User`s Manual – Pulsar - Gemini Telescope Design
Contents
1. 12 MI POT AD 1 M M 12 IsFunEenpilge e 12 HAND CONTROLLER MENUJYX 555a idea ot rana putonius etra rhb n nnno n te aoa cusa necu 12 KEY TO THE ICONS OF THE KEYBORARD ener nnne nnn 18 EX200 COMPATIBILITY 2 522 cecsat eres acetate aaaea aiaa raan cEe texere Da eheu pe nuce 19 AUTOGUIDER PORT edt E aree c nre Ee ete de ee RUE eee act 19 SYSTEM UPDATE AND CATALOGUE DATA DOWNLOAD 19 tenis cidadgacicee RR 19 Catalogue data download the catalogues are in Excel csv format e eeeeeeeeeee eese eene eene nnne etnnue 20 Example for database structure eee ee eee eee esee eene entente setas tn seinen sensns senses etas en setas essen sensns eene snas eun 20 HARDWARE OPTIONS 3 sisi tionen etra Au ioco ee eal cec omite 22 Safety The unit is protected against reverse polarity short circuit of the motor cables and overvoltage The power cable is fused at 6 3Amp slow Removing the motor cables during use will not damage the circuits If you feel vibration at the DEC motor in standstill your power supply is noisy The unit runs from 10 24V DC max recommended value There is a low voltage warning below 10V on display beep Do NOT remove or plug in the PEC cable when the unit is on If you2. an explanation of the function The expression hotkey refers to the appropriate keyboard buttons The default values are in bold characters The first table contains the parameters of the mount You find the data in the manual or consult the manufacturer The default setting is G 40 41 The Microstep resolution is managed automatically Mount Parameter hotkey 6 RA DEC Reduction Total reduction of the drive 100 432 15000 eo system MainGear Reduction of the main gear pP used for PEC purposes MotorRes step rev resolution of the stepper motors Rotation L R Left Right On hotkey 4 This defines the default rotation of the motors Will depend on actual wiring of the motors Set it so that tracking is correct Germ Fork F disables swap tube and E W of Meridian menu in Initialize tracking speed GoToCurr The current applied to motors in GoTo standstill tracking curr to avoid jump at start Motor Freq The chopper frequency of the 180 255 higher value gives more silent driver operation The table below is an overview of all other user dependent hand controller menu functions Menus in red are ready after Initializing and correct parameter entry Init E W Function Description User Parameter Setup RA DEC hotkey 6 and down Guiding speed 1 9 9 sidereal Center 10 1 6x sidereal 50 separately for RA and DEC 7deg sec 7deg sec Ramp 1 9 1 9 All telescopes must accelerate
3. have a single motor cable version plug the cable ONLY into the DEC connector of the PULSAR Units from 2006 have a single motor connector that includes the PEC cable General Pulsar is a universal drive controller that can be user programmed for a wide range of mounts and bipolar stepper motors It uses ONLY the motors to keep the position accurate at all times You do not need encoders The unit is LX200 and ASCOM compatible so you can use it with your favourite Planetarium Program Carte du Ciel Guide Desktop Universe The Sky etc After setup you must do a one star reference procedure If you have an observatory the battery powered internal memory will save your coordinates in Alt Az and you will not need to have a reference next time see Home position and Clock adjustment To take full advantage of the services you will have to enter correct UT once and your geographical Lat Long after each upgrade Many functions are available directly via the hand controller keyboard so that you can quickly manage routine operations like rate and speed select recalibrate after GoTo etc However the unit can be PC driven with no hand controller at all Dedicated software is available Pulsar Commander available as free download at the pulsar site A unique feature is the real time refraction correction that provides better tracking and more precise GoTo at low elevations Another interesting feature is the power management software that
4. the User Para switch it on without menu Home Pos Save initializing again PEC hotkey8 Pec On Off The PEC data is not lost after For RA pec p on diplay upgrade shows the status New PEC Starts the learning period Guide Wait for the beep to start speed is automatically selected corrections Double beep PEC is turned off After saving indicates the end the PEC data the correction is automatically turned on in RA Synchronize Synchronizes the PEC data with an arbitrary mark on the worm when there is no encoder System hotkey 6 andup Shows supply voltage and internal temperature of the driver unit Upgrade Takes the unit into Software upgrade is possible in the upgrade state Use this state Note once entered AVRprog or Pulsar you can exit ONLY after Commander to program programming the Flash memory Use only when there is a values software problem LCD Clock adust You can correct clock the entered value is not frequency here to increase long affected by upgrades term accuracy Unit seconds 10 days Example you have measured the internal clock to be fast 46secs in 10 days So you enter 46 Troubleshooting 1 The mount does not track Still rate selected e g auto stop function activated You connected the DEC cable to the RA motor two connector models only 2 The mount tracks in the wrong direction RA motor rotation incorrect See Initialize 3 Significant RA drift in tr
