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1. 90 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 69
2. You may need to invert multiply by 1 the rate if a slew takes the scope to the opposite side of the mount The invert status is saved between program invocations Pulse Guiding When the correct rate has been set pulse guiding will allow you to do unguided CCD exposures for many minutes even when polar alignment and or refraction effects the rate that the stars move relative to the motion of the mount You activate pulse guiding by pressing the On button Immediately PulseGuide will command the mount at precise times with commands sent on the serial port The real time rate that PulseGuide calculates is displayed just to the left of the On and Off buttons PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 44 The pictures below are cropped 5 minute ST 10XE images 1 2 arc sec pixel taken with a 1200GTO mount and AP155 refractor at 1085 mm focal length The mount s polar axis was purposely misaligned to show the capabilities of PulseGuide The image on the left shows the extent of the mistracking Turning pulse guiding on results in a good exosure Press the Off button to turn off the pulse guider While pulse guiding is enabled certain features like PEM record are disabled eg PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 45 m Pulse Guiding Realtime Status RAArcSec See 5 fo77o or When pulse guiding is active DecArcSec See 8 fosssaf o there is a
3. applications you might be running Make sure you don t have another instance of PulseGuide running and connected to that serial port PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 59 Appendix A ASTRO PHYSICS COMMAND PROTOCOL FOR GTO MOUNTS Version D or KD Commands effective 05 07 01 Text modified 09 24 01 These are the commands associated with version D or KD of the ROM chip in the GTO Control Box All chips marked C or KC include all commands listed below except Command pS You can check the version of your chip by opening the cover of the control box If your chip is not dated at all it was probably programmed prior to July 1999 and is an early version The chip versions beginning with K are for the 400GTO and 600EGTO mounts shipped after 02 16 00 These commands are similar to the Meade LX200 protocol Command Sr HH MM SS or Sr HH MM SS S Response 1 Defines the commanded Right Ascension RA Command may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format has been selected RA specified as DD MM SS will also be interpreted properly if greater precision is required but this is not typically how RA is expressed This command automatically selects RA DEC mode Move and calibrate commands operate on the most recently defined RA if in RA DEC mode Command Sd sDD MM or Sd sDD MM SS Response 1 Defines the commanded Declination DEC Co
4. 2 Other Restrictions You may not reverse engineer decompile or disassemble the Software Product or make any attempt to discover the source code to the Software Product Except as expressly permitted in this License Agreement or with written permission from Sirius maging Ray Gralak ray gralak com the Software may not be used copied redistributed retransmitted published sold rented leased marketed sublicensed assigned transferred altered or modified 3 Liability BECAUSE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 5 MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT IS WITH YOU SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT PROVE DEFECTIVE YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING REPAIR OR CORRECTION IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND OR REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT AS PERMITTED ABOVE BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES INCLUDING ANY GENERAL SPECIAL INC
5. 2008 Ray Gralak 60 Command Gr sDD MMf or St sDD MM SS Response 1 Sets the current latitude Command may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format selected Command SL HH MM SS Response 1 Sets the current local time Command may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format selected Command SC MM DD YY Response 16 spaces followed by 8 followed by 16 spaces followed by Sets the current date Note that year fields equal to or larger than 97 are assumed to be 20 century Year 97 are assumed to be 21 century Command GG Response HH MM M or HH MM SS S if long format Gets the offset from Greenwich mean time Although typically only hours field is of interest the return value will standard 24 hour format Command Gg Response DDD MM or DDD MM SS if long format Gets the current longitude Command Gt Response sDD MM or sDD MM SS if long format Gets the current latitude Command GL Response HH MM M or HH MM SS S if long format Gets the current local time in 24 hr format Command GS Response HH MM M or HH MM SS S if long format Gets the current sidereal time in 24 hr format Command GR Response HH MM M or HH MM SS S if long format Gets the current Right Ascension Command GD Response sDD MM or SDD MM SS if long format Gets the current Declination Command GA Response sDD MM
6. Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 27 Set Meridian Delay PulseGuide supports a simulated meridian delay feature by adding an offset to the mount s time For example if the time is really 1OPM and you press Set Meridian Delay with a meridian delay of 1 hours then PulseGuide will set the time to 9PM even though it is really 10PM The time change affects which side of the mount will put the scope on when you issue a GOTO command If you specify meridian offset 0 and you issue a GOTO to a star that is east of the meridian then the mount will place the scope on the right side of the mount A GOTO to a star west of the meridian will place the scope on the east side of the mount A positive Meridian Delay will simulate all objects being farther west than they really are This will cause the mount to flip the scope to the east side of the mount on a GOTO command before the object reaches the meridian This allows you to track an object across the meridian until well after the meridian without risk of the scope hitting the pier You can also use the Delayed Stop feature for additional safety Positive Meridian Delay Allows This on GOTO PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 28 A negative Meridian Delay value will simulate all objects being farther east than they really are This will cause the mount to flip the scope to the west side of the mount on a GOTO command for
7. Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Connection Firmware Additional Config lea I Disable RA Dec Alt Az Help Ask if OKto Ext M Confirm GOTOs V Always on top Iw Confirm Syncs Iv TI Display Alt Az About RA 17 56 41 0 Dec 89 4924 Side East LST 00 25 13 HA 06 28 32 Ask if OK to Exit If this option is checked then PulseGuide will ask if you really wanted to exit the application when you close it This may prevent you from accidentally closing PulseGuide when you did not mean to Always on top If this option is checked then PulseGuide will attempt to keep itself on top of all other windows Ignore Mount Timeouts If checked if the mount does not respond then PulseGuide will not automatically disconnect This option is useful when becoming familiar with PulseGuide without actually connecting to your mount If you are having communication difficulties you may also want to check this option You PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 24 Disable RA Dec Alt Az If selected this option will stop PulseGuide from querying the mount for RA Dec and Alt Az Typically you will leave this unchecked but sometimes when debugging the other features with the log window enabled it is easier to see the commands you are interested in Confirm GOTOs If selected a dialog will pop up whenever you click the GOTO button in the Guide Slew Page Confirm
8. Syncs f selected a dialog will pop up whenever you click the SYNC button in the Guide Slew Page Display Alt Az If selected Altitude and Azimuth will display in the status bar instead of RA Dec PulseGuide still queries for RA Dec because some of the other features need it like the hour angle in the status bar PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 25 Status Bar When connected a status bar with 5 panes appears in the bottom of PulseGuide Here is the description of each pane RA 030828 8 Dec 894530 Side East LS5ST 090850 HA 060021 RA This field shows the current Right Ascension of the mount PulseGuide updates this field once a second Dec This field shows the current Declination of the mount PulseGuide updates this field once a second Side This is the side of the mount the telescope is on as reported by the mount The actual side may be different if you set a meridian delay in the Time Page PulseGuide updates this field once a minute LST This is the local sidereal time which is obtained by adding the time zone to the sidereal time received from the mount PulseGuide queries the mount once a minute for this parameter but automatically increments the time every second HA This is the hour angle of the telescope which is the angle from the meridian A negative value tells how many hours minutes and seconds before the scope crosses the meridian A positive value indicates
9. after an object reaches the meridian vie A I ae t D Negative Meridian Delay Allows This on GOTO PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 29 Site Page Here you can manage your sites A site is defined by it s name and includes a longitude and latitude You can also retrieve and set the longitude and latitude of the mount EN PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Site Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Site Longitude and Latitude N 37 24 43 W 1215105 N 37 24 43 E55000 S 37 24 43 RA 18 08 47 6 Dec 89 4924 Side East LST 00 4959 HA 06 41 12 Get From Mount Clicking this button will send commands to the mount to return the current longitude latitude of the mount The longitude and latitude returned from the mount will be placed in the appropriate fields If the mount returned the values OK then the Site Name field will be filled with Got Long Lat OK Send to Mount Clicking this button will send the displayed longitude and latitude to the mount You can double click any Site in the table below to load it into the Location Longitude and Latitude fields Alternatively you can single click a site in the table and press the Edit button to load that site PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 30 Save Clicking this button will place the site into
