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Plus Supplemental Information for Customers Outside of North America
and the Revised GTO Quick Star Drift Method of Polar Alignment
CONTENTS
KEYPAD●VERSION●4.17●
Version●4.17●Release●Notes●-●10-20-08●
KEYPAD VERSION 4.17
Version 4.17 Release Notes - 10-20-08
● ●
Version 4.17 replaces v.4.16 from 7-7-08 which had a bug that caused occasional random freeze-ups during
initialization of the mount, especially when resuming from Reference Park 1.
Version 4.16 replaced v.4.15 from 3-24-08 which had a bug that only affected older keypads - Serial numbers
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1490GTO and earlier.
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Eastern Longitudes●●●The●accuracy●of●eastern●longitude●values●that●are●sent●to●the●mount●has●been●improved●by●
including●minutes●in●the●calculation.●●●We●are●unable●to●add●seconds●into●the●calculation●at●this●time,●due●to●memory●
space●limitations●in●the●keypad.
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Eastern Time Zones When Polling the Mount●●●●The●3=Get●Time/Loc●FrMnt●command●(how●you●"poll"●the●mount)●
now●returns●correct●time●zone●values●for●people●in●eastern●longitudes●using●the●GTOCP3●control●box.●●(GTOCP1●&●2●
control●boxes●already●returned●the●correct●time●zone●values●in●version●4.12●and●continue●to●do●so●in●version●4.16)
● ●
Shipping Notice●●●●Because●these●changes●only●applied●to●eastern●longitudes,●a●small●number●of●keypads●with●v.4.12●
were●shipped●to●US●addresses●after●the●March●24,●2008●introduction●of●v.4.15.●●●A●larger●number●of●keypads●were●
also●shipped●with●v.4.15,●which●contained●a●bug●that●only●affected●older●keypads●(S#1490●and●earlier).●●●Because●this●
bug●only●affected●older●keypads,●it●was●of●no●consequence●to●these●new●keypads.●●●That●bug,●however,●was●fixed●
with●v.4.16●which,●unfortunately,●had●its●own●problem●during●initialization.●●Keypads●shipped●between●March●and●
ASTRO-PHYSICS
GTO KEYPAD
Version 4.17 Addendum
1
December●18,●2012
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Related Manuals for ASTRO-PHYSICS GTO KEYPAD
Summary of Contents for ASTRO-PHYSICS GTO KEYPAD
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Page 1: Table Of Contents
ASTRO-PHYSICS December●18,●2012 GTO KEYPAD Version 4.17 Addendum Plus Supplemental Information for Customers Outside of North America and the Revised GTO Quick Star Drift Method of Polar Alignment CONTENTS KEYPAD●VERSION●4.17● Version●4.17●Release●Notes●-●10-20-08● Special●Notice●to●Mach1GTO,●1600GTO●and●3600GTO●Owners● Summary●of●Remaining●Keypad●Issues:● Eastern●Longitude●Values●● Western●Longitudes●with●Eastern●Time●Zones●● Incorrect●GMT●Offsets●When●Polling●the●Mount●from●the●Keypad●● Western●Longitudes●at●Time●Zone●Zero●● Eastern●Longitudes●and●Time●Zone●12●●●● Eastern●Longitude●Limit●● The●International●Date●Line●●●●● Fractional●Time●Zones●●●●... -
Page 2: Special Notice To Mach1Gto, 1600Gto And 3600Gto Owners
July●of●2008●will●have●v.4.15.●●Keypads●shipped●between●July●and●October●of●2008●will●have●v.4.16●and●should●be● re-programmed●to●v.4.17.●The●following●applies●equally●to●all●three●versions:●v.4.15,●v.4.16●and●v.4.17.●●For●simplicity,● most●references●from●this●point●on●will●be●to●v.4.17●only. Starting●in●March,●2008,●Astro-Physics●customers●began●receiving●GTO●keypads●that●had●been●programmed●with●a●new● version●of●our●keypad●firmware.●●●This●new●keypad●version●–●v.4.15●–●and●its●immediate●successors●–●v.4.16●and●v.4.17● -●address●some●of●the●issues●that●have●faced●customers●in●eastern●time●zones.●●●Other●issues●pertaining●to●southern● latitudes●were●addressed●in●the●latest●ROM●chip●version●in●the●GTOCP3●control●box:●the●“Q”●chip.