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Starizona Hyperion Operating Instructions Manual

12.5” f/8 astrograph
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Thank you for purchasing a Hyperion telescope. You now own the most state-of-the-art
astrograph available. In addition to providing a large aberration-free flat field, the
Hyperion comes standard with a wealth of features.
This instruction manual will describe in detail the proper use of the Hyperion and its
many features. Please note the Warnings given in the next section in order to avoid
damaging your Hyperion.
Warnings
Overview
Hyperion
12.5
f/8 Astrograph
"
Operating Instructions

Table of Contents

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Summary of Contents for Starizona Hyperion

  • Page 1: Table Of Contents

    In addition to providing a large aberration-free flat field, the Hyperion comes standard with a wealth of features. This instruction manual will describe in detail the proper use of the Hyperion and its many features. Please note the Warnings given in the next section in order to avoid damaging your Hyperion.
  • Page 2 Contact Information Warnings Things Not to Touch There are two adjustments made when the telescope is assembled and tested that should not be adjusted by the user. First is the secondary mirror spacing. This is adjusted by a nut located under the cover plate on the spider hub. Don’t go there Second is the corrector lens tip/tilt adjustment.
  • Page 3 Caution Collimation Bolts The primary mirror assembly (including the mirror cell, mirror, baffle tube, and corrector lenses) is held in place by the primary mirror collimation screws on the telescope back plate. Do not loosen these screws too much or the whole assembly will fall off (this is a bad thing), or more likely one screw will pop loose and you will have to take off the back plate to reattach it.
  • Page 4 Focuser and Instrument Rotator The focuser and instrument rotator are designed to be moved electronically with their motors. Do not attempt to move these units by hand. If for some reason is it necessary to move the focuser drawtube manually, you may remove the motor and turn the focus knob by hand.
  • Page 5 Telescope Overview Back Plate Features Located on the Hyperion’s back plate are the primary mirror collimation screws, Telescope Control Panel, instrument rotator, focuser, and cooling fans. There are six collimation screws—three adjustment and three lock screws. Recall that the large screws are the only thing holding the primary mirror assembly. Use caution when adjusting these screws.
  • Page 6 The Telescope Control Panel is the brains of the operation. This panel features an LCD display and controls the instrument rotator, main Hyperion focuser, an optional piggyback instrument focuser, cooling fans, and dew heaters. These features can also be controlled remotely from a computer using the Telescope Control Software. More details are in the section on the Telescope Control Panel and Telescope Control Software.
  • Page 7 (115mm) of focus travel and tick marks on the side of the focuser drawtube indicate the current travel of the focuser in mm. The Hyperion has 7.33” (186mm) of backfocus from the racked-in focuser drawtube to the focal plane. This distance does not include the thickness of the focuser adapter, which varies by camera, but is approximately 1”...
  • Page 8 Use caution when adjusting these screws. These screws are described in more detail in the section on collimation. The Hyperion has both primary and secondary mirror dew heaters to prevent moisture from building up. The heaters can be controlled through either the Telescope Control...
  • Page 9 Unique to the Hyperion is the ability to control all electronic features wirelessly. This is done through the wireless control box. The control box plugs into your computer via a USB cable and talks wirelessly to the Hyperion up to 300 feet away.

  • Page 10: Collimation

    Collimation While the Hyperion was collimated and tested before being shipped, it likely will need some slight adjustment after arrival. This section describes the full procedure for properly collimating the Hyperion. The adjustments should be made in the order outlined below.
  • Page 11 Star Test To precisely collimate the Hyperion, a star test is required. Before beginning the star test, allow the telescope to thermally stabilize for at least 30 minutes, preferably with the cooling fans running. This eliminates any thermal distortion of the star image, which can take on the same appearance as collimation error.
  • Page 12 If things got worse, return the adjusted pair of screws to their original position and select a different set of screws. Your Hyperion is now perfectly collimated and ready for imaging!