10. be about the same Although not shown in this particular image the East and West points will be slightly brighter than the North South points This will make it easy for Roland to establish the orientation of the camera PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 53 Test 2 Dec Backlash Test 2 After starting an exposure then press the Start Test 27 button The movements will take about 21 seconds so set the exposure for 25 or 30 seconds Do one image for each of the 3 quide rates You will run Test 2 three Guide Rate hon sl times once for each of the guide rates Before starting Move Time 5 Default secs this test set up your camera Pause Time 1 Default 1 sec Start Test 2 control program e g MaximDL CCDOps etc to do a 25 second exposure but do not try to autoguide You can also set up an auto dark exposure but make sure that you start the test when the camera control software is exposing the light image Start by setting the Guide Rate to 1x Once you start the exposure press the Start Test 2 button With the default settings recommended the entire procedure will take about 16 seconds Although the scale might be different the stars in the resulting exposure should look something like the image shown For reference the actual movement in Test 2 is North West South West West only the pause setting North West Now you will need to repeat the tests at 0
11. coordinates 9 Sync to manually entered coordinates 10 STOP movement button to stop a GOTO if necessary 11 When one of the Set Guide Centering Rate buttons is pressed the rate is now displayed in the center of the Move Scope buttons in addition to the Last Sent edit box PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 11 12 PulseGuide now updates RA and Dec every second instead of every other second 13 Removed the ALT AZ option tell me if you want it back in 14 Unpark now sends location and time zone in addition to time which was all that PulseGuide sent in v1 10 In particular this is what PulseGuide sends when you click Unpark commands sent in this order Longitude Latitude Local Time Time Zone Date Unpark command Set Sidereal Rate PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 12 Getting Started After starting PulseGuide but before connecting to the mount you will need to connect a serial cable to the mount and determine which COM port to select PulseGuide requires a serial connection from your PC to your mount using a straight through DB9 cable One end of the cable must have a female connector and the other end male Cables as long as 100 feet or more should work provided the cable is made from high quality shielded cable Cables with twisted pair wires work best such as those from Belden Connect the male end of the serial cable t
12. how long ago the current object passed the meridian PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 26 Time Page Figure 3 Shows the Time Page Whenever you enter this page PulseGuide sends a command to the mount to get its time and time zone offset While this page is active PulseGuide simply increments the mount s time once per second without querying the mount again If you wish to get the mount s time again then simply click another page and then go back to this page iz PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Site Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Time Mount Time 16 33 42 Set Time Zone Offset Time Zone 8 00 Hours Mins I Fill TZ Offset from mourt Time Zone Offset 8 In Simulated Meridian Delay Meridian delay Hours Set Meridian Delay steely ar o RA 18 08 47 6 Dec 89 4924 Side East LST 00 48 59 HA 06 40 12 Figure 6 Time and Time Zone You can set the mount to the PC by clicking the Set Time to PC Time button Similarly clicking the Set Time Zone Offset button will set the time zone offset to the hours and minutes you enter Fill TZ Offset When this is checked the Set Time Zone Offset hours and minutes fields will be filled in with the time zone offset received from the mount PulseGuide queries the mount for time zone offset each time you enter this page PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual
13. if you have a site selected Latitude if you have a site selected Local Time Time Zone Date Unpark command Set Sidereal Rate PulseGuide uses the current PC time and the time zone that is set on the Time Page and the longitude and latitude of the site selected in the PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 34 drop down list box Additionally PulseGuide sends a command to set the tracking rate to Sidereal in case it was set otherwise The list box s first entry is an option not to send the long lat to the mount Other entries in the list box are from entries in the table in the Site Page PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 35 Parking the mount Parking stops the mount completely and de energizes the motors If power is maintained to the mount RA and Dec are still calculated when queried but RA will change as the mount will not move PulseGuide has a one button unpark feature that can park the mount in the current position one of the three AP Park Positions or a user defined ALT AZ position There is also an option to slew east a number of hours before doing the park Hours Park Slew East first Goto AP park position 3 then Park D Alt Az User Park Position 3 23 First select the position to park in There are five choices Park at current position Parks the mount exactly where it is unless Slew East First is ch
14. might ask why would you even care to pulse guide if you have an auto guider Well one example is if you are doing imaging with a single CCD camera and you do not have an auto guider You could pulse guide to enable you to guide without a guider The same applies if you have an SBIG camera and are doing Hydrogen Alpha imaging and you cannot find a bright enough guide star through the Hydrogen Alpha filter If you are auto guiding with a CCD camera you just need to press Stop If not you must manually re center the star visually or with your CCD camera In either case you will see the following dialog when you press the Stop button PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 43 PulseGuide Measured Rates Results Total Measured Movement Time Rate ee Both Antes ArcSecs Secs ArcSec Sec Zb 0 98901 Use RA Rate 9 2 0 21739 Use Dec Rate Inet RA Rate M Invert Dec Rate RA Ian SS Dec Cancel If you don t want to use the rates just press Cancel Use Both Rates Automatically fills the RA Arcsec sec and Dec ArcSec Sec fields with the displayed RA and Dec rates respectively Use RA Rate Automatically fills the RA Arcsec sec field with the displayed RA rate Use RA Rate Automatically fills the Dec ArcSec Sec field with the displayed Dec rate Cancel Neither rate is used Invert RA Rate Will invert RA rate if needed Invert Dec Rate Will invert Dec rate if needed
15. mount that the scope is on Local Sidereal time and Object Hour Angle Set the tracking rate sidereal lunar solar zero Delayed stop or park of the mount so the scope will not hit the pier if you fall asleep or forget to shut down the scope PEM On Off record with timer Set mount to PC Time and set Time Zone Set a Meridian delay so the mount will not flip on a GOTO command Convenient Site management GOTO Sync to RA DEC coordinates STOP button to stop a GOTO if desired TPoint resynchronization This is a useful tool if you are using Software Bisque s TheSky with a TPoint model and lose synchronization because you moved the scope by hand Focus control including a counter to keep track of position Reticle brightness control Set mount backlash Other miscellaneous features PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 8 Changes New Features Bug Fixes Version 1 37 March 6 2008 1 Fixed install bug that asked to reinstall everytime PulseGuiude is run 2 Added reverse Dec RA checkboxes in Measurement dialog Version 1 36 February 6 2008 1 Fixed timing bug that may cause a queued command to be sent before a reply to the previous command is received Version 1 35 January 31 2008 1 Added North South field to Declination in Goto Sync group box 2 Fixed bug in Mount Initialization dialog Slew rate is now initialized 3 Add a button to load the curre
16. mount the autoguider may keep sending signals to move the mount further even though the rate is zero PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 33 Unparking the mount PulseGuide has a one button unpark feature that sends all necessary information to the mount to initialize it without the keypad You cannot unpark from the last parked position if the mount is already initialized because a second unpark will reset the RA and Dec to what they are at the last parked position and your mount will no longer be pointing correctly When you first connect to the mount if PulseGuide detects that the mount is at RA 0 Dec 90 or Dec 90 the uninitialized position it will ask if you want to initialize the mount see Getting Started section If you have moved your scope and don t remember where you parked it last then you can also unpark from one of the three AP park positions or our own ALT AZ Unpark Park Unpark From Last Parked D When unparking use this Site s Long Lat Home sl Before unparking you should also set the site to use If you have not set this up yet you can do so in the Site Page If you have not changed sites from the last time the mount was unparked it is ok to not select a site although it won t hurt to select one Clicking the Unpark button will initialize the mount with the following information clears buffers U sets high precision mode Longitude
17. on your GTO E e Control Box JMI Meade and others make such a focuser j First select the rate fast or slow then press the or button to adjust the focus Note The selected rate will override the keypad s rate once one of these buttons is pressed Quickly pressing the or button will send a pulse about 40 milliseconds in length and change the position by 1 unit if in slow mode and 100 units if in fast mode If you keep pressing the button then additional pulses will be sent The pulses will accelerate as you keep pressing Note 100 position units in slow mode is NOT necessarily equal to 100 position units in fast mode That is dependent on the hardware You can reset the counter by pressing the Reset Pos button Because there is no direct correlation between the rates of the fast and slow modes the position will automatically reset to 0 if you switch between Fast and Slow focusing modes Reticle r Reticle You can adjust the brightness of an illuminated reticle with gt this control First plug the cord of the reticle into the ES connector on the GTO Control Panel Pressing the button will increase reticle brightness Pressing the button will reduce brightness One click of the button will change the brightness by one level up to the maximum or minimum brightness Backlash m Backlash Arc Secs This command sets the amount of Set D _SetDec_ Backlash backlash ti lo