●●●(Only●people●using● their●mounts●in●the●southern●hemisphere●need●the●“Q”●ROM●chip.)●●●In●terms●of●operation,●version●4.17●is●identical●to● version●4.12,●and●the●manual●included●with●the●keypad●is,●in●fact,●the●v.4.12●Keypad●Manual.●●●This●supplemental●document● will●explain●the●differences,●as●well●as●the●limitations●and●remaining●issues●with●this●new●firmware.●●●We●anticipate●that●all● remaining●issues●will●be●resolved●in●the●next●major●firmware●release●which●will●be●v.4.20. Some●of●the●discussion●below●may●not●make●sense●to●new●users●of●the●Astro-Physics●GoTo●Servo●System●who●are●not● already●familiar●with●keypad●operations.●●●We●have●therefore●included●references●to●the●pages●of●the●v.4.12●manual●where● the●related●operations●are●explained●in●detail.●●●If●you●are●new●to●our●system,●it●is●suggested●that●you●read●the●entire● “Getting●Started”●section●of●the●manual●before●worrying●about●any●of●the●details●below. Special Notice to Mach1GTO, 1600GTO and 3600GTO Owners Version●4.17●is●based●on●v.4.12,●which●was●developed●before●the●introduction●of●the●Mach1GTO,●the●3600GTO●or● the●1600GTO●German●Equatorial●Mounts.●●●In●the●2●=●Setup;●●●4●=●Park●/●Mount●Opt.●menu,●there●are●no●choices●for● these●newer●mountings.●●Your●keypad●has●been●set●to●1200GTO.●●●This●is●the●correct●setting.●●●The●parameters●for●the● Mach1GTO,●900GTO,●1200GTO●and●1600GTO●are●all●identical●with●respect●to●the●keypad.●●●Either●the●900●or●1200●setting● will●work●fine.●●Do●not,●however,●set●the●keypad●to●either●400●or●600E.●●● The●keypad’s●900GTO●or●1200GTO●parameters●are●also●correct●for●the●3600GTO.●●●However,●bear●in●mind●that●the●slew● rates●and●the●two●fastest●button●rates●on●the●keypad●display●need●to●be●cut●in●half●to●accommodate●the●slew●scaling●that● is●in●effect●in●the●3600GTO.●●●●Slew●rates●of●600X,●900X●and●1200X●become●300X,●450X●and●600X.●●●●Likewise,●button● rates●of●600X●and●1200X●become●300X●and●600X.●●●The●slower●button●rates●are●NOT●affected.●●●Enjoy●your●Astro-Physics● GTOCP3●Go-To●Servo●Drive●System! Summary of Remaining Keypad Issues: ● ●... -
Page 3: Western Longitudes With Eastern Time Zones
the●keypad●won’t●let●you.)●●●To●correctly●calculate●the●sidereal●time,●both●the●keypad●and●the●mount●must●know●whether●you● are●east●or●west●of●the●Prime●Meridian.●●●●The●error●you●would●introduce●by●trying●to●“trick”●the●mount●is●considerably●larger● than●the●30●arc●second●maximum●error●in●longitude●that●you●would●have●by●rounding●to●the●nearest●minute.●●●External● software●like●PulseGuide●can●initialize●the●mount●with●the●full●eastern●longitude●including●seconds. Western Longitudes with Eastern Time Zones (see pp. 14-16)●●●There●is●currently●no●provision●in●the●keypad●for●dealing●with●the●situation●in●far●western●Europe●and●parts● of●Africa●(i.e.●western●France,●western●Algeria●and●most●of●Spain)●where●the●longitude●is●a●west●value,●but●the●local●time●is● on●the●CET●standard●of●one●hour●east●(local●CET●=●GMT●+●1)●or●two●hours●east●in●the●summer●(CEST●=●GMT●+●2).●●●There● are●no●cases●of●locales●in●eastern●longitudes●that●are●on●western●time●zones●that●we●are●aware●of.●●● The●keypad●uses●four●pieces●of●information●to●calculate●the●correct●GMT●(and●thus●the●correct●LST●and●horizon● coordinates).●●●To●calculate●GMT,●it●needs:●1●–●local●time;●●2●–●time●zone;●●3●–●daylight●savings●factor;●●and●4●–●whether●the● longitude●is●east●or●west.●●●Version●4.20●will●address●the●situation●of●western●longitudes●with●eastern●time●zones,●probably● with●a●separate●E●or●W●setting●for●the●time●zone●that●is●not●tied●to●the●longitude,●but●the●current●firmware●does●not. For●people●in●this●situation,●probably●the●easiest●solution●is●to●keep●the●keypad●entirely●set●to●GMT.