(jser`s Guide

Transcript

Asl¡'o¡rontical Telescope Accessories (Jser's Guide srNCE@ts4s IE TELESCOPES. BINOCULARS. MICROSCOPES. MAGNIFIERS. COMPASSES ()I)'I'ICAI, INDUSTRIES LTD. VIXI'N ()t, M^Ntll Ulltrll Of A() I VIXL N t t(.:AL (.lOOt)S in.,) -*\iu"" t t S V Table of Contents SkySensor 2000 Controller Functions Ctrapter 1 1.1 l-l 1.2 13 1.4 C hapte 2.1 2.2 2.3 t r ....."....5 .............6 lntroduction ow to Use this User's .. ......6 Guide About Setting Up. . About llre Powe r Source Bef ore Getting Started... ...... ... 7 ...... 7 Getting Started...... ........... 2 . ....7 B .. .... B Using SkySensor for the First Time . .. I Locatiorr... 2.1 .1 Setting Date, Time, and .....11 2.1.2 ConnectingtoaMount .... 11 Operat¡on Motor lesting the .3 2.1 14 ....... Observing with SkySensor.. ..... 14 2.2 1 SettingUp.. ........ 15 ........ First Ob1ect the 2.2 2 Selecting ... 15 To Select the Moon .. iI ... . ..... 16 To Select a Planet iI --.. 17 To Select a Star . [] -. ... . 17 2.2 3 Automatic GOI O Functron .. .... 18 2.2.4 Finding the Next Oblect .. ..... 19 2.2.5 When You are Done .. ."..24 ThingsYouShouldKnow ..........20 2.3 1 About the Alrgnrnent... . .......21 232 ToFrndaTarget .. 2 3 3 About Movrng the Motors Manually".. 22 . .... 22 ) 2.3 4 Ab out t he B ac k lash ... . ....23 2.3.5 lf the Power is lnterrupted 2.3.6 About Telescope Reversal .......23 ..........24 2.3.7 Observing Land Objects 2.3.8 About Daytime Viewing and the Sun..24 2.3.9 For Better Pointing Accuracy . ....25 Z Table of Contents 2.3.1 0 2.4 Some 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.4.3 ¿.¿+.¿+ 2.4.5 Chapter 3.1 3 About the Coordinate Syste Usef ul Things to Know. Selection Criteria for Objects User Menus. To GOTO Objects Not on the Menu ... Observing Satellites and Comets....... lD Function ¿o ""' 30 Basic . 3.1 2 3.1.3 3.1 .4 tl tl Ir 3.1.5 otor Control Ke ys M otor Control Mode Motor Speed Mode Menu Keys.. Command KeYs ... .. Data EntrY ltem Selection EntrY Numeric Entry Character EntrY for Labels Special Use of KeYs . .... 3.3. alc Menu Selection Object Menus Reference Star Menu. Messier Menu ..... Planets Menu Moon Menu .. NGC Menu.. lC Menu..... SAO Menu Comet Menu. Artificial satellite Menu . Userl Menu.... User2 Menu. L] L] )i: ll tl L] .l l,l 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 32 JJ 34 34 34 34 35 37 ca Sound Main Menu .Q 39 40 40 40 40 . t41 \ . 42 44 45 4 C ommand KeYs nrQp ro\/ UIJ¡ 47 4B ' 48 :status Display TA " KeY : Motor Mode 51 KeY lSlew to Objects ^ Alignment "" ".52rL ALIGN Key : Telescope ^r^nmant 53 : Obiect ldentification lD Key " "" 56 a"o'o"Jo 0", :Eniering coordinates " ' 57 SETUP Key lSettrng Parameters ' 57 4.7 1 SelectingtlreSetupNunrber"" 60 " 4.1 2 Location & Time Category 60 Date and Time Menu "' 1I ou l\^oñrl .60 . ^t:¡,,¡^ Longitude and', Latitude Menu " li 6l 4.7.3 Telescope Configuration Category" 61 MotorSPeedMenu' Ll " 62 Motor Key Direction Menu " l i '"62 BacklashMenu .'}|i 63 Mount Mode Menu iI " 63 PECMenu ti 65 Autoguider Menu ¡l 66 Encoder Menu l-r " 6l Gear Ratio Menu tl "" 67 Motor Parameter Menu tl " 67 Polar Axis Direction tl 63 Alignment Parameters al 69 urru. Menu. Function rvr ETC Functton al 69 4.7.4 Obiect Selection Category "" " 69 " Obiect Direction Menu iI "-' ' 70 Obiect l YPe Menu . II 71 ." SunObservationMenu" iI 71 SatellrteAlarmMenu" """" 1i 72 "" 4 7.5 Display Option Category "' 72 Coordinate Display Menu II ' " '72 TimeDisplayMenu""" Ll """' 73 Timer Menu 11 50 Jv MODE GOTO ' 39 ao . haPte r 4.1 ó/ LCD DisPlaY Lights ir rl C 37 3.2.1 322 3.2.3 L] 28 28 29 29 47 . 3. 3.3 28 31 Display 1 ll ca 45 Land Menu.. " Sun Menu . Obiect Data DisPlaY ti 30 30 M 1 il 3.3 Functions Keys 3.'1 al L] ó.¿ ms ) l,rlrlc ol Ootttr:rtls Light and Sound Menu.. Language Menu Setup Label Editcr.... STORE Key :Storing Objects :Multifunction Key ETC Key 4.9.1 Sky Tour Function....... 4.9.2. Guide Speed Funclrori : Motor Slop..... S-1-OP Key I Lower Speed Mode [-i xey :Ba¡se Speed Mode [1-l Key 73 5 70 I it L 48 49 4.14 4.1 1 4.12 C hapte r 54 55 -- 56 57 58 r 6.1 6.2 6.3 Chapter (p96'1 External Encoder Connector 78 78 Power Switch iP9''1 4) ¿ CCD AutoGr¡ider Connectorip96'1 1 Motori Power Cable Connector ip9 114) 77 I ront View RS232 Ccnnector (P1 14,1 1 14 5) 7B Getting the Most lrom SkySensor.... 6 [.CD DisPlaY iP37) -70 79 Operation Tips. .. Direction Keys: l\,4otor Control ip30l Cursor Control I P34 B5 GrffiG mffiffi m[¡ffi ffiGE at. 86 B7 8B ffirE B9 \¿ ,) cc 1,,4 ) enu KeYs (P33) Numeric KeY:i rP:rl4 i Command i(eY:i iP'18' N.4.r¡r I 'rtrr¡, lt'1 / 96 !16 ...... A List of Stars in Ref Star Menu .......... Appendix B Specif ications otor lrldicator (P31 ) B3 Using Optronal External Devices..... 7 M 80 83 Using a PC to Ente r Orbital Ele me nls CCD Autoguider ExternalEncoder........ Appendix lndex - /ó /o . 5.3 hapte 75 . 5.2 C 74 . For Belter Pointing Accuracy 5 1.1 Ef fects of the lnitial Settings ..... 5.1.2 How SkySensor's Aliqrr ments Work ... 5. 1 3 Ef f ects included in Position C¡rlcL¡l;,rtion lf Especially Precise Pointing is Requrred. About the Setups About Telescope Movement and L-irnits.. .. About the Motor Control Setting the Backlash Compensatron Alrgning Polar Axis wiihout Polar Axrs Scope Observing Satellites. 5.1 SkySensor2000ControllerFunctions Oonrtector (p1 14,1 1 5) I .1',¡,,,¡ I rre udet Corlnector p96 114\ lli.;:).1i) 98 Molori F'ower Cable Connector (p9'114) 112 Iop-View .... 113 (loD AutoGuider Connector(p96'1 Power Switch (P9'14) 14) ( )lr,r¡rLrr 1 'É@wt@'}'!s lntroduclion SkySensor.lfyouencounteranydifficulty,pleaseseeifthis chápter offers a solution to solve your problem' C hapte r 1 lntrod uction 1.2 About Setting UP This User's Guide covers the setup and operation of SkySensor Illtf you for your purchase of SkySensor 2000. SkySensor 2000 is a computerized terescope controiler with high speed automat¡c Goro capabirity for the Vixen Gp ano §p s'eries equatorial mounts. skysensor arso has many other features you enjoy observrng the night sky with fun and ease Lg l"lp This manual will herp guide you through ihe bas¡c operationsr and will also serve as the reference manual. 1.1 How to Use this User,s Guide SkySensor is designed to be versatile yet simple to operate It has many usefulfunctions and featurel, but eren if you Oán,t use all the features, you wiil stiil f ind skysensor powárf ur and easy to use. lf yoL-r have just purchased SkySensor 2000, please read Chap ter 2, "Getting Started',, to set up SkySensor and become fa miliar with its basic operation. you wilr be abre to start using skysensor right away. The rest of the user's Guide wirr rreró you understand the more advanced features of SkySensor. Chapter 3, "Basic Functions',, explains in details the opera_ tions of the keys. the controller display, and the nrain menu. Chapter 4, "Command Keys", explains the use of the com mand keys. The command keys are used lo execute many funclions of SkySe nsor. Chapter 5, "Getting the Most from SkySensor,', explains the principle of SkySensor operation and suggests many useful hints for getting the most from your SkySeñsor. Chapter 6, "Using Optional External Devices,', clescribes the oplional devices that can be connected and used with SkySensor. Clrapter 7, "Operation Tips,', offers many tips for using 2000. On the setup and the usage of the telescope, please consult the manual which came with the telescope' 1.3 About the Power Source SkySensor may be used wrth the supplied battery box' a 12 voli battery, oial}volt AC adapter' The AC adapter should have a current capacity of 2 amperes or more' when the battery box is used with a set of alkaline batteries, depending on the usage, ttrey should last for approximately 10 hours óf conti.uouJusc at arrtbient lemperature of about 20 Centrgrade. lf the telescope is slewed frequently' or in cold environment. the battery will wear out rnuch faster. (At 0' Centigrade, batteries would last only about two hours ) For regulár use, a rechargeable 12 volt battery or an AC adapter *ñicr, is optionally available is recommended for better eConomyandperformance.Therechargeablel2voltbattery with 7 amp hour of current capacity should last all night even in cold climate. As the battery voltage drops with use, the slew speed will decrease, buiotherw-ise it will not affect the performance such as pointing accuracy. When the voltage drops very low' St Ref Star ;;;;. 2.1 .1 Setting Date, Time ' and Location the coordinates ot tlre obWe first set the internal clock and to connect SkySt:rtsor to the servation site. You Jo not need telescoPe for thts steP' box (B D'srze batteries 1) Connect SkySensor to the battery supply using the propower are requiredioiiuif,* optional cable' vided connector :tl t,ryuru i [ ;"'f,:::l'$ can aiways return to tnt t"p'Ji'tn"'rnáin ESC keY rePeatedlY '"nu trom nte¡¡tu s<;leen s) Now press the SETUP key on the keypad. The display will show the menu to select a setup number. The cursor is on 0, indicating the selection of setup #0 ("Default Values"). Setup (Curre nt) # 0 -' Def ault Values Setup number selection 4) Press ENTER to selecl the #0 setup. The display will now show a setup category as shown below. llt a category other than "Location & Time" appears on the display, press Setup Categories Location & Time NEXT until you see lhe display as shown rn the example.) 5) Press ENTER Setup category selection to select the "Location & Time" category. The display will show the menu to set the time. (lf a menu other than date and time is displayed, press NEXT.) Date Tue Time TZ 7OlOll01 20:00:02+09 lot changes''-rrrloly t"tttt]1".:^"^,.i^,¡. ñañ,,Ióvpt You tlrdÁrrrv LrrGilvLt;;;il?;';;t you without making a menu wrlnour to the previ.us menu level ESC cancels the current oP anywhere by press¡ng the M.ln SETUP key 2.1 Using SkySensor f or the First I itttr: time' you rlrr'1t to s1]'f1 When you use SkySensor for the fist of tlrt: ol )"r 'rvatlon internai clocX ani-entár the coordinates settirtr¡r" t;onnect we will make those -mouni site. ln this sectioi, and test the operatron ol llro teleSkySensor to the váu .un do this indoors in liglrted area' Display after switching on the power Date and time setup menu ,/ is, :' /n ¡ Usin g the n u meric keys,*entér fhe"iü ;rent year/month/day and tirne (in 24 hour fornrat). lf you enter a wrong number, you can use the right and left direction keys located in the upper part of the controller to move the cursor to enter or reenter any of the numbers. Year 2000 is entered as 00. á :§ 10 Chapter 2 Getting Started ,- ru I .i§ The last item TZ (for Time Zone) irr lltr" ttt,'rrrr i'¡ llttl llllle ( difference in hours between the locirl ltttrt' ,ttttl llrrr ¡tottn' ¡rr,rl llrrr, i§ *iañ trt"un Time (GMT). lts sign is ¡r¡r:. rt ¡loál tl llrr, ,rrrrrr,, ahead of GMT (east oi Greenwictr) ;rrrrl rr''ttrt¡rhr' ,t TZ I ¡t behind Gtrlt lwest of Greenwit:lr¡ Wlr,tt the r" irrrr'¡ 1 ior Los Angeles (on iacific Standard t:ullltrr N I pres:; is entered, correct daie and time 2.1 the separate instruction sheet for procedures for attaching the rnotors.) 2) Balance the telescope carefully on the equatorial mount. Váu the data will not be set') (Please refer to the instruction sheet that came with the telescope on how to balance the telescope.) An error of a few minUtes in the entered lirrlr, wrll rrr¡l ¡tlltlct the pointing accuracy of SkySensor' 3) Attach the motor cable to the R.A. and tlre Dec. molors. Con_ nect the cabie to the power supply and SkySensor, if not done so already. (Please refer to the separate instruction sheet on how to connect the cable.) SkySensor is now ready for use. I to rlr"¡rlrty lhe menu tor sétting the longitude and latitude ol llI,(}lr:;r:rvation site as shown below. En @ [Ei r!