18. or sDD MM SS if long format Gets the current Altitude PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 61 Command GZ Response sDD MM or sSDD MM SS if long format Gets the current Azimuth Command CM Response Coordinates matched there are 5 spaces between Coordinates and matched and 8 trailing spaces before the the total response length is 32 character plus the Calibrate mount Current Right Ascension and Declination become the commanded Right Ascension and Declination respectively if in RA DEC mode If in ALT AZ mode then the commanded Altitude and Azimuth become the current This command assumes that the mount has been manually positioned on the proper pier side for the calibration object This command is ignored if slewing is in progress This command should be used for initial calibration It should not be used after the mount has been tracking unless it is known that it has not tracked across the meridian Command Mn Ms Me Mw Response none Command motion in the direction specified n north s south e east w west the currently selected guide or centering rate Motion will continue until a quit command is issued Command MS Response 0 if command accepted none if command not accepted 1Object is below horizon if the horizon check is turned on and the desired object is below 0 degrees altitude 8 trailing sp
19. p pR pP Response none This command either invokes PEM record mode pR invokes PEM playback mode pP or turns playback off p The record function will remain active for one full revolution of the worm gear and cannot be terminated If p or pP is received during record it will be ignored The time required for a record cycle depends upon which mount is used and how much correction is applied Commands to slew will be ignored during record Commands to select centering speed will become active only after the record cycle has been completed When playback is selected it remains active until turned off Playback is also temporarily turned off when a command to slew is issued or any of the N S E W buttons are pressed It is automatically reinvoked when the commanded position has been reached and none of the N S E W buttons are pressed This command is not in the Meade manual Command Bd DD MM SS _ Br DD MM SS Response 1 This command sets the amount of backlash compensation employed each time a servo motor axis reverses direction Bd sets the backlash of the DEC axis Br sets the backlash of the RA axis Resolution of the backlash is in arc seconds Typically the degrees and minutes fields are zero to specify the amount of backlash only in seconds Values of backlash above 00 54 36 may be truncated depending upon which mount is used this is a ridiculously large value typical values should be well under 00 01 00 The defaul
20. pulses 2 seconds apart ito the North then an equal number of pulses to the South Guide Rate Cycle D Default Cycle through all 3 rates Pulses 5 Default 5 Pulse Duration 133 Default 133 mSecs Start Test 3 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 52 Dec Backlash Test 1 Test 1 Before starting Test 1 set up After starting an exposure press the Start Test 1 button Do this your camera control program test at the 0 5 guide rate It will take about 30 seconds to complete with the default settings so try an exposure of at least e g MaximDL CCDOps etc 100 seconds to do a 100 second exposure Guide Rat DI but do not autoguide You is can also set up an auto dark Move Time 10 Default 10 secs exposure but make sure that Pause Time 2 Default 2 secs Start Test 1 you start the test when the camera control software is exposing the light image Once you start the exposure press the Start Test 1 button With the default settings recommended the entire procedure will take about 90 seconds Test 1 will move the scope in this manner East pause West pause East to center North pause South pause North to center The stars in the resulting exposure should look something like the image to the right The scale might be different but you should see what looks like many plus signs in the image If you take the image near Dec 0 the height and width will
21. variety of real time Pulse Guide Rate 1 00 information available The numbers circled in the picture to the above right are the calculated rates in RA Dec based on the duration of the movement commands sent to the mount The Measure Rate Tool has this additional e g m Measure Rate Tool information Time Active duration of this pulse guiding session Time Si2Secs dRA This is the actual measured change in Right GRA j 0 80757 VS Ascension divided by the time active dier 0 81250 75 dDec This is the actual measured change in Declination divided by the time active Because software timers do not always execute exactly when requested the rates most likely will not exactly match but there is a close loop algorithm in the software that tries to home in on the desired rate The Realtime Status section shows the latest periods of time that the mount moves are active and the total number of commands pulses sent to the mount m Realtime Status Dec RA Pulse On 663 mSecs 31 mSecs Pulse Off 337 mSecs 969 mSecs Pulses 3008 8 59 sec 3007 8 59 sec PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 46 Trouble Shooting If you are having trouble getting good results 1 Make sure you have trained PEM on a steady night or with PEMPro and have turned PEM on 2 Try measuring the rate for a longer period the longer the better If you measure the rate
22. 50x and 0 25x The star patterns will look similar but smaller because the movement rate is slower Here are two examples taken with my Traveler 0 50x 0 25x PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 54 AFTER RUNNING TESTS 1 AND 2 If you see star patterns different from the above images then crop a bright star in each of the four images and save them as a high quality JPEG Please make sure to stretch each image appropriately so that it is not too dim or overexposed If you do not know how to stretch and create a jpeg then save the cropped image in FITS format Then send the 4 files preferably zipped to save bandwidth to Roland at chris1011 aol com After submitting these tests AP will advise you if anything appears anomalous and if so what can be done about it PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 55 Dec Test 3 Test This test moves the This test requires you to take the cover off the dec motor box to declination motor at re gu lar observe the drive It sends pulses 2 seconds apart ito the North then an equal number of pulses to the South intervals to check that the gears move properly GE EIERE i i 5 Defaut 5 To do this test you will need Tee efau to remove the cover from Pulse Duration 133 Default 133mSecs Start Test 3 the declination motor housing contact AstroPhysics for directions if you need The
23. Desktop Universe MegaStar etc 1 You can use the second serial port on your mount and a second COM port on your PC This provides dedicated connections for both applications so you can use both PulseGuide and your planetarium program simultaneously However this obviously requires two serial cables and COM ports on your PC which might not be available 2 You can use a single serial cable and connect to each program when needed then disconnect when done 3 The Astro Physics Command Center which is still in development at this time Feb 2008 will present multiple virtual port connections which will allow you to connect several applications simultaneously through a single serial port connection PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 19 Connect Page Figure 4 below shows PulseGuide as it comes up If this is your first time using PulseGuide please also take a look at the Getting Started section In order to control your Astro Physics GTO mount you must have a serial port connection or USB to serial adapter to your mount For most PC s and laptops you will need to connect a straight through DB9 to DBY Male to Female cable All Astro Physics GTO mounts have two serial ports so if you also need to control your mount with TheSky or other planetarium software then you will need a second serial port on your PC and another cable Again you can use a USB to Serial adapter if your PC does not h
24. Guide Rate combo box has 4 choices 0 25x 0 50x 1 00x and Cycle You can choose a specific rate or Cycle to have PulseGuide repeat the test at each rate While watching the uncovered declination gears click the Start Test 3 button PulseGuide will send 5 pulses spaced 2 seconds apart or however many you entered in the Pulses edit box Each pulse will be of the same duration that which you enter in the Pulse Duration edit box 133 milliseconds is the default Watch carefully to make sure the pulses look evenly timed and that the fastest moving gear moves equally each time Once all pulses have been sent in one direction an equal number of pulses are sent in the reverse direction It is normal on reversal of direction that there is a slight delay in movement because of backlash If this happens you may wish to increase the pulse count If you see erratic movement please contact AstroPhysics for instructions PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 56 TPoint Page You can use the simple two step procedure in this page to resynchronize your mount to your Software Bisque TPoint model if you accidentally move your scope by hand TPoint Resynchronization Step 1 First if you moved your scope by hand try to reorient it to where it should be or do an unpark from one of the AP park positions Then connect in TheSky and slew to a reasonably bright star If the TPoint model is synched properly t
25. IDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE PRODUCTS EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 6 Installation After downloading the latest version of PulseGuide from the PulseGuide Home Page you will need to unzip it to get to the setup EXE that is usually named PulseGuideVVV EXE where VVV is the version number For example version 1 37 s install EXE is PulseGuide137 EXE The installation is very straightforward Follow the install directions to complete the installation After the installation completes a new program group PulseGuide will be available with links to run PulseGuide and to view documentation etc IMPORTANT INSTALLATION NOTES 1 This new version does NOT uninstall any previous version of PulseGuide If you do not plan to use an old version you can remove it with Add or Remove Programs in Windows Control Panel 2 The installation directory for this version is now C Program Files PulseGuide 3 To be Vista compatible PulseGuide s working directory is now My Documents Astro Physics PulseGuide The HTML Help file P
26. Mount Latitude Set St Get Gt Local Time Set SL Get GL Current Date Set SC Get N A Get Sidereal Time Set N A Get GS PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 66 Motion North Mn South Ms East Me West Mw Stop Motion North Qn South Qs East Qe West Qw Stop ALL Q Select Long Format U Reticle Brightness Increase B Decrease B Focus Start Advance F Start Retract F Slow FS Fast FF Stop Focus FS Guide Rate 0 25x RGO 0 50x RG1 1 00x RG2 Center Rate 12X RCO 64X RC1 600X RC2 1200X RC3 Slew Rate 600X RSO 900X RS1 1200X RS2 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 67 Tracking Rate Lunar RTO Solar RT1 Sidereal RT2 Zero RT9 Swap Buttons North South NS East West EW Periodic Error Management Record pR Playback pP Playback off p Backlash Dec Bd RA Br Horizon check On ho Off hq Data feed Even Parity de No Parity dn Calibrate Mount Pier correct CM Pier side same CMR Park Park Mount KA Unpark PO Version V Pier Side pS PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 68 Appendix C AP Park Positions Park Position 1 Scope is level and pointing North Scope is on the west side of the mount Park Position 2 Scope is level and pointing East RA Axis vertical and Dec 0 Park Position 3 Scope is pointing to pole RA axis is vertical Dec
27. PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts User Manual for Version 1 37 March 6 2008 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 1 INTFOGUCTION EE A Software Licensing Agreement 5 PEENE EE 7 Features ena e a a a a a a a a a a a D a 8 Changes New Features Bug Fixes een 9 Version 1 37 March 6 2008 vices ccsvescvessnevianesceversuneravenianerenerianeseraniasetanesanusevasanscanenan 9 Version 1 36 February 6 2008 EE 9 Version 1 35 Ee EE RE E 9 Version 1 30 June 27 2004 EEN 9 Version 1 26 January EE 10 Version 1 25 November 22 20072 10 Version 1 21 Beta October 3 2002 10 Version 1 20 June 1 2002 10 Version De EE 11 Getting Ss BET 13 Summary of PAG E 17 Using a planetarium program with PulseGuide sseessssssnennneeeseeeenrnnnreesseeeene 19 SERIES EES 20 ST Ee EEN 21 Init Mount A etenattthaintetntndtiatndttat ithe dliaimebitablaabnditmninbbaabedenaes 22 ele EE 23 Log WWD EE 23 PID OUI EE 23 Additional Config ee 24 ENEE 26 Rene EE 27 Time and Time ZONE cncccncccnccencccacecndecnsdendecncecndecnsdencecncecndecnadencecacecadecnadencecaaeenee 27 Eeer 28 MOIS EE 30 G t FRONT Re EEN 30 Send to EE 30 EE EN Ee dee eegene deed EE 31 Eelere EN Eeer EN Park Rate e 38h Soteeceehiet bl teeteheeibadah et elieabed hed ateteletuadedsiiestehciteldeea des 32 Ode leie BE 32 Delayed Stop or Park Mount ENEE 33 Unparking the TOU EE 34 Parking the le E 36 If y
28. RA and Dec rates correctly GO AO PHH PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 10 12 The serial commands are now queued so they cannot overlap each other Stricter error checking is done on responses 13 PulseGuide no longer disconnects often 14 Hour Angle in status bar is now correct 15 Numerous minor user interface changes Version 1 10 1 New status bar on the bottom of the window displays RA DEC Side of mount the scope is on the current sidereal time and the hour angle angle of the scope relative to the meridian The status bar is not part of any of PulseGuide s tabs so it displays all time while the mount is connected 2 Optionally the PulseGuide application will place itself always on top of other windows 3 New Locations tab allows user to save and restore an arbitrary number of locations longitude latitude PulseGuide can easily send whichever location you choose to the mount 4 New TPoint tab allows you to resynchronize your mount to your TPoint TM Model in TheSky TM 5 In addition to stopping the mount the Delayed Stop feature can now Park the mount Parking de energizes the motors so that autoguider signals or serial commands will not move the mount 6 When unparking the mount the mount s longitude latitude and time zone are sent in addition to the PC time 7 You can swap the positions of the N S and E W move scope buttons 8 Goto manually entered
29. aces before 8 32 total characters plus 8 Slew to the most recently defined RA and DEC coordinates in RA DEC mode or most recently define ALT and AZ coordinates in ALT AZ mode Slewing is performed at the currently selected slew rate If the horizon check is turned on and the object is below the horizon this will be stated and no slewing will occur Command Qn Qs Qe Qw Response none Stop motion in the specified axis Note that Qn is identical to Qs and Qe is identical to Owi Motion is terminated only if it was not started by a slew MS command Command Q Response none Motion in both axis is stopped regardless of how the motion was invoked Command U Response none Select long format valid only for the communication port through which this command is issued ports are controlled independently Unlike the Meade definition though once long format has been selected it cannot be deselected without powering down the unit Only the first occurrence of U acts upon the port in question Long format only defines the format of the return strings Input data using the set command will be recognized in any format whether or not long format has been selected Command B B Response none Incrementally increases B or decreases B reticle brightness Command to be sent over RS 232 each time a button is pressed to increase or decrease brightness When the brightness is at the maximum subsequen
30. ak 4 Software Licensing Agreement The following statement must be read and agreed with before you can install this Software Product PulseGuide IMPORTANT PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND SIRIUS IMAGING RAY GRALAK BY INSTALLING COPYING OR OTHERWISE USING THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT YOU ARE AGREEING UNCONDITIONALLY TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT EVEN IF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT IS DEEMED A MODIFICATION OF ANY PREVIOUS ARRANGEMENT OR CONTRACT IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT DO NOT INSTALL OR USE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT 1 For the purposes of this License Agreement Software Software Product or Software Patch refers to the computer software and associated media printed materials and online or electronic documentation including any and all executable files tutorials help files utilities and other files that accompany this product The Software Product is owned by Sirius I maging Ray Gralak and is protected by United States copyright laws international copyright treaties and all other applicable national laws Title ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the software shall remain with Sirius I maging Ray Gralak The Software Product is licensed not sold There is no transfer to you of any title to or ownership of the Software and this license shall not be construed as a sale of any right in the Software
31. ave a second serial port Iogear makes one that works well GUC232A Si PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Connection COM2 v Gs Additional Config Lie Disable RA Dec Alt Az Ask if OKto Ext Iw Confirm GOTOs Iw Always on top Iw Confirm Syncs Iw Ignore Mount Timeouts l Display Alt Az Figure 4 Once you have connected your PC to the mount you need to select the serial port that you are using If you have only one serial port then the port is likely COM1 If you have two ports then they are probably COM1 and COM2 If in doubt start with COM1 and increase the port number sequentially PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 20 When testing a port for the first time make sure to uncheck the checkbox Ignore Mount Timeouts PulseGuide will report an error if the mount does not respond If the mount does respond the Firmware version will display and PulseGuide will fill the status bar with information as shown in figure 5 iz PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Additional Config 1200GTO ze l Ask if OKto Ext Iw Always on top RA 17 56 41 0 Dec 89 4924 Side East LST 00 25 13 HA 06 28 32 Figure 5 However if the mount does not respond then PulseGuide will automatically disconnect in about 15 seconds If this happens ch
32. d by the servo drive all subsequent bytes received from COM 1 or the handheld are reflected to the other Data received on COM 2 is ignored and no data is transmitted from COM 2 Command CMR Response Coordinates matched there are 5 spaces between Coordinates and matched and 8 trailing spaces before the the total response length is 32 character plus the This command performs a function very similar to the CM command with one exception It does not assume that the user has manually positioned the mount on the proper pier side for the object in view It assumes that the pier side has not changed since the most recent CM or MS commands It allows re calibration on known coordinates even if the mount has tracked across the meridian This command should not be used to perform the initial calibration This command is ignored if slewing is in progress Command KA Response none PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 64 This command invokes the parked mode The tracking stops and the motors are de energized when slewing has completed The mount will remain parked even if power is cycled until a move quit calibrate or park off command is issued Command PO Response none Park off This command un parks the mount and also restores calibration To restore proper calibration the mount must receive date and time SC dd mm yy and GL hh mm ss p