5. tube if a manual swap is made the driver must be initialized again 6 slew to the desired Western stop position e g 1h30m West of the Meridian 22 deg declination 7 repeat step 4 and activate the Autostop function Yes 8 enter the Pole crossing menu and activate it Yes Now if you make a Goto that is over any of the autostop limits the mount crosses the pole first then makes the Goto If you leave the mount tracking it will stop at the Western limit Coordinates are not lost but updated when the Sidereal rate is selected The Autostop Diagram shows the forbidden red zone for the DEC head of the mount The red arrow indicates the programmed Western RA limit For the Eastern tube position the diagram is approx symmetrical to the Meridian The No Go area North of the red limits is reached by crossing the Pole Using your GPS The Pulsar controller accepts serially connected GPS units using the 4800 baud NMEA protocoll Pulsar will ask for the UT and geographical coordinates after it is turned on This feature allows for the trouble free use of the intelligent features when you are travelling to dark sky locations 1 Make sure that you have selected NMEA 4800 baud as the communication protocol Setup Interface menu on the GPS 2 Let he GPS collect the navigation signal connect it to the Pulsar serial port with the adapter 3 Turn the Pulsar on It will acknowledge GPS data a few seconds after power up Now you ca
6. voltage signal from PEC encoder received If you press the side button maplight the RA worm position counter value appears at top left and the effect of refraction is removed from the values of the coordinates for information only values are not actually changed IMPORTANT NOTE Before first use and after software upgrade you must check and enter correct date and time in UT and your geographical Lat Long in decimal format This is necessary for the correct operation of the driver Initializing Initializing this is the first step of use It aligns the telescope with the equatorial coordinate system Pulsar uses a one star alignment You must do it every time you set the telescope up in a new position Polar align the mount first For permanent setup it is enough to do it once if you shut down with GoTo Home If you have a G40 or G41 mount and live in Europe you can go thru these 6 steps and use the controller basic functions only Otherwise please read the complete section below 1 Connect the power cable hand controller and telescope the order is irrelevant The PC can also be connected via the serial cable Switch the unit on Note no connection is possible while the Pulsar is searching for the GPS and this will take cca 20sec after switch on 2 Press button 3 then the joystick to the right for 5 10 seconds the mount should slew to the west If not press button 6 then joystick up right 3times down right d
7. 1 small 9 high and decelerate Otherwise the acceleration acceleration mount will be damaged soon here sec of arc Swap tube delay You can enter a delay in a seconds for the DEC rotation to start later than the RA Pole crossing On Off Enables pole crossing for GoTo commands The mount will not rotate 180 deg in RA if you want to look at the Northern sky Latitude Longitude in The longitude is negative to the decimals East 0 180 and positive to the Your observing site s data west 0 180 The optional GPS module updates it automatically To be updated after Upgrade Autostop Global Using the hand controller find the DEC limit where the tube first hits the pier during RA rotation to the West This is the DEClimit parameter Enter the menu select DEClimit Save Then slew West to the point where you want the tube to stop This is the RAlimit parameter Enter the menu select Ralimit and Save Now make a swap tube or re initialize on the other side and repeat the procedure on the Eastern side Select ON to enable the function Autostop Local Select your object to be tracked first Then take the tube in RA to the West until the desired Stop position where the tube would hit he pier Now enter the menu select RAlimit and save the position Go back to your object reenter the menu and select ON and relax The mount will switch into Still rate when it reaches the limit Home pos save This is the sl
