Figure 3 (Argo Navis^TM Model 102B shown)

This section describes the once-only requirements for setting-up the Argo Navis^TM to suit your scope and your individual requirements. This includes:

setting up the power sources;
setting your initial mount type;
setting your encoder resolution;
setting your encoder senses;

· setting your final mount type;

· setting the local time zone, date and time;

· setting your location;

· enabling refraction modelling;

Power sources

There are two types of power source:

internal battery power; and,

· external battery power.

Internal Battery Power

4 “AA”, 1.5V batteries provide the internal battery power. These should be alkaline, lithium or rechargeable NiMH batteries. Since NiMH batteries have reduced capacity below 20C (68F), their use is not recommended in cool or cold climates. Do not use NiCd or regular/ heavy-duty zinc-oxide batteries.

To install batteries, refer to Figure 3. Using a coin, remove & retain the battery hatch thumbscrew on the battery housing (the raised section at the top of the back) of the Argo Navis^TM. Gently slide the battery cover slightly toward the top of the unit by about 1cm and then lift it off.

To place the batteries in, refer to Figure 4. Observe the polarity indicators inside the battery housing (+ on the battery should be placed at the same end as the + on the markings inside the battery housing). Replace the battery hatch cover and thumbscrew.

· Ensure batteries are removed from the Argo Navis^TM if it is to be stored or not used for prolonged periods in case of battery leakage.

· Do not charge rechargeable batteries whilst in battery housing.

· Do not connect any other form of power supply to battery terminals.

Fresh alkaline batteries with the display fully dimmed can provide from 12 to 40 hours usage of the unit depending on several additional factors including what type of encoders are installed.

External battery power

The optional external DC power cable allows you the convenience to power the Argo Navis^TM from an external battery source such as a 12V car battery. The external power receptacle is found on the top of the unit and is marked DC IN. The external battery voltage should be in the range of 8V to 16V DC. An incorrect power voltage source or polarity could cause damage to your unit and void your warranty. Use only the optional external DC power cable supplied by Wildcard Innovations (Part No. pn-pwr-cbl) for supplying external power to your unit. Though Argo Navis^TM provides in-built reverse polarity and short circuit protection, the optional cable contains a 350mA fuse for additional safety.

WARNING: Never use a cable with an incorrect fuse (we recommend 315mA) and never bypass the fuse protection. Observe all safety procedures when working with external batteries. Many contain dangerous acids that can be spilt and some batteries are capable of delivering very large currents that can destroy equipment or cause a fire if they are short-circuited.

WARNING: Be careful not to trip or allow others to trip over the external power cable or any other cables from your unit.

Figure 4 (Argo Navis^TM Model 102B shown)

Setting the initial mount type

Argo Navis^TM requires you to specify what style of mount your telescope is on.

However, for the purpose of this once-only initial setup procedure, you will be asked to set your mount type to the fork exact align setting, irrespective of what type of mount you really have.

Later, you will be asked to set the mount type to match the type of mount you are using.

Power the unit on. Turn the DIAL clockwise until you see -

MODE SETUP

Press ENTER. Now turn the DIAL clockwise until you see -

SETUP MOUNT

Notice how Argo Navis^TM orders its various menus alphabetically so you can find a particular one logically and quickly.

Now press ENTER. The display might then show -

ALTAZ/DOBSONIAN

where the whole line will be flashing. Spin the DIAL until the display shows –

FORK EXACT ALIGN

Then press EXIT or ENTER. Argo Navis^TM will briefly display the words

SAVING ….

while it saves your settings into its memory (EEROM device) and then display the message –

SETUP MOUNT

Setting encoder steps (resolution)

Before you can perform an alignment, you need to set up in Argo Navis^TMthe resolution and “direction senses” of your altitude and azimuth encoders.

Encoder operation background

Most optical encoders will have a printed label specifying either their part number or their resolution. For example, if you have an encoder marked with the part number S2-2500, this is a 10,000-step encoder (10,000 is 4 times 2500 - this style of encoder is technically known as a Quadrature Encoder).

When an encoder rotates, it transmits electrical pulses or ‘steps’. A 10,000-step encoder will produce 10,000 steps when it is rotated 360°. Therefore, one ‘step’ on such an encoder corresponds to an angle of rotation of about 2.16 arc minutes.

Encoders can be geared to produce a higher or lower number of ‘steps’ when the telescope mount bearing they are attached to rotates through 360°.

