Orion SynScan V5 Hand Control Instruction Manual
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Orion SynScan V5 Hand Control Instruction Manual

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INSTRUCTION MANUAL
SynScan
TM
SSHCV5-F-170808V2-EN
Copyright © Sky-Watcher

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Summary of Contents for Orion SynScan V5 Hand Control

  • Page 1 INSTRUCTION MANUAL SynScan SSHCV5-F-170808V2-EN Copyright © Sky-Watcher...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    CONTENT Basic Operations PART I : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Outline and Interface ..................4 1.2 Connecting to a Telescope Mount ..............4 1.3 Slew the Mount with the Direction Keys ............. 4 1.4 SynScan Hand control’s Operating Modes ............5 PART II : INITIALIZATION 2.1 Setup the Home Position of the Telescope Mount ..........
  • Page 3 7.5 Language Configuration ................29 PART VIII : AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS 8.1 Editing Date, Time, Coordinates, Time Zones, and Daylight Saving Time ..30 8.2 Re-aligning the Mount ..................30 8.3 Show Position ....................30 8.4 Show Time and Local Sidereal Time ............30 8.5 Display Version Information ................

  • Page 4: Part I : Introduction

    PART I : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Outline and Interface A SynScan hand control and its interfaces are shown in Fig. 1.1 LCD Display Screen: It can display two lines of text with18 characters per line. The contrast and the brightness of the red backlight are adjustable.

  • Page 5: Synscan Hand Control's Operating Modes

    PART I: INTRODUCTION • The left and right keys are used to control the movement of the Right Ascension (R.A.) axis (for an equatorial mount) or the azimuth axis (for an Alt-azimuth mount). • The up and down keys are used to control the movement of the Declination (Dec.) axis (for an equatorial mount) or altitude axis (for an Alt-azimuth mount).
  • Page 6 PART I: INTRODUCTION In Full Feature mode, the hand control must be connected to a Sky-Watcher telescope mount. After turning on the power to the mount, the hand control must complete an “Initial- ization” routine, followed by an “Alignment” routine which establishes a model to transform the coordinates of the mount and the coordinates of the sky.

  • Page 7: Part Ii : Initialization

    PART II : INITIALIZATION 2.1 Setup the Home Position of the Telescope Mount Before powering on the telescope mount, it should be set up to a particular home position. The home position differs between an equatorial mount and an Alt-azimuth mount. Home Position of an Equatorial Mount: •...
  • Page 8 PART II: INITIALIZATION Auto-homing This step only applies to a mount with Auto-homing feature (such as the Sky-Watcher EQ8 Equatorial mount). Auto-Home? 1) YES 2) NO • The LCD screen will display “ ” in the first line, and display “ ”...
  • Page 9 PART II: INITIALIZATION Elevation ( for atmospheric refraction compensation ) The LCD screen will display “Set Elevation:” in the first line, and display the elevation in meters in the second line. • Use the scroll keys to change the leading “+” or “-” sign when the cursor is on it. •...
  • Page 10 PART II: INITIALIZATION Press “ ” to skip the alignment process. The SynScan hand control will enter standby mode. • Users may start the tracking functions 6.1), or use the GOTO function (refer to Section PART to roughly locate celestial objects. Both operations will let the SynScan (refer to hand control work in the Easy Tracking mode (refer to Section 1.4 Step 2).

  • Page 11: Part Iii : Alignment

    PART III : ALIGNMENT 3.1 Choosing an Alignment Method At the beginning of the alignment process, users are asked to choose an alignment method. The available alignment methods differ between the mount types, as listed below: For an equatorial mount: 1-Start Alignment (1-Star Align.) , 2-Star Alignment (2-Star...

