldham coupler and push to engage the two halves of the coupler left side of figure 5 and then rotate the Drive Unit until the flat head screw holes line up right side of figure 5 Using the Phillips screwdriver run the screws all the way in but do not tighten them yet Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8
3. and HGM 200 telescope mounts Figure 5 Step 9 Tighten the screws modestly but don t over do it since you can strip the aluminum threads out of the mount if to forceful Verify that the Drive Unit is orientated so that the three sections of the Oldham coupler are best lined up see the figure shown below It may be necessary to adjust the position of both ends of the Oldham coupler along the axis of the motor and or worm shafts ORY Step 10 Re install the Dec worm cover Step 11 Repeat steps 6 10 for the RA Drive Unit Step 12 Locate the Handpaddle magnetic mounting bracket and attach between the mounting tabs on the Losmandy tripod and secure with the knobs set aside in step 4 SA Mount the Handpaddle onto the magnet attached to the bracket Step 13 Plug the Handpaddle into the connector labeled HP at the bottom of the RA Drive Unit Installing Cabling Step 14 Locate the DU Cable in the Cables and Hardware bag includes 9 pin D Sub connectors on each end Connect the cable between the RA and Dec drive units Screw down the connectors using the small flat blade screwdriver provided in the Tool Set bag Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc 11 Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Step 15 this step is only necessary if axial optical encoders are installed on the mount Locate the shorter of the two encoder cabl
4. notes on using ATCS These are highlighted in this document as follows Important Please read important notes The user should be very careful to read understand and follow these important notes Otherwise sub par operation or even damage to your hardware can result Two important definitions are needed at this point SkyWalker mode when ATCS is being used without an attached PC it is being used in Sky Walker mode System mode when ATCS is being used with a Windows 95 98 ME PC running our SkyGuide telescope control system software it is being used in System mode The specifics of SkyWalker mode and System mode are provided in the next section If ATCS is to be used in SkyWalker mode then read the SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual next There is no need to read the SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual if ATCS is not used in SkyWalker mode since all typical SkyWalker Servo installation details and setup are provided in this document If ATCS is to be used in System mode then be sure to read at least Chapter 1 Introduction and Chapter 2 Running SkyGuide for the first time in the SkyGuide User s Manual Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc 3 Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Brief overview of ATCS components and function ATCS allows for controlling all operations of a telescope system The current
5. Drive Unit should produce a slight noise as it tracks Push the Up Down Left and Right buttons and verify that both Drive Units motors freely turning Manually move by slipping the clutches the telescope to a position where significant motion in both RA and Dec will not lead to collision of the telescope with the tripod or pier Press and release the Slew button The Handpaddle will now be in Slew mode Verify that the red LED over the Slew button is lit Alternately push the Up Down Left and Right buttons and verify that the Drive Unit s motors are freely turning The telescope will accelerate to the maximum slew velocity of 6 5 degrees second if a given direction button is held for a few seconds If the motors stall or if an over current warning is issued during this process refer immediately to the Problems with motor stall section in the Frequently Asked Questions section of our support web page As a final step read chapters 1 and 2 of the SkyGuide User s Manual These chapters provide quick up to speed information on using SkyGuide Once the system is working in System mode with SkyGuide running on the PC you should verify that the RA and Dec MotorLoad values on the Status Console tab do not exceed 1000 when tracking If they do then there is a problem with telescope balance and or the adjustment of the worm worm gear You can compare the MotorLoad value when moving one direction versus the other direction as an
6. Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System For Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 Telescope Mounts Copyright 2002 Astrometric Instruments Inc last revision date 22 July 2002 Please read this document first This document can be ordered as Astrometric Instruments part DOC 03C Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Introduction This document provides an introduction to and installation instructions for the Astrometric Telescope Control System ATCS on Losmandy G11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts The version of ATCS covered in this document is the SkyWalker Servo retrofit kit The contents of this document are as follows This introduction Brief overview of ATCS components and function Installation of SkyWalker Servo G11 GM 8 HMG 200 retrofit kit Note The installation procedure for the G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 retrofit kits are identical For the sake of brevity the remainder of this document will only refer to the G 11 Much additional detail on the operation of ATCS is provided in the following two documents 1 SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual 2 SkyGuide User s Manual There are several important steps in installing the G 11 retrofit kit and important