In any case, you need to establish how many steps your encoders produce when the bearing they are attached to is rotated through 360°. In many cases, bearings, particularly altitude (declination) bearings, may be incapable of being rotated through a full 360°. Nonetheless, you will still need to establish how many steps the encoder would produce if the bearing could be rotated through a full 360°.

If the shaft of your encoder is attached directly to the axis of rotation of the bearing and is not geared, then the number of steps for that particular encoder is simply its rated number of steps.

Setting altitude steps

Having established how many steps each encoder is, spin the DIAL within the setup menu-level until you see -

SETUP ALT STEPS

Press ENTER and the display might show something like this -

ALT=+0010000

where the ‘+’ sign will be flashing. Leave the sign as a ‘+‘ for now and press ENTER and edit the fields as need be by using the DIAL to change a value and ENTER to advance to the next field. When the correct number of steps is displayed, press either ENTER or EXIT and if the value has changed from what it originally was, Argo Navis^TM will briefly display the words -

SAVING ….

while it saves your settings into its memory (EEROM device) and then display the message –

SETUP ALT STEPS

You have now set your altitude encoder step setting. However, as will be explained later, you may need to come back and change the encoder ‘direction sense’ (the ‘+’ sign or ‘-’ sign) depending upon your circumstances.

Setting azimuth steps

Using the DIAL, go to -

SETUP AZ STEPS

Press ENTER again and the display might show something like this -

AZ=+0010000

SAVING ….

while it saves your settings into its memory (EEROM device) and then display the message –

SETUP AZ STEPS

You have now set your azimuth encoder step setting. However, as will be explained later, you may need to come back and change the encoder ‘direction sense’ (the ‘+’ sign or ‘-’ sign) depending upon your circumstances.

Testing encoder communication

Power Argo Navis^TMoff. Make sure that your encoders are installed on your mount and that your encoder cable is connected both to them and into the ENCODERS port of the Argo Navis^TM. (See Figure 2.)

Power Argo Navis^TMon and use the DIAL to go to -

MODE ENCODER

Press ENTER. The display should show something like this –

AZ/ALT ENC ANGLE

000.00° +000.00°

The display is showing the angle of the azimuth encoder on the bottom left of the display and that of the altitude encoder on the bottom right.

Move the scope in azimuth (Right Ascension). Make sure that the AZ angle on the display changes. Now move the scope in altitude (Declination). Make sure that the ALT angle changes. If the ALT reading changes when you move the scope in azimuth and vice versa, you have the encoder cables swapped around. On most encoder cables supplied by Wildcard Innovations, the cable that has the white sleeve near its encoder end should go to the altitude encoder.

If neither or only one angle changes on the display check that the connections to the encoders are correct, in particular making sure that the plug that connects to the encoder pin header is inserted the right way up. On encoders and cables supplied by Wildcard Innovations, the correct orientation can be ascertained by matching the small circular sticker on the plug with the same type of sticker on top of the encoder (the side opposite that from which the shaft protrudes). Also, ensure that any set-screw holding the encoder shaft in place is firm and is not allowing the encoder shaft to slip. Finally, check the batteries in your Argo Navis^TMand replace them if necessary.

If you are performing the above test without having installed the encoders on your mount and you are simply turning the encoder shafts with your fingers, you may see one of the following messages on the display –

· AZ ENCODER ERROR

· ALT ENCODER ERR

· BOTH ENCODER ERR

This simply means that you have turned the encoders too quickly and have exceeded their sampling rate, thus missing counts. Argo Navis^TMtypically samples the encoders at a very high rate (much higher than older Digital Setting Circle, or ‘DSC’, units) and when the encoders are installed on your mount, you should not see these errors during normal operation. If the encoders are installed on your mount and you do see these errors, check the batteries in Argo Navis^TM and the connections on your encoders. Otherwise see the Troubleshooting guide.

Once you have established that your Argo Navis^TMcan reliably communicate with your encoders, you are ready to proceed.

Determining encoder direction senses

When you were initially setting your encoder resolution with setup alt steps and setup az steps, you were asked to ignore the flashing ‘+’ sign. Using the DIAL, the sign can be made to be either a ‘+’ or a ‘-’. It determines the way that Argo Navis^TM interprets the ‘direction sense’ of the applicable encoder.