  • Page 12: Alt-Azimuth Mounts Using Brightest Star Alignment Method

    PART III : ALIGNMENT Users can now use the direction keys to move the telescope to align with the 1 alignment star. Center the 1 alignment star in the FOV of the finder scope, and then center it in the ENTER FOV of the telescope’s eyepiece;...
  • Page 13 PART III : ALIGNMENT N (0˚) (315˚) (45˚) W (270˚) E (90˚) (225˚) (135˚) Fig. 3.4a S (180˚) The hand control will generate a list of the bright stars within the selected horizontal region. The list is sorted by the brightness of the star, with the brightest stars at the top of the list. Users can use the scroll keys to browse the list.
  • Page 14 PART III : ALIGNMENT Point scope to RR ZZ.Z’ TT.T’ Now the screen will display “ ”, which means point the telescope to RR region, the exact azimuth is ZZ.Z degrees and the exact altitude is TT.T degrees. Users can use the direction keys on the SynScan hand control to move the mount and point the telescope to the 1 alignment star selected in the previous step.

  • Page 15: Alt-Azimuth Mounts Using 2-Star Alignment Method

    PART III : ALIGNMENT 3.5 Alt-Azimuth Mounts using 2-Star Alignment Method Aligning the 1 Star: Choose 1 Star The LCD screen displays “ ” in the first line. Use the scrolling keys to browse ENTER through a list of star names and Press key to pick the one on the screen as the 1st alignment star.

  • Page 16: Alt-Azimuth Mounts Using Daytime Alignment Method

    PART III : ALIGNMENT 3.6 Alt-Azimuth Mounts using Daytime Alignment Method In daytime, we usually use the Sun, the Moon, or the celestial object in the sky before dawn or after dusk as an alignment target to do a quick alignment. This alignment re- quires the telescope mount to be leveled before powering up and beginning the alignment.

  • Page 17: Tips For Improving Alignment Accuracy

    PART III : ALIGNMENT 3.7 Tips for Improving Alignment Accuracy Eyepiece It is very important to put the alignment stars at the center (or the same spot) of the FOV of the telescope’s eyepiece during the alignment process. Thus, • It is recommended that a reticle eyepiece is used for alignment.
  • Page 18 PART III : ALIGNMENT Equatorial Mount with 2-Star Alignment: Advantage: For visual observing, the mount does not need to be polar-aligned accurately. Preconditions: Small cone error in the telescope-mount setup. Rules for choosing alignment stars: • The deviation in R.A. of the two alignment stars should not be too small or too close to 12 hours;...

  • Page 19: Part Iv : Synscan Menu Tree

    PART IV : SYNSCAN MENU TREE 4.1 Menu Structure The SynScan hand control uses menu tree to organize its various functions. The following table shows the menu tree: OBJECT LIST SETUP MODE UTILITY FUNC. Date Show Position Named Stars Time Show Information Solar System Observ.

  • Page 20: Accessing Menus

    PART IV: SYNSCAN MENU TREE 4.2 Accessing Menus The SynScan hand control’s menu is only accessible after the initialization, or after the star ENTER alignment routine is completed (If it is chosen to start). Users can use the key, the key, and the two scrolling keys to access the menu.

  • Page 21: Part V : Locating Objects

    PART V : LOCATING OBJECTS Users can access several popular celestial object catalogs stored in the SynScan hand control and control the telescope mount to locate a specific object in the catalogs. The object location function is available for either “Full Feature” mode or “Easy Tracking”...

  • Page 22: Locating Ngc And Ic Objects

    PART V : LOCATING OBJECTS 5.2 Locating NGC and IC Objects The process for locating NGC or IC objects is similar to that for locating Messier objects (Sec- tion 5.1), with the following differences: • Press the “ ” shortcut key to access the NGC catalog. The screen will display “ Catalog / NGC = ”.

  • Page 23: Locating Sao Stars

    PART V : LOCATING OBJECTS 5.5 Locating SAO Stars Choosing an Object: OBJECT OBJECT LIST Press the “ ” shortcut key. The screen will display “ ” in the top row. Use SAO Catalog the two scrolling keys to browse the list until “ ”...

  • Page 24: Deep Sky Tour

    PART V : LOCATING OBJECTS Locating the Object: • The operation is similar to that of locating Messier objects; for de- refer to Section 5.1 tails. 5.7 Deep Sky Tour The SynScan hand control can generate a list of the most famous deep sky objects which appear in the current sky.
  • Page 25 PART V : LOCATING OBJECTS Use the left and right direction keys to move the cursor and the numeric keys to edit the coordinates. The scroll keys can be used to change the sign of the declination coordinates ENTER or the altitude coordinates. Press the key after editing.

