The Paramount And Theskyx Professional Edition; Paramount Minimum System Requirements - Paramount Fitness ME II User Manual

Paramount User Guide

The Paramount and TheSkyX Professional Edition

The Paramount ME II, Paramount ME, Paramount MX and Paramount MX+ Robotic Telescope Mounts
utilize the Bisque Telescope Control System (Bisque TCS) featuring the MKS Series dual axis motion
controller electronics. This control system provides ultra-precise pointing and tracking, configurable
software slew limits, current limited motor shut down, auto homing, high frequency position monitoring,
and much more.
The version of the Bisque TCS that came with your Paramount depends on the model and date of
purchase:

The MKS 5000 is included with the Paramount ME II, Paramount MX, Paramount MX+, and Bisque
TCS units shipped after December 2012. (An optional MKS 5000 upgrade is planned for
Paramount ME mounts at some point in the future.)

The MKS 4000 is included with all Paramount ME mounts from 2003 through May 2012 (when
production of this model ended).

The MKS 3200 was included with Paramount ME mounts from 2002-2003.

The MKS 3000 was included with Paramount GT-1100S mounts from 1999-2002.
See the Paramount ME User Guide for details on the MKS 4000 and earlier control systems.

Paramount Minimum System Requirements

The Paramount requires the following minimum hardware and software to operate:

A Mac or Windows computer with TheSkyX Professional Edition installed.
Professional and Serious Astronomer Edition User Guide for minimum hardware requirements.

One free USB port on the computer. The MKS 5000 communication port uses a USB 2.0 hardware
interface.

One USB 2.0 cable (included). Optional USB cable extenders can be used to allow the length of
the USB cable to be increased to 30 m or so. If the distance between the computer and mount is
greater than 30 m, consider using a high-quality USB Ethernet Extender.
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The Paramount's USB 2.0 port and the USB 2.0 hub on the Instrument Panel have
been tested extensively with many common commercial cameras and other USB-
based astronomical devices on Mac and Windows operating systems. Using a 15-
foot USB cable between the computer and the mount, both the USB port and the
USB hub are extremely reliable and provide consistent hardware to software
communications.
Extending the length of the USB cable between the mount and computer using
inexpensive USB cable extenders, or plugging in a second, inexpensive USB hub
to the USB 2.0 hub on the Instrument Panel will, most likely, introduce
See TheSkyX