ASTRO-PHYSICS German Equatorial 1200GTO, Manual, Page: 4 / 38

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ASTRO-PHYSICS
1200 GERMAN EQUATORIAL WITH
GTO SERVO MOTOR DRIVE
For Mounts shipped starting in July, 2007. Beginning with Serial Number 1200723
MODEL 1200GTO PARTS LIST – MODEL GTOCP3
1 Polar axis assembly (right ascension-R.A.) with Servo Box GTOCP3
1 Declination (Dec.) axis assembly
1 19.5” (18.5” usable) Stainless counterweight shaft (1.875” dia.) with machined, black-anodized, safety stop
1 Y cable – R.A. portion is 12.5” long and Dec portion is 37.5” long
1 D.C. power cord (cigarette lighter adapter on one end) - 8’ long
1 GTO Keypad controller with 15’ coiled cable, Instruction Manual and installed Keypad Protector (KEYPRO)
1 Hex key set
2 8-32 thumbscrews (substitute these for 8-32 set screws that hold GTO Servo Control Box in place, if you wish)
1 PEMProAP™ Periodic Error Management software for Astro-Physics mounts (CD-ROM)
1 PulseGuide™ by Sirius Imaging – remote control utility for improved guiding (CD-ROM)
In order to fully assemble your mount, you will need the following items sold separately:
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Telescope mounting plate – many choices to fit your telescope and observing needs.
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22° to 69° latitude: choose either the Standard Pier Adapter (1200SPA) or the Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier
Adapter with Azimuth Bearing (1200RPA). Either adapter will come with six 5/16 – 18 X 5/8” button head
screws for attachment to the pier, four pier knobs for attaching the mount to the adapter, and the azimuth block
for use with the Heavy Duty Azimuth Adjuster found on all 1200GTO mounts produced after August, 2005 and
available as an upgrade for earlier mounts.
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Tropical or extreme polar latitudes (0° to 22° or 69° to the pole North or South): choose the Hi-Lo Latitude
Wedge Pier Adapter Assembly (1200WDGA) or the Wedge alone (1200WDG) with Flat Surface Adapter
(1200FSA) and Rotating Pier Adapter (1200RPA)
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10” O.D. pier – Astro-Physics has several heights and styles to choose from.
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Counterweights – 5 lb. (5SCWT), 10 lb. (10SCWT) and 18 lb. (18SCWT) are available.
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Portable rechargeable 12 volt battery pack. Several sizes and types are available from a variety of vendors. Be
sure that your battery pack can supply adequate power for an entire observing session! (see power
requirements under Features and Specifications on next page) We recommend having separate batteries – one
for the mount – one for all other accessories: camera, dew removers etc.
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Regulated Power Supply (110V AC to 12V DC converter) – we offer two choices: 13.8 volt 5 amp supply
(PS138V5A) or 15 volt, 10 amp supply (PS15V10A).
Many of these items will be discussed throughout these instructions. Several additional options are available:
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9” counterweight shaft extension (M12675)
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Santa Barbara Instrument Group CCD Imaging cameras and ST-4 Autoguider or STV - if you plan to pursue
CCD imaging or astrophotography
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Pier accessory trays for 10” pier (TRAY10) and/or Eyepiece Accessory Trays (TRAY10H) and support bars: Bi-
Level (TRAYSB) or Single Level (TRAYSB1) - handy to keep your eyepieces and accessories close at hand
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Polar axis telescope (PASILL4 – Prior versions sold by Astro-Physics will also work.) - threads into the base of
the polar axis assembly. Many users find a polar axis telescope useful for zeroing in on the pole quickly,
particularly with telescopes that are not orthogonal to the mount.
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Extension cable for keypad. Please call Astro-Physics to obtain a quote on the length of extension cable you
need.
Note on Encoders: Mounted shaft encoders can no longer be used with the 1200GTO (for mounts shipped starting in
May, 2006 – beginning serial number 1200572) because of the counterweight shaft re-design. They are not needed
since the go-to functions of the mount are so much more accurate. The encoder that is built into the servo motor itself
has a resolution of 0.05 arc seconds vs. 324 arc seconds for mounted encoders.