33. eck your cable and or try another serial port until you have found the correct port Firmware Version The latest firmware available for general distribution as of January 2008 is version L in the brand new mounts with GTOCP3 control boxes Version E or E1 is the latest for previous generations Upgrades to the latest control box are available from AP PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 21 Init Mount Pressing this button brings up the Mount Initialization dialog You can initialize the mount again from this dialog By default Unpark will be unchecked in case the mount was already initialized Click Initialize to initialize the fields that are checked Click Cancel to skip initializing the mount PulseGuide Mount Initialization ou can initialize and optionally unpark your mount with this dialog EE Eeer M Unpark From Last Parked Position v Site Home eil Time Zone Ea Hours In Mins Iw Set Tracking Rate Sidereal V Set Guide Rate 1x X Iw Set Button Rate Edy v V Set Slew Rate 300 Iw Set Dec Backlash 0 Arc Secs Iw Set RA Backlash In Arc Secs Iw Enable PEM PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 22 Help Pressing this button brings up help Internet Explorer 4 or later must be installed for help to work You can also press F1 to activate page specific help Log Window PulseGuide Command Log Pressin
34. ecked Goto AP park position 1 then Park Slews to park position 1 then parks Goto AP park position 2 then Park Slews to park position 2 then parks Goto AP park position 3 then Park Slews to park position 3 then parks Goto user defined Alt Az then Park Slews to the ALT Az defined in User Park Position Slew East First Sometimes when imaging a southerly object across the meridian the telescope may start to pass under the north side of the mount have found that if this happens and you do a park to AP Park Position 3 the scope could hit the pier as the mount tries to orient the scope north To prevent this from happening select this option and set the number of hours to whatever you think is necessary 6 hours equals one quarter rotation of the mount s RA axis PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 36 When you click Park PulseGuide will ask for confirmation before proceeding Once started PulseGuide will send the PC s current time just in case a meridian delay had been in use It will then slew east if that option is selected Next it will do a GOTO the park position again if that option is selected Lastly it will send the mount park command If you need to stop a park Hours Once a park begins the label of the Park Jr ran fi button changes to Stop Pressing this Goto AP park position 1 then Park D button will immediately stop the park Alt Az including an act
35. for less than 7 8 minutes the mount will not go through a complete periodic error cycle 3 Try changing the Max Pulses per second If you have a slower CPU or have lots of tasks active try lowering it to 3 then 2 then 1 4 If the Dec rate in the Pulse Guiding area is reversed in sign to the value in dDec then you need to swap the N S buttons This is shown in the picture below e PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Site Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Dther TPoint m Pulse Guiding Measure Rate Tool RA ArcSec Sec os 8 0 82756 Start Stop Dec ArcSec Sec 0 8 EES Time 32Secs Pulse Guide Rate 1 00 al daa TI 0 81790 V5 Realtime Status dDec 0 83333 5 Puseot Tse 373 mses E w Pulses 70 1 09 sec 69 1 08 sec s EE Sw RA 055318 9 Dec 5895203 Side East L5ST 115405 HA 06 00 46 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 47 PGConfig Page You can configure some of the pulse guiding logic s working values here However you will not usually want to change the default values The first four edit boxes set values that the pulse guiding logic uses to determine the mount guide rate to use KE PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint PuiseGuide Configuration Use 0 25x G
36. g PEM Other TPoint You can use this Two Step procedure to resynchronize your mount to your TPoint Model in TheSky Although not necessary if you follow the recommended restart procedure for the mount you can use the two steps to resync if you have accidentally or purposely moved the OTA by hand Step 1 Step 2 With Software Bisque s TheSky connected to Center the star in the eyepiece or with your mount and your TPoint model active issue a your CCD camera Once centered slew to a medium bright star Once the slew is press the Reset RA DEC button complete press the Get RA DEC button below below You may need to repeat steps 1 and 2 if a long period of time elapses between Step 1 and 2 RA 180846 6 Dec 895548 Side East LST 010355 HA 4065509 TPoint Resynchronization Step 2 Now using the buttons or manually moving the scope center the star that you previously slewed to in the last step This of course may change the RA DEC of the mount but when you press the Reset RA DEC button the mount is then sent updated the coordinates coordinates that TPoint issued to bring the star to the center If a long period of time elapses between steps 1 and 2 you may need to repeat the procedure PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 58 Troubleshooting PulseGuide won t connect and I know the COM Port is right Make sure you have closed the serial connection in any planetarium
37. g the Log Window button 10 213 RCV 8943 244 e 11 150 SND GRH will open the Command Log window 11 182 RCV 18 08 47 6H This may be useful in debugging 11 182 SND GDH Zeene 11 213 RCV 89 49 24 communications to your mount 12 150 SND GRH 12 166 RCV 18 09 47 Commands sent to the mount are in green and replies from the mount 13 150 SND GRH are In blue If a command times out 13 182 RCV 18 08 47 6 a message will display in red 13 182 SND GDH 13 197 RCV 89 49 2 13 213 RCV 8 The decimal number at the start of tes a ane R each line is the relative time in 14182 RCV EH seconds since the first command 14 182 SND GD was printed The time is in seconds Acca A and is accurate to the nearest 15 165 SND Si Ss HIP 15 197 RCV 18 08 47 6 millisecond 15137 SND GDH 15 228 RCV 89 49 244 16 166 SND GR If any command failed to produce a 16197 RCV 18 08 47 6H response then the Timeouts field 16 197 SND Dm will display the count of timeouts ee Timeouts 4 About Click the About button to open the dialog to see the version of PulseGuide PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 23 Additional Config options The mount type selection does not do anything at the moment but the intent is to use it to choose the initial value of the countdown timer on the PEM page EN PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time
38. ields with the mount s current RA and Dec The values are saved across program activations so you can use this field to load coordinates and that you want to come back to another time by pressing the Go To button PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 40 Pulse Guider Page Pulse guiding is a method that can change subtly or dramatically the tracking rate of your mount Roland Christen suggested this technique which consists of precisely timed commands that emulate move the mount at the guide rate speed The changes are so small and happen so quickly that they appear to smoothly change the tracking rate PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts ell xj Connect Time Site Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint m Pulse Guiding Measure Rate Tool RA ArcSec Sec 0 8 z 0 77810 Start Stop Dec ArcSec Sec 0 8 0 78150 Off Time 20 Secs Pulse Guide Rate 1 00 x dRA 0 76531 7 5 m Realtime Status dDec 0 76531 75 D RA ec Pulse On 723 mSecs 91 mSecs Pulse Off 277 mSecs 909 mSecs Pulses 43 D se 43 01 08 sec RA 082953 2 Dec 895215 S5ide East LST 143038 HA 06 00 46 This page is divided into three main sections In the Pulse Guiding section you enter the rate that you wish to set and turn pulse guiding on and off In the Realtime Status section information abou
39. ive slew or GOTO UE 3 23 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 37 Guide Slew Page Figure 6 shows the Guide Slew Page Here you can set the slew and guide rates move the scope with buttons and perform a GOTO or SYNC on a manually entered RA and Dec ei PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Set Rates Move Scope while button is pressed Guide Rate 1 00x v selelwl MV Rotate 90 Button Rate lex Sec 64x nl z Bes Swap E W Set Slew Rate Goto Sync Load Current RA Dec Goto ra o Jo fo RA 18 08 47 6 Dec 89 4924 Side East LST 00 51 44 HA 06 42 57 Set Rates You can select the Guide Rate or Button Rate in the appropriate drop down list box The Button Rate is the rate that the mount will move the scope when you press the buttons in the Move Scope area of this page When you let go of the button then the Guide Rate will be restored to the mount This functionality mimics that of the mount s keypad functionality Move Scope The buttons here allow you to move the scope in the we on ww indicated direction wjf The RA and Dec in the status bar E 0 25 W will update once per second unless you have l s sw disabled it on the connect page sls PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 38 Reorienting the Move Pushbu
40. l be assumed by the motor drive The indexes are extensions of the Meade protocol Command RS RSO RS1 RS2 Response none Selects the slew speed used by the telescope move functions This command has no effect on the use of the N S E W buttons therefore RS has no effect The default slew speed is 1200x Slewing can be done at 1200x RS2 900x RS1 or 600x RSO The indexes are extensions of the Meade protocol Meade commands Command Response none Sending a clears the input buffer Advisable to do this before sending the very first command on power up Command RT0 RT1 RT2 RT9 Response none This command selects the tracking rate It selects lunar RTO solar RT1 sidereal RT2 or zero RT9 The sidereal rate is assumed as a default by the motor drive if nothing is specified This command has no effect on the use of the N S E W buttons This command is not in the Meade manual Zero tracking rate is useful in ALT AZ mode Command NS Response none This command swaps the functions of the north and south buttons Subsequent commands Mn and Ms are affected This command is not in the Meade manual Command EW Response none This command swaps the functions of the east and west buttons Subsequent commands Me and Mw are affected This command is not in the Meade manual PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 63 Command