_oq!!j!t o_!!,]l -l; n -,ñ -- ffil::":ft'¡li:,,J:tiltl't:,1','"0 Enterlnelongituddándlatitude using the numcrit; kcys' in the same way as was done for entering the timt-' Ttrr-, sign of longitude ii positive for east and negative for wcst' The coordlnates can be entered to minutes and seconds' but fornormalastronomicalobservation,accuracytodogrees is is sufficient. For example, the long¡tude for Los Angeles 'lB'and +34" is about ' the latitude about -1 ESC key press After entering the numbers for longitude and latitude' data. the set ENTER to 7) This completes the settlng of date, time, and the site coordinates. Although you can press ESC twice now to get back to the main menu, you can simply turn the power switch off at this polnt. The dáta you have entered will be kept in the Skysensor memory when you turn off the power' so you do'not need to reeñter them every t¡me you switch on the Power. tr l:fl 1) Attach the motors to the equatorial mount. (please refer to sorwilldisappeartoindicatethattheclltl'rlr't"lrnnrl""l(lf pr"t. ESC or NEXT or PREV beforrI l)rr""'rrr(¡ I NIER' NEX &§ Next, we will connect SkySensor to an equatorial mount. Be_ fore you start, please turn off the power swilch on SkySensor. tt ll ll 6) After setting the date and tlme, press .2 Connecting to a Mount 1J tl, ii*" iffi 2.1 .3 Testing the Motor Operation Let's now test the motor operation to verify that everything is connected correctly. 'l) Switch the power switch on SkySensor to ON position. Af ter the logo and the software version nunlber are cjisplayed for a few seconds, the following message will appear.- Set scope in horlz. os. and press ENfER D¡splay after turning on the power swrtch. Position the telescope so that the weight sliaft is at its lowest position and the telescope tube is level and pointing toward right as you look from the weight shaft side. (Seé the diagram "lnitial Position" on the next page.) For this step, you can either use the four direction keys to move the motors or you can loosen the clamps on the mount to move the telescope. After you position the telescope, tighten the ciamps on the mount. Do not loosen the clamps after this step. When you lighten the clarnps on the mount, check and see that the clamp knobs do not hit the motor case when the te lescope rotates. 12 Chapter 2 Getting Started 13 I - Similarly, when you press the HIGHT or LEF-f di:'ection key, ) (',tt.r lly llrrr [)ec' Note that if you position the telesco[.]l ttrorrtrl 1ll yot r tt:lrl the motor will Ue on tná outside of the tnh'rr to the telescope will swing horizontally to right or accessory plate to mount the telesc;o¡rl' lrlr"t"r' tlr ttt ( )ltap- i.ir,-¡ p"á¡tlon for a ter 7.) "op" on the acct)s;:;( )ry ¡rl' ilr,llrl Direclion KeYs UP '" MAIN: Menu Selection Main Menu>RefStar rrrrlr'rl ¡rr,r:'tltofl'' 'l rr ¡w tltr I trratn until the motor reaclles the nlaxirnum speed. Vülren yor-r release the key, the motor slows doln gradually. lf you hold dor¡.rn the key again while the nrotor is slorving dc'wn, ) the motor will hold lhe speed, and you will be able to rnove lv'latn tllt:t,tr the telescope steadily at that speed. By controlling the timing of pressing and releasing the direction keys. you will be able to nrove the telescope at any speeci. Experiment with the direction keys a few times to become family Ptc:;:; tlrc LIP diWe will now check the motor operation with the control" táái", f.ev ot SkySensor' lf the cable is co¡,tttrl'.']1,',t]:,1': i""iir rláin" ürá'*p" is positionedto ::l::.:'lll. ll'l::::l:"; ntovt:, u ttán eott slv lf you want to stop the telescope quickly. press the opposile direction key and the telescope will stop right away. lf you keep pressing the opposite direction key, the telescope will start to move in the other direction after a few seconds. (lf you would like to move the lelescope in the opposrte direction right away, release the cpposite direc' tion key mornentarily and press it again.) ff.''*ili il;t d,r;ii m you relóase the kcv' llrc tele" l' :i'].'.'::,1' r"ni"rfiy'rp"",0. Wfren I I scope will gradually come to a slop' A [)e(i f]lol(ll l1; I)(l:;l lrorte(l ol1 oll!1,1(l(i TelescoPe lube is level, pointing toward right as seen from the weight sh¿ft side Counlerweight shaft rs at its iowest Posltion You As you nray have noticed. when you press a direction key, the telescope acceler¿rtes slowly as you hold the key down, 2) After pos¡tioning tlre telescope tubewill rr,w -' ;;;;"ih; ENTEh káy' (The displav menu menu for selecting the object left. may press the LlPi DCWN and RIGHT/LEFT keys simultaneously to move the telescope diagonally. caution Do not touch the telescope or tlre nrount whlle the rnotor is turnlng at high speed. Doing so may cause accidents or injuries. ln an emergency, turn the power switch OFF to stop the rnolors. Chapter 2 Getting Started 15 I -- 2.2 Observing with SkYSensot dusk' lct':r r¡r'l rr"rrly lrI ol¡serve As the sky begins to darken at rl,rrh y,u cañ *nñ éXVS".sór. gátore the sky gets co.r,lr'1,'lV,tltr¡rrtlr" linder foc,'',tttrl use a distant tanOriaiX"to áOlrátin" scope. to petlot trt ' r ''1rr.r 't' tl itlignWith skySensor, it is not necessary lt llr* l.lr"'t'o¡rrr is not ment procedure to álign the telescope ut obf v.rr( 'rrrr .ttlcr th€ pointing precisetiliih" tár""t:.d arrtl ¡'t'" ' llr" ALIGN obiect in the telÁtopu t field ,of .viewpoirrtrrr'l " {rrr'rcy We 'rr kev to align the iui"iopu for better wili show how this is done' 2.2.2 Selecting the First Object As the first object lo point the telescope to and align the telescope, selecl an object you can easily recognize so that you can be sure that the telescope is pointing at the correct ob- ject. Look up in the darkening sky and see if there is a familiar celestial object. lf you can see the Moon, that would be a good target. lf the Moon is not up, then Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus are easily recognizable objects through a telescope. lf you can recognize any of the stars, you can use that for the first object. (lf you cannot recognize any object, then there is an easy way to identify a star, as will be described in Section 2.3.2,"To Find a Target".) We now select the object; Moon, planets, or the star, from the 2.2.1 Setting respective object menus. UP and the pow('t :;trpply', ln Connect SkySensor to the motors mount otr [lrc r¡round so the northern f,emispnLie, ptace the towarrl tt,ttlt , ll^t.l: that the polar axis p"l;i;'Jpóto*i*ately mount so ttt¿tt tlrr: lrolar axts southern hemisphere, pi";" the south Turn tlre pow{:r r;wttch to pornts approximatelíiJ*a'O "Set SCopo rrt lroriz p'os' rrt the rni' i' ol'fiáv-"-o' '.9t 11" teresco¡rrr this point' tlrc tolt"scope tial Position anO presi fÑfÉn . At hemiif west vou are li]l:Tll],'::rr should be pointins ,o*"''o tá*ut¿ east rf in the southern hemisplrt:rc' áÑ;;iil-;' when ;;;;;§¿uiL'ñ thl message il;;;á Warning tlre telebe-sure lf th" Sun is above the horizon'the u ntil the Sun' ."'o[" does not point close to Sun sets. The Sun avoidance function.' d9.tt.ti!,"-d^]jt^:-ut''on ,.s.u, iJ N-ói á"tiue before thlf i'ut =lisn'n"nL mount so thatthe polar Note: lt is not necessaryto place the position the mount in to*u,o tre Iore' .You.mav yo, *unl' Ue place it approxinrate'l l:*lt^1113 direction any little easrer' h;t" beóause it makes the first alignrnent a ;;i;d;it ;;í" t I To Select the Moon To select the Moon for the object, first select the Moon menu from the SkySensor's main menu selection. The example below is currently showing the RefStar (Reference Stars) menu in the main menu selection. MAIN: Menu Selection Main Menu> Ref Star Main menu Press NEXT to scroll the menu selection from RefStar to Messier, Planets, and then to Moon. lf you go past the selection you want, you can press PREV to scrolllhe list backward. MAIN: Menu Selection Main Menu> Moon Main menu selection showing Moon menu Now press ENTER to see the objects in the Moon menu MAIN: Moon Menu Moon >1 Moon Center Object ¡n Moon menu Note. lf an object appearing in the sky does not appear ¡n the object menu, please see "lf you see it in the sky, but no on the menu" in Chapter 7. lt is possible to select and see data for oblects which are below horizon. Please see Section 3.3.2: "Object Menus" for details. (,lr.rlll',t ,' ( ir,llrrrg lil,rrlr,rl ll llrr,Mr)r)rt is.lbovo tlrc lrol,',1r, l,4,rrrrrtrr'¡l wtll ,;lrnw "Moon (lcttllt" lot tltc Ottjcct. (ll tirr ,M,)otrr'.lr¡,lr¡w llrrr lrrrr,'urt, llten lltc ntcrru will display ¿t 0,:;lrr¡wrrrr¡llr.rl n, r,lrlr!r tr'.,rv,ll,tble Iot vtcwrrtr¡.) I I To Select a Star SiAO menu contains 422 stars briqhter Pro:;s [,NTER to select Moon (]r,rrlr,r llr,, rlr..¡ ,l.ry wrll rtow sllow cl¿tt¿t for the selectod ob¡cr.l ln llr,. r..,rrrr¡ rl. l rlluw, tlte R.A. arld Dec. (RaDec) fr:r tlrr-'L.rnlr,t ol lr,4r,,rrr,r,, rlr,,¡rl,ryud. tl)an magnilud; 4.0 which you can also use for aiignmenls. MAIN:Menu Selection Main Menu> Refstar MAIN Data: Mo0n Cent RaDec 00:31.3 +01 50 i To Se For alignment with stars, the reference stitr:i ,t{)r1,, wlrrr lr r r¡¡r tains 35 relatively well known Ár¡g;, Já;. rri (;or rvr :r rrr.r ¡l l1 ¡ ¡ ¡..¡, ln the main menu, select Refstar us¡ng the NEX I or I ,t il V trr,y When you press ENTER to select the Refstar nter)r,r, star in menu that curren,y app;;;;ü;;e t"ne r,or¡ro,r played. lect a Planet To select a planet for the object, the plarrr:l nt,,nu nrrr:;l lre se lected front the main menu selectton. ln tltc nr,ulrrrrr,rru, scroll lhe nlenu selection by using the NEXT/ PREV Lty:, rrrrlrl t)lanets tlrr: lrr:,t wi, tr, rlr,, Reference star nrent¡ is displayed. Other stars that currenJly_appear above the hcrizon r;¿rn lr. disptayed by pressing ruÉxiié;r;iih.rgh rhe lisr ro r;r,r, rr you can recognize the stars. tttne name át".n't chancrt¡ wlrr,rr you press NEXT, that is the rast item-in *,á'menu that crrr.rrrrv appears above rhe horizon. ay pressrng Énrv. y;;;;,;; ,,, ,;;,1 backward through the trst. Press ENTER to select a star and display rts data. MAIN: Menu Select¡on Main [/enu> Planets Press ENTER to select the planet menu. ln lhe plirrrct rnenu, the f irst planet in the nrenu that appear above the horizon will be d isplaye d. MAIN: Planets Menu Plan.'4 Jupiler MAIN Data: Vegá EaPec 18:36.8 +38.47 Planets menu By pressing NEXT, other planets that currently appear above the horizon can be displayed. lf you press ENTER, the data for the selected planet will be displayed. ln the above ex, ample, if you press ENTER, Jupiter will be selected and its data will be displayed. |\/AIN Data: Juprter RaDec 18:1'l .8 -18'24 Data display for a reference star (V()qil) 2.2.3 Automatic GOTO Function Data display for Jupiter Now that you have-selected_an object, let,s poirrt ll¡r. ti,t,, to it Simpty press GOTO, ;;íú" 1-o.p" letes<;o¡r,, wrl , rrt. matically slew to the object. *art lf lo Vá, intorrtr¡rl tlrr, ,,¡,.* press the STOp key.) When the telescope stops slewinq. Jool ,,,,; , For rhe ,Li,, riüéóió,iü;l;il;J".TJ; ,llll,1,l :,; 1,, the object may not be in,the f¡íO"r;. btrl tlr. M r ¡,rr, | ,t, rr, .l or a bright star that you have "i"*, llrc olr¡r,r. t,.l a"l"al"J,.. r,r ¡tr I t,i, near. Using the direction keys, pái,tt,lir,,, olr¡r,r l.rt ilr,,r ,l ter of finder's view. , GOTO key STOP key 18 Chapter 2 Getting Started 19 _l I vtow' look After placing the object at the center ol ltttrl.'r''',yrr¡rittce' .lf tnt"rgt, thehain t"iál"op", using a low ¡row.t rtt llto main .lr¡,r'l tlr. áee ybu will is adjusted, ií-l0"t ir"r" i"r"..oóá. field'of view.- Now posit¡on ttro oir¡*r:t ,rl llre c€ñter of tñe field of view of the main telescopt: tllo rnotors When you are looking through the main tckr:;t;tt¡rl' yotr Ilr(':irl the di,uV rtu" too fast tJt pt"tÉ" control.whcrr ("trr t;lr;tttge th.e yorr control' to iá.