Setting the correct direction senses of your encoders is very important. Many factors influence the setting of encoder direction senses. For example, in the case of an altitude encoder, whether it is mounted on the left or right-hand side of the mount and whether it has been geared an even or odd number of times are just two of the factors. The section named Factors affecting encoder direction sense details these. For this reason, determining the correct direction senses of your encoders may not be simply intuitive. Fortunately, you can perform a test with your scope that will tell you what the correct senses are. Once you have patiently worked through the test and have determined the correct settings for the encoders on your mount, you should never need to change them again.

To determine the direction senses of your encoders, follow these instructions.

Power off your Argo Navis^TM, and then power it back on. After it initializes, you should see –

MODE ALIGN STAR

then press ENTER. The display should show something like -

ALIGN ACHERNAR

If your scope is on a Fork Mount, roughly polar align it. Orient the tube so that it is the “way-up” you normally observe, thus –

Figure 5

If your scope is on a German Equatorial Mount (GEM), roughly polar align it. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, place the tube on the West side of the mount. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, place the tube on the East side of the mount.

If your scope is on an Alt/Az Mount, such as a Dobsonian, just continue reading. If your Alt/Az mount is mounted on top of an equatorial table, accurately polar align the table, move the table to the start position and switch it off for now.

Look up at the sky and pick a familiar bright star not far from the Celestial Equator (the imaginary line in the sky where Declination = 0°.) Spin the DIAL and look for that star’s name. There are 35 to choose from. The mode align star reference page lists the alignment stars. If you cannot find the star you have chosen in the list, pick another that is in the list that is not too far from the Celestial Equator. For example, say you have chosen Sirius. Spin the DIAL until you
see -

ALIGN SIRIUS

Centre Sirius in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN SIRIUS

WARP= +0.00

Now press EXIT and spin the DIAL until the display shows –

MODE RA DEC

then press ENTER. The display should show the approximate Right Ascension and Declination of the last star you aligned on. In the example of Sirius, the display might show something like this -

06:45.3 -16°43’

CANIS MAJOR

While watching the RA reading on the display, rotate the scope slowly in an Easterly direction. The RA value should increase. If instead it decreases, take note of that fact and continue for now.

While watching the Dec reading on the display, rotate the scope slowly in a Northerly direction. The Dec value should increase (a negative Dec value that becomes more and more negative is in fact decreasing). If the Dec value is decreasing, take note of that fact and continue.

If the Right Ascension and Declination directions were consistent with the above procedure, you do not need to alter the setup alt steps or setup az steps direction senses.

If the Right Ascension reading decreased as the scope was moved towards the East, then go back to setup az steps and change the direction sense sign.

If the Declination reading decreased as the scope was moved towards the North, then go back to setup alt steps and change the direction sense sign.

If you changed either or both signs, power the unit off and then on and repeat the procedure to verify that the new encoder direction senses are correct.

Setting the final mount type

During the initial once-only setup procedure, you were asked to set the mount type to fork exact align. You will now need to set your mount type to match your actual mount. If you have a Fork mount that is exactly polar aligned, you obviously do not need to change the setting.

Otherwise, power the unit off, then on. Turn the DIAL clockwise until you see -

MODE SETUP

Press ENTER. Now turn the DIAL clockwise until you see -

SETUP MOUNT

Now press ENTER. The display should show -

FORK EXACT ALIGN

where the whole line will be flashing. Spin the DIAL and select your mount type. The various mount types are tabled below.

Menu selection	When to use	Number of alignment stars required
ALTAZ/DOBSONIAN	For altitude/azimuth mounts such as Dobsonians (but not on equatorial tables);	fix alt ref step plus 2 alignment stars
EQ TABLE EXACT	For altitude/azimuth mounts mounted on top of an accurately polar aligned equatorial table	fix alt ref step plus 2 alignment stars
FORK EXACT ALIGNED	For any accurately aligned equatorial mount, such as a fork mount, but not a German equatorial or an equatorial table.	One alignment star
FORK ROUGH ALIGN	For any roughly aligned equatorial mount, such as a fork mount, but not a German equatorial or an equatorial table.	fix alt ref step plus 2 alignment stars
GEM EXACT ALIGN	For an accurately polar aligned German equatorial.	One alignment star
GEM ROUGH ALIGN	For a roughly aligned German equatorial.	fix alt ref step plus 2 alignment stars

Once you have selected your mount type, press either EXIT or ENTER. Argo Navis^TM will briefly display the words

SAVING ….

while it saves your settings into its memory (EEROM device) and then display the message –

SETUP MOUNT

Setting the local time zone, date and time

Argo Navis^TM contains an in-built battery-backed time of day clock. An internal lithium coin cell battery powers the clock even when the power is switched off or the main batteries are removed.