  • Page 26: Part Vi : Configure The Telescope Mount

    PART VI : CONFIGURE THE TELESCOPE MOUNT 6.1 Choosing the Tracking Speed SETUP\Tracking ENTER Access the menu “ ” and press the key. ENTER Use the scroll keys to browse through the following options, and press the key to pick one. Sidereal Rate: Enables the mount to track celestial objects at the sidereal rate for ob- •...

  • Page 27: Enable/Disable Auxiliary Encoder

    PART VI : CONFIGURE THE TELESCOPE MOUNT The following are the steps to set the altitude slewing limits: SETUP\Elevation Limits ENTER Access the menu “ ”, and press the key. Enable Disable ENTER Use the scroll keys to choose options “ ”...

  • Page 28: Part Vii : Configure The Hand Contrl

    PART VII : CONFIGURE THE HAND CONTROL 7.1 Display and Keypad Setup \ Handset Setting ENTER Access the menu “ ” and press the key. LCD Contrast Use the scroll keys to select “ ”; then use the left/right direction keys to adjust the contrast of the LCD screen.

  • Page 29: Language Configuration

    7.5 Language Configuration The SynScan V5 Hand Control with firmware version 4.38.01 or higher supports multiple languanges, such as English, Chinese (simplified), Japanese, Spainish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, etc. Users may select and set a different language as the language for the hand control. Here are the steps of language setting: 1.

  • Page 30: Part Viii : Auxiliary Functions

    PART VIII : AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS 8.1 Editing Date, Time, Coordinates, Time Zones, and Daylight Saving Time MENU Press the “ ” shortcut key. Date ENTER Use the scroll keys to select “ ” and press the key to edit the date. Press the ENTER key to apply change, or press the key to exit.

  • Page 31: Display Power Voltage

    PART VIII : AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS H.C. Firmware: The firmware version of the SynScan hand control. • Database: • The database version of the SynScan hand control H.C. Hardware: • The hardware version of the SynScan hand control. Motor Controller: • The firmware version of the motor controller of the mount.

  • Page 32: Synchronizing Encoders

    PART VIII : AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS ENTER Press the key to select an identified object and then use the scroll keys to read its MAG= Rise: data, such as the J2000 celestial coordinates, magnitude ( ), rising time ( ), transit Transit: Set: Size=...

  • Page 33: Part Ix : Connecting To A Computer

    PART IX : CONNECTING TO A COMPUTER 9.1 Working with Astronomical Applications After the SynScan hand control is initialized, it can communicate with a computer via either the USB port or the RS-232C connection on its multi-purpose port. A special PC-Link cable (the RJ-12 to D-Sub 9 cable) can be ordered from a Skywatcher dealer if a user prefers to use the RS-232C connection.

  • Page 34: Part X : Updating Firmware

    PART X : UPDATING FIRMWARE 10.1 Hardware Requirements A SynScan hand control with firmware version 3.0 or higher. A computer running Windows 95 or a later version. A USB Type-B cable. 10.2 Preparation C:\SynScan Create a new folder in the computer (for example, ) to save relevant files.

  • Page 35: Troubleshooting

    PART X : UPDATING FIRMWARE HC Version • Click the “ ” button to check the versions of the hardware, firmware, and da- tabase. Update • Click the “ ” button to start loading the firmware to the SynScan hand control. After the loading starts, the application will display a percentage number at the bottom of the windows to show the progress.

  • Page 36: Part Xi : Advanced Functions

    PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 11.1 Parking the Telescope If the mount of the telescope have not been moved after an observing session, the user can park the telescope to keep the alignment data, PAE data and PEC data, and start observing in the next session without redoing the alignment and calibration.

