3
1. installation
The
INSTALL mode is used when Sky Wizard is first installed
on your telescope. I
NSTALL tells Sky Wizard what kind of
telescope you are using, the desired scroll rate for the subject
description display, and the resolution or gear ratio of the
encoders. This information is on the Installation Instructions.
When inputting the gear ratios, you must go all the way
through the I
NSTALL sequence until the word INSTALL
appears again to update any changes.
To start: Press MODE. Scroll UP or DOWN until the display
reads
INSTALL and press ENTER.
telescope Mount type
The display first prompts you to select the type of telescope mount
used. The current telescope mounting type will be displayed.
Press UP or DOWN to select the desired telescope type.
Mount type choices:
For telescopes such as Celestron and Meade Schmidt-
Cassegrains with fork mounts (not counterweighted
German-type mounts):
Equatorial fork mount:
SCOPE EQ
Equatorial fork mount, perfectly aligned:
SCOPE EP
For all telescopes on German-type equatorial mounts (mounts
with a counterweight on a shaft balancing the weight of the
optical tube) including Celestron Super Polaris telescopes:
German-type equatorial mount:
SCOPE GQ
German-type equatorial, perfectly aligned:
SCOPE EP
For altazimuth telescopes, including Dobsonian and other
telescopes which move in vertical & horizontal planes:
(Choice of vertical or horizontal index is based on your prefer-
ence, not on the telescope itself. See SETUP).
Altazimuth, horizontal index:
SCOPE AZ
Altazimuth, vertical index:
SCOPE AV
For a motor-driven “Poncet” type equatorial table such as
those sometimes used with a Dobsonian telescope:
Equatorial table, vertical index:
SCOPE ET
When you have selected the correct type of mount, press
ENTER to advance to the next step.
Perfectly Aligned Option (EP or GP). For equatorial tele-
scopes, you can choose a “perfectly aligned” telescope type
if your telescope is on a permanent mount known to be in
good polar alignment, or if your portable telescope can be
easily polar aligned accurately. If you choose a “perfectly
aligned” type, Sky Wizard does not ask for or require an initial
mount index, and uses only a single star to get oriented with
the sky. The “Sync” function has no effect. This mode will
result in improved accuracy, especially near the poles, if your
telescope is indeed perfectly aligned (due to elimination of
rounding errors in the complex mathematical transformation
normally needed to adjust for polar alignment error).
Display scroll rate
The rate of scrolling messages is displayed: SCROLL 5. Set the
flashing digit using the UP and DOWN buttons. 0 is very slow, 5 is
about right and 9 is very fast. Press ENTER to go to the next step.
Encoder settings
(See Instructions w/ your install kit for correct settings).
The proper encoder settings (ratios) for your specific tele-
scope mount are located on a chart in the Installation
Instructions that came with the installation kit for your specific
telescope. Simply input these ratios in the
Install mode by
scrolling up and down and pressing ENTER after each correct
number that is blinking. Be sure to go all the way through the
install sequence (pressing ENTER each time) until the word
Install reappears to update any changes.
custom installation
(Skip this section if you have purchased an Installation Kit
for a specific telescope or you already know the encoder
ratios.) The Sky Wizard needs to be told how many turns of
an encoder indicate one turn of the telescope. The ratio is
1.000 for a 2048-step encoder. If you have an altazimuth tele-
scope, or any mount where gears or pulleys are NOT used,
divide 2048 into the encoder resolution. The encoder resolu-
tion (steps per revolution) is printed on the side of the
encoders you received with your installation kit. You will prob-
ably have the larger high resolution encoders (4000 steps/
revolution) or the smaller standard resolution encoders (2160
steps/revolution). The 4000 encoder direct drive ratio would be
0.5120. The 2160 encoder direct drive ratio would be 0.9481.
In
INSTALL mode, after inputting telescope type and scroll
rate, input first the RA encoder ratio (1) then the Dec. encoder
ratio (2). Adjust the blinking digit using the UP and DOWN but-
tons. When the digit is correctly set, press ENTER to advance
to the next digit. After all the digits are set for the first RA
encoder (AZ on altaz scopes), ( Example
1-5120) the display
switches to the second, DEC (Altitude on altazimuth scopes):
(Example
2 +5120). Set it to the required numbers in the same
way as the first. It is common to determine the encoder polar-
ity (+/-) by trial and error using Encoder Direction Test. (See
Chp 2, ENC Test section, page 7)
If you are installing Sky Wizard on an equatorial mount or with
any kits that uses gears or pulleys, you will need to figure the
encoder ratio for your install kit. If you purchased an Orion
install kit for your telescope, the instructions for that kit will list
the required encoder settings to enter in your Sky Wizard.
Simply enter those settings as listed here. Read the
discussion in the next section if you need to determine your
own encoder settings.
Determining Encoder ratios
You don’t need to worry about this if you know the encoder
ratios from your Install Kit Instructions. If you are custom-
installing a Sky Wizard and need to determine the proper
encoder ratios, read on. Many custom mountings use gears to
drive the optical encoders. This can increase the resolution
and/or make the installation more convenient. It is necessary
to set the ratio of each encoder that is driven by gears. To