8. Pulsar v2 59 08 Jan 2006 Help for the Win software Pulsar Commander and Hand Controller Menu SAP ET fert H 2 GENERAL eem TEMERE 2 QUICKSTAR mer 3 Hand Controller Menu navigation scsccsccsscssscsssssscssssessssscsssssscessssessssssscesssssessssessssssessssssssssssssssssesssssessseses 3 Displayed BIDWIPDlU 3 Ib iirElirAl p 4 USING THE INTELLIGENT FEATURES ertet nne rebua unen nn nnn aen oua x saa na dinese 5 leoni P m 5 Swap Tube Meridian Mp C 5 POMC CROSSING visescicesinesscpasccossscesencdsevacseacssvacesassenscesussansevedssonsbeenssonesuastecssebcesseesnoosssovsnessonessnaseenassaassesdenseceevsseccssesees 6 einn Eennri m Hn 6 Using your edu P 8 Remote oIcuto H 8 PS dhiejpecir u f T Y 9 PC MENU ec 10 ln 10 eK 10 jure M 11 Hints for programming PEG dne t ed rt PERRA E Ee E HERD ERSTER EA RE pr EH E AREE ERE tes 11 Mn
9. acking Clock error not corrected See the system menu in the table above Incorrect rate selected e g Lunar Solar User instead of Sidereal Incorrect mount motor parameters Check the setup menu Refraction correction disabled or incorrect Initializing info incorrect Note you can correct any residual drift with the user rate This correction will be accurate for the actual sky position only 4 GoTo command not executed The object is below the horizon Incorrect date time or geographical position setting See Initialize The object is over the autostop limit and pole crossing is disabled 5 Knocking of the DEC motor at start affects guiding precision Stop current too low Increase to match the tracking current setup menu 6 Knocking of the RA motor during tracking Supply voltage too high over 35V Tracking current too low high Adjust in Mount setup Power supply problem Switching mode power controllers are not recommended Motor Frequency is set too high 7 Mount goes the wrong way in DEC during GoTo or manual slew DEC motor rotation setup skipped or you crossed the meridian manually Joystick direction swapped accidentally N S button pressed 8 Swap tube command is not accepted The actual scope position and the tube are not on the same side of the Meridian Setup information is incorrect including E W of Meridian Swap tube is disabled see the menu 9 PEC does not function PEC turned o
10. alue within 10 of the Tracking Current or the same PEC will be active after recieving the first encoder signal only This means that there may be about 3 minutes before it will start working after a GoTo To get the highest possible tracking precision programming the PEC at the actual sky position is recommended Before using an autoguider cable make sure that it has the correct pinout and orientation An alternative to cable guiding is the LX200 connection PC Menu Ver 2 13 The Pulsar must be connected to the PC and the appropriate COM port opened before the program will function Init Time shows the time base of the PC or the Driver Com port select the port used and connect Object lets you select catalogue objects for initializing Coordinates enter coordinates for initializing here At the end click OK to refresh the coordinates and then select the correct meridian information The area at bottom right serves for catalogue data programming Pull down the catalogue to be programmed load the csv file and click Send catalogue A message sended will appear when programming is finished GoTo Please note copy all csv extension catalogue data files into the operating directory of the Pulsar Commander to reach them from the Commander At the top you can scroll the databases or select one and enter the number directly You can enter coordinates as the target of a GoTo command At left you can toggle options like swap t
11. d four digit and hotkey enter your password select ON Only the joystick If you forget your PIN power slew function is active now Off On Set User rate 1 2 3 hotkey 7 Min sec 1 100s Deg min sec and up This rate is superimposed on the tracking rate Rate select hotkey 7 Sidereal default Lunar rate sec hr hr la ed ME NN Still e g for terrestrial viewing when you exit to Sidereal User Defined Rate 1 2 3 Deg min sec 1 100 sec per minute of time minute of time Select ref object Use the databases here Initializing on reference Pulsar will ask for E W objects meridian position reference object directly First time use only horizon are not accessible Select Catalogue You can write your own Star M NGC USER database in Excel csv format for any catalogue not just user See the example star csv below Swap tube only with Enabled when the tube and the hotkey1 long press object where the telescope points are on the same side of the Meridian If Autostop global limits are set and Swap tube is enabled meridian flip will be automatic before GoTo if necessary to avoid the autostop zone GoTo RA DEC GoTo Alt Az Slews to Alt Az coordinates GoTo Home only with Takes the mount to the user hotkey 5 long press programmed home position If Programming The mount you turn the unit off this way it must be in the desired home will be ready for use when you position Enter
