Sky-Watcher Synscan Hand Control - Manual (Page 4)

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In Easy Tracking mode, the hand control also needs to connect to a Sky-Watcher tele-
scope mount. The mount must be setup at a proper “Home Position” (refer to Section 2.1
for details) before turning on the power. After turning on the power of the mount, the hand
control must complete an “Initialization” routine. Then the user can choose to skip the
“Alignment” routine and start the tracking function directly (refer to Section 6.1 “Choosing
Tracking Speed”). Users will need to locate a celestial object in the sky, and then use the
hand control to manually point the telescope to the target. The object locating function may
still be used but it can only give a rough result.
The Easy Tracking mode is suitable for quick setup for visual observing of brighter celestial
objects, such as planets, the moon, or the sun. If the user does not turn on the tracking
function, the Easy Tracking mode can also be used for observing terrestrial objects.
PART I: INTRODUCTION
The flow chart of the “Easy Tracking” operation is shown below:
2. Easy Tracking Mode:
In Full Feature mode, the hand control must connect to a Sky-Watcher telescope mount.
After turning on the power to the mount, the hand control must complete an “Initialization”
routine, followed by an “Alignment” routine which establishes a model to transform the
coordinates of the mount and the coordinates of the sky. Only after the “Alignment” is
done can the SynScan hand control’s high precsion “GOTO” function be used to locate a
celestial object.
The Full Feature mode is the most commonly used mode of operation.
Fig. 1.4b
Initialization Start Tracking
Locate a celestial
object manually
Observing or other
operations
PART II : INITIALIZATION
• Tripod head is leveled.
• R.A. axis points towards the Northern Celestial Pole (in Northern Hemisphere) or the
Southern Celestial Pole (in Southern Hemisphere).
• Counterweight rod is at its lowest position.
• The telescope points towards the Northern Celestial Pole (in Northern Hemisphere) or
the Southern Celestial Pole (in Southern Hemisphere).
To operate the SynScan hand control in “ Full Feature ” mode, no particular home position
is required.
To operate the SynScan hand control in “Easy Tracking” mode, the mount should be setup
as close to home position as possible, according to the following instuctions:
• Mount base is leveled.
• The telescope’s tube is leveled and points towards the true North (note: not magnetic
North).
Once the mount has been setup to the home position, the user can turn on the power to the
mount and start the initialization process on the SynScan hand control. The following is the
steps:
1. Home Position of an Equatorial Mount:
2. Home Position of an Alt-azimuth Mount:
2.1 Setup Home Position of the Telescope Mount
2.2 Initialize the Hand Control
Before powering on the telescope mount, it should be setup to a particular home position. The
home position differs between an equatorial mount and an Alt-azimuth mount.
A SynScan hand control with a firmware version 4.05.06 or later supports both an equato-
rial mount and an alt-azimuth mount. It is able to detect the model of the mount to which it
connects and select the appropriate operation mode accordingly.
For an equatorial/Alt-azimuth dual-mode mount, such as the AZ-EQ6 GT mount, the Syn-
Scan hand control will require the user to choose the mount’s operating mode.
• The LCD screen will display “ Operating Mode ” in the first line.
• Use the scrolling keys located at the bottom left and right of the keypad to choose be-
tween Equatorial mode ( EQ Mode ) and Alt-azimuth mode ( AZ Mode ).
• Press ENTER to confirm the selection.
1. Selecting the Operation Mode of the Mount
The hand control will display the firmware version.
• Press
ENTER to proceed to the next step. Press ESC to return to the previous step.
• Users can slew the mount with direction keys in this step.
2. Firmware Version Display