Though Argo Navis^TM does not require you to set the time or your location to operate, doing so provides the following additional features and benefits:

The local time and date, the UTC (Greenwich) time and date and the current Julian date (see Glossary) will be available to you from the mode time menu.

· The Local Apparent Sidereal Time (LAST) will be available to you in mode sidereal if you have also specified your location.

· The topocentric azimuth and altitude (see Glossary) will be available to you in mode az alt assuming you have also specified your location and have performed a valid star alignment.

· The horizon mask filtering option will be applied correctly in mode identify and mode tour assuming that you have also specified your location.

· If in setup guide mode the guide below horz setting has been set to h indicator on, then an ‘H’ symbol will appear on the guide mode display whenever an object is computed to be below the computed horizon, which in turn also assumes that you have specified your location.

· Correction for atmospheric refraction (see Glossary) will be made while you point your scope assuming you have also specified your location and assuming you have turned refraction correction on in the setup refraction sub-menu.

· Objects will be precessed and nutated (see Glossary) from their internally stored J2000.0 epoch positions to their actual position at the time you observe them.

· The positions of planets can be accurately determined.

· The positions of asteroids and comets can be computed from their orbital elements.

· The position of earth orbiting satellites can be computed assuming you have also specified your location.

· If you have a ServoCAT^TM slew and track system, Argo Navis^TM will provide horizon limit checking when running the “servocat” startup command on the Argo Navis^TM serial port. Horizon limit checking also assumes you have specified your location.

For these reasons it is worthwhile setting your local time zone, date and time. Since Argo Navis^TM retains the time even when it is powered off, you only need do it once and then possibly occasionally to correct for normal clock drift.

To set the local time zone, date and time, perform the following. Power the unit on. Turn the DIAL clockwise until you see

MODE SETUP

Press ENTER. Now turn the DIAL clockwise until you see

SETUP DATE/TIME

Notice how Argo Navis^TM orders its various menus alphabetically so you can find a particular one logically and quickly.

Press ENTER. Argo Navis^TM will display something like

TIMEZONE=+00:00

Where the ‘+’ (or possibly ‘-‘) sign will be flashing.

To understand the concept of time zone, it is important to know that Argo Navis^TM always internally keeps track of time in terms of Universal Co-ordinated Time (UTC), which was previously referred to as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The time zone is the number of hours that your local time differs from UTC. For example, in New York when Daylight Savings Time (Summer time) is not in effect, the time zone setting is
-05:00 hours. When Daylight Savings (summer time) is in effect, the time zone is –4:00. In Sydney, when Daylight Savings time is not in effect, the time zone setting is +10:00 hours and when Daylight Savings is in effect +11:00. In New Delhi the time zone is +05:30.

Use the World timezones section of this manual to determine your local time zone. If you are in a time zone that is west of Greenwich, you will set the sign to a ‘-‘. If you are in a time zone that is east of Greenwich, you will set the sign to a ‘+’.

By turning the DIAL you can change the sign alternately between a ‘+’ and a ‘-‘. When you have selected the correct sign, hit ENTER, which advances the flashing ‘cursor’ to the first numeric field. You can change the value in that field by turning the DIAL. When you have selected the correct value, advance the cursor to the right by hitting the ENTER button again and so on. When you have finished editing the last field (most people will live in a time zone that is only a whole number of hours offset from UTC), pressing the ENTER button again will result in a display something like

DATE=24 APR 2015

TIME=15:30:45

where the first digit will be flashing. Again, as in editing the time zone, edit the correct local date and time by using the DIAL and pressing the ENTER button to advance over fields. If you make a mistake, press EXIT and start over again. Keep in mind that you are entering your local date and time here, not the UTC time. Argo Navis^TM will perform the appropriate arithmetic to convert the date and time you enter to internal UTC time by taking into account the time zone you entered.

When you have edited the last field, you may like to synchronize the pressing of the ENTER button against some correct time reference. Argo Navis^TM will then briefly display the words

SAVING ….

and then the words

INITIALIZING ….

in the lower half of the display before returning to the setup sub-menu with the message

SETUP DATE/TIME

You have now successfully set your local time zone and your local date and time.