12. e refraction correction Set the Guide speed to match your magnification e g 500x 3 The PEC learn algorithm accepts input from the serial port LX200 the autoguider connector and naturally the joystick You can use Pempro to train the PEC The long term accuracy of the PEC system is based on signals one at each worm cycle from an encoder An exclamation mark acknowledges the signal If there is no exclamation mark ont he display when the magnet passes the encoder installed on Gemini mounts there is a contact problem Move the plugs around a little DO NOT UNPLUG THE ENCODER DURING OPERATON This will reset the driver unit but not do any harm on mounts with separate PEC cable Setup The PEC correction values in the table can be edited in a pull down window manner Click Refresh to read values from the driver and Save to save your work Upgrade This option is in fact part of the Init menu You can selcect the Upgrade mode browse the file to be programmed into the flash memory and program Note a power failure or communication error during the upgrade process will lead to severe problems a so called forced upgrade will have to be done Hand controller This is an emulation of the hand controller with all the appropriate functions described in the following paragraphs Hand Controller Menu In the tables below the left column contains menu names and short instructions for programming The right column offers
13. e serial port of the PC 1 Start the program Pulsar Commander Please download 2 Open the COM port you are using 3 Select the catalogue you want to program in the pull down window of the Init menu you can overwrite the name here e g USERI to Planets 4 Load the catalogue from its directory 5 Click Send Catalogue 6 Wait for the Sent message may take several minutes for larger databases During catalogue download the tracking function is available A Star Messier and NGC database is available now as preloaded before shipping The following data fields are defined Star 500 Messier 500 User 500 User1 2000 NGC 9999 The numbers in parentheses are the capacity limits in entries Example for database structure Excel file format csv extension values must be separated by Serial hh mm SS deg min sec Mag Data DataConst Name 9999 1chr 1chr4chr 1Ochr 28 19 50 47 8 52 6 077 0 0 Aql Alp Aql 45 2 7 10 23 27 45 2 0 O Ari Alp Ari Display 1 line from table above You can write your own User Database 500 entry and can edit all other databases The Deep Sky 2000 program is very nice in producing an EXCEL table via SQL commands From the result only some columns have to be removed and resorted So it s an easy task to fill the Pulsar tables G W Austria Hardware options The standard shipping package includes Driver unit Hand Controller with 2m or longer cable Power cord extension with banana p
14. eeping position of the telescope in your observatory Slew the scope to this position enter the menu and save Works only with valid geographical position and time Active speed only with hotkey 0 Selects the active speed for the pushbuttons Refraction correction this is the real time King rate in both directions plus correction for GoTo positioning The mount will stop at the preset RA saved as distance from the Meridian limits if DEC is over the limit Using the joystick you can slew the mount to cross the limits To mobilize the mount after Autostop slew out of the limit first then select Sidereal rate Goto commands going over the limit will be disabled You can make swap tube to get the green light or enable the automatic swapping S appears on display if stopped Use a low speed for remote GoTo and do not overtighten the clutches for safety Use remote GoTo at your own risk To mobilize the mount after Autostop slew East first then select Sidereal rate This function is designed for sleepy astrophotographers S appears on display if stopped There is an internal battery that keeps the clock running when the unit is switched off Next time you switch it ON you can skip Initialize Menu available also with hotkey 0 or select directly with hotkeys 2 3 guide speed and progressive On Off r on display On Off r on display Guest mode enter your To exit press Initialize passwor