●●● 1.● Set●the●local●time●to●GMT. 2.● Set●the●time●zone●for●ALL●entered●locations●to●00. 3.● Leave●the●Daylight●Savings●set●to●0●=●Winter●all●the●time 4.● Enter●your●longitude●for●all●locations●correctly●using●E●or●W●as●appropriate. 5.● Remember●that●in●use,●your●keypad●will●no●longer●display●the●local●time.●●●If●you●wish●to●know●“what●time●it●is,”●you●will● need●to●either●look●at●your●watch●or●convert●GMT●to●local. Please note:●●This●is●a●more●serious●issue●than●many●of●those●that●follow.●●●This●affects●how●the●servo●is●initialized,●and● therefore●affects●proper●operation●of●the●mount●from●the●very●beginning.●●It●is●important●if●you●are●in●a●western●longitude● with●an●eastern●time●zone●that●you●make●the●adjustments●outlined●above●to●ensure●correct●and●safe●operation.●●●Both●the● servo●and●the●keypad●use●the●“equations●of●time”●to●calculate●the●meridian●and●the●horizons.●●●The●equations●of●time●start● from●GMT,●and●then●incorporate●your●longitude.●●●●The●important●thing●to●remember●is●that●both●the●keypad●and●the●servo● must●be●able●to●determine●the●correct●GMT●in●order●to●know●where●the●meridian●and●the●horizons●are●in●terms●of●right● ascension●values.●●●From●the●main●menu,●you●can●always●check●the●4=Time/LST●button●to●verify●that●GMT●is●correct. Incorrect GMT Offsets When Polling the Mount from the Keypad (see p. -
Page 4: Eastern●Longitudes●And●Time●Zone●12
The●key●to●successfully●tricking●your●mount●is●to●remember●that●your●DATE●must●be●backed●up●by●one●day●if●in●a●western● longitude●with●an●eastern●time●zone,●and●it●must●advance●by●one●day●if●in●an●eastern●longitude●with●a●western●time●zone.●●● For●my●Tonga●example,●let’s●assume●it●is●Feb.●15th,●and●local●time●is●3:15pm●(15:15:00).●●●●You●already●entered●the●correct● longitude●of●175°●08’●15”●W●and●the●correct●latitude●of●21°●10’●47”●S●and●then●entered●the●time●zone●as●24●–●13●=●11●hours● west.●●(The●keypad●will●assign●the●west●time●zone●because●the●longitude●is●west.)●●You●check●the●GMT●by●pressing●the● 4=Time/LST●button●and●see●that●it●correctly●reads●02:15:00.●●●The●problem●is●that●your●mount●will●be●calculating●LST●one● day●off●amounting●to●about●●+4●minutes●of●LST●error●or●about●1°●off●(west)●in●your●Daytime●Polar●Alignment●Routine.●●●●To● correct●this,●just●set●your●keypad’s●date●back●to●Feb.●14th,●wish●everyone●Happy●Valentines●Day●once●again,●and●proceed● with●polar●aligning●and●observing.●●● Fractional Time Zones There●is●no●provision●in●the●keypad●firmware●at●this●time●for●fractional●time●zones●as●are●found●in●Central●Australia,●Iran,● Afghanistan,●India,●Nepal●and●several●other●locations.●●●To●get●proper●function●from●your●keypad,●you●will●have●to●adjust● the●keypad’s●clock●to●a●time●value●that●does●not●match●the●clock●on●your●wall.●●●The●important●thing●is●that●the●keypad● calculates●the●correct●GMT.●●● COMMAND LANGUAGE / TROUBLESHOOTING UPDATE The●following●information●relates●to●servocontroller●issues●and●the●Astro-Physics●Command●Language. Motor Stalls in GTOCP1 and GTOCP2s with the E1 or KE1 Chip In●the●Troubleshooting●section●of●the●v.4.12●keypad●manual●dated●March●7,●2008,●on●page●69●under●the●“Motor●Stall”● entry,●please●add●the●following●note●to●the●“Solution”●paragraphs:●●A●problem●was●discovered●in●the●E1●and●KE1●chips●(in● GTOCP1●and●GTOCP2●control●boxes)●●that●makes●recovery●from●a●motor●stall●a●bit●more●problematic.●●This●ONLY●applies● to●the●E1●and●KE1●chips.●●Initiating●movements●with●the●direction●buttons●does●not●always●fully●reset●the●stall●condition● with●these●two●chips.●●If●you●experience●a●motor●stall●with●the●E1●or●KE1●chip,●it●is●recommended●that●you●power-cycle●the● mount.●●The●mount●will●NOT●be●lost●if●the●scope●has●not●been●moved●by●hand.●... -