  • Page 13: Telescope Control Panel

    The integrated Telescope Control Panel operates all the electronic features of the Hyperion. The controls on the panel consist of a Power button, Mode button, Select button, and Control dial. There are two focus motor plugs and one 12v power plug.
  • Page 14 Press the Power button to turn the panel on. The cooling fans will run for a couple seconds when power is first applied. The default display on the LCD screen is for control of the main focuser motor. Turning the Control dial will rack the focuser in or out. The screen displays both the requested focus position and the current position.
  • Page 15 Fans The next menu is for the cooling fans. Fan power is controlled by turning the Control dial clockwise. Fan power is indicated in percent. Heaters Next is control of the primary mirror heater (Heater 1). Heater power goes from 0 to 100. Secondary mirror heater (Heater 2) is controlled in the same way by the next menu.
  • Page 16 Pressing Mode switches to Learning mode. Turning this on begins the procedure for the focuser to learn the temperature compensation characteristics of the Hyperion. Again, each device can be selected with the Control dial. Finally, there is Setup: Offsets. Here you can select ambient, primary, and secondary temperatures and input offsets from the measured temperature to the actual temperature for more precision.

  • Page 17: Telescope Control Software

    The Hyperion control software lets you operate all the telescope’s electronic features remotely. Power up the Hyperion telescope control panel and start the Hyperion software. Make sure the USB wireless box is plugged into the computer and press Connect. The default window is for Main Focuser control. Once connected, you should see the current focuser position displayed.
  • Page 18 The Instrument Rotator window allows you to control the position of the Hyperion’s instrument rotator. The current position is shown in the Position display. By pressing the left or right arrows, you can manually move the rotator to any angle.
  • Page 19 The Fan Control window displays the current fan power level. Pressing the up or down arrows will manually increase or decrease the fan speed in 1% increments. You can also select a predefined power level using the % buttons to the right of the arrows. The Temperature Control window has three tabs.
  • Page 20 Snapshot button earlier. The temperature compensation will be based on this differential. Alternatively, you can let the Hyperion learn the correct temperature compensation characteristics. Check the Learn box. The current temperature information is recorded.
  • Page 21 The Setup window has four tabs for setting parameters for the various features. The Focuser tab lets you select Minimum and Maximum focuser values. The default range of the focuser is 0-60000 counts. Changing these values will restrict the motion of the focuser.
  • Page 22 The Rotator tab allows you to set a Wrap Limit for the instrument rotator. The wrap limit is defined as the number of degrees past 180. For example, setting the wrap limit to 15 would allow the rotator to go 15 degrees past 180 degrees before reversing and taking the other direction around to a given position.

  • Page 23: Cleaning The Optics

    Click on Select File and navigate to the .bin file you downloaded. Click OK. On the Hyperion control panel on the back of the scope, press and hold both the Mode and Select buttons. While holding these buttons, press the power button, then release all three buttons.
  • Page 24 Note: A little dust won’t hurt your telescope, so it is not recommended that you clean the Hyperion’s optics very often. It is better not to risk damaging the coatings. If you do find it necessary to clean the optics, follow the steps below.
  • Page 25 Carefully lift the back plate. This is easiest to do with the optional Back Plate Removal Tool, shown below. The tool threads on where the focuser normally goes and provides a convenient handle for lifting the back plate. Lift the plate high enough for the baffle tube and the wireless communications board to clear the optical tube.
  • Page 26 Note: Exercise caution at all times when cleaning the mirror. Starizona recommends using First Contact cleaning product for cleaning the Hyperion’s primary mirror. First Contact is a spray-on solution that dries into a polymer film which is peeled off the mirror, removing dust and other contaminants. First Contact can be purchased from PhotonicCleaning.com.

  • Page 27: Appendix

    FocusMax is freeware that controls the Hyperion’s focuser, allowing automated focusing using either MaxIm DL or CCDSoft camera control software. After launching FocusMax for the first time, you will need to select the Hyperion Main Focus Driver from the pulldown menu. Once connected to the focuser, you will need to train FocusMax.
  • Page 28 Defocused Star Collimation Viewer in CCDInspector. Start by driving the telescope out of focus using the Control Panel or Hyperion software. The goal is to have the star cover about 40-100 pixels. Open the collimation viewer in CCDInspector by choosing Real-Time >...
  • Page 29 Collimation Viewer to collimate the primary mirror. Make small adjustments on the primary mirror’s collimation screws (again, using about 1/8 turn each time) to make the stars evenly-sized across the full field of view. The Hyperion is now accurately collimated.

  • Page 30: Specifications

    Hyperion 12.5 Specifications Aperture 12.5” (320mm) Focal Length 2540mm Focal Ratio Secondary Mirror Diameter 5.5” (140mm) Optimized Field of View 70mm Image Circle (1.58°) Optical Tube Length 49.13” (994mm) Overall Length (with focuser) 46.27” (1175mm) Weight 60 lbs (27.3 kg)