íion keys. To make'it easier trrode is :;lrrrorl Tlt.. setting' ;;i;t spíed mode to a slower the [-l ['tor;r;ttr{¡ speed¡ 0-1200x (váriable inlri"f fV iet to Fast ttrr,r once.changes the'keypad "l]"1':l 'l]"^d:^l: iÁi"rái r"v on pressin$ ttr. llkt''v agatn ü;áir;, (fíxed 32x sóáed), and (fixed 2x spccrl) tlv pressine speeO mode to Slow ;;;ñ"t iüiüi.j (pruis) xev, yolcan change speed rrr, Ref Star Motor conkol and speed mode display To change the control mode, press MODE again while the current mode is still displayed. The mode willóhange recur_ sively from AltAz to X-y to FlaDec. J¿ Chapter 3- B9!1" FLrrtr;li«rt t:; _--l 33 I I I SkySensor has a fourth speed mode cailed the Guide Speed mode. The Guide Speed mode is a fixed speed mode set initially to 0.5x, but you can set it from 0.'lr to 9.9x in the setup menu, so you can use it like a second Slow mode. i lMotor SPeed Mode key,; The speed at which th(} ntcilor ltlttt:, wltr.lt lllr.rlrrrrction thretl llrr:ttl are ltl,.tlltt.ltlt, tlrtl:;1 are pressed iscontro|led by speed mr:des: Fast, Mediunr' ¡ltttl Sllow riri I To use the Guide Speed mode, you need to set the function of and thi: r The speed mode is changed by prcr': 'tttr¡ llrl l l(¡rlus) modir I :;1rt:ed I llrr 1"'1'r't rr; key ¡rr When thá ¡*1 1-l lmiirusl keys. i:r llr() Wlrorr [:rr:-,1 to [ lkey tñárg*u'froá Slow to l\,4e'dium t'¡ Medium to t irr;t frortr changes mocle presJed, the speed lhe ETC key to the Guide Speecl function. (please see Section 4.9, "ETC key: Multifunctrorr Key", about the ETC key.) When the EfC key is used as the GLride Speed key, the speed mode is set to Gu¡de any tinre you pr()ss ETC. lf you press the [+] or [-] key while in the Guiclc S¡rcr:rJ ntode, the speed mode Slow. changes as though the ETC kcy wirs rrot pressed. For ex- Whenthe[+]or[]keyispressecl'lllettrotlrlrlr:;pl;tysimilarlrbir will the one Oisptayeá *i]"n'the MODE kCy i:; ¡rror;st)d ne"v the cottlirttl c¿lll you that so seconds two displayed for modr: spá*a ,roOe. lf you would like to see the cL¡trotrt:;¡reed see ample, if you press ETC to tlre sr:t :;pcr:cl ntode to Guide Speed when the speed mode is Medir¡rn, prr:ssirrq [+] next sets the speed mode to Fast while pressr)(l | | rrcxt sets it to Slow. key to witfrout changing the speed mode, use the MODE the disPlaY. rnodes carr The actual speed for the Fast, Medium' and Slow Ment' "Motor Spced be set in the setup menu' (Please see arll speeds T[lr: speed.) in Section 4-7.3 on how to set the Sloir The r¿rtc trackirrg defined as multiples of the sidereal .ó""4 can set from 0.1x to 9'9x' ancl the fi'lediurlr speed ciitt be set f rom lx to 99x. kev The Fast mode is variable' When you press the direction it' tl-tr release you when and increases the speed gradually tlrtr while key press the you lf dácreases' ,p"*'O graiually while-tirt: speed that holds motor the down, motor is slowtng of the Fas' Xey is pressecj. The upper and the lower limrts and decei mode, ancl the rate at which the motor accelerates you set tlrr lf Menu"' erate can be set in the "Motor Speed it effectivel¡ speed' same ,pp"t and the lower limit to the beconres a fixed sPeed mode' WhenthemotorisdeceleratingintheFastmode,youclrl key stop it inrnrediately by pressing án the opposite drrection key' the moto lf you keep pressing on the opposite direction a few sei; after direction opposite will start to move iñ tne in the oppr immediately motor the move to onds. lf you want momenlar:l key direction oppos¡te the release site direction, and Press it again. The motor speed durrng a slew by the GOTO command Fast moctt determined by tlre uppár speed limit set for the quiet molt for you can use this featuie to set low slew speed operation or to conserve battery power' i 3.1 .2 Menu Keys q: ' | PREV ]i .nt$' ¡lrxr tt\'" Four menu keys irru: rlr;rrl for controllirrc.l tlle nleltu selection. ESC (escape)key is u:,cri lo rctt¡rrr to llrc. previor_rs menu. PREV (previous) kcy rs rl:cri lo clispl;ry tlre previous menu item. N EXT key is used to dr;¡tliry lllc rrr-.xl nle nu item. solcr;tor sot lhe current selection. lf you press ESC before selectirrg a menu item by pressing the ENTER key, tlte scloctrorr wrll not be rnade before returnENTER key is used to ing to the previous nrr:nu lr.,vt.ll When tl'¡e cursor ¿rt t[ir: rrrr:nu itt-.rn is a steady underscore, it shcws that the itenr rray t:rthr--r be selected by pressing the ENTER key or the next or llle previous rnenu item may be displayed by using the NEXI-/ PREV keys. When the cursor is a blinking block, it shows that the value of the item may be modified b¡r using the data entry keys. When no cursor is present, it shows that dat¿-r rs being displayed and the ENTER key is not operat¡onal, but the NEXT or PREV key may be userl to display the next or previous data. 34 Chapter 3.1 .3 3 Basic Functtons and LEFT keys. Command KeYS The numbers n"ray also be entered by using the numeric key pad. When a number is entered by pressing a numeric key, the cursor will shift to the next position. lf the number pressed is outs¡de the valid range, a number inside the valid range will automatically be entered instead. ffiffil*'3i a--ar-3f- 6l U!$trlLto-,J Lce{Ro r---ai r 0t{ | lsrop JL ---l[J r 3l lseruÉl[stoneJl-¡tq :- t I I vllritlrr:r lutrctions ot Command keys are used to execute orr lltt: cotttttland keys numuers SkySensor' tft'eiu"má¡á paO key functiottr'; ) command related to the ái.i "át of corrtrtrirrtd keys' Please see Chapte r 4 for the description .4 Data EntrY 3.1 block' it indicittcs tlrat the se When the cursor is a blinking"Oy using data errtry keys There lection item may UJ *oáifi"O are three tYPes of data entrY' lltem Selection EntrY non'rrutlttlrrc t¡tltries' sucl The item selection is for selecting Ó You c¿ltt select items b¡ as selecting t'oñ'iturltt A' B' or to scroll tlrt: itcrtrs list lf then using the UP or DOWN keys bt: rllitdt: orl olle rllenu' use tht are more than oná selectrori to tlte cursor between selections RIGHT or LEFT ;* i; ntove i l 35 I -- To enter a negative value, press the [-] key while the cursor is on the number you want to make negative. To change the sign to positive, press the [+] key. For example, to change "+135"00'00" to "-135 00'00", press the []key when the cursor is positioned on the first 1 , the last 0, or somewhere inbetween. i lCharacter Entry for Labels You can enter alphabets and numeric characters as labels for the user defined menu items and the setup names. To enter alphabets and numeric characters, use the UP and DOWN keys to scroll the characters at the cursor position. The RIGHT and LEFT keys are used to sh¡ft the cursor position. The character will scroll in the following order. I ABCDEFGHUKTIVINOPQBSTUVWXYZ+- 0] 23456789. "' =4¡ *- 1 I *a: ¡1 1 ¡ 6'¡ When the alphabet lisl is scrolled up from A, the characters will be in upper case. When the alphabets are scrolled down from z, the characters will be lower case. The numeric pad keys can be used to enter numeric characters. Pressing the [+] key will change the alphabet at the cursor position from lower to upper case, and the [ ] key will change it from upper to lower case. Numeric EntrY the directiorl keys or thr Numeric entry can be made by using numeric keY Pad' used to raise the lower th' The UP and DOWN keys can be the Ul at rhe CUrSor position. Usually, value of the nr-rmber''ase th'e and 9 tl.'" number up to POWI key can o" utái'io the number down to 0' but if th lower to can O" key be able t fo;;h;nuÁo"t is limited' you won't valid range 'suO are som There ranqe' valid the change the numbár to outside yo which entry' year the of numbers, .'"tt"á]'ti.ll-t"nt oigit RIGH position' use the can scroll 9 360 ( )[i¡lt;t L)tr rtc;tion Menu - Underthe''Elv''column.thesignednurnbt¡rspt-,cifiesthemini the paren' mum elevation for the front, and the nutlrbor irrside thesrsspecifiestheminimume|evationfortlrt-,b¿tc;k"lnthemain elevan]"nu, ónly the oblects that are higher tharr tlrc nrinirnum NEXT/PREVIOUS press tion *itl ue tisteo when you Theuseofthefrontandthebackspecificlrtiorrwillletyou the minimum elevation to matclr tlrt¡ terrain of the negative "ontiéur" obseivation site, but besides being able to itssiqn a functional no rs tltere elevátion' value for the tront minimum difference between the front and the back degree lf you specify the entire horizon as the frortt ¿tttd 90 database t-'ntire tlle have you can toi tf,e ,in¡rrrn elevatlon, keys' displayed in the main menu by using the NEXT/PREV "Cnst" column specifies the constellation of tlre objects' When list of constettatloSLitt Vá, ót".t tf-t" ÚP ot DOWN key, the is not specrconstell¿rtion lf the order. á.roir ¡n alphabetical listed' wlll be fied, all constellations TYPe M "Type" specifies the object type such as nebulas and star clusters. lf the type is not specified, all types will be listed. ilSun Observation ln the The azimuth angle for front is specifreci by rtumbers ,iniimutl.r,,colum-n. The number represef rtr; the angle in {e-. is south' and 270 is g;;;i;;, norrh; 0 is north, 90 is east lB0 (0 to 360 degrees) "000>360' example, i,est. ln the above ies the southern "090>270' spocif horizon. .p".itiu. the entire northern half ttrt-' tos spt--cif "270>090" and horizon, half of the "b¿lck" "front' is The direction not included in l l Oblect ers all objects in the database), and size of 0 to 900 arc minutes (th¡s covers all objects in the database') enu (rragnitude)' sizr: ln this menu, you can specify the brightness rnenu and type of o'biect to be listed in the m'rirl Menu ln this ntenu, you can choose to have the Sun menu displayed in the main rltcnu. The observation of the Sun requires special prepar;rtion and safety precautions. Please read Section 2.3.B, "Abotrt Ditytirne Viewing and the Sun", before enabling the Sun tt)orlu Sun Ot»;ervittton Sun observation menu No The Sun rncltu scttittcl can be selected from "No", "This session only", ¿tnd "Yos" lf you select "No", the Sun menu will not be displayecl. ll you select "This session only", then the Sun menu will bc rlir;¡tl;tyr:d until the next trme you switch on SkySensor attcl ¡rtcs;s ltre ENTER key for restarting from the lnitial Positiorr lI yotr seltlct "Yes", the Sun menu will always be displayed The selectron clut Irc rrtitr-lrl irtdependently for each setup number, but the dt:f ;rtrlt v¡tltrt: lrorlt setup # 0 will not be applied to other setups. F'lcit:;c rttlrktl llre selection separately for each selup. [ ]Satellite Al¿lrrtl Mctrt-r ln this menu you c¿ttt sct tlro s¿ttollite alarm to "Off", "When above horizon", or "Wllcrt itl vicw". Satellite Alrlrnr When in view Satellite alarm menu lf the alarm is set to "Off", then the alarm will not operate. Mag Size(') TYPe -9> 20 000> 900 -9 (this cov The above example specifies magnitude of to 20 lf the alarm is set to "When above horizon", then the alarm will sound and the name of the satell¡te will be displayed when satellite in the Satellite menu rises above the horizon. a aa IL Chapter 4 Command t KeYs lf the alarm is set to ''When in view'', then the alarm will sound l- '. and the name of the satellite will be displayed when a satellite comes into the view direction set by the "object Direction Menu". To see the Satellite that was displayed in the alarm, select the Satellire menu from the main menu and press ENTER' You can list the satellites currently in the view by pressing NEXT I I Timer Menu This menu sets the timer function. You can set the timer value, on/off status, and whether the timer is to be display on the status line The timer always counts up. lf the timer is set to a negative v¿tlut-', art alarm will sound and a timer alarm mes- sage will bt: displayed when the timer reaches 0. or PREV. Select the satellite by pressing ENTER' You can then slew to and track the satellite by pressing the GOTO Tinrcr ()rri Of f +000000 ()ff key. 4.7.5 DisPlaY OPtion CategorY ln the Display Option category, you can select what to display on the status line, the lights, and the sound settings' These selections can be made according to the user's preference ln this menu, you can select what coordinates to display the status line. Coord: otr Time Display M enu ln this menu, you can select what time data to display on the status line. Time: Srdereal Local Display= Off Trnrt- drrplay menu OII The sidereal and the local time may be displayed on the sta tuslinebyusingtheDlsPkeyif''Display.'issettoonandnol be displayed if it is set to Off The timcr virltrc tttity be set up to + 99 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds. (Tlrc trntor will turn to 0 after +99:59:59, but this will not set of f tlrc rrlitrrtt.) The tlrner will start when the on/off status is set to ON ll tlrtr Disp setting is set to ON, you can have the timer vitluc rlir;pl;tyed on the status line using the DISP key. the timer tllotltt it:i lollows. fimÉrr set to sound an irl,rrnr i¡r 3 ntinutr,'s The timer will kr:cpr ilr, lttttrl{)vor) it you switc[r the power