41. lew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Connection Firmware Version Additional Config 1200GTO T Ask if OKto Eet Always on top ly ere RA 17 56 41 0 Dec 89 4924 Side East LST 00 2513 HA 06 28 32 Figure 3 Successful connection PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 14 If PulseGuide detects that the mount is in the powered up and unparked state RA 0 Dec 90 it will automatically pop up the Initialization dialog shown below From this dialog you can set up and review which parameters PulseGuide will immediately configure Supported parameters are unpark position Site Time Zone Tracking Rate Guide Rate Slew Rate Dec and RA backlash and PEM enable All parameters that you set will be remembered and displayed in this dialog the next time this dialog displays which will be the next time you power up the mount PulseGuide Mount Initialization our mount is not yet initialized You can initialize and unpark now or later by clicking Init Mount Cancel Iw Unpark From Last Parked Position sl Site Home si Time Zone 8 Hours o Mins V Set Tracking Rate Sidereal Iw Set Guide Rate 1x X V Set Button Rate EA Iw Set Slew Rate 900 x Iw Set Dec Backlash 0 Are Secs Set RA Backlash 0 Ate Sees Iw Enable PEM Click Initialize to automatically initialize the mount If you decide to click No you can always initialize
42. mmand may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format has been selected This command automatically selects RA DEC mode Move and calibrate commands operate on the most recently defined DEC if in RA DEC mode Command Sa sDD MM or Sa sDD MM SS Response 1 Defines the commanded Altitude ALT Command may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format has been selected Move and calibrate commands operate on the most recently defined ALT This command automatically selects ALT AZ mode however tracking rate is unaffected Command Sz sDD MM or Sz sDD MM SS Response 1 Defines the commanded Azimuth AZ Command may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format has been selected Move and calibrate commands operate on the most recently defined DEC This command automatically selects ALT AZ mode however tracking rate is unaffected Command SG HH or SG HH MM M or SG HH MM SS Response 1 Sets the offset from Greenwich mean time Command may be issued in any format regardless of whether long format has been selected Although any 24 hour format is acceptable only the hours field is typically of interest Command Sg DDD MM or Sg DDD MM SS Response 1 Sets the current longitude Command may be issued in long or short format regardless of whether long format has been selected PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002
43. nt RA Dec into the RA Dec fields of the Goto Sync group box 4 Added Init Mount button to the Connect page This allows you to initialize the mount at any time and not just when the mount has not been initialized since power on 5 After initialization the Last Sent Tracking Rate and Slew Rate fields are now filled in 6 Fixed compatibility bug with keypad firmware when sending receiving with East Longitude coordinates 7 Updated Park Unpark Alt Az locations so that they work properly in North and South Hemispheres 8 Better validation of received RA Dec values 9 On the PulseGuider tab show N A in some PulseGuide fields when hardware supported tracking rates are used GTOCP3 10 Time Zone can now be entered in the range 11 to 23 hours was 0 to 23 Version 1 30 June 27 2004 1 Added support for new GTOCP3 controller firmware revision F and higher 2 Pulse guiding now directly sets the Dec and RA rates in firmware for very precise rates The old method of sending pulses to effectively adjust the rate is still supported for older firmware revisions 3 Pulse guider direction automatically reverses if the mount is flipped PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 9 4 The Guide rate and Button rate can now be set independently like can be done in the AP keypad 5 New program icon 6 Miscellaneous other changes Version 1 26 January 9 2004 1 Fi
44. o one of the two serial ports on your mount It does not matter which you use Once connected you can start PulseGuide from its desktop icon or from the Start menu You should see something like the following Figure KE PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Additional Config LEGIO Disable RA Dec Alt Az Ask if OKto Ext Iw Confirm GOTOs Iw Always on top Iw Confirm Syncs Iw Ignore Mount Timeouts Display Alt Az Figure 2 Before connecting Next you must select the appropriate COM port If you are using a desktop or notebook PC with a single serial port it is likely that it is COM1 Desktop PC s with two serial ports usually are COM1 and COM2 If you are using a USB to Serial port adapter such as the logear GUC232A you can find out in the Windows Device Manager which COM port it is using PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 13 If you are still unsure of the COM port then make sure that I gnore Mount Timeouts is unchecked then start trying COM ports starting with COM1 If a port is invalid or opened by another application PulseGuide will report an error opening the port or will not succeed Once connected a number of additional page tabs appear If the port is really communicating to the mount the status bar will fill with the RA DEC side of mount etc like this ei PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide S
45. o the mount then the star will be near the center of the field using a CCD camera is recommended Si PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint You can use this Two Step procedure to resynchronize your mount to your TPoint Model in TheSky Although not necessary f you follow the recommended restart procedure for the mount you can use the two steps to resync if you have accidentally or purposely moved the OTA by hand Step 1 Step 2 With Software Bisque s TheSky connected to Center the star in the eyepiece or with your mount and your TPoint model active issue a your CCD camera Once centered slew to a medium brght star Once the slew is press the Reset RA DEC button complete press the Get RA DEC button below below You may need to repeat steps 1 and 2 if a long period of time RA elapses between Step 1 and 2 RA 18 08 46 6 Dec 895508 Side East LST 010312 HA 06 54 26 If the star is not centered then press the Get RA DEC button PulseGuide will get the current coordinates from the mount then display them in the RA and DEC read only edit boxes This will also enable the Reset RA DEC button as shown in the next figure PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 57 i PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Confi
46. ou need to stop a Pall ciccsgeciedicteceeecthee ieee ater eee ance 37 GUIGG SIGW Le EE 38 Ser RAE Senni ee eenegen 38 EE ee EE 38 Reorienting the Move Pushbuttons ANEN 39 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 2 Swapping Mount Move Directions essesssnneneneeeeeeererrtrrrreeserrrrennnnnnnserrrrnnnn nn 39 SIRO re EEA ee eege eege A0 ie Ee A0 OM RG E 40 Pulse Guider Page 2 Antti dedi tact tein dda eed Aes 41 EE Rate TOO EE 43 PUSS GUNG EE 44 EE ee 46 Trouble Shooting EE 47 ELE elle Pag eena eee eee eee 48 Use 025x Guide Rate Up 10 EE 48 Use 0 50x Guide Rate upto EE 48 Use Ee Ee E 48 Use 12x G ide Rate UP IO EE 49 Max Pulses Per Second E 49 Use D fa lS eech 49 e e ee EE 50 Periodic Error Management AAA 50 Eeer EE Ee 51 tte EE 51 Ge EE 51 BaeklaShlGSts cictictactticeaeltiete tu taigitiedels Mic tate tetel ath tats yieder eM 2a tie taree tess 52 Neue 57 TPoint Resynchronization Step EE 57 TPoint Resynchronization Step RE 58 Troubleshooting NEE 59 PulseGuide won t connect and know the COM Port is right sssnnsseeeenneeea 59 Appendix A ASTRO PHYSICS COMMAND PROTOCOL FOR GTO MOUNTS Version DOF SRD inti ete ND ata hin te i ht A tat hn Seta bs 60 Appendix B AP Commands by Category EEN 66 Appendix C AP Park Positions EE 69 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 3 Introduction PulseGuide is a stand alone Wind
47. ount In In In d e __ sat _ User Park Postion 0 0 RA 18 08 47 6 Dec 894924 Side East LST 005050 HA 06 4203 Tracking Rates All of the AP GTO mounts have four standard tracking rates Use Sidereal when tracking fixed RA DEC objects Solar when tracking the sun Lunar when tracking the moon and Zero when looking at a fixed terrestrial object or to stop the mount from moving without parking When you press one of these buttons the Last Sent field will be filled with the rate that you select However the displayed rate may not be valid later if you disconnect park unpark select rates from the keypad or power cycle the mount PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 32 Delayed Stop or Park Mount You can use this feature to stop your ap Eee a ee mount automatically in case you forget Hours Mins Secs or fall asleep during an imaging Stop Mount fo fo fo session It works with the use of a timer that counts down to zero When it Start Stop decrements to zero the mount is E EE stopped or parked Stopping the mount sets the rate to zero Same as pressing the Zero button in the Tracking Rates section You can still use the buttons to move the scope Parking not only stops the mount it also de energizes the motors If you have an autoguider connected to the mount then recommend parking the mount in case the autoguider tries to keep on tracking If you just stop the
48. ows 98 ME 2000 NT4 XP Vista utility that provides complete remote control of Astro Physics GTO400 GTO600 GTO900 and GTO1200 mounts It derives its name from its most distinctive feature pulse guiding which can improve unguided tracking Specifically it can help correct tracking errors caused by polar misalignment and refraction You can also train PulseGuide to track objects moving relative to the stars such as asteroids comets and the moon In addition to pulse guiding PulseGuide also has many useful utility features With just a few exceptions it supports the serial Astro Physics command protocol PulseGuide requires a serial connection from your PC to your mount using a straight through DB9 cable One end of the cable must have a female connector and the other end male Cables as long as 100 feet or more should work provided the cable is made from high quality shielded cable Cables with twisted pair wires work best such as those from Belden iz PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Connection Firmware coma zl Additional Config Le Disable RA Dec Alt Az Ask if OKto Ext Iw Confirm GOTOs V Always on top Iw Confirm Syncs Vv I Display Alt Az RA 17 56 41 0 Dec 894924 Side East LST 00 25 13 HA 06 28 32 Figure 1 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gral