While the SAVING… message appeared, Argo Navis^TM saved your time zone setting into its memory (EEROM device) and the date and time into the battery backed time-of-day clock. While the INITIALIZING … message appeared, Argo Navis^TM re-initialized such things as the positions of planets, asteroids and comets and recalculated the amount of precession and nutation to account for since the J2000.0 epoch.

It is handy to remember that whenever Daylight Savings comes into or out of force in your locality, simply edit the time zone by adding or subtracting an hour from it as necessary. There is no need to change the local time as changing the time zone will automatically perform the correct arithmetic.

Normally the lithium coin cell battery used by the time of day clock should last for several years. If for any reason it should run flat, when Argo Navis^TM is powered on, it will display briefly this message

RTC BATTERY FLAT

Followed by this message -

SETTING DATE TO

12:00 1 JAN 2000

See the section How to replace the lithium coin cell battery for details.

Setting the location

As was discussed in the section on setting the time zone, date and time, Argo Navis^TM does not require you to set your location to operate, however, doing so brings about other features and benefits.

While in mode setup, turn the DIAL until you see -

SETUP LOCATION

Then press ENTER, where you will then see a location name such as this

NOWHERE,ATLANTIC

If you turn the DIAL you will then see the names of 10 locations in the world. If you happen to live in one of them, simply hit EXIT while its name appears in the display and you are done.

Chances are, however, that you do not live in any of the locations indicated. This is not a problem, since you can edit the locations to places that you observe from. For example, say you are unlikely to do any observing from Mawson Base in Antarctica. Let us edit the ‘mawson base’ location to ‘home’.

While in setup location, Turn the DIAL until

MAWSON BASE

appears on the display The whole line will be flashing.

Now press the ENTER button. You have now entered location name edit mode. The ‘M’ character will be flashing indicating that the cursor is at that location. Turn the DIAL anti-clockwise until the letter ‘H’ appears, then press ENTER to advance to the next letter, which is an ‘A’. Turn the DIAL in either direction to make it a ‘O’, press ENTER, and so on until you have spelt out the word ‘HOME’. Continue to erase the rest of the characters in the old mawson base name by turning them into SPACES. The SPACE character is found just after the letter ‘Z’ if you are turning the DIAL clockwise. When you have erased the last character, press ENTER multiple times until the display shows this

LAT=67:35:59 S

This is the latitude of Mawson Base which you will now change to your local latitude. To determine your local latitude, consult an atlas or one of the many location databases (such as www.heavens-above.com) available on the Internet. Unless you plan on observing satellites, or accurately knowing your Local Apparent Sidereal Time (LAST), don’t be too concerned if you cannot determine the exact co-ordinates of your location. Within a degree or so should be fine for most situations.

Using the DIAL and ENTER button, edit the latitude fields to values appropriate for your observing location. Latitude is displayed in terms of degrees:minutes:seconds either North or South of the Earth’s equator. Change the ‘S’ to an ‘N’ depending upon whether your location is in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

After editing the North/South field, pressing ENTER again will result in the display showing this

LONG=062:53:00 W

This is the longitude of Mawson Base. Edit it as you did the Latitude, replacing the fields with values appropriate to your observing location. Longitude is displayed in terms of degrees:minutes:seconds either East or West of Greenwich. Change the ‘W’ to an ‘E’ depending upon whether your location is East or West of the Greenwich Meridian. For example, if you live in the United States or Canada, your location will be West of Greenwich so you will enter a ‘W’. If you live in Australia, for example, your location will be East of Greenwich so you will enter an ‘E’.

When you have edited the last longitude field, press ENTER. The display will then show

HOME

where the word home will be flashing. Press EXIT to set home as your observing location. The display will briefly show

SAVING ….

And then the words

INITIALIZING ….

In the lower half of the display before returning to the setup sub-menu with the message

SETUP LOCATION

You have now successfully set your location.

While the SAVING… message appeared, Argo Navis^TM saved your location settings into its memory (EEROM device). While the INITIALIZING … message appeared, Argo Navis^TM re-initialized such things as the current Local Apparent Sidereal Time (LAST).

You can edit as many of the locations in the setup location menu as you desire. Whenever you change observing location, simply enter the
setup location menu, turn the DIAL until the name of the location you are observing from appears, then hit EXIT.