off. The coordinates are abbreviated RD for RaDec, J2 for J200t) AA for AltAz, and XY for X-Y coordinates. Each coordinates may be displayed on the status line by using the DISP k^ey il "Display" is sei to On and not be displayed if it is set to Off ' I Off Coordrnatu display menu RD J2 AA XY Display=on olfon off i Timer Menu Example:To:;cllllc lirltttr to sound an alarm in 3 minutes, set Coordinate DisPlaY Menu LI DisP . L] Light and SoLrtlrl Mcttll This menu sets tlrc LL[) lrr¡Irl lcvcI ;ttlcl tlrc kc'y response sound settings. Molot Nttrtt LED Levl=5 Bee¡l ()fl ()rr l-rc¡trt und sound menu The light level settirrc¡ ¿tf f t:cts ttre backlighting of LCD display' the motor indlc¿rtor, tlre key panel illumination, and the map lamp. The lrght level oan be set from 0 (off)to 7 (maximum). The key response sound can be set separately for the four direction keys and the keypad. The warning beep will sound regardless of the key response sound setting. /4 Chapter i 4 Co_f mand /5 lgYS 4.8 Language Menu This menu selects the language lor the display' You can usr: the UP/ DOWN key to select f ronl Enqlish, Japanese, Frenclr STORE German,spanish,orltalian.lnJapanese.theconstellatiott The STORE key is used to store the object currently selected on the display into the user memory. Normally, the selected object is f ront ttte main menu, but the ob¡ect may also be se- Japanese. from the lD search result list. names may be selected independerrtly between English anrl [;trrc¡trtc¡c tttt:nu Language Enolish lected by entering its coordinates with the COORD key or When the STORE key is pressed, a menu to selectthe user menu anci tlrr-' itern number is displayed. STOtil I Key: Storing Objects Setup Labe I Ed [Jsorl itor ln this menu you can edit the label that is displayed whetr selecting tne ietup number. Labeling tlre sctups will make il easier tJidentif y the content of the setLrp # 0 setup is initially labeled "Defauit Values", but this label ¿rlso nray be edited please see "character Entry for Labels" irr Section 3.1.4 otr how to enter labels. Setup Labe I #0-DefaultValues S€rlt)f ),ti),'l,r(lllor S;tore Object STORE menu .1 lf the selcctccl object is a terrestrial object (an object from Land rrre:nLr or AltAz coordinates fronr the COORD function), then ther d¿rtrr nrus;t be stored in Land menu. lf the displayed ob¡ect i:; ¿r celcsti;rl obiect, you can store rt in either Userl or LJser2 r)Lrnu, wlrclt you can select by pressing the NEXT or PREV key Fror tlrc itr:m number, a number that is nct being used will irutorlrrtic;¿tlly be displayed, but you can enter any number f rorr 1 to l]0. lt you enter a number that is already in use, the cl¿rtlr lor tlutt itcrn nurnber will be overwritten. lf all numbers aro itt usc, tltcn 0 wlll be displayed. lf you enter:r two clir¡it itt,-nl nunrber, or if you move the cursor to right by prcssirrt¡ tlrc FIIGHT key, then the cursor will move over to the label ¡tol-,ittott. ll the item nurnber already has an object registered, tlrctt tts l¿tbel will be drsplayed here, but this label will be cloltrer.l wltett you rltove lhe cursor over. lf you store a celr:sti¿tl obicct frotlt ¿tn obiect menu by using the STORE key, tlrc'rr bcsicles its coordinates, its label, size, magnitude, and type will rrlso be oopied. The orbital elements will not be copied, so if you store Moon, planets, comets, or satellites, its coordlnates ¿tt tlle moment you press STORE will be stored. When you press ENTER at ttre STORE menu, the data will be stored in the selected user menu and the display will return to the main menu. lf you want to cancel the STORE operation, press ESC. /6 4 Chapter 4.9 ETC Key : M 77 I l--1 Command KeYs message will be displayed. After the last object in tlre menu, the tour will corrtirrue wrth the first object in the menu. ultif unction KeY The ETC key is a user selectable nrultifunction key. The ET(' function may be set to either Sky Tour or Guide Speed' Tht: selection is made in "ETC Functron Menu" in the setup' By storinq tlrc selr--cted objects that you want to observe in a user nrcnu, yolr c¿rn conveniently observe all objects by touring the Lrsrlr rItortu. When the ETC function is set to Sky ToLrr' pressing the ET(l key activates the Sky Tour mode. Witlr tlre Sky Tour functiorr, you can automatically slew successively through objects ttr During tlrc tr¡ur. you cirn move the telescope by using the direction kcys irrrrl ur;c llrr) DISP, NEXT, and PREV key to change the st¿rtL¡s ,rrrrl rl,rl;r rlisplay. The tour will end when you press ESC. Ttrc torrr wrll;rls;o end if you use the SETUP, lD, COORD, or STORF furrr:lrorr:; Wlren the tour ends, you can resume the tour at tlrt: ¡rornl rt w,r:; krrrninated by pressing ETC (in the Sky any oblect menu. Tour rrtodc¡ ;tr¡,rtrt 4.9.1 Sky Tour Function At the start of the Sky Tour mode, the Sky Tour menu to select the obiect menu and the interval beltween slewings will d isplayed. Menu lnterval 030 sec RefStar Tour brr Sky Tour mcnu You can select any object menu for tourirtg' including ust'.t menus, by pressing the NEXT or PREV key The interval carr be set up to 999 seconds. (lf you selecl 0 second, then thr' interval is set to infinite, and the telescope will not slew to thtr next object until you press the ENTER key.) When you press ENTER at the Sky Tour ntenu, the tour will start. When the Sky Tour starts, the telescope slews successively to ob¡ects in the selected menu. When the telescope slew" to an oblect, it tracks that object for the interval set in the Shy Tour menu. lt will then issue a waning rnessage and a bee¡r and after three more seconds, slew to the next object. lf yotr press the ENTER key while observing, the telescope will rr:r mediately move to the next object. The objects in the menu to be toured will be selected by tltr selection criteria set in the obiect direction menu and the ot) lect type menu, just as in the main menu. The flrst object to 'be toured is the object that would be selected if you hari pressed NEXT in that ob¡ect menu. (You can use this featurl to set the starting point for the tour.) lf there is no object in that menu that can be toured, a warninr¡ 4.9.2 Gurrlc li¡rccrl Iunction When tlrc t l(. f urrr.lrrn r; st:t to Guide Speed, then the ETC key can lrc u:;rrl lo r:lr,rrrc¡o tlte-, motor speed mode to Guide mode. Tlrr l,¡rr'r,rl lor tlrc (-iuicie mode can be set from 0.1x to 9.9x irl tlre "l I(, I irttr.l¡otrMctttr" in the setup. For det.ril:, r¡r llrr' ( irrrrlc Íi¡rr,oc1 rnode, please see "Molor Speed l.4r¡tir" ttl lilr.llort ll I I Chapter 4 Commarld KeYs t l- 4.10 STOP KeY I Motor StoP lfthesToPkeyispressedwhilethetelescopeisslewinglo stop. lf STOP is pressed continu will be stopped while the key i:; motion tracking ously, the an object, the álewing will pressed. PressingthesToPkeymaynotStopthemotorincertainsitr-¡ ations. lWf,"n the keypad is in nunreric key entry mode, for example.) To stop the motor in an emergency, turn the powet switch to OFF. You can always resume operation by powet ing up again and Pressing ESC. 4.11 [-1 XeY ] Lower SPeed Mode When you press the [ ]key, the motor speed mode will chanc;t: down írom Fast to M edium to Slow. When the key is presserl the motor mode will be displayed for about two seconds. 4.12 [*1 Key :Raise Speed Mode When you press the [+]key, the motor speed rnode will changtr up from Siow to Medium to Fast. When the key is pressed' the motor mode will be displayed for about two seconds' Chapter5 Getting the Most from SkySensor ln this chaptcr, ttrc principle of operation and many helpful hints are givcrr so you can get the best performance from your SkySensor 5.1 For Better Pointing Accuracy The poirttrrrq ¿rcourircy of the automat¡c GOTO function depends on rnirr)y f ¿rctors, including the initial settings and the alignment procrrdrrrc. We will explain how those factors affect the poirrtrrrr¡ ilccLlr¿rcy and how SkySensor algorithm computes the ob¡cct ¡tositiort and compensates for the mechanical misalrgrttttlltl:r 5.1.1 Ef f ects of tlre lnrtral Settings The initial settirtc¡r; tlr¡tt c¿trl af fect the po¡nting accuracy are the parameters rrr tlrc r;ctup and the initial positioning of the telescope and tlre ntctLltll. SkySensor is desig,¡rro11 so tllitt it cttrt cornpule and correct small errors in most of tlre irriti;tl settittcts ¿:ls you progressively do the alignments, so you do ttot ttt,'e-'d to be too concerned about being precise in st-'ttirti¡ tlre p;trztrneters or setting the initial position. Of the parameters, tht: observation site time and position (longitude/ latitude) must be set at least roughly for SkySensor to work. After the alignments, the time and position settings af- fect the positioning accuracy through the computed elevation used in the atmosptleric refraction effect, but the error is small if the settings are accurate to within a few degrees. The clock and the position settings affect more greatly the computation of the apparent position of the solar system ob- Irc;#.'].:''].i'.;,.ij'.!.].:.]...,""..,,...'';#;'' BO Chapter 5 Gettinq the Most from SkySensor lL jects, especially the Moon, through the computed parallax effect. For the computation of the apparent position of an artificial satellite in a low orbit, the time and position have a very large effect, so for observing satellites, set the clock and the longitude/latitude as accurately as possible. One parameter setting that cannot be automatically corrected is the backlash parameter. An error of 100 counts in lhe §ack lash compensation count corresponds to aboLrt two ar{min utes of position error. Errors in the initial positioning of the telescope and the mount are computed and corrected by the three point alignment. However, there is an algorithm in SkySensor that rejects a reference point if that reference point yields a very large (more .10 than degrees) computed deviation for tlrc' irtitial position. This means that to avoid accidental rejectiort of a legitimate reference poinl, you should set the initial telescope position reasonably accuralely (i.e., set the counterwerght shaft ap prox¡mately in downward position, and set tlre telescope tube approximately level). This algorithm does not restrict the po' lar axis from pointing in any direction, so lortg as the weight shaft and the optical tube are set in correct position. 5.1 .2 How SkySensor's Alignments Work SkySensor uses three different algoritltnts for the alignmerrt calculation: an alignment algorithm using one reference poirtl (".1 point alignment"), another using two reference points 1":' point alignnrent"), and a third using three reference points ('ll poini alignment"). The very first alignnrent after the initial positioning is a 1 poirl alignment. 1 point alignment compules the azimuth and tlt,' elevation the polar axis is pointing. So atter the first align ment, SkySensor is able lo compute the approximate positicrr of the objects even if the telescope's polar axis was pointetl at a random direction. lrr the second alignment, a 2 point alignment will be attempteil lf the second reference point is not suitable tor a2 point align ment (if too close to the first point, or if the same point wa: used again), 1 point alignment will be repeated using the sec ond reference point. lf the 2 point alignment was successful then the deviation of the initial position of the telescope tu[:rt' and the weight shaft will be computed. B'l ln the thrrd ali¡¡nnrenl (when the previous alignrnent was a 2 poirrtaligrrrnr:rrt), a 3 point alignment will be attempted. lf the third reference point is not suitable for a 3 point alignment, then a 2 ¡:orrrt ;rlig¡nnrent using the second and the third reference points wrll bc allempted. lf that's not successful, then a 2 pornt tlir.