The "Hidden" Functions - Orion STARBLAST 6/6I Manual

displayed on the first line of the LCD screen. The lower left of
the screen indicates the current constellation the telescope is
pointing to. The lower right numbers are the current azimuth
("AZ") and altitude ("ALT") coordinates of the telescope; this
information is generally not useful.
The Realignment Function
This function is useful for obtaining a new alignment fix during
an observing session to correct for small pointing errors. Use
this function only when pointing accuracy for a certain area of
the sky appears to be poor compared to other areas of the sky.
This is evident when objects in one area of the sky consistent-
ly fall at the edge or just outside the field of view (of the 25mm
eyepiece) when the numbers on the LCD screen read 0.0 0.0.
This can happen if the alignment stars initially chosen during
setup are somewhat close to each other (less than 60˚ apart)
or if the area of sky being viewed is a considerable distance
away from the alignment stars chosen.
To improve pointing accuracy in a specific area of the sky,
select an object in the controller's database from that region,
and use the guide arrows to find the object. Precisely center
the object in the eyepiece (preferably a high-powered one).
Now, press the FCN button, and the R.A. and Dec. coordinates
of the centered object will be displayed. Then, press the Enter
button. The LCD screen will now display "ALIGN OBJECT 3"
on the first line, and will be flashing the object currently cen-
tered in the telescope on the second line. Pressing Enter again
then realigns the IntelliScope system to the object centered in
the telescope. The LCD screen will display a new "warp factor"
associated with the new alignment. If this number is greater
than ±0.5, you may want to consider resetting the controller
to perform another two-star alignment. Turn the controller off,
then on again (with the Power button), to do this.
If, instead of pressing Enter a second time after pressing the
FCN button, you press one of the arrow buttons, the list of
initial setup alignment stars will be displayed. If you wish, you
can select one of these alignment stars to realign on. Do this
by scrolling to the desired alignment star using the arrow but-
tons, center the star in the telescope, and press Enter.
In general, it will not be necessary to use the realignment func-
tion, but it is a handy feature to have at your disposal. Also, be
aware that while pointing accuracy will increase in the area of
sky around the object realigned on, it may decrease in other
areas of the sky.
K. The "Hidden" Functions
All of the active functions of the IntelliScope Computerized
Object Locator have been outlined. There are, however, some
additional "hidden" functions that may be of some use to you.
To access the hidden functions, press the Enter button while
pressing the Power button to turn the controller on. The LCD
will display its introduction screen (with software version num-
ber) and then show the words "ALT AZM TEST." This is the first
hidden function. Scroll to the other hidden functions by using
the arrow buttons. The other hidden functions are "ENCODER
TEST," "DOWNLOAD," "CHECKSUM," "RE-WRITE," and
"CLOCK." When the hidden function you wish to use is dis-
played, press Enter to select it. To exit the currently chosen
hidden function, press any button except for the Enter or arrow
buttons. To completely exit the hidden functions section of the
controller, you will need to hold the Power button down until
the controller turns off.
The rest of this section gives the details and purpose of each
hidden function.
Altitude and Azimuth Test
The altitude and azimuth test ("ALT AZM TEST") is a diagnos-
tic test that gives relative altitude and azimuth positions for the
telescope. This test will allow you to easily see if the encoders
are "talking" to the controller, and if the encoders are accurate-
ly monitoring the telescope's motions. To effectively use this
test, make sure the telescope optical tube is in the horizontal
position when pressing the Enter and Power buttons to access
the hidden functions.
Once "ALT AZM TEST" is chosen from the hidden function
options, the LCD screen will display the telescope's current
relative altitude and azimuth position (in degrees); the relative
altitude is in the upper right, while the relative azimuth is in
the lower right. To begin with, both of these numbers will be
+000.0. The first two sets of numbers on the upper and lower
lines of the LCD screen are meaningless for the purposes of
this test.
If you move the telescope counterclockwise in azimuth, the
number in the lower right should increase, while if you move
clockwise in azimuth, the number will decrease. If you rotate
the telescope exactly 360˚ in azimuth, the readout should
return to the original +000.0 reading.
If you move the telescope upwards in altitude, the number in
the upper right should in-crease, while if you move downwards
in altitude, the number will decrease. If the telescope tube was
perfectly horizontal when you enabled the hidden functions of
the controller, then the altitude will read +090.0 when the tele-
scope is pointed precisely vertical.
If one, or both, of the encoders are not behaving properly
when performing this diagnostic test, there may be a problem
with the assembly of the system, or a problem with one of the
encoder boards or discs. Also, be sure to check that all cable
connections are secure.
Encoder Test
The encoder test is another diagnostic test that gives informa-
tion about the performance of the encoders themselves. Select
"ENCODER TEST" from the list of hidden functions using the
arrow buttons and press Enter.
The LCD screen will now display two lines of data. The top line
of data corresponds to the altitude encoder, while the lower
line of data corresponds to the azimuth encoder. The first two
digits on each line denote the amplitude of the signal from one
of the magnetic sensors on the encoder board, the second
two digits represent the amplitude from the other sensor on
the encoder board. The numbers are in hexadecimal (base 16)
digits. Therefore "A" in hexadecimal represents "11" in decimal,
"B" represents "12" in decimal, "C" represents "13," "D" repre-
sents "14," "E" represents "15," and "F" represents "16." When
moving the telescope in altitude or azimuth, you will note that
25