15. ensures smooth operation high torque but very small power loss at the motors so that they do not heat up and the current draw is low A reliable PEC function is provided with the optional worm encoder Your PEC data will be saved and next time you switch the unit on activated automatically Even if you have no encoder there is a possibility to keep the valuable PEC data after shutdown see synchronize There is a range of options like GPS connection time and coordinates internal 12V 24V transverter Quickstart Hand Controller Menu navigation Use the keypad to reach the menus The North and South push of the Joystick navigates the menu up and down the West push is Enter the East is Esc The button CE also has the Esc function Icons give a clue to the menus The controller has a multi level menu structure but most important functions are directly accessed by pressing a button Displayed information The 2x16 character LCD shows Right Ascension hh mm ss and decimals and Declination dd mm ss Please note that the last digit may change abruptly due to rounding errors R r shows the status of the joystick swap mode in RA Upper case is the default Rp pole crossed 12h added to the RA value D d shows the status of the joystick swap mode in DEC Upper case is the default p PEC ON r refraction correction ON e w shows which side of the Meridian the tube is S Stopped autostop function select Sidereal rate to exit Low
16. ff no p on the display appears Missing magnet in the RA coupling Magnet inserted with the wrong side out applicable only if the magnet has been removed Faulty sensor or contact problem at the mount end Broken cable Contact problem inside the driver box 10 Large GoTo error Incorrect polar alignment Database error check the coordinates OTA axis not at right angle 90 deg to the DEC axis see the G41 manual Motor stalled during the goto low supply voltage small tracking current too high goto speed 11 Controller accidentally pushed to upgrade mode Connect to a PC start PulsarCommander and connect After you get the message Pulsar is in upgrade mode click the Upgrade tab then click Exit upgrade mode Key to the icons of the keyboard 1 Press briefly swap E W button setup press for 3 sec Swap tube 2 Select Guide speed 3 Select Progressive speed one push of the joystick gives an offset of cca 10 4 Press briefly Swap N S button setup press for 3 sec reverse DEC rotation 5 Goto Home position press for 3 sec 6 Setup 7 Select tracking rate 8 PEC menu 9 Press briefly Recalibrate after GoTo 10 Select active speed CE clear entry or Escape GoTo menu toggle sign for coordinate entry Initialize Exit Guest mode PIN needed Press any button to emergency stop a GoTo 90 ORARE 6 Oa 0 O f 2 dc PEC oe O EW iim N S LX200 compatibility The Pulsar co
17. he pixel resolution 2 for 1 pixel Your system is well tuned if the residual guiding errors after each correction do not exceed 0 1 0 3 pixel The smallest accepted correction time is 0 2sec The Stop Current Setup Mount parameters Stop current should be close to the Tracking Current e g 750mA 950mA Disable refraction correction Guiding hints A pixel resolution smaller than 1 pixel will not result under normal sky conditions in more image detail but more trouble and longer exposures only It is strongly recommended NOT to go below the actual seeing conditions with the image scale Alternatively you should set the low threshold for guiding at a higher value during poor seeing conditions The reason is that seeing changes star positions faster than guiding so frequent guiding will increase blurring rather than decreasing it Seeing should be evaluated with the actual imaging instrument as it will vary with aperture changes significantly above cca 15cm due to the size of air cells It is recommended to disable DEC guiding in one direction to prevent oscillations due to poor seeing effects There are several solutions for this One is a switch in the autoguider cable another is a software switch like in Astroart that allows cancelling one of the DEC corrections Seeing oscillations can be corrected with an AO device only For unguided photography program the PEC use Refraction Correction and set the Stop Current at a v
18. le Crossing menu The diagram below helps visualizing this feature If you disable pole crossing some sky positions will not be accessible depending on the autostop limits Pole crossing is set in the Setup User Parameters Pole crossing menu If you need to use Pole Crossing the Autostop limits must be set so that at either side E W of the mount turning the tube over to North is possible Otherwise a Pole Cross command near one of the Autostop limits may result in a crash Autostop Global German equatorial mounts do not provide free access to all sky positions because the telescope can hit the pier mount or the mount hits itself as it moves away from the Meridian With the Autostop global feature you can teach the controller the limits on both sides of the mount and it will respect these limits during Goto commands You will be able to slew across the limits manually With the scope pointing at Odeg Declination in most cases a 360 deg rotation in RA is possible However above a certain DEC limit there is the danger ofa crash To program the limits do the following l initialize e g on the Eastern side as described above 2 slew to the desired Eastern stop position e g 1 hours East of the Meridian and at 20 deg declination The Gemini Product Video helps visualizing these stop positions 4 enter the Setup User Parameters Autostop Global menu and save the DEC limit and RA limit 5 press the bottom left button for 3s to swap the