¡rrrrrcrrt usrng the first and the third reference point lvill bc ¿ltt()rnf )tr )d lf tll.rt fails, a warning will be issued and no aligrrnrerit will bc clone. lf the 3 po¡nt alignrnent was successful, then tlrc rllcr;lutrtical alignment error of the mount and the telescopr: ttrltr, lrllr¡rrrnent error wiil be computed and compensaied. In lhe for,trllr ¡¡rrrl llrc successive alignments (when the previous alignrrllrl wi u; lr 3 point alignment), a 3 point alignment using refert:rrr.c ¡roirrt:; 2,3,4 will be attempted. lf this cannot be done, tlrt'rt;r ll l,oirlt ¡tli§rnment uSing referenCe points 1,3,4, ther¡ 1,2.4,',vill trr',rtlcrrrptod. lf they allfail, then 2 point alignments usirrtt iclr,rrlr)(;{r ¡toinls 2,4, then 1,4, will be tried. ln all casr:s tllc rrlwor rclcrr:nce points are tried first, and the newest reftrcr¡,;r,¡rorrrt will always be used. So even iÍ the alignment ir,; rcpr,, ¡[r rr I tr;rnr¡ tllr: sarne point or a point nearby, appropri;tlo ¡rornlr; rrrr ur;c(l or ¿rn accurate alignment calculation. You r;,rn:;lr,wlrrr;l¡ ob¡ccts were used as the reference points irr "Alrrlrrnttrrl [)lrllntcters" mer.tu in the setup. f You are ntorc lrhl lo r¡rl ir l) ¡roint alignment if you select as reference proinll;tlrrr olr¡rr:l:; tlurt lrre far apart in X coordinate of the X-Y cor)rrlrn;rlr.:;yr;lcnt, tlt;rt is, diffcrirrcl in the angles ;rxi:; (WIrcrr llrc tck:sc;ope moves over the trp of tlrrr ¡rol,rr ;rxr:;, lor cxrrrrrple f ronr r 30 degrees to fronl the tip of tlrr ¡rol;rr -30 degrees, tllo:;r r¡rornlr;;rrr:c«.¡rrl;irlcred different in the X coordirtate.) Wlrrrr lltr rrroun! rrrrtrIr is; sot to AltaZirnuth, the X coordinate lhat tlrc lcIl;r;o¡rr: will rnovt: is liinited to 0 to 90 degrees, so you ¡¡ill lrc llorc lirrritocl irr abrlity to achieve a 3 point alignnrerrt Or¡cc lr 1") ¡torrrt trlignnrent is achie'red, you are more likely to c¡et ;rrrotlrcr 3 point alignment for the next alignment btlc¿rLrsc tllcrr ¿ur: nrort possible reference poini combinatrons Tlrere are more ilr.ur orrc possible solution for the 2 point alignment calculation, arrd nlthough lhe algorithm selects the one that it judges to be the best solution, occasionally a v/rong solution nr;ly be selected You can check the cornputed value of the polar axis direction in "Polar Axis Direction" in the setup. lf the dispiayed coordinate of the telescope is clearly in error, t\2 Chapter 5 Getting the tt/p5;-!!¡ortt SkySerrsor rl t 83 ¡ ! or if the telescope points in clearly wrorlq diro'ction, lt ¡s best to turn the power switch oFF ¿rnd st¿trt over from the initiai alignment. ln"AlignmentParameter"menLlinthest-'tr-rp'themechanical i. tlre 3 point align' rturtlbers)' These four tltc of (the last two mdnt are displayed tub§ is re tt:loscope tlttl unless much vary not do factors mounted or the eyepiece adapter is excltitrrgld (a diagonal prism is attached, for example), so you cilrr ctlter the knowrr values from the previous observations rttrtrtu;tlly. lf the AltAz alignmient compensation factors contputr-.d mountmodeisusedorifonlyapartoftlrr:skyisvisible,then a3pointalignmentmaybedifficulttoacltir;vtlbecauseofthe limiied movement range of the telescopt: ¿trrd entering the numbers manually may be more convelritrrlt Objects which are closer then about 5 degrces f rom the polar axis may cause a large error in the alignrrterrt c¿tlculation and cannot be used for alignments. lf you try to irlign with them' a warning message will be displayed. Thereisnodifferenceinthealrgnmentalclorithnlbetween the mount mode in Unaligned Equatori;il arrd Altazimuth' ln Polar'Aligned Equatorial mode, its 1 point :rlignment differs from the óth"r" in that the polar axis is assutrt'd to be aligned, and instead of computing the direction polirr ¿rxis, the initial position errors of the telescope tube and the weight shaft are computed. The 2 point and 3 point aligrrrtrents for Polar Aligned Equatorial mode are the same as others The directioñ of the polar axis is also recomputed after ttre 2 point align, ment instead of assuming a perfectly alignc'd polar axis' To increase the pointing accuracy, the centering of the ob¡ect in the field of view of the telescope should be done as accurately as possible. For accurate centering, the use of an illu mináted cross-haired reticle or a guide-adaptt-'r such as Vixen GA4 Guide Adapter is recommended. The error in backlash compensation also will affect the alignment accuracy, so sei this as accurately as possible also. Terrestrial oblects can be used as reference points for the alignment. The use of terrestrial obiects for alignment is conveñient for the solar observation and sett¡ng the alignment before the sky gets dark. To use the terrestriai ob¡ects, you can either fravelfre coordinate stored in the Land menu in the previous observation session or record therr coordinates and enter ¡t using the COORD function. 5.1.3 Ef f ects included in Position Calculat¡on Wittr SkySr-.nsor, nrany factors are included in computing the apparentpositiorr of the celestialobjects. You do not need to know thcrrr to uso SkySensor, but the information is included here for your rt;fr.lrence. The coorclinrrlcs for oelestial objects such as stars and nebulas in llre SkyScrrsor's database are in Epoch 2000 coordinate syslenr Cortrdrrr¡rtes in other coordinate systems are derived from this coorclirurte For the computation of RaDec coordinates, ttrc rllr:r:l:; of prc.cession of equinoxes, annual aberration, ¿rnd rrrrl,rlrorr rrre taken into account, but individual star motions itrc ttot rnt;lttdr-:d. For the Srrrr, ¡rl,rrrcts. irnd the Moon, the aberration and parallax effr,:ctl., f rorrr llrr) obsrlrvation site are also included. The conrpulr:rl ,r¡r¡r,rrcnt t-, levation of the object includes the effect of llll ;rlnrrr;¡rlrcric refractron. The accur;rr.y ol llrr: irrtcrrr¿rl representation of the object posi tion is genrr,rlly lrrllcr llr;rn tltc. number of digits shown on the d isp lay 5.2 lf Espccirrlly PrcciÍjt-. Pointing is Required lf especrally [)r{,(jr',r 'l¡rrrrltrrrl tr, rlqutreti, you can increase the pointing ir(.(.ur,r(:y rrrl,u lltc;rrc;t wltt:rc tlte telescope is pointed by usrrrr¡ ,r n()iulry r,t,rr trl r.lo rtrt ttlic¡ ttrttent. The procedure r; l«r lrr:;t tr;c (iOIO lo slew to the object you want to obse-.rvc, tllcrrur;c llrr, l[) f urtctiort to sr:arch for a nearby star. For tt'ie selrrr;lr, :;ct llrc l[) r;c;trclt p;trtrmeter to at least 9 degree search nrc,iru:; rrrrrl sot tlro object type to Star. ln the search result, tlrrr r:loscs;l :rt;rr willber drsplayed first, so select it and use the GOIO kcy to slew to it. The object star is a relatively briglrt (tlrr :;t,rr:; irr tlre database are brighter than magnitude 4.0). so you slrould be able to locate it easily. Center the star in tlle field ol vit-,w and by use the ALIGN key to do lhe alignment, (Notr; when Star is selected as the object type for the search. double stars and variable stars will not be listed in the search result.) 84 -a¡gp19É--QeUrgllLql4qs-!-liolllskvsL!qgl 5.3 About the Setups ExamPle: To Point accuratelY to M57 I to slew Select M57 from Messier rnt:t'tu ¿ttld prr:ss GOTO to it. 'l Set the search l Press the lD key to search for a rlearby sl¿tr press ENTER' itrrcl priáÁ*tur as in the following exartrplo Radius Mag 9'15' i -9> 20 TYPe Star I The closest star (#01) will be displr'ryt:cl first, so press ENTER to select it. lD. Oblects # 01 I rJ2: Su laf at I }re rrr;r.rlt ol tllrr Sr:arch (sulatirt i'i tll{' (;losest star) r Press GOTO to slew to the star jto oata: SulataI lo¡st=1 1¡'[¿=-45 , ,.;tar key the staiin the center of vienr Prt--ss tlte ALIGN to do an alignment. ..nt"i M5T Press' of the center tl'e l¡t: ¿tt slrc¡ulcl M57 M57. GOTO to slew to f ield. setLrps, numbered from # 0 to # 9" The parameter valut-'s rn setup # 0 are specially designated as default values anrl aro also used by setup # 1 to # 9 whose parameters arc spr:citicd to use the default values. By setting the There are l0 paranrct(lrs irt sr:tup # 0 to the most commonly used values ancl r-rsinc¡ :;clrr¡r # 1 to # 9 to set values specific to an obser' vatiort silLrirtiort, yoLl can utilize the setups efficiently. For exarrr¡rlrf . yotJ can set motor speeds to different values in several ..;(llir[)s;rncl designate them to be used for guided photogrrrplry or tltr: quiet mode. lf you use several sites for observ;ttiol:;, you o¿ln set the site coordinates and the object ci ireciioir nlrr;rtnctcrs to match each site. Or if you use a SkySerrsor wrtlr rrtorc than one mount, you can set the mount modc ¿rrrr,1 lr;rr;kl,r:;lt pararneters for each mount" You cari irl:,o l,cl llrc titltr-'and location on a setup to use it as an astrononnr;;tl ;tlrtl,ttlltc, to check the data for the Moon and the plarrr:tr; otl (;r'tl,trrr cllttt.'arrd location. Data di:;t)i.ty lor the nearby center lt Using a low powered eyepiece' finc.l tlrc st¿rr and be easy rt should ¡n rná tieto of view. Thé star is bright, so to identifY. and Change the eyepiece to a high powr-'rt:cl tlyepiece r , Press ESC twice 85 L-_ to return to the ciata display for 5.4 About lclo:;oot)e Movement and L-imits When you pr{):rt llrr' ( i( ) lO kcy to slew to irn objr:ct, SkySensor will autc¡rrr¿,rtrr.,rllyr;l,ttllt,tr:ktttqtll;tt ob¡ect Forr:xarrple,when you slew lr,r it ¡rl;trrtl wrllrllrrr (iOIO key, SkySerlsor continuously cr:nl;,utcl; tltt'¡tor ,tltolt rrl lltc ¡llltttrlt tr-r tr¡tck its move'Thrs is lltc:;,ttrti: lot llrc Mootl, llrc Surt. comets, and nrent. art¡fic!¿,¡l s¿ttt;littr"; Iltr: tttt)l{)r (l()t)'i tlot turtt at a predetermineci rate. bLrt ttr:,tr:,trl lt¡llow:; llto ttltlvtltllt-'nt of the object as rccotllputed, includ ing the The tracking conritc;tion. tcf lttttlo:r¡rlllttt; effects suclt ¿ts tltr: tronr the menu, or until lr; l;cltlctcd ottlct;t artotlior tinues until you get out of tlt¿lt tttctttt lry [)rcssirlg ESC. When you first trtrrr ott tltc powr-'r switch and press the ENTER key, SkySensor is scl to tr;tck at the sidereal rate. Therefore, if you want to observc lirrrd objects, you need to select Land nlenu to stop the sidt:rt:¿tl tracking motion. rts appare ni post ttot t lr; t.ol tlt t lt tol¡l-;ly For artificral satellites orlly. the tracking motion will stop when the STOP or ESC key rs pressed and the menu returns to the object selection screen. This is to avoid possible accidents because of the fast tracking motion for the satellites" tt(i clqplet 1 §et!¡g lLIe !4rqurqq SkySelqgl This is because the telescope motion is controlled by the an.1200x gular speed around the axes. speed (aboul 5 degrees per second) in azinruth appears much slower near zenith com' pared to at lrorizon (This also applies to declination direction in RaDec nrodc ;rnd Y direction in X-Y mode.) To compensate for this. tlrc angular speed in the azimuth direction near zenrth is ¿rutorn¿rtically increased up to 10 times the nominal speed wherr llrt: RIGHT or LEFT direction key is pressed. When the mount mode is in tltt: Equittorial rnode, if the balance weight shaft rotates so t[t¿tt it is tre¿tr ttle level position, a warning message will be drsplayt:d tllltt tlle-' telescope may hit the tripod. (lf tlre motor is ntovirrg at s¡x:eds greater or equal to 100x speed, or when rt is trirckirrg lrrr artificial satel' lite, the motors will stop.) The exactitngkr itt wtrich the warn" ing is issued is tilted slightly tow¿trd tlrrl srdo opposite of the motor housing, and there is a five derqrctr ovt--rlap region be' tween both sides to avoidexcessivo rt.'vcrs;tls. AltAz control nrode is convenient for guiding the object into the finder's vi0w. But once aligned, the object is usually al- When the telescope reversal warning is ¡s;stred. tlle tracking motion continues and you will be ablc to rrrove the motors at low speed (99x or less). but if the rnotors ¿tre rno'¿ed at high speed, a warning that the telescope is stop¡lt:d rs issued and the motor will stop completely. ready insicic tlrc f irrder view when slewed by usrng the GOTO key, and scttrrrr¡ tlle control mode to X-Y mode will make it easier to colrtrol tlrlr lelescope movement as it is affected less by the backIl;lr. When the telescope reversal warning (irrr;lLrdirlg wherl the motors are stopped¡ is issued. you carl c;tllcel the warning and move tlie telescope freely if yol prrrss tlrt: F,SC key for more than three seconds. Once the lclt':;copt: nroves back into the normal operaling region, tlre warrrirtq wtll be enabled After tlte lrlrr¡rrrrrr:nt, sr.lttrng motor speed mode to Medium or Slow rnoclt wrll nurkr: il easier to center the object in