INSTRUCTION MANUAL
NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WILL RESULT. USE A PROPER SOLAR FILTER FIRMLY MOUNTED ON THE FRONT OF THE TELESCOPE FOR VIEWING THE SUN. WHEN OBSERVING THE SUN. PLACE A DUST CAP OVER YOUR FINDERSCOPE OR REMOVE IT TO PROTECT YOU FROM ACCIDENTAL EXPOSURE. NEVER USE AN EYEPIECE-TYPE SOLAR FILTER AND NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO PROJECT SUNLIGHT ONTO ANOTHER SURFACE, THE INTERNAL HEAT BUILD-UP WILL DAMAGE THE TELESCOPE OPTICAL ELEMENTS.
1 ntroduction to the SynScan TM The SynScanr" is a precision-engineered instrument that will allow you to easily find and enjoy viewing night sky treasures, such as planets, nebulea, star clusters, galaxies and much more. The hand control allows you to point your telescope at a specific object or even tour the skies at the touch of a button. The user friendly menu system allows automatic slewing to over 13,400 objects.
The SynScanTM Hand Control allows direct access to all the motion controls of the telescope and a database with a range of preset objects. The Hand Control comes with a dual-line, 16 character display screen that is backlit for comfortable viewing of the telescope information and scrolling text. To explore the many functions that the SynScanTM has to offer, there are 4 main categories of control on the Hand Control (Fig.d): Mode keys The mode keys are located near the top, close to the LCD display.
This section provides a step-by-step procedure on how to operate your SynScanrMhand control. tial Setup 1. Perform the Polar alignment using the polarscope. 2. Point the telescope roughly to the North Celestial Pole (or Polaris) if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. Point to the South Celestial Pole if in Southern Hemisphere. Make sure the counterweight rod is pointed down as seen in Fig.h. This will be the home position of the telescope. 3.
Star ~ l i ~ n r n e n t In order for the SynScanT"to correctly point to objects in the sky, it must first be aligned to one to three known positions (stars) in the sky. As the Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours, astronomical objects appear to move through the sky following an arc. W~ththe supplied information, the telescope can replicate a model of the sky and the movements of astronomical objects.
One-Star Alignment It requires only one alignment star but, without accurate polar alignment and cone error calibration (see Appendix A), it may produce lesser pointing accuracy than the other alignment methods. Refer to the HEQIEQG manual for information on how to perform accurate polar alignment. Below describes a stepby-step procedure on how to perform the One-Star Alignment: 1. Make sure the telescope has been polar aligned. 2. In the alignment screen, select I-StarAlign using the scroll keys.
0bject database in the SynScan TM The SynScanrMcomes with a vast database with over 13,400 objects coordinates and information all available in the palm of your hand. The database contains the following catalogs: Solar System - The other 8 planets of our solar system, plus the Moon. Named Star - A list of 212 best known stars from the SynScanTM database. *NGC - 7,840 of the brightest deep sky objects from the Revised New General Catalog.
Utility Functions Utility Functions are useful tools that provide simple, one-step processes to your SynScanTM: Show Position - This displays the coordinates of the location where the telescope is currently pointed. Display Time - This displays the local time and local Sidereal time. Park Scope - This moves the telescope to the Home position. Inquire Version - This submenu displays the hardware, firmware, and database version of the hand control.
4. The first available selection in the Object Catalog is Recall Object. This is where you select previously-saved objects to view. Use the scroll keys to scroll down to "Input Coordi.>" and press ENTER. 5. The SynScanTMstores the user-defined objects in two formatsR.A/Dec and AltIAz. Press 1 for the R.A/Dec. format and 2 for the Enter RA-DEC: Alt-Azimuth format. 2 2 h 4 6 . l m +90°00 6. By default the SynScanTMwill display the R.A./Dec or AltIAz coordinates where the telescope is currently pointed.
Linking with A Computer - Another feature of SynScanTM is the ability to connect to a computer via a serial communication cable. Many commercially available planetarium softwares can be used to control SynScanTM. SynScanT"Version 3.00 and later is compatible with Celestron 5i/8i and NexStar GPS command protocol. 1. Make sure that the telescope has been aligned. 2. Connect the RS-232 cable to the RJ-11 connector on the hand control and to the COM-port of your computer (Fig.
PEC Training 1. Perform the accurate PolarAlignment method (see the HEQ5lEQ6 manual). 2. Slew or manually point the telescope to a star with smaller DEC coordinate. This object will be used as the guide star. 3. Activate Sidereal Tracking from the Setup Menu (see Setup Functions). Once the tracking has started, press ESC to go back to the Setup Menu. 4. Rotate the reticle eyepiece until one set of the lines becomes parallel to (or matches) the R.A.