19. lugs alligator clips cigar lighter pug RCA plug please specify Serial cable 2m Options Longer cable for the Hand Controller specify Longer Serial cable specify PEC encoder and cable standard with G 41 mount Autoguider cable specify CCD GPS cable adapter GEMINI TELESCOPE DESIGN
20. n remove the cable and use the driver You will need a cross cable this swaps transmit recieve lines and is available from Gemini or DIY to connect your GPS to the Pulsar with the serial cable avilable from the GPS manufacturer Remote Operation The German Equatorial mount is not the best choice for a remotely operated telescope but after programming the autostop limits safe operation and access to all sky positions is possible with Pulsar The only drawback compared to fork mounts is the longer GoTo time in some cases and the reduced pointing accuracy that is the result of auxiliary motions It is recommended to use reduced GoTo speeds e g RA6000 DEC7000 and lightly locked slip clutches in remote mode If refraction correction is used the correction will be executed within 10 sec of the last GoTo If you start an exposure without a delay the image might be trailed Generally speaking to automate an observatory you will need to have PC control of the following Dome roof opening and closing and possibly rotating Power On Off for the driver Pulsar Focusser Tube dustcap opening closing An independent e g laser beam attached to the tube home position sensor will add extra security in an emergency A UPS is necessary to prevent unwanted system shutdown A webcam looking at the telescope is highly recommended Astrophotography Recommended settings For guided astrophotography set a guide speed of 2 5 depending on t
21. ntroller accepts many commands from LX200 compatible software To see the list please visit the Pulsar page at www astronomy hu pulsar htm Coordinates are handled in the full or compressed format according to the request of the planetarium software Planetarium programs tested with Pulsar Desktop Universe Guide7 The Sky Skymap Pro Carte du Ciel note The Sky does have port problems under W Millennium Disable Power Management Autoguider port Pulsar accepts Meade CCD type autoguider cables Earlier SBIG cameras with Dsub connectors will need an adapter Details are on the Pulsar homepage The 123456 image below shows the Pulsar autoguider socket pinout STV needs a reversed cable STAR2000 a direct cable System update and catalogue data download Control software upgrade Connect the unit power ON to the serial port of the PC cable supplied and wait until Searching GPS is terminated 0 Launch the Pulsar Commander and open the appropriate port Start the Upgrade mode 2 Select the new software pulsar vxy hex Browse 3 Click Write 4 When finished click Exit 5 The unit restarts automatically If you recieve an error message during reading disregard it and exit User parameters if different from the default have to be reset after upgrade Clock adjustment and PEC is NOT affected by the upgrade Catalogue data download the catalogues are in Excel csv format 0 Connect the unit power ON to th
22. own right CE button twice you have changed the RA motor rotation 3 Press the joystick up for 5 seconds Does the declination increase on the display If not press button 4 D on the display appears in upper case now 4 Press the joystick up for 5 10 seconds Does the telescope move to the North If not long press 3sec button 4 you have changed the DEC motor rotation 5 Press the top right button then the joystick up right and check the date and time UT If incorrect joystick left up right and set the date and time with the number buttons When ready press the joystick to te right finally to the left to exit 6 Aim the telescope at a known bright star Press the top right button then the joystick 3x to the right and browse joystick up down the star database When you have the correct star on the display press the joystick to te right Answer on which side of the meridian the tube is not the star to change E W press the joystick up or down To finish press the joystick to the right Now you are ready to use the internal database or a planetarium program to make a GoTo ATTENTION If you want to use Swap tube and the Autostop global functions you MUST initialize using the Hand Controller OR the virtual Hand Controller PC OR the Pulsar Commander Init menu PC Using a planetarium software is NOT sufficient Please always initialize the mount in the Southern half of ther sky from E to W This is necessar