the telescopc'r; l¡oltl «rl vrcw. You will be able to make fine adjustnrents if yorr rrr;rkc st:ries of short clicks on the direction again. Adiustino keys. Ilrr lr;rr,kl,u;lr contpensation is also helpful in obtaining goocl lttolot t:otttlol. When the mount mode is Altazirnuth, tlrt:rc i:; tto telescope reversal. When GOTO is executed. if tlrr; ¡tzirllr-rth angle between the telescope posrtion and the t'ib1trr.t ts; less than 90 clegrees, then the telescope r¡¡ill move by tlre slrort way. But rf the azimuth angle to be moved is 90 dt)tlr{)cs or greater, than the telescope will move so that ttte trilcscope is positioned within t 180 degree frorn the triiti.tl tclcscope position. This is to helo avoid cord wraps. The direction tlrc lrkr;r;o¡xr nroves when you press a direction key c¿ln Lrrr rr)vrlr,{rritry:;tlltinq the directions in the "Morl tlrc setup. tor Key Directioit Mcrtrt" lf you are ldlr:5it¡g lhe b¿cklash r;trm pensatlon at nrght. you can usr: Pclar is the trrst oDiecl SAO'reriu 5.5 About the Motor Control The method of rnotor control is describt-'d irl "Motor Cclntr, Key" in Chapter 3. The rnotor speed is rcprt:sented ¿rs nun ber of tirnes the sidereal trackii':g reltr-- l.pcod (approximatr::i 1 5 arc seconds per second). s as tlrL, 001{rc1. Pol.rrrs I The apparent movement of the telesr:optl irl the direction pe; pendicular to the pole becomes slow wllt:rl the telescope ' pointing near the pole. For exarnple, wIrcrl tlle motor contrr,l nrode is the Altaz mode arld the telescopr.' rs pointing ne 'r zenith, the telescope will appear to nlove slowly when yt;rr press RIGHT or LEFT key to move it in azinluthal directior rrr 5.6 Setting the Bilcklas;lt Compensation Setting the backlir,l r r.or rr¡rr rtl;rttlon ltccur¿ttely will make the motor control opt:t;ttc r;rttor)tltct';tttcl ittt¡rrovt: the pointing accuracy of GOTO To check the backla:;lrcortt¡rcrts;rtron, use a land object. First, stop the sidereal tr.rckirrr¡ rnotiort of the telescope by selecting Land menu fronl tlrr: rnlrirt rnt:ttu selection and select any object. (lf no objects arr-. rt:g;istered in the Land menu,0 will be displayed and wlrerr you press the ENTER key, a warning message "lnvalid D¿tl¿t Number" will be displayed, but you can ignore it for this purpose.) Next, select a land oblect and center it in the field of view of the telescope using a medium to high powered eyepiece. Set the motor control mode to X Y mode and set the speed mode BB chagtgl_§__@lsor r l---- B9 -to Slow. (Please refer to Sectron 3.1.1 on how to set lhe control mode and the speed mode.) ter the star again in the field of view of the telescope. The polar axrs slrould now be aligned. To adjust the backlash for RIGHTILEFT key. tirst press the RIGHT key and verify that the object moves ¡n the field of view. Release the RIGHT key and watch the obiect as you press the LEFT key. lf there is a lag between the time urhen lf the star c,trlnot be centered within the adjustnrent range of the screws, tltcrr you need to move the tripod to center the star, but tltc polar alignment may nol be very accurate when this hatppcrrs: rt:pt-.at the above procedure in this case. you press the LEFT key and the time the motor slarts to move, the backlash conrpensation for the R.A. motor is too small. lf You will br: ¿rIrlc to achieve a lairly accurale polar alignment with tt'ris n¡r:tlrr¡ll if you rnake sure that the 3 point alignrnent is accurale errour¡lr to be able to point accurately to stars in different parts of tlrc sky the motor moves surpdenly in a big step when you press the LEFT key, then the hacklash contpensation is too large. To change the backlash compensation, press the SETUP key and from the Telescope Configuration categ;ory, select Backlash menu and enter the value for RA. 5.8 Observirrc¡ S¿rtellites Repeat the above procedures and adjust thc backlash corn pensation until the ntotor moves srnootlily. With SkySr:rr,or , you c;rrr ¿rutorratically slew f The procedure for adjusting tlre backlash corrrpensation for the UPIDOWN key is the same. To adiust thc compensation for tlre UPiDOWN key, change the DEC value irr the Backlash menLr" 5.7 Aligning Polar Axis without Polar Axis Scopir The polar axis can be aligned quickly and ¿iccurately by usirr'¡ a polar axis scope. But if the polar star is rrot visible, or if yr-'r-r don't tlave a polar axis scope. you can still arligrl the polar axr,, by using the following procedure. Thrs procedure works both northern and southern hemisphere. lrr To align the polar axis, first place the equatorial mount so th,rl its polar axis points approxirnately toward Ilrc pole. Set tli ' nrount mode to Unaligned Equatorial and illrgn the teiescop" until a 3 point alignment is achreved and the objects can bl slewed to with GOTO accuralely. Now select a star (avor;l using a star near the zenith)and use GO I-O t<-r point the telrr scope to it. Center the star in the view artcl do an alignrnenl «.,rr that star so that the star is centered when GOTO is executerl In the setup, set the nrounl mode to Polar Aligned Equatorill Then while looking through the finder, press GOTO, and yc,Lr r¡;ill see that tire star wrll shift its position. Follow the movc ment so that you know where i1 is. Using only the azimuth arr'l the elevation adjustment screws at the base of the mount, cet 1o and track arti, icial s¿ttcllrt,':, To trac;k;rl;rrllllrlr. yotr ne.ed to have its orbital elements. The oritit,rl r,lr,rrllntr-, lrtr tlro satellites are available fronr many lrrtt:rrrrlwclr l;rlcl; rel;,rted to Satellites The orbital eiernentr; lor :;,rlr,llrllr; r;lurnges frequently, so be sure lo use tlre l.rlr::;l ,rv,ll,rtrlr: r:lcntr:nts. There are 8 orbital elenlerlts lot c,rt.lr r,,rl,,llrlt Enter tllc orlll,rl r'llrrrlrrl,; rrrto SkySjensor To enter the eleme,.nts u'r¡rrrl likylir ,rr:;or l,,cy¡l;tcl . plr,.lr:;r.r see "Artlf iCial Satellite lttortt:" irr litr:lron.l ll i) llrc orbit¿rl t:le,rrtents may l'(. llrrorrr¡lt llrc tlSj232C connector. Please scc Íilt;lron (i l, "llr;irrr¡ ,rF)O lct Fnter Orbital Elenter)ts", for rlrltril:; ( )lllrr, llrc orlrrtirl rtlcnlelnts come in the TLE (Two t irlc I lrrrrcrrtr) lorr¡r;rt You can extra.ct lhe orbital eienrr;lrtl; lronr llr,, Il I lorrn,tl (:]ee Section 6.1), but it is also posL;iltlc [rl r:rrtlr lL [:clrrcctly rrrto SkySensor usalso be crttcrr,rl lrolrr,t ing a PC. ftr¡s r:;,t vcry l,rr;t ¿trrd easy way lo enler the orbital elenrr:rr[:; I Set up anci alirlrrtlrc tllr:sco¡)o using SkySensor. The ap parent position ol ¡t s,rtollitc ln a low Earth orbit is greatly affected by tht: oLrscrv,rtiorl location and time. Set the longitude and l;:titudo of thr.: observalion site and tl-re clock as accuratelv as possible. (Clock error of more than 5 sec, onds is likely to put the satellite out of the frnder's view even if everything else is exact.) 90 l__ -Chapter Satellites are visible only when they ref lect the Sun's light, which limits the time they can be seen to iust after sunset and a short time before sunrise. They czittnot be seen when they are in Earth's shadow. A satellite in a low Earth orbit (altítude of about 500 Km), can be seen for up to about an ñour and a half directly overhead and for up to about three hours after sunset near the u'restern horizotl' rtlessage showwhen a satclisplayed ing the nanie of the satellite will be lhe horizon, ¿tbovtl rises it when elñte comes into view or "Satellite see (Pleasi: setting. alarm depending on the the satel ol explllrtatiort for 4.7.4 in Section Menu" Alarrn lf vou set lhe satellite alarm, a beep and ¿t lite alarrn.) When the satellite alarm goes off , select tlit: Satellite menu from the main menu selection. By pressing tlre NEXT or PREV key, you can list the satelliles tlt¿t are currently irl view. (lf lhe satellite alarm was set to go of f when the sat ellrte rises above the horizon. the sal.rllite wrll not be listed if it's not in view yet. but you can still lrst rt by entering the selection number.) Press ENTER to select the satelliie . You c¿ln slew to it anrJ start tracking by pressing the GOTO kcy. You can see the data for the satellite, inclurding its rJist¿.rtlct: f rorn the obser' vation site, the speed, longitude and l¿ttitude. and altitude; in the data display. The apparent position of satellites is afft,:cted greatly by a slight change in the orbital elernents. lf you cartnot find the satellite rigirt away, watch the sky irt tlre qcrteral direction the telescópe is pointing and look tor a nroving point oÍ light. The brightness of a satellite in ¡t low Earth orbit ap páars typically around magnitucie 3 or 4, but a large satel iite nla/ sornetimes appear brightcr tlran magnitude 0 Sor¡re iatellites may shine on :rnd ofl at regular interval' instead of shining steadily. lf you use thr-' latest orbltal el ements and set all parameters accurately, the accuracy oi SkySensor orbit prediction is such that you should be able to óasily locate the satellite in a finder scope. Once you' locate the satellite in the finder scope, rt rs possible to guide if into the field of view of the nrain telescope using the di rection keys. 91 ---l lf tlre telescope reversal warning appears while tracking a satellite, you can press 0 to reverse the telescope as usual. l-loweve.r. tlre tracking motion will stop when the telescope is revr:r;ecl, so you should press tl-re GOTO key to start tr;rckirri¡ rrrllirr (You do not need to wait until the telescope stops slcwirrq lo press the GOTO key.) lf you are looking for a ¡xrrtrr,rrl,rr satellite, you can predict the direction and lhe tinrc llre:-;¡rtellile will appear (you can set the time in the sctu¡r lo jrrst ;rfter sunset and check the longitude and latitLrrlc ol llrc r;rrtr:llite to predict if the satell¡te will appear tlrat rlrry. llrr,¡r clrr:ck the altitude to See the exact time it appr)i¡r:,,rliovr: llro [rorizon)" You can at¡oid the telescope revers;rl rlrrrrrrr¡ tr,rcking by setting the drrection of the polar axis; ;rl)f )r()(rrrr,rtcly parallel to the path of the saiellite. 92 T- ghjqilq,6 L-- Using Optional External Dwrces 93 The followirrtt contrnands can be used with SkySensor. SATET- Chapte r 6 Usirr g Optionel Exte rnal D e vice s Set satellite selection nunrber to n Set cor¡et selection number to n Set epoclr tinre (for s;:tellite) or tinri: of passage in perihelion (for cornei) to n Set perihelion d¡stance to n (foÍ comet) Set eccentricity to n (tor comet,sate¡iite) Siet ascending node to n ifor cometsatettite) Set argumenl of perigee,'periheiion to n rr COtr4fT ir EPOCI-1 rr Pbflll'"1 n ECC[. ]'.] ri ANOtlt n APER(l n (1or comet/satellite) 6.1 to n (,or comet,satellite) :i{}t mean anomaly to n (fcr salellite) li:t rervolution per day to rr (for satellile) :icl (jract to n (for sateilrte) :if t r),lnte label to s (for correl'satell¡te) lNCL-l ,r l\,4ANO¡l rr RÉ-VDAY rr U.sing a PC to Enter Crbit¡rl Elelments ¡ DRAG LABLT You can connect SkySerrsor to a irC ¿ttlcj rlnter orbital et'' ments for satellites and comels. A RS232C o¿tble with a M ir DIN B pin connector is used for lhe co;ttrtlction. (Please sr" Appendix B about the cables). Sjet inclination ; r,;,r clr,rrActi)r string) I'Jr,r¡ ¡¡¡¡¡-,¡, lines are TL.E forn]ats (forsatellite) I),,1{'lo tlte oblect (for cometrsatellite) 1. , The communication p¿Irameter§ on tflt' P() slrould be foilows: set TI-E DELF I VERII I RES I I r,t llrr ortlt.rl elements (forccmei,saleliite) Y (.