  • Page 37: Polar Alignment Without Polar Scope

    PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS Here are the instructions on using the PAE function: Perform a 1-star alignment, 2-star alignment, or a 3-star alignment. Choose a celestial object in a zone of interest as reference by referring to a sky map or planetarium software.
  • Page 38 PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS ENTER • Use the scroll keys to browse through a list of star names and press the key to pick one as the reference star for polar alignment. • The mount will start slewing to point the telescope to the reference star. Use the direction keys to center the reference star in the eyepiece of the telescope after Right the mount stops slewing.

  • Page 39: Camera Control

    PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS • It is recommended that the user verify the accuracy of the 2-star alignment or 3-star alignment before starting the polar alignment process by locating several objects in different areas of the sky. If the pointing accuracy is low, try to use another set of align- ment stars for the 2-star or 3-star alignment process.
  • Page 40 PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS • Use the left and right keys to move the cursor and use the numeric keys to fill the dig- ENTER its with the cursor. Press the key to end setting the exposure time. • Now the screen is changed to set the frames to be shot for this group, as shown be- low.

  • Page 41: Periodic Error Correction (Pec) For Eq Mount

    PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS 11.5 Periodic Error Correction (PEC) for EQ Mount The periodic error correction function applies to equatorial mounts only. All equatorial mounts have periodic tracking error, which is not critical for visual observations but might lower the picture quality of long exposure astrophotography. The SynScan hand control has the periodic error correction (PEC) function to improve the tracking performance for astrophotography.

  • Page 42: Calibrating Auto-Home Offset

    PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS PEC can only compensate for tracking errors on the R.A. axis. Therefore, a precise polar alignment is still required to track minor errors on the Dec. axis. After turning on the PEC replay, it is recommended that users wait for at least one cycle time of the period error before taking a picture.

  • Page 43: Astronomical Time-Lapse Photography

    PART XI : ADVANCED FUNCTIONS • Generally, NPE is very small and can be ignored (Set to 0) in most cases unless supe- rior pointing accuracy is required. Note: If the value of CE or NPE entered in the hand control is not 0, the hand control will give a reminding message “CAUTION: Prev.

  • Page 44: Part Xii : Using A Synscan Gps Module

    PART XII : USING A SYNSCAN GPS MODULE Users may purchase a SynScan GPS module to acquire accurate local geographical coordi- nates and local time; it will help improve the accuracy of the mount alignment and the polar alignment. 12.1 Initialization of the Hand control with a SynScan GPS Module The initialization process of the SynScan hand control with a SynScan GPS plug-in differs from a regular one.

  • Page 45: Appendix I : Eliminating Cone Error

    APPENDIX I : ELIMINATING CONE ERROR If the telescope’s optical axis is not perpendicular to the declination axis of the equatorial mount, then there is cone error in the telescope-mount system. The cone error might lower the accuracy of locating an object or the accuracy of the Polar-Alignment process. Testing for Cone Error Perform a precise polar alignment on the equatorial mount, and then perform a two-star alignment.

  • Page 46: Appendix Ii : Synscan Self-Diagnosis

    APPENDIX II : SYNSCAN SELF-DIAGNOSIS The SynScan hand control contains a built-in self-diagnosis program. To run a full test, users should prepare a “Loop-Test Plug” by referring to and the following instructions: Appendix 3 • Short the pin-2 (TX_RS232C) and pin-5 (RX_RS232C) of a RJ-12 plug. Here are the diagnosis steps: Insert the “Loop-Test Plug”...

  • Page 47: Appendix Iii : Schematic Of The Ports

    APPENDIX III : SCHEMATIC OF THE PORTS Vpp+ Vpp+ RX(RS232C) COMMON TX(TTL) RX(TTL) TX(RS232C) SHUTTER DROP Optoisolator Multi-Purpose Port Telescope Mount Port APPENDIX IV : SPECIFICATIONS Supported Mount EQ Mount and Alt-Az Mount Object Catalog Messier, NGC, IC, SAO, Caldwell, Double Star, Variable Star, Named Star, Planets Pointing Accuracy...
  • Page 48 SynScan Copyright @ 2017 Sky-Watcher All rights reserved. www.skywatcher.com...

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