Remember, in order to perform an alignment and to use most of the features of Argo Navis^TMyou don’t need to set your time zone, date, time or location unless you also decide to turn on refraction modelling correction or would like some of the other features or benefits discussed earlier.

Setting refraction modelling

Due to the phenomenon of atmospheric refraction, celestial objects close to an observer’s horizon will appear to be higher in altitude than what they actually are. Argo Navis^TM can compensate for the effects of atmospheric refraction. However, to do so, Argo Navis^TM must have had the time zone, date, time and location set reasonably accurately. It uses these parameters in conjunction with information it will obtain once you perform an alignment, to determine where the observer’s local horizon is. Having determined that, it then can correct for refraction.

If you do not plan to observe objects close to the horizon, you may decide to leave refraction modelling off. However, if you are confident you have set your time zone, date, time and location correctly, it is a good idea to turn it on to improve your pointing accuracy.

To turn refraction modelling on, go to the

SETUP REFRACTION

sub-menu and press ENTER. The display might then show -

REFRACTION=OFF

where the word ‘OFF’ is flashing. Use the DIAL to change the setting to either ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ as you desire. Then press either EXIT or ENTER to save that selection into memory (EEROM device) and to specify it as your current setting.

This section gives a quick introduction to the alignment procedure for Argo Navis^TM. Variations and possible refinements to the alignment procedure are discussed in -

and

After reading this section, you are encouraged to read the sections just referenced to provide you with a fuller understanding of the alignment procedure. They are worth reading as the alignment procedures described here are simply meant to help you get started. A fuller understanding of the alignment procedure will help you improve your pointing accuracy.

Purpose of alignment

Whenever you power on Argo Navis^TM you will need to carry out an alignment procedure in order for it to locate objects.

The alignment procedure depends on the type of mount you have and whether it is accurately polar-aligned or not. You should have already set your mount type in setup mount.

Fork Exact Align and German Equatorial Exact Align Mounts

The possible polar-aligned mount settings are fork exact align and gem exact align (for German Equatorials). The following procedure assumes that the mount has been accurately polar-aligned. If that is so, only one alignment star is required.

When Argo Navis^TM is first powered on, after initializing, it will prompt you
with –

MODE ALIGN STAR

Press ENTER. The display should show something like -

ALIGN ACHERNAR

If you have a German Equatorial Mount, and are in the Northern Hemisphere, position the tube on the West side of the mount.

If you have a German Equatorial Mount and are in the Southern Hemisphere, position the tube on the East side of the mount.

If you have a Fork mounted scope, orient the tube the “normal” way up that you observe with it.

Look up at the sky and pick a familiar bright star. Spin the DIAL and look for that star’s name. There are 35 to choose from. The mode align star reference page lists the alignment stars. If you cannot find the star you have chosen in the list, pick another that is in the list.

Figure 6

Sight the star. If you have a German Equatorial mount and would like to sight the star with the tube on the opposite side of the mount, go to setup alt steps and change the direction sense sign. Whenever you wish to re-align using the scope on the original side of the mount, be sure to change the sign back.

Centre the star as accurately as possible in the centre of the eyepiece, not just the finder-scope. When the star is perfectly centred, press ENTER. For example, say you have chosen Sirius. The display will briefly show –

ALIGN SIRIUS

WARP= +0.00

This completes the alignment procedure. Now go on to read An introductory run.

Alt/Az Dobsonian Mounts including on Equatorial Tables

If you have set your mount type to be alt/az dobsonian or eq table exact then use the following procedure. You will be required to perform an operation called fix alt ref and two star alignments.

If you are using an equatorial table, park the table to its start position and switch it off for now.

When Argo Navis^TM is first powered on, after initializing, it will prompt you
with –

FIX ALT REF

Press ENTER. Turn the DIAL until you see -

ALT REF=90°

AUTO ADJUST OFF

Now move your telescope to a position in altitude so that the tube is pointing at right angles with respect to the base like thus-

The scope does not have to be level on the ground. Only the orientation of the tube to the base is important. If the telescope is sitting on an equatorial table, it is the orientation of the tube to the plane of the table that is important. Due to mechanical constraints in your mount, you may not be able to get the scope at exactly right angles. Try to get it as close as possible for now. Later on you can review the mode fix alt ref reference page that discusses the auto adjust on feature that can assist you with this procedure. It’s worth reading as this is a very important step that can dramatically improve your pointing accuracy.