()i)t Ilr'., n u rr I n Data tsits = B StoP Bits Baud Rate = 300 Flow Control = Xonr Xolf ',r'l r,rl()l i:tltltlt CLi:AFl 1 ()nln),lrld spectties the command response f illurn rcsponse code and description li,,lrJrn rr)sponse code only I)r)not t{)tutn respons| codrt BefOre SeliLllllrJ (()rllrlr.trlrl';lil Most common communication ternrin.rl :'tiltw¿tre can be us' 'l us;e Alti:r connecting w 'l SkySensr:r, press Return key on the PÜ. You will s€e "reá{i if the connection is wcrking correctly. ancl are usually rrtost converlient to , The cornnrands may be editecl on ¿¡ filo witlt:-t text editor ¿-: '' then sent by the terminal softwai'e usiil,l tlre'Send [:ile" fur, tion. The upper ancj lower case wtil rtol bo distinguished L, less it is a pari of the name for the t-ABEI corrrmanC Spac and tabs can be inserted f reely b,: f ort:, ilfter, or between co mands. Numbers cai'l be entered ¿ls wllole tlunlbers, dectr' points, or in scientific notation lrke I 02e 5 "# " characi marks the rest of the ilne as coinrllents You can cance command before hitting Return ke y by pressing Delete ke. tO 0 r:llt¡r tllr: Orbit¡rl ClenlentS. yOU speorf y tlrr , r,, ,lr ,{.lr( )ri nlrnrlri:r lty sondirtg eithr:r SATEL (for sate llilr-.s) or (,{ )Ml i llor r rrlrct:;) rrorrrrrrirrrds All orbital elements yotr onlrrr t^;rll l rr' , r, ,: irr ¡ l( ,r i lo lltrr r;clcr;tiort nuttlbe.r you must last speciÍit:cl Example 1. I epr:Clr incli anodo eccerr r j Multiple commands can be entered on .r stngle line by se¡ rating them with sernicolons (:) One line rs lrmited to 80 cit acters. SkySensor will process one line at a tinie and retlirr response code. aperg rn¿inonr revduy L- o,.1n, '-)( , I | ') I ')1|l).1:1.) li /' 1)r)i I () ll'1, 1Í'lr 0 ()001'}4 I ,],:i{i tl4l) 1?:l ?46 143813252 6c7 ,rl) l,r ;lerrer.rs 94 _C_!gpqlq_ l.J ql ¡g x Qp_lLo rt ¿r I E t c' r r t a I D L' v i c e 95 s l Example 1 sets the orbital elerllertts for selection number the Satellite rnenu and labrels it "Mrr". I lf RES CODE is set to 0 (the default value), the fotlowing response will be returned in Responsc Exa [0r1.0] satel3;tle STS BO 1 24660U 2 243660 28.4664178.5099 0ti17823 2?",) 1t)'.\ i 81J 12 1.1] lrlvalrd 111 3192 15.72025106 i.0rIl|[il)(i r,rll " [41:1] 0b¡rrLl ty'lr,nrl [6 It is possible to read off the orb¡tal eletttctrts from the TLE format and enter them into SkySensor throLrc;lr tlle control pad [7 1]11 r [8,1:1] DRAU r:r [9 BO 9ü& 2-1586275 _0404[Bq3 00000 Epoch date iirr y.l 0 0 m is not a vaird comet selectton number. .r,rly i, ri r PEBII-l comnand was sent wrthout C0fu1ET mmmano. ,,11,'lrl,, r)ny l(r',rl,.l 1,, (!r t lj ir r,: l r " r' ['' ' ] n r r i ' i12 1.1] lnrr,tlri ,r,,.' ," r l! , rlrv r rl r¡ nvairiilI l.r,rrt command was senr without SATEL mmma¡d. BEVDAY command was sent nuthout SATEL commanC Thc firsl TLE data ltne was nrialid. Thrr smond r1 , r'lr, 113,1:1] lnv;rlrd r, ,i NlAN0l',1 DBAG comr¡and was sent w thout SATEL comr¡and. v r'', 1 r'1 rLr, SATEL or CON4ET comrnnd nust be sent flrst. rL I rr r; oLrl r,1 f , rlid't^q- rlrr lrr, , n,. data ]ne was invalrd. s out ot valid range tor drag. rl rr TLI I 1.i 19: -q,o6¡ ¡,¡, ol vard ranqe for revoiutton pitrday. oi rnvitlid TLE fornut 1lrii, (xrl,lns l|vllld TLE cheitkslm. The first nunl[)(]r rnr;rtIr I lr:; tlrc crror code and the second number iS tltl rrrrr¡llir,r ol r;onunlln(lfl tltat was proCeSSed in that line. lf tl¡crr,w,t:,,1n r:lrr¡t, tl l;lrows tltc position of the follow: 3s321-5 'mmnrand' is nct recognized. m !s not a valid satellrte selection number. r)r ,¡r,1¡l¡,11 [15,1:]llnvaioT[,.t ,,1. The first line is the name of the salellitc 9606sA r, BEVDAY 111,1:11 For the above example, 1 24660U irLnrlrl rl 11]MAN{)[l ,,1(r ,rl,'11, ,t)r]y [11 1:11 nvrrrLirir ¿rs r.0t1]rlllnd' \ fxample 2 enter orbital elenlents irl TLE torttl:tt for selectiorl Aurnber 3 in the Satellite nrenu. Ttle lir:';t lirre of Example 2 contains two commands. "Satel 3" sets tlrc seloction in Satel lite menu to 3. "tle" specif¡es that thc' tlcxt tltrr-'o lines are T[-E format form of the orbital elernents. lrl tlrt: r-Ltta for TLE conl mancl, lines beginning with '#" and blarrk ltrlcs are skipped. l'he second line contains Epoch date ancl Dr¡tcl 11, [31.1] lnvrt[d (r)rr r I r Lrr [5,1 1] PEnIH 1 l, STS 'mmrrund' was executed nornrally. dono conlrl,ur(i l1 1.1I Llnhno,ril 96065A 96326.21586775 00000863 000000 35321 50 Description 111 Drag command 1lr¿rt clru:;r ,rl llrr,r,rror Ilrc tlrircl rtur¡lbor is the cumulative nuÍnbor ol r:rrot:, llr,rl lr,r;r.lc(;[¡rrr:r,l (tlrrt r>rror count). lf you are sendul(l rr lr,rlr;lrol t;onlnln(l:-, lrorn it file, you can The third line contains lnclination, Ascendinq Node, Eccen' tricity, Arguntent of Perigee, Mean Anornaly, and Mean Mo tion (Revolution per Day) as follows. 2 243660 28.4664 178.5099 0007823 282.1031 88 319? 1s 72025106 2r lnciin ANode Eccen APerg MAnom Rev,Day (Note that there is an implied decimal point in f ront of the num ber for Eccentricity, so the Eccentricity for the above example is 0.0007823) check to see il tlt{trr) wil:; itrI r,rror Iry clrcckirrc.¡ thc error count at the end. Tlrc orror t.ounl r., lt¡ lrc r;kr,rlc(l Lly sending CLEAR command. Wlrol ilt f; O()l)l r:;:;ct to 1, tlren only the numbers within [ | will trc rr'lr¡rncrl Clr;rptcr 6 6.2 Usirrg Optiorral Exlern¿il Dey¡ceq I I lt tfre rnotors are going to be used, set the "Mtr" parameter CCD Ar-rtoguider to On. When this parameter is set to On, avoid turning the telescopr; f¿rster than 200 encoder pulse counts per second (about 3000x speed for GP Encoder). lf the telescope is turncd f¿rstor, it rnay cause some encoder pulses to be missed. lf ttrc rrqht ascension motor is to run at sidereal SkySensor may be usr:cl witlr tlrt: optiorral CCD Autoguidlr ndn l. When connectecl t<¡ AGA 1. SkyScnsor will recei""' signals from AGA'1 to guide the tclt:scope' rate, sct "(idc" setting in the Encoder menu to On also. (Settinq "Mtr" to Orr by itself will noi cause the motor to track ¿rt tlrc r;irlrrrlirl r¿rte. Fortracking, the polar axis needs to be alir¡rrcrl ) up and align the telescopt-'arrd SkySensor' For tfr'' use with AGA-1, the polar axis of the tttount needs to bir aiignedaccurately.Setthebackl¿lstlconlpensationon-tl.r'l SklrSensor to 0. (Backlash corlperts¿ttiorr rs done by AGA .ISet I 1 .) Connect SkySensor to AGA 1 usirrgl optionally availabl" connector cable. ln Autoguider Mt-'ntt irl tlte setup (plea:;' see Section 4.7.3\, set Autoguider to ON The speed sci ting in the Autoguicler rs inrtially set to 0.5x, but lr¡r differerit spéeds anC use the speecl setting thitt gives the best rt I Wherr t:xtcrn;tl cncodors are used, you can point the telescope to rrrr otr¡cr:t lry displ.rying the X-Y coordinates of lhe teles;r;o¡rr: olr llrc l;l;ttus lirre and the X-Y coordinates of the objoct «rrr llrc tl,tl;t lirrc ttrtd rnove the telescope, either by hetrrd or lry u:'rrrr¡ llrr ttlotors, until the coordinates are matchccl. sult. , Slew the telescope to the obiect by using the GOTC ktrv or by using the drrection keys, then sert AGA 1 on the guid'' star following the instrurction tnanual for AGA-1 to start gurd ing. X Y, oLrrri r1,rlo of lÉrLe:t(t(i[]e X \' , Lrlr¡lrr,rlr (jl lltr) oi)lect The abovr) cx,unpll r,ltow:; lrow tltrt coordinates are matcl-red irt tlrc rlt:;¡rl,ty lo lrrtttr¡ llrtt ob¡ccl trlto tlte view. 6.3 External Encoder SkySensor can be used with external errcoder units such "tr' thé GP Encoder. When using the external encoder:' SkySensor computes the telescope position using the signa"' froil thenr, so it becomes possible to looserl the clamps atrrl move tl'le telescope by hand. However' the motor conti')l becomeslimited,andtheycanbeusedonlyliketwo.axisdrivr, corrector units. Connect external encoders and SkySertsor using optioir ally available connector cable' - , ln the Encoder menu in the setup (please select External e ncode r. tu" t"tton 47:lr lf the motors are not Eo¡ng to be used, set the "Mtr" parart eter to Cff. Setting this parameter to Off helps prevettt encoder read error wllen the telescope is moved rapicily ln this mode, you do not need to corlnect the motor cabler' 9B t- Chapter 7 Operation ltPs Chapter C 7 99 Conlroller Operation i I To list all oblects in the database ll To lind a narred object Coordinate displays on LCD.. lTo delete a usior menu object tl lt tfre display ilf)pe¿-lrs stuck.. ! l To verify tlrc r;r¡rrent motor mode .. L :To chanqe :;p{rori nlode without looking down ......... Operation TiPs I04 r05 105 106 106 106 106 Telescope Conlrol i=l lf the tele:;r:o[)r nrovo: r rl unexpected directions... 107 I llf the telest;o¡rc ill)l){¡; rr:; str¡ck at the pole... 108 fl lf the telesr:o¡rrr ,r[)[){r, rr; r;tuck at zeni1h... 108 i llf the tripocj rtttrtrf rtr:, wrllr tlle telescope. 108 i llf the tele:;i:o¡rc lrt,, llrrr lrrlrotl ;rnd becomes stuck .. 108 onte nts Emergency L 1 To stop the motors in an e me rg e ncy 100 Convenience l lTo reduce the motor noise L lTo make batteries last longer . Settrng U p : I Using SkySensor in the southern hemisphere.. . ... I llnitial position for a scope on the accessory plate. il To set up the telescope before the sky gets dark .. L lTo use land oblects for the alignment i iD¡fficulty in achieving a three po¡nt alignment 1 0t) 100 Motor Operation L lWhich nrotor r, lor llA, I)r,r 'r I Ilf the motor silol)i, nr()vrr(l L. lf the motor IItovc', ',lrrr¡r¡r,lrly Ll lf the motor:;lrrrrlrjrr,, wlllr, lr,rr;kirrr¡ 108 109 110 110 General 101 101 101 101 102 Observing rTo stop the tracking motion for land observations..... I02 .......... 102 il To observe the Sun ... .......... 102 1 i Modes f or celestial photography . .. .... 103 photograph a comet i JTo .. 103 L.To enter an object's coordinates manually ..... 103 L lll you don't see the satellite . ... 104 menu .. you not on the it in sky, but lf the see I [ ]lf nothing hap¡rcn'; wlrer) you turn on the power Ilf SkySensor (l ctr; rlr,cl il lf the clock anti l),rr,ur{)l{rr settings get erased I ]When sometlrrrrrl r:; not n(l 1rt.......... .. . 111 .... ...... 111 111 .111 100 ChapterT OperatiotTips [] i lTo stop the motors in an ernergency Using SkySensor in the southern hemisphere To stop the motors in an emergency, turn off the power switclr This is the sure way to stop the; nlotors to avoid an acciderrl Remember that you can routinely turn off the power and therr resume operation conveniently by pressing ESC after turninr¡ the power back on. (lf the power switch is turned off while thl To use SkySensor in the southern hemisphere, simply set the latitude of tllr: observation site in the setup menu to a negative nunrbcr ;rnd reset the power. When the latitude is nega- tive when SkySt-.rrsor is powered on, it will automatically set itself up lor ttrc operation in the southern hemisphere. motors are turning at high speed, the encoder reading mily become slightly off and realignment rrray become necessary ln the soutlrr:rrr lrcrrrisphere, the initial position assumes that the polar;rxir; ir; pointed south. The polar axis of the mount should poirrt to llrr: soulh pole in the Polar-aligned Equatorial mount ntodc ) I r To reduce the motor noise When observing late at night, you may want to keep the noisi' to a minimum. To lower the motor noise, set the maximurrr speed setting of the motor to a low speed. By setting thl speed to about 500x, you can reduce the noise signif icantly At about 300x, the noise will be at whisper level. Please serr "Motor Speed Menu" in Section 4.7.3 on ltow to set the motr-'r speed limit. r llnitial positiorr lor il scope on the accessory plate When the tr:lc:;c«r¡tc tLrbe is mounted on an accessory plate, the tube is rnorrrrllrl 1)0 rJei¡rees from the normal position, and it cannot bc ¡ro:;rlrorrr)(l ils shown in the diagram in Section 2.1 .3. WIrcrr rr:,rrrr¡ llrc il(icr)ssory plate, the telescope tube should poirrt to rrr¡lrl ;r; slrown in the diagram, but the Dec. motor also wrll lrrr orr llrc riqht side (toward the front of the telescopo ) T lrr : r r; r: ;orr ll rc [Jt--c. rnotor position is specified is to prevent tlrc nrolor lrorr:;itt{¡s from colliding. , lTo make batteries last longer When using dry cell batteries for power, especially when i1':, cold, the batteries may not last long. Here are some tips orr how to increase the battery life. ' Keep batteries warm: Batteries run down quickly when they are cold. ' Use high performance alkaline batteries: Alkaline battery performance may vary by as much as factor of two depending on the make. ' i- tltl lcl():i(.