7. Walker Servo retrofit kit used on the Losmandy G 11 mounts slews at 6 5 degrees second while maintaining extremely smooth and precise tracking SkyWalker Servo accomplishes this with only one high performance DC servomotor per axis while running on a single 12VDC power supply Figure 1 shows SkyWalker Servo installed on a Losmandy G 11 telescope mount Figure 1 Note ATCS internal settings are configurable from within SkyGuide As part of the SkyGuide software installation detailed in Chapter 1 of the Skyguide User s Manual default settings for a variety of mounts are selectable Upgrades Functional upgrades are being continuously made to ATCS New features user s suggestions requests and bug fixes require this These functional upgrades primarily involve SkyGuide however from time to time it may be necessary to upgrade the firmware i e embedded software in SkyWalker As a customer of Astrometric Instruments upgrades to SkyGuide and SkyWalker s internal firmware are available free of charge from our web site at www astrometric com Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Documentation upgrades are available as PDF files to be viewed with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader v3 0 or later Registered users can request PDF documentation files by sending an email request to support astrometric com
8. alker and high performance motors adapted to a telescope Astrometric Instruments provides retrofit kit packages that provide the motors gearing and all the mechanical components necessary to use SkyWalker on the Losmandy G 11 mounting see below SkyWalker mode does not provide GoTo capability nor interface to Planetarium software nor a plethora of other features provided by SkyGuide requiring a PC running Windows 95 98 ME In System mode the control system operates attached to a PC running our SkyGuide Telescope Control System Software for Windows95 98 ME Functionality increases dramatically with features such as automatic GoTo coordinate Planet or over 16000 deep xy objects optical encoder support allowing for manual movement joystick control and control from one of the many commercial or shareware planetarium programs available today running on the same or remote PC System Mode requires a Pentium 120 or better PC one communications port RS232 and the Microsoft Windows95 98 ME operating system 4 Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Losmandy G 11 Retrofit Kit To control a Losmandy G11 mounting the SkyWalker Servo retrofit kit is provided as a motor replacement kit The retrofit kit is a two axis drop in replacement for the gear head stepper motors used on the Losmandy G 11 and other mounts The Sky
9. es that includes 6 pin MJ12 connectors at each end Connect this between the RA optical encoders and the RA Drive Unit connection labeled Enc Repeat for Dec using the longer encoder cable Step 16 Loosen the mount s clutch knobs and manually move the mount through its entire range of motion Verify that the cabling is tangle free It may be necessary to place the Declination axis dovetail knobs on the side of the mount away from the DU Cable i e side of mount away from the Dec Drive Unit Step 17 Locate the SkyWalker Servo power cord and insert the 2 5mm plug into the connector labeled Pwr on the RA Drive Unit Plug the other end into an appropriate 12v power source Step 18 For use with SkyGuide plug the small 4 pin connector found on the Com Cable into the connector labeled Com at the bottom of the RA Drive Unit Plug the other end of the Com Cable into an available PC DB 9 Com port adapter may be required Step 19 Balance the telescope and adjust the G 11 clutches to allow for slip in the event you want to move the telescope by hand This will also provide give if the telescope inadvertently strikes something Note The TCS port on the Dec Drive Unit has a dummy plug installed This prevents accidental installation of the Autoguider cable into the TCS port Testing the system Verify that the Sys SW switch on the top of SkyWalker Servo is set to SW i e SkyWalker mode Turn on SkyWalker Servo The RA
10. indicator of balance Note the telescope should be reasonably well balanced If it is 12 Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts significantly out of balance then stalls and or chatter in the drive system will occur The chatter can occur when SkyWalker Servo is driving a following load and is due to slight slack in the mount s and SkyWalker Servo gearing NOTE It is recommended to slew the worm gear to a half dozen equally spaced positions around its circumference to ensure that the MotorLoad value is within limits at each position Installation is complete Congratulations The retrofit kit installation is now complete If ATCS is to be used in SkyWalker mode then proceed to read the Operation in SkyWalker mode section of the SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual If ATCS is to be used in System mode then be sure to read at least Chapter 1 Introduction and Chapter 2 Getting Started with SkyGuide in the SkyGuide User s Manual Note System mode operation is a superset of SkyWalker mode operation therefore the SkyGuide User s Manual supercedes all operational information in the SkyWalker Servo Owner s Manual Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc 13
