iOptron SmartStar MiniTower Pro - Manual (Page 15)

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longitude and latitude information from
satellites after the link is established.
However, manual input is still needed for
time zone and Daylight Saving setting.
A clear sky outside is needed for GPS to
communicate well with the satellites.
5.2.1. Set Up Time Zone
Press MENU button, from the main menu,
scroll down and select “Set up controller”
Press ENTER. Scroll down and select “Set
up site
”
Press ENTER. The longitude and latitude
coordinates will be updated when the GPS
picks up satellite signals. “W/E” means
west/east hemisphere; “N/S” means
north/south hemisphere; “d” means degree;
“m” means minute; and “s” means second.
If for any reason your GPS can’t pick up a
signal you can manually enter the GPS
coordinates. Press ◄ or ► key to move the
cursor and using ▲ or ▼ key to toggle
between “W” and “E”, “N” and “S”, using
number key to change the numbers. It is
always a good idea to do your home work to
get the GPS coordinates before traveling to
a new observation site.
The site coordinates information can be
found from internet, such as GPSVisualizer
(
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocode ), by
entering the city name or address. In case
you only find the site information in decimal
format you can convert them into d:m:s
format by multiplying the decimal numbers
by 60. For example, N47.53 can be
changed to N47º31'48”: 47.53º = 47º
+0.53º, 0.53º=0.53x60'=31.8',
0.8'=0.8x60"=48". Therefore,
47.53º=47º31'48" or 47d31m48s. Same as
N47º31.8’: 31.8’=31’+0.8’, 0.8’=0.8x60”=48”.
Press ◄ or ► key, move the cursor to the
bottom of the screen to set the time zone
information (add or subtract 60 minutes per
time zone). Enter minutes “ahead of” or
“behind” UT (universal time).
• New York City is 300 minutes “behind”
UT
• Los Angeles is 480 minutes “behind” UT
• Rome is 60 minutes “ahead of” UT
• Beijing is 480 minutes “ahead of” UT
• Sydney is 600 minutes “ahead of” UT
All the time zones in North America are
behind
UT, as shown in the following table.
So make sure it shows “behind” instead of
“ahead of” UT.
Time Zone Hours behind Enter Minutes
Hawaii -10 600
Alaska -9 540
Pacific -8 480
Mountain -7 420
Central -6 360
Eastern -5 300
Set up site info:
Longitude:
W071d27m47s
Latitude:
N42d15m40s
300 Min. behind UT
Select and slew
Sync. to target
Electronic focuser
Set up controller
Align
PEC option
Set up Tracking
User objects
Set up Local Time
Set up site
Set N/S hemisphere
Set display contrast
Set Eyepiece light
Set Backlight
Set anti-backlash
Set Key Beep