()l)() trcf ore the sky gets dark You can set u¡.r;rrrtl ,rlrr¡rr tlrc tclcscope before the stars be- To set up rrr Ilre r,ky lry u:'rtrt1 tltc Moort or a bright planet. lt is also possiblc to r¡r;c l;rrtrl olr¡ccts stored in rnemory from previous obst-.rv¿tltott l;o:;1;totlfi;t:; rrtlrtrt)rtct: pornts. Or, if you have not movr-'d tlrc lllcr;c«r¡lr: or Iltc rt)ourtt since the last observatton sessrclrr, you (iiul :;rrtt¡tly s,witclt on the power and press ESC to st,rrt obrcrvrrtr¡ wrtltout rtecding to realign. come visiblc ,r Set the maximum motor speed to a low setting: Motors use less current at lower speed, increasing thi' battery life. Slewing the telescope increases the current drain several folrl Avoid unnecessary slewing to save power. ln a very cold clr mate, the use of the optional 12 volt rechargeable battery recommended. Using the cigarette lrghter outlet of a car whiii' i the engine is running is not recommended because of thl possibility of a power surge, which may damage SkySensor I lTo use land ob jcctl; lor tlrt: ¿llignment You can use land obiects ¿ts reference points for the alignment. You need to f rrst altg¡rt tlre telescope at the observation site using celestiirl ob jt:cts and store the AltAz coordinates of the land ob¡ecls in tlre Larrd rnenu using the STORE key. Then the next time you observe at that site, you can select a reference object fronl tlre Land menu, center ¡t in the view and press ALIGN to do the alignment,lust as you would with celestial objects 102 Chapter 7 Operation Tips lr []Difficulty in achieving a three point alignment Occasionally, you may have sor¡e difficulties achieving a three point alignment. This happens if the X-axis (declination)coordinates of the reference points are too close. (Note that the X-axis coordinales of +30 and -30 degrees are different, al, though they are both the same distance front the pole. Please see Section 2.3.10.) Once a three point alignment is achieved, then subsequent alignments are usually three point alignments, as there are more possible combinations of reference points that can be used. A three point alignment is more difficull to achieve in the alta, zimuth mount mode, since there is only 90 dcgrees of travel in altitude (f rom horizon to zenith)for the altazimuth mount mode as opposed to '180 degrees of travel in declinalion for the equa, torial mount mode. ln the altazimuth mount rnode, you shoulC select reference points with as large elevation difference possible. as; There is an algorithm in the three point alrgnment progranr that rejects a reference point if the computed error of the ini tial position ang le is more than 10 degrees lSee Section 5.1 .1 "Effects of the lnitial Settings".) lf you aro unable to get to a three point aiignment, please be sure that you have set the initial position with reasonable accuracy. . rTo stop the tracking motion for lancl observations To stop the sidereal tracking motion, selr:ct the Land menu from the maln menu selection. Please see Section 2.3.8. "About Daytime Viewing and the Sun". i I To obse rve the Sun To observe the Sun, select the Sun menu f rom the main menu selection. Please see Section 2.3.8, "About Dayt¡me Viewing and the Sun", for details. Lt To photog raph a comet For photographing a comet, a commonly used method is to mount a camera on top of the telescope and use the telescope simply as a platform to guide the exposure. The telescope lens is not used with this method. A focal length between 50 ntnr to 300 nrm forthe camera lens is recommended, and an exposurc tinre between about 5 minutes and 20 m¡nutes (assuntirrg ir trigh speed film)will be needed. For celestialphotogr;iplry, ttre polar axis needsto be aligned accurately' Since SkySor)r;or c¿lr) follow the individual motion of a comet from its orbitlrl elctttr:rlts, it is well suited for photographing a fast moving¡ cotltr:t rl To enter art oll¡oct's coordinates manually You can ertlr:r tltc <;oorcllttittes of the object you want to observe manLraily u:;rrrt.¡ tlrc COORD key. Please see Section 4.6, "COORD Kr:y I rtlcrirt<¡ Coordinates", for details. [r lf you dcrn't When the satellilc ;tl,trttl r¡oos of f arrd you slew the telescope to it with GOf O, yotr rrriry rrot itlw:lys see a satellite where the telescoPe is Poirrtccl lf you clon't s()() tlr(r srrt(]llitc in the finder, look in the direction the telescopt: ts ¡-roirttt:d wrthout using the telescope for what looks like a stitr tlr¿tt s()errs lo move slowly across the sky' lf you do no[ Í]oo tlrt: satellite, please check the following: ' The satellite:s are visible only for a short time after sunset and for a sltort tirne before sunrise. This is because the satellite rttust reflect sunlight to be seen. ' For observing satellites, the longitude and latitude of the observation s¡te must be set very accurately. This is because the apparent posit¡on of a satellite in a low Earth orbit depends greatly on longitude/ latitude. E Modes for celestial photography For celestial photography with SkySensor, align the polar axis accurately using the polar axis scope and set the mount mode to Polar-Aligned Equatorial. Although SkySensor follows the motion of the stars without aligning the polar axis, the fielct would rotate. causing the star images away f rom the center to become elongated. The use of the PEC function and the op tional Autoguider will help track stars accurately. srlr: lltc :;;tlcllittr . Because the satellites move fast and their position can vary greatly with a small change in the orbital elements, be sure to use the latest available orbital elements. For more details, please see Section 5.8, "Observing lites". I04 clr4p,ler L llf Z, _ .t05 Ooeration Tips you see it in the sky, but not on the menu lTo f ind a nanred object Although SkySensor can list objects' name, sometimes it is not easy to find a particular name in the long list of objects in the object nrcnu. For example, if you want to find the California nebula in tlrc consteilation Perseus, it takes time and patience (espccially if you are not sure if the ob¡ect is in the database) to f irrd it arnong thousands of NGC objects if you did not know its NGC number (1499 for the California nebula). To find thr: rrirrnc, you can set the constellation parameter in Object Typc Mcrru (scc Section 4.7.4)lo the constellation of that object Tlris will rnake it much easier to scrollthrough the list to find tlro otr¡cr;t by rrraking the list much shorter. This method c¿rrr;rlr;o lrc urrcd for other named objects, such as named slars lf yotr rr;c orrc of the non-default setup number to set up t[rc r;c;rrr:lr, you oiln quickly change the search parameter barck try:;irrr¡rly r;lrirrrc¡ rrrq tlre setup number. For example, you may see the Moon in the sky, but the Moon does not appear in the Moon menu. Cause: The date/time or the longitude/latitude settinrl in setup is incorrect; OR, the position of the Moorr is outside the region specif ied rn "Object Direc tion Menu" in the setup. Solution: Check to see that the date, time, longitude, antl latitude are set correctly in ttte Location and Timtr category of the setup. Venfy that the day of thtr week displayed on the frrst line of Date and Timtr Menu is correct. lf an object such as NGC ob¡ect does not get displayed, you can enter its number directly into the nrenu and check thtr data display for its altitude and azimuth to see if it agrees witlr the apparent direction. lf the object is not in tlre database, tht: message "No data" will be displayed. lTo list all objects in the database lf you want to list all objects in the database, you can do so by setting the object selection criteria in the setup menu to show all objects. You can then use NEXTi PREV to scroll through all objects in the menu that normally do not show up on the mentr because they are out of view. To specify all objects, in the "Object Direction Menu" (sel Section 4.7.4), set "Elev" to -90, "Azimuth" to 000>360, ancl "Cnst" to "---". Elv(Bk) Azimuth -90(00) 000>360 C nst Object direction menu The object type in Object Type Menu should be set to "-also, as in the following example. Mag Srze(,¡ -9>20 000>900 Type Object type menu [] Coordirt¿'ttt: clr;¡rl;tyr; orr I o[) On SkySensor, y()u nr;ty :icc r;oortllrlrtcs, rlisplayed on the f irst line and,/or tllc r;r'conrllirtc ilrcy rllry br: l¿rbeled RaDec or AltAz, X'Y, or.lll0(X) rlr;¡rl;ry is tlrr-. status line, which shows the status of tlrrr tr:lcr;co¡lc lrrrcl tho controller. So the coordinates on tho f irs;l lilrr ;rrc tlrc coordinates of the position the telescope is currcrrtly pointirrg. On the status line, you can also display ttrr: crrrrcrrt ltrne or lhe guide display (the header for the data displlyccl orr the second line). Use the DISP key to change wtr¿rt is drsplayed on the status line. (Please see Section 4.1 for rrrore urfornration about using the DISP key.) The f irst lint: of tlrc I OIt The second line of tlre LCD display showsthe information about the objects you lr;rve selected in the object menu. So the coordinates on llris line are the coordinates of the selected oblect. You can use N EXT/ PREV key to see other data for the object. What is drsplayed on th¡s line depends on the object. (Please see Scction 3.3.3 for more information about the object data display.) RaDec, AltAz, X Y, and J2000 are different coordinate systems, which can be used to refer lo the same point. Please see Sect¡on 2.3.10 for the explanation of the coordinate systems. 10/ l(xi I To delete a user menu obiect To delete an object fronr a uscr rlenu (User1, Use12, Land, Comets, or Satellite menu), select Oblect Deletiorr Screen f rorrr the data editor in each menu and prr:ss ENTER. (Please setr Section 3.3.2 about the data editor for each menu.) When you delete an object, that oblcct will be removed frotrr the list of objects in that menu, but d¿rta itself (except for tho label) will i'emain in the mernory. lf you edit the data for thal selection number, those data will sl-row up again. lf you would like to completely erase all data, please see "Press 4 direc tlon keys simuitaneously while switching the power Ol'1", irt Section 3.1 .5. I I lf the d isplay apPears stuck L r The dispiay will soon return to normal by itself Occasionally, the telescope may appear to move in an unexpected direction or suddcrrly change its direction. llrr: Cause I: Solution Cause 1 : 2: Cause llrr tclesr;ope is moving to avoid the Sun. 3: can press thern w¡thout looking at the controller.) . Fast: Press [+]key twice. . Medium: Press [+]key twice, then [-]key once . Slow: Press [-]key twice. SikySicn:;«tr ts programmed to move the telescope irwly f rorrr tlrc Sun when it gets too close to it. Ilri:rc will be it warning message when this happrr:;, lrrrl rrc¡ warning beep will sound. This is a Irornt¡tl lrclurvior. Please check the display for Ilro Cause 4: w; rrlur(l nlossage. lf tlrr: lr;rr;kl,ltlr corrrpensation value is not acltlrt ltlcscope may move in ziOzags or jLr:,tr,rl res;¡rorrrl :;lrrwly or junrp suddenly when direction krryl;;rrr ¡rrrl:l:;crl Tttis is especially apparent at slow :;¡rcrrll; To verify the current motor mode, press the MODE key. Thtr on the bottom row of the keypad, where with a little practice you Irc nrotor control mode is not set to what you cx¡tcctod. [)rrr;¡,; MODE to verify the control mode. To ve rif y the curre nt motor mode [:] To change speed mode without looking down The motor speed mode is changed by pressing the [+] and [ | keys. By pressing the keys in the following sequence, you catr change the motor speed to the desired speed mode withotrt looking down on the display. fl-he [+]and [ ] keys are positioned Olreck to see that the RA and DEC motor cables lrre corlrrected lo correci motors. Solution 2 . current conlrol mode and the speed mode will be displayed for 5 seconds on the status line. (lf you press the MODE key again while the mode is being displayed, it will cause the corr trol mode to change.) nrotor cables are crossed between RA and DE,C Solution 3 Occasionally,lhe second line of the LCD display may appear stuck halfway through uPdating. Cause: When the status display on the f rrst line is chang ing rapidly, the second line may appear stuck i1 the first line changes before the second line carr be uPdated comPletelY. Solution: Lllf the telescope moves in unexpected directions Solution 4: llrc Ir;rr;klir:';lr r;ornpcnSation. (Please see Sr:r;lrorr lr (i, "lictlrrtr¡ tlrc B¿rcklash Compensation", lor tlrc ¡rrot;crlrrrc ) Also. setting the motor control nro