49. r Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 42 Measure Rate Tool To use the pulse guiding feature you must enter a known rate or directly measure it Unfortunately even with a known rate of say an asteroid it is unlikely that just entering that rate will allow perfect tracking because the mount itself is not tracking celestial objects precisely because of the effects of refraction and slight polar misalignment f Measure Rate Tool So to get accurate tracking you need to measure the tracking imperfection an object for a period set _ Stop of time You can do this in a couple of ways One Time 9Secs way is to center a star visually with a crosshair eyepiece or with a CCD camera Then press the Start button in the Measure Rate section see dec Si picture to the right It is best to wait for an exact NE NW multiple of the worm gear period 628 seconds EE but you can wait however long you like The Time sl Is i field will increment each second and you can see er s sw the total change in RA and Dec in the dRA and jae Jes Ps dDec fields Pa 0 2 If you are doing the centering manually you can press the movement buttons The orientation and operation of these buttons is the same as defined in the Guide Slew Page If you pressed one of the Guide Center rate buttons then the rate will display in the center of the buttons Alternatively you could use an auto guider to measure the rate But you
50. rior to receiving the Park off command If park off is received when the mount is not actually parked calibration error will be introduced A CM command can be used however to establish accurate calibration Command V Response current servo controller software version number This command returns the current servo controller software version followed by Software versions prior to B do not return anything since the version command is introduced in version B Command pS Response East or West This command returns the side of the pier on which the telescope is currently positioned It is useful for remote observatories where it is not possible for the viewer to see the mount Initially the mount must be manually positioned on the proper pier side for the calibration object and calibrated using the CM command The correct pier side will be returned after subsequent move recalibrate park and unpark commands RS 232 Port Settings Baud Rate 9600 Parity none Data bits 8 Flow Control none or Xon Xoff Start Bits 1 Stop Bits 1 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 65 Appendix B AP Commands by Category Right Ascension Set to Move Sr Get GR Declination Set to Move Sd Get GD Altitude Set to Move Sa Get GA Azimuth Set to Move Sz Get GZ Move slew MS Offset from Greenwich Mean Time Set SG Get GG Mount Longitude Set Sg Get Gg
51. rol periodic error management functions focus positioning reticle brightness and mount backlash ei PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Periodic Eror Management PEM ON PEM OFF Last Sent ON PEM Record PEM Record PEM Timer RA 18 08 46 6 Dec 895217 Side East LST 010015 HA 06 51 29 Periodic Error Management PEM ON Press this button to turn on the mount s periodic error correction logic Before doing this you should do a PEM Record on a night of steady seeing Once pressed the Last Sent edit box will be updated PEM OFF Press this button to turn off the mount s periodic error correction logic Once pressed the Last Sent edit box will be updated PEM Record Press this button to start a PEM record Typically you will want to wait until a night with relatively steady seeing for your area Have a CCD camera autoguiding on a relatively bright star mag 6 near the meridian and declination 0 Once pressed the timer is activated Once you are sure the PEM is done 7 8 minutes is adequate then click the Stop Timer button PEM is ready to use by clicking PEM ON PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 50 Focus Control m Focus Control With this control panel you can control the in Position and out movement of your focuser To use this Slow 0 function you must have an electric focus motor f fat _ Beet Pos plugged into the focuser port
52. t B commands are ignored When the brightness is at the minimum subsequent B commands are ignored On power up the brightness is at the minimum off The Meade commands BO B1 B2 B3 are not implemented PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 62 Command F F FER FS FQ Response none Advances F or retracts F focus adjust motor on the eyepiece F or F commands commence adjustment and FQ stops it This works the same way the N S E W keypad works it may even be an operating mode of the same keys If FS has been issued previously then the focus adjustment will be slow If the FF command has been issued then the adjustment will be fast If neither FF nor FS is specified the powerup default of FS is assumed Command RG RGO RG1 RG2 Response none Selects guide rate for the N S E W buttons Optionally selects 0 25x RGO 0 5x RG1 or 1 0x RG2 If no index is provided RG the previously selected guide rate will be used else the power up default of 0 5x will be assumed by the motor drive The indexes are extensions of the Meade protocol Command RC RCO RC1 RC2 RC3 Response none Selects centering rate for the N S E W buttons Optionally selects a rate of 12x RCO 64x RC1 600x RC2 or 1200x RC3 If no index is provided RC then the previously selected speed will be used else the power up default of 64x wil
53. t DEC backlash is 00 00 00 the default RA backlash is 00 00 15 same as 00 03 50 Backlash in either axis will be properly interpreted whether expressed as DD MM SS or HH MM SS This command is not in the Meade manual Command ho hq Response none This command turns on ho and off hq the horizon check The horizon check when turned on is performed when a go to or MS is issued If the coordinates define a location below zero degrees altitude then the string 1 Object is below horizon is returned instead of 0 No compensation of coordinates for atmospheric refraction is made On power up the horizon check is off since it is currently performed in the handheld controller Digital Sky Voice and Software Bisque s TheSky Command de dn Response none This command invokes the data feed through function between COM 1 and the handheld controller The purpose is to allow software and database updates to the handheld controller through the servo drive without special connectors For code downloads de is used to provide transparent communications between COM 1 and the handheld unit with even parity For database downloads dn is used to provide transparent communications with no parity Once either command is issued normal operation or parity change can only be resumed by powering down the servo drive COM 2 cannot be used in the transparent mode Once the pound sign of the command has been receive
54. t pressing this button does not reorient any of the button positions PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 39 STOP You should only ever need to press the STOP button to stop a GOTO in progress Set Slew Rate Press these buttons to change the slew rate of the telescope which is the rate the scope moves the scope as a factor of sidereal rate when doing a GOTO When you press one of the rate buttons the Last Saved edit box will show the rate you selected as a reminder GOTO Sync GOTO Pressing this button will issue G 9 Syne KEE a command to the mount to GOTO the coordinates you set in the RA and GoTo Ra 18 8 47 Dec edit boxes RA is in hours _Syne Dec Te 49 24 N gt minutes and seconds Declination is in degrees minutes and seconds If you select Confirm GOTOs on the Connect page then PulseGuide will prompt you before doing the GOTO Sync Pressing this button will synchronize the mount to the RA and DEC coordinates in the edit box Typically a star or object with known RA DEC coordinates is centered visually or with a CCD camera and then the object s coordinates entered in the edit box and the Sync button pressed Most Planetarium programs have this feature but it is here for completeness If you select Confirm Syncs on the Connect page then PulseGuide will prompt you before doing the sync Load Current RA Dec Pressing this button will load the RA and Dec f
55. t pulses widths and counts is displayed The Measure Rate Tool section allows you to measure the motion of a star asteroid comet moon etc then immediately use the rate PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 41 Note If the mount has a GTOCP3 control box firmware rev F or higher see Connect Page then your mount is capable of having its rate set directly without using pulse guiding In that case this page will look like this note that the group box says Set RA Dec Offset Rate You can directly enter a rate into the boxes then press the On button to set the rate of the mount Using this method is typically more accurate than the Pulse Guider technique Press the Off button to return to sidereal rate KE PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Set RA Dec Offset Rate Measure Rate Tool RA ArcSec Sec 1001 0 10010 Dec ArcSec Sec 9601 0 96010 Pulse Guide Rate e Realtime Status dDec zz RA Dec Pulse On N A N A Pulse Off N A N A Pulses N A RA 18 08 47 5 Dec 894947 Side East LST 005738 HA 06 48 51 If you have this feature then you can skip the rest of the information about the pulse guider feature and configuration However you may still need to use the Measure Rate tool so please read the next section PulseGuide v1 37 Use