Updating the SynScanT.Firmware From version 3.0 onward, the SynScanr" firmware is user upgradeable. Users can download the latest version of the SynScanTM firmware from the Sky-Watcher web site and easily update their hand controls. System requirements SynScanrMHand Control of version 3.0.or later. Windows95 or later An available RS-232C communication port on the PC. PC link cable that comes with the SynScanrM hand control. DC power supply with 7.5-1 5V/100mA output. Power plug should be 2.
5. Click "Browse" to select the SynScanVXXXX.ssf file in the SynScan folder. Click "Update" l o start downloading the new firmware into your SynScan hand control. You will see the status of the update below the "Update" and "HC. Version" buttons fig.^). TM SynScan F~rmwareLoader 10 Flrmware F l e Browse ] HC Yerson I 1 6. When the download is complete, the status will show "Update Complete". The SynScan hand control is now updated to the newest firmware.
I MAIN MENU I I F 1 OBJECT CATALOG Show Position Sqlar System Display Time Observ. Site Park Scope Daylight Saving Inquire Version Alignment 1 1-Star Align. 2-Star Align. 3-Star Align. t LCDlLED Tuning set Backlash set Tracking Sidereal Rate Lunar Rate Solar Rate PEC + Sidereal Rate Stop Tracking L ~ u t Guide o Speed 0.75x 0.25X 0.
SynScanTw SPECIFICATIONS Power Supply: Motor type and resolution: Slew speeds: Gear Ratio: Tracking Rates: Tracking Modes: Alignment Method: Database: Pointing Accuracy: 11 to 15 V DC 2Amp (Tip positive) Microstep driven 1.8" stepper motors. Resolution: 0.144 arc sec (or 9,024,000 stepslrev.) Rate 0 = 0.5X Rate I = 1X Rate 2 = 8X Rate 3 = 16X Rate 4 = 32X Rate 5 = 64X Rate 6 = 400X Rate 7 = 500X Rate 8 = 600X Rate 9 = 800X 705 Sidereal, Lunar, Solar R.A.
Generally speaking the SynScan produces pointing and tracking accuracies adaquate for most applications. However, if higher precision is required, for example for astro-photography, accurate polar alignment and "cone" error calibration may be required. See the manual for HEQ51EQ6 mount for information on accurate polar alignment using the polarscope. TM "Cone" error is a common inaccuracy found on all German equatorial mount. It is a result from the optical axis not being aligned to the R.A.
6. Loosen the R.A. lock knob and rotate the telescope around the R.A. axis until the counterweight shaft is parallel to the ground. (Fig.A-2) 7. Using the Dec direction key on the hand control, adjust the telescope in Dec so Polaris sits on the R.A. lines of the reticle eyepiece (Fig.A-3). 8. Wlthout moving the R.A. axis, adjust the azimuth control knobs to bring Polaris to the center of the eyepiece (Fig.A-4). Adjustment in Dec axis using the hand control may be necessary. Place Polaris on the R.A.
12. Carefully nudge the telescope in horizontal motion using only one finger while observing the movement of Polaris through the eyepiece (Fig.A-7). This is to determine which direction (left or right) moves Polaris closer to the center of the eyepiece. 13. Next step is to adjust the adjustment screws on the mounting plate according to your finding from step 12.
The SynScan " telescopes are designed to receive control commands sent from a computer via the RS-232 port and RS-232 cable. Once connected, the SynScanTM can be controlled by most popular planetarium software program. The SynScanTMwill communicate with the personal computer at 9600 bitslsec, no parity and stop bit. All angles are communicated with 16 bit angle and communicated using ASCII hexadecimal.
Physical Connection Diagram RJ-11 Connector RJ-11 NC RD GND NC TD NC I The Back of the DB9 Pinout I I 9 Additional RS232 Commands Sending a track rate through RS232 to the hand control 1. Multiply the desired tracking rate (arc seconds /second) by 4. For example: if the desired track rate is 120 arc seconds/second (proximately 8 times of sidereal rate), then the TRACKRATE = 480. 2. Separate TRACKRATE into two bytes, such that (TRACKRATE = 3. TrackRateHighByte"256 + TrackRateLowByte).
NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WILL RESULT. USE A PROPER SOLAR FILTER FIRMLY MOUNTED ON THE FRONT OF THE TELESCOPE FOR VIEWING THE SUN. WHEN OBSERVING THE SUN, PLACE A DUST CAP OVER YOUR FINDERSCOPE OR REMOVE IT TO PROTECT YOU FROM ACCIDENTAL EXPOSURE. NEVER USE AN EYEPIECE-TYPE SOLAR FILTER AND NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO PROJECT SUNLIGHT ONTO ANOTHER SURFACE, THE INTERNAL HEAT BUILD-UP WILL DAMAGE THE TELESCOPE OPTICAL ELEMENTS.