Page 5: Horizon Check In The Servo
Command: :ho# :hq# Response: (none) A●bug●was●found●in●the●servo’s●internal●horizon●check●in●the●E1●and●KE1●microcontroller●chips●for●the●GTOCP1●and● GTOCP2●control●boxes.●●The●bug●existed●in●all●prior●versions●of●the●chip.●●Later●versions,●beginning●with●F●and●going● through●R●partially●addressed●the●issue,●but●it●will●be●version●S●(in●beta●testing●as●of●1-14-10)●that●will●fully●solve●the● problem. Since●most●planetarium●software●and●the●Astro-Physics●keypad●firmware●all●perform●their●own●horizon●check●calculations,● this●command●is●rarely●activated.●●The●horizon●check●was●included●in●the●command●set●for●people●who●may●be●writing●their● own●control●software.●● At●this●point,●we●recommend●that●NO ONE SHOULD USE THE HORIZON CHECK in●the●servo.● Variable Tracking The●following●text●replaces●the●text●for●these●commands●on●page●87●of●the●v.4.12●keypad●manual●dated●March●7,● 2008●(Appendix●B).●●It●applies●to●GTO●servo●microcontroller●chips●version●G●through●R.●●In●addition●to●a●more●thorough● explanation,●please take special note of the difference between the northern and southern hemispheres for these commands.●●●●●Also●note●that●the●command●operates●the●same●in●both●hemispheres●starting●with●version●S. -
Page 6: Revised Gto Quick Star Drift Method Of Polar Alignment
Note the selection of suggested stars for this procedure in Appendix I We suggest that you use these detailed instructions the first couple times you perform this method. After you are comfortable with the procedure, a single-page Quick Reference Sheet is also provided for convenience. The●star-drift●method●is●the●favorite●way●that●astrophotographers●align●their●mounts.●After●all,●they●would●like●the●least● amount●of●drift●possible●during●their●long●time●exposures.●An●Astro-Physics●GoTo●mount●makes●it●possible●to●simulate●this● method●without●spending●a●long●time●waiting●for●drift●to●show●up.●It●is●also●easy●because●it●separates●the●two●adjustments● of●altitude●and●azimuth●into●separate●operations.● This●method●is●easiest●to●perform●using●a●finder●scope●with●a●cross-hair●eyepiece.●●●There●are●a●couple●good●reasons● for●this:●First,●it●is●easy●to●adjust●a●finder●scope●to●make●it●perfectly●orthogonal●to●the●mount.●●●Orthogonality●is●not●a●... - Page 7 4.● Choose the same star again, beginning from the Objects Menu, and press GOTO. ●Now●the●telescope●will●swap● sides.●The●star●will●(hopefully)●appear●again●in●the●finderscope●eyepiece,●but●may●be●displaced●both●in●RA●and●DEC●on● the●crosshairs.●●● 5.● Make altitude adjustments. a)● The RA (east/west) error is a function of the orthogonality of the finderscope.●To●make●the● rest●of●the●process●easier,●we●will●adjust●this●out.● ● Move●one●half●of●the●E-W●distance●to●the●N-S● crosshair●with●the●E●or●W●direction●button. b)● Use the finerscope’s adjustment screws to finish the movement onto the N-S crosshair.●●●...
- Page 8 6.● Make azimuth adjustments: a)● Pick a second star that is at least 40 degrees away from the first star, and that is away from the pole. ●●Choose●a●star●that●is●in●the● south,●east,●or●west,●if●you●are●in●the●northern● hemisphere;●in●the●north,●east●or●west●if●you●are● in●the●southern●hemisphere.●●●You●can●choose● this●star●from●the●table●in●Appendix●I●if●you●wish.● ● ● ● If●you●have●not●eliminated●all●of●the●orthogonality● error,●make●sure●that●your●second●star●is●on●the● same●side●of●the●meridian●as●the●first●star●from● the●altitude●adjustment●portion●of●the●proce- dure.●●●●●You●do●not●want●the●telescope●to●swap● sides●and●introduce●any●remaining●orthogonality●...