23. tion of the DEC axis as home position This may lead to false E W information at startup If you have programmed the autostop limits the home position must be within the limits Swap tube Meridian flip This command takes the tube from one side of the mount to another Swap tube is activated by pressing the bottom left button for 3 sec This function works only if the tube is already approaching the mount head in other words the tube and the object are on the same side of the Meridian In any other case the command is not accepted for safety reasons After the flip is completed the telescope points to the same position as before To have an accurate Swap tube it is important to check the orthogonality at 90 degree of the DEC and tube optical axis see the G 41 manual for details A precise polar alignment is a must If the DEC axis starts turning the tube when the RA turning starts the tube might hit the mount To avoid this there is a programmable delay for the DEC motion This is programmed in the Swap tube menu Pole Crossing Reaching the Northern sky may be very difficult with long tubes if you must rotate nearly 180 degree in RA Instead crossing over the Pole provides simple access When you give a GoTo command the software optimises the route and decides if it is more economic to approach the target by crossing the Pole or rotating the Hour axis and staying on the same side of the Pole You can enable this feature in the Po
24. ube or pole crossing Recalibrate lets you refresh the coordinates after the errors of a GoTo pointing are corrected by slewing the object in the center of the field of view To interrupt the GoTo command click STOP You can command the telescope to move to the Home position by clicking at the appropriate box on the status bar PEC You can Load edit and Save the PEC data table The encoder signal position is also indicated This information allows for fine tunig the PEC data by comparing it to a CCD PE graph Hand Controller PEC menu During the learn period the display shows the corrections you have made and the worm counter position You can check the counter position at any time during normal tracking by pressing the lamp button at the side of the hand unit A value different from Zero in RA indicates a residual tracking error The learning period is 1 worm rotation There is a 10 sec waiting period before learning starts beep and a double beep at the end If you are using the optional PEC encoder PEC data will not be lost when you turn the unit off It will be reactivated after the first encoder input Hints for programming PEC Choose a night with absolutely no wind and good seeing Use a crosshair eyepiece with at least 500x magnification Position the telescope around 0 deg Declination and near the Meridian PE is the largest here but drift due to refraction is small Polar align precisely make a reference and enabl
25. y for the correct evaluation of the autostop limits Note you can initialize using an LX200 compatible planetarium program but in this case the controller will miss the Meridian position info This will lead to incorrect Swap tube and Autostop operation Using the Intelligent Features The features covered in this paragraph are Home position Autostop Global Swap tube Pole crossing Home position Home position is a parking position where the telescope mount is left when out of use When the unit is switched ON it is ready for use without initializing It is a necessity in an observatory but useful in the field too To program the home position 1 Initialize on a star in the Southern half of the sky if not yet done 2 Slew the mount to the desired parking position the tube must point in the Southern sky and at least a few degrees above the horizon 3 Enter the Setup User Parameters Home position menu and save the position When you finish the observing session press the Home button for 3 sec and the mount goes to its parking position then stops the motors If you have enabled refraction correction there will be a small motion after the motors have stopped this is the compensation for refraction Now you can switch power OFF To start a new session simply switch power ON and go To enhance positioning accuracy you can fine tune the internal clock see the Hand Controller menu overview Note please avoid a precisely N S posi
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