11. lew and even damage to the Drive Unit and or G11 gearing Particular care should be taken when adjusting the clearance between the worm and worm gear so that they properly mesh and do not pose undue load on the Drive Unit The adjustment procedure that assures the necessary clearance is included in these installation instructions The G11 retrofit kit consists of several components Please identify these components before proceeding They are labeled as follows Astrometric Telescope Control System documentation SkyGuide installation floppy diskette Handpaddle HP1 Handpaddle bracket with attached magnets Dec Servo Drive Unit RA Servo Drive Unit Cables and Hardware in bag likewise labeled Power Cord Com Cable Tool Set gt gt gt gt gt eH Oo MO OEM installation kit optional required for mounts without the Losmandy Drive System Important Installation Note Allen key wrenches are included with the retrofit kit They have a ball drive on their long ends Do not use the ball drive end of the wrench to tighten screws since it can strip out the inside of the screw s socket Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts G 11 Preparation Mounts with Losmandy Drive System Step 1 Disconnect all cables connected to the Losmandy Model 492 Digital Drive System control box and motor
12. m use small Allen key wrench Make sure that one of the two Allen screws tightens against the flat on the worm shaft These Allen screws should be quite snug but do not strip out their threads The remaining two parts of the Oldham coupler will be used later in the installation procedure Step 4A Repeat steps 2A 3A using the second Oldham coupler for the RA worm Step 5A Locate and set aside the knobs with 20 screw threads supplied in the OEM installation kit For all Losmandy mounts Step 6 Adjust the Dec worm Do not skip this important step The purpose of this step is to have enough clearance between the worm and the worm gear that no binding or tightness indicating excess friction is present This is a critical adjustment and should be made very carefully and slowly The worm is adjusted by loosening the cap screws under the blocks that hold the ends of the worm shaft use largest Allen key supplied as shown in figure 4 Rotate by hand the end of Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc 9 Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope 10 mounts the Oldham coupler attached to the worm shaft to gauge when the clearance is sufficient Make sure no binding or tightness is felt excessive friction will lead to motor stalls and or motor over current conditions and or accelerated gear wear The Oldham coupler should rotate with ease ANS N aes ee i 5
13. s Step 2 Remove the flexible plastic covers from the Losmandy motors and remove both motors use middle sized Allen key wrench Step 3 Remove and save the shiny chrome part of Oldham couplers attached to the end of the Losmandy supplied motors use small Allen key wrench This is shown in figure 2 Also save the nylon part of the coupler if it is attached to the motor side of the coupler Figure 2 Step 4 Remove the Losmandy Model 492 control box It is no longer needed Save the knobs with 4 20 screw threads removed from the mount tabs Step 5 Slightly loosen the two small setscrews on the G 11 s RA and Dec worm covers use the small Allen key wrench as shown in figure 3 Remove the covers and set aside 8 Copyright Astrometric Instruments Inc Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System on the Losmandy G 11 GM 8 and HGM 200 telescope mounts Figure 3 Mounts without Losmandy Drive System Step 1A Locate the pair of Oldham couplers supplied in the OEM installation kit Each coupler consists of a metal shaft adapter at each end and the nylon piece between Two of these three sections are shown in figure 2 Step 2A Slightly loosen the two small setscrews on the G 11 s Dec worm cover use the small Allen key wrench as shown in figure 3 Remove the cover and set aside Step 3A Separate the metal shaft adapter from one of the Oldham couplers Install this shaft adapter on the shaft of the Dec wor
14. version of ATCS has evolved from over a decade of development and use of telescope control systems We believe that it is the most capable telescope control system available to amateurs today We have taken great effort to include useful features and user friendly interface to these features Additionally dedicated and patient beta testers have used ATCS throughout its development We are indebted to these folks The major components of ATCS are briefly described in this section More and up to date detail can be found at our web site www astrometric com SkyWalker and SkyGuide The hub of Astrometric Instruments Telescope Control System ATCS is the SkyWalker Telescope Motor and Accessory Controller Together with its handpaddle SkyWalker is a standalone telescope controller or when used with a PC running our SkyGuide Telescope Control System software a complete and full featured telescope control system ATCS provides two levels of functionality SkyWalker mode and System mode In SkyWalker mode the control system operates without the need for an attached PC SkyWalker operates autonomously as a versatile telescope and accessory controller High speed slew four user selectable pan and slow motion rates and five tracking rates for equatorial mounts are supported Numerous telescope control functions electric focus control autoguider correction reticle illumination etc are also available SkyWalker mode requires a SkyW
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