56. the built in rates the mount supports sidereal lunar solar zero You can also do a one button unpark and park of your mount When parking you can have your mount slew to one of the AP Park Positions or an Alt Az of your choice Lastly you can set up a delayed stop of your mount when imaging This will stop the mount after a number of hours so that your mount will not hit the pier if you fall asleep or forget to stop it Guide Slew Page You can set the mount s guide centering and slew rates You can move the mount around with buttons You can do a GOTO to a RA Dec coordinate or SYNCH on a RA Dec coordinate Pulse Guider Page You can use the pulse guiding feature from this page PG Config Page You can adjust the pulse guiding configuration parameters from this page PEM Other Page You can record a periodic error PEM cycle turn on and off PEM control focus through the AP focus port adjust reticle brightness and set RA and Dec backlash PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 17 TPoint Page This page allows you to resynchronize with your Software Bisque TPoint model should you accidentally move your scope by hand or otherwise loose synchronization PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 18 Using a planetarium program with PulseGuide There are several ways to simultaneously use PulseGuide and a planetarium program such as TheSky
57. the mount later by clicking the Init Mount button on the Connect page PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 15 If you have not set up a default site yet you will get this dialog x WARNING You have not set up a default site on PulseGuide s Park Page so using Mounts last used Long Lat re you sure you want to initialize at this time oe Despite this warning it is usually OK to click OK if you know that the last used location of the mount was set properly from either the keypad or from a planetarium program or PulseGuide PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 16 Summary of Pages Here is a Summary of what each page does For more information on a page click the link Connect Page The initial page with connect options The firmware version will display here when connected You can click the Help button to get program help You can also access help for any page by pressing F1 with that page displayed Time Page You can set or get your mount s time and time zone You can also set a simulated meridian delay on this page Site Page You can define the longitude and latitude of sites you visit You can also get the longitude and latitude currently set in your mount The sites you define on this page can be set up automatically when you unpark your mount in the Park Rate Page Park Rate Page You can set your tracking rate with one of
58. the table below and into a disk database file Locations dat which is in the install run directory New sites are saved based on the name of the site That is if you modify just the longitude and or latitude for a site and click Save then the current site will be modified However if you change the site name and click Save a new site will be created and saved Edit This button activates when you select click on a site in the site name table Pressing it will load the site for you to edit A shortcut for selecting and pressing edit is to double click the site in the table Delete This button activates when you select click on a site in the site name table Pressing it will delete the selected site You can only delete one site at a time and there is no confirmation before deleting so make sure before you click Locations dat PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 31 Park Rate Page From this page you can set the tracking rate park and unpark your mount and set up a delayed stop of your mount ei PulseGuide for Astro Physics GTO Series Mounts Connect Time Ste Park Rate Guide Slew Pulse Guider PG Config PEM Other TPoint Unpark Park Solar From Last Parked D Zero When unparking use this Site s Long Lat zen Pi Fe E Hours Delayed Stop or Park Mount Park l Slew East first Hours Mins Secs Pa ID fo fo Goto AP park postion 3then Pak x Stop M
59. ttons If you choose you can reorient the buttons with the checkboxes to the right of the move pushbuttons This is useful when you are imaging and want to orient button presses with your downloaded images This only works well if you orient your camera roughly to the RA and Dec axes Rotate 90 Setting this checkbox will rotate the buttons Rotate 90 90 degrees clockwise Swap N S Swap N S Setting this checkbox not the button will Swap E W swap the positions of the NE N NW and SE S SW STOP buttons Swap E W Setting this checkbox not the button will swap the positions of the NE E SE and NW W SW buttons Swapping Mount Move Directions Swap N S Pressing this button not the checkbox will Swap N S send a command to the mount to swap North and South directions when doing a button press or serial control commands This may be needed when the mount flips sides If it does not click this button to swap N S Note that pressing this button does not reorient any of the button positions Swap E W Pressing this button not the checkbox will Swap E W send a command to the mount to swap North and South directions when doing a button press or serial control commands Normally you will not need to do this You can check that your mount is configured properly by first selecting 64X speed in the Guide rate section so the RA will change relatively rapidly If it does not click this button to swap E W Note tha
60. uide Rate up to Use 0 50x Guide Rate up to Use 1x Guide Rate up to Use 12X Guide Rate up to Max Pulses Per Second RA 18 08 47 0 Dec 89 50 54 Side East LST 00 58 48 HA 06 50 01 Use 0 25x Guide Rate up to If the user entered guide rate is less than this number in the edit box then the 0 25x guide rate will be used when moving the scope Use 0 50x Guide Rate up to If the user entered guide rate is less than this number in the edit box then the 0 50x guide rate will be used when moving the scope Use 1x Guide Rate up to If the user entered guide rate is less than this number in the edit box then the 1x guide rate will be used when moving the scope PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 48 Use 12x Guide Rate up to If the user entered guide rate is less than this number in the edit box then the 12x guide rate will be used when moving the scope Max Pulses Per Second This sets the maximum number of pulses in each direction RA and Dec that the pulse guiding logic will attempt to send to the mount per second Each pulse is a set of commands The first command starts movement and is sent at a precise time The second command also sent as a precise time stops it Use Defaults Click this button to reset the defaults of all controls on this page PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 49 PEM Other Page Here you can cont
61. ulseGuide chm and Site information file Locations dat are now located in this directory 4 If you want to use site information from version 1 30 you must locate locations dat and copy it to My Documents Astro Physics PulseGuide This file is usually located in c Program Files PulseGuide v1 30 PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 7 Features Supports the AP serial command protocol Pulse guiding This corrects for drift due to mispolar alignment and refraction Pulse guiding is an idea originally suggested by Roland Christen founder of Astro Physics and implemented in this application It works by sending precisely timed serial commands that make the mount move faster in RA and or Dec for a short period hence pulses Declination axis tests that you can use to check the health of your mount s declination axis With one button Unpark automatically setting the time time zone longitude and latitude without ever needing to plug in the hand controller PulseGuide will even detect that your mount is not initialized and ask to initialize it Unpark from one of the AP park positions or your own Alt Az One button Park feature allows you to park the mount at its current position one of the AP park positions or a user defined Alt Az Set guide slew rates Buttons to move the scope conveniently A status bar that shows the scope s position in RA Dec or Alt Az the side of
62. xed Dec Test 3 which would only do one movement to the North before reversing to the South 2 Fixed the focuser counter It now decrements the counter when you press the button Version 1 25 November 22 2003 1 Added a third Declination axis test To do this test you must remove the declination axis cover and watch the gear train Or you can observe the motion at night by looking at a star with very high power 2 The focuser control now has a position counter When a button is pressed the focuser will be sent pulses slowly at first and will accelerate as you keep the button pressed Version 1 21 Beta October 3 2003 1 Anew comprehensive mount initialization dialog automatically pops up when the mount is detected in the un initialized state after power is applied 2 Added two Declination axis backlash tests suggested by Roland to determine the health of your mount s declination axis Version 1 20 June 1 2003 Improved internal logic to prevent commands from overlapping Additional movement buttons ability to rotate buttons New Measurement results dialog Park to AP Park Positions or user defined Alt Az Unpark from AP Park Positions or user defined Alt Az Improved accuracy when setting and retrieving time Focus control Reticle brightness control Backlash control 0 Local serial time displayed in status bar instead of sidereal time 1 The Measure Rate Tool now calculates the
63. yed each E acklash compensation employed e Toe time a servo motor axis reverses Set RA 0 direction PulseGuide v1 37 User Guide and Manual Copyright 2002 2008 Ray Gralak 51 Set Dec Clicking this button sets the Dec backlash of the mount Set RA Clicking this button sets the RA backlash of the mount Backlash Tests Click the Backlash Tests button to bring up three tests suggested by Roland Christen to test the health of your declination axis Roland posted some tests that you can run on your AP mount to see if it has a potential problem with Dec movement IMPORTANT Before running tests 1 and 2 set the mount s backlash to 0 Also while performing the tests do not try to auto guide AP Backlash Tests Test 1 After starting an exposure press the Start Test 1 button Do this test at the 0 5x guide rate It will take about 90 seconds to complete with the default settings so try an exposure of at least 100 seconds Guide Rate bt D Move Time 10 Default 10 secs Pause Time 2 Default 2 secs Start Test 1 Test 2 After starting an exposure then press the Start Test 27 button The movements will take about 21 seconds so set the exposure for 25 or 30 seconds Do one image for each of the 3 quide rates Guide Rate 1 00 D Move Time 5 Default 5 secs Pause Time 1 Default 1 sec Start Test 2 Test 3 This test requires you to take the cover off the dec motor box to observe the drive It sends

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