- Page 9 8.● SOME HINTS & COMMENTS: a)● You●may●not●have●a●good●conveniently●placed●star●just●hanging●around●at●the●zenith●waiting●for●you●to●polar●align.●●● That’s●OK.●●●Pick●the●best●available●star.●●●●●Remember●to●set●the●meridian●delay●accordingly●if●you●are●more●than● one●hour●in●RA●from●the●meridian,●and●take●special●care●to●be●sure●that●your●scope●will●not●hit●the●pier●when●you● flip●to●the●other●side●of●the●meridian!●●(see●2-a●above).●●●Also,●if●your●first●star,●your●“Altitude●Star”●is●a●ways●away● from●the●zenith,●the●azimuth●adjustment●process●may●also●need●a●bit●of●modification.●●●●●In●that●case,●first●pick●your● second●star●so●that●it●is●in●line●with●an●imaginary●line●going●through●both●the●altitude●star●and●the●zenith.●●●Then,●ask● yourself:●What●is●the●relationship●between●the●altitude●star,●the●zenith●and●the●second●star?●●●●If●the●Altitude●star●is● further●from●the●second●star●than●the●zenith●point●(in●other●words,●you●cross●the●zenith●slewing●from●star●to●star),● your●azimuth●correction●can●be●a●slight●bit●under●and●then●finish●the●last●little●bit●with●the●direction●buttons.●●●If●the● altitude●star●is●closer●to●the●second●star●than●the●true●zenith,●then●you●can●very●slightly●over-correct●with●the●azimuth● adjuster,●and●then●come●back●to●the●perfect●center●with●the●direction●buttons.●●●If●you●do●this●and●use●the●direction● buttons,●remember●to●re-calibrate. b)● The●illustrations●above●are●simply●representative●illustrations●and●will●almost●certainly●differ●somewhat●from●what● you●see●in●your●own●eyepiece.●●●●●You●may●be●starting●out●on●the●other●side●in●either●azimuth●or●altitude●depending● on●whether●you●are●east●or●west●of●the●pole●in●azimuth●and●above●or●below●it●in●altitude.●●●●The●concept●is●the●same. c)● It●is●not●necessary●to●do●this●at●high●power,●nor●is●it●necessary●to●get●the●star●to●fall●exactly●on●the●crosshair.●●●●A● standard●8x50●finderscope●was●used●in●our●tests●with●this●procedure●to●achieve●enough●accuracy●to●take●30●second● unguided●frames●at●a●3810●mm●focal●length!● d)● YES!!●●●Performing●this●procedure●does●take●the●finder●scope●out●of●alignment●with●the●main●optical●tube.●●●That●is,● in●part,●why●the●method●works●so●well!●●●However,●it●is●very●quick●and●easy●to●realign●the●finder●back●to●the●main●tel- escope●optical●axis,●and●it●takes●only●a●few●moments.●●●Many●of●those●who●use●this●method●have●found●that●they●no● longer●really●need●their●finders●for●anything●other●than●performing●the●alignment●anyway.●●●The●subsequent●GoTos● are●simply●that●good!●●●●As●a●result,●they●simply●leave●the●little●scope●adjusted●to●be●orthogonal●to●the●mount,●and●let● the●mount●find●their●targets.●...
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Page 10: Gto Quick Star Drift Method Of Polar Alignment Quick Reference Sheet
GTO Quick Star Drift Method of Polar Alignment Quick Reference Sheet 1.● Rough●align●the●mount 2.● Slew●to●star●near●the●zenith.●This●will●be●the●“Altitude●Star.” a)● Double●check●correct●mount●orientation. b)● Line●up●finderscopes●crosshairs●with●direction●buttons c)● Center●the●star●with●the●direction●buttons d)● Re-calibrate. 3.● Set●Meridian●Delay:● **Star●in●west●(RA●value●<●“z”●or●LST●value)●–●advance● <1W>●●●● **Star●in●East●(RA●value●>●“z”●or●LST●value)●–●set●back● <1E> 4.● Select●Altitude●Star●again●and●GoTo. 5.● Make●Altitude●Adjustments. a)● E-W●Error●=●orthogonality.●●Correct●half●with●E●or●W● direction●button. b)● Orthogonality●part●2.●●●Correct●remaining●E-W●error● with●finderscope●adjustment●screws. c)● N-S●error●=●altitude.●●●Correct●half●with●altitude● adjuster.
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