When your tube is in this position, press ENTER. The display will briefly show -

ALT REF=90°

WARP=ALT FIX OK

Press EXIT. In the top-level menu, spin the DIAL until you see –

MODE ALIGN STAR

then press ENTER. The display should show something like -

ALIGN ACHERNAR

Look up at the sky and pick a familiar bright star. Spin the DIAL and look for that star’s name. There are 35 to choose from. Section mode align star lists the alignment stars. If you cannot find the star you have chosen in the list, pick another that is in the list. For example, say you have chosen Sirius. Spin the DIAL until you see -

ALIGN SIRIUS

Centre Sirius in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN SIRIUS

WARP= -4.75 (1)

Your “WARP” number will probably be different, but don’t worry. Now pick a second bright alignment star. Preferably choose one approximately 30° to 90° away from the first and which will involve having to move the scope in both axes. For example, say you have chosen Capella. Spin the DIAL until you see –

ALIGN CAPELLA

Centre Capella in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN CAPELLA

WARP= +0.12

Your “WARP” number should ideally be as close to 0.00 as possible. A number in the range of –0.5 to +0.5 will probably give you reasonable pointing accuracy depending upon the accuracy of your initial fix alt ref step and how far you move from the initial alignment stars.

If your WARP number was much larger you may want to check that you identified the correct stars and repeat the alignment procedure if need be. Otherwise see the Troubleshooting guide.

Only if you are using an equatorial table and you have set your mount type to be eq table exact, then perform the following steps to begin tracking –

Press EXIT to go to the top-level menu and then spin the DIAL until you see –

MODE EQ TABLE

then press ENTER. The display should show this -

EQ TBL ELAPSED
00:00:00.0 STOP

Simultaneously start the table and press ENTER which will start the Argo Navis^TM equatorial table timer. Refer to the section entitled mode eq table in order to learn more about how to successfully use your Argo Navis^TM with an equatorial table.

This completes the alignment procedure. Be sure to take the time to read the section on mode fix alt ref. In particular you may want to come back and attempt to use the auto adjust on mode. It may well dramatically improve your alignment. Now go on to read An introductory run.

Fork Rough Align Mounts

Sometimes you may not want to align your Fork mount accurately but would still like to find objects. If you have set your mount type to be fork rough align, then use the following procedure. You will be required to perform an operation called fix alt ref and two star alignments.

When Argo Navis^TM is first powered on, after initializing, it will prompt you
with –

FIX ALT REF

Press ENTER. Turn the DIAL until you see -

ALT REF=0°

AUTO ADJUST OFF

Roughly polar align your scope. Orient the tube as accurately as possible so that it is 90° with respect to the forks and the “way-up” you normally observe, thus –

Figure 7

When your tube is in this position, press ENTER. The display will briefly show -

ALT REF=0°

WARP=ALT FIX OK

Press EXIT. In the top-level menu, spin the DIAL until you see –

MODE ALIGN STAR

then press ENTER. The display should show something like -

ALIGN ACHERNAR

ALIGN SIRIUS

Centre Sirius in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN SIRIUS

WARP= -1.75 (1)

ALIGN CAPELLA

Centre Capella in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN CAPELLA

WARP= +0.20

If your WARP number was much larger you may want to check that you identified the correct stars and repeat the alignment procedure if need be. Otherwise see the Troubleshooting guide.

GEM Rough Align

Sometimes you may not want to align your German Equatorial Mount accurately but would still like to find objects. If you have set your mount type to be gem rough align, then use the following procedure. You will be required to perform an operation called fix alt ref and two star alignments.

When Argo Navis^TM is first powered on, after initializing, it will prompt you
with –

FIX ALT REF

Press ENTER. Turn the DIAL until you see -

ALT REF=0°

AUTO ADJUST OFF

Roughly polar align your scope.

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, place the tube on the West side of the mount.

If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, place the tube on the East side of the mount.

If you are going to do the first star alignment with the tube on the opposite side of the mount, go to setup alt steps and change the direction sense sign. Be sure to change it back when you want to do a first-star alignment on the original side of the mount.

Set the tube so that the scope’s Optical Axis is at 90° with respect to the Polar Axis. Try to do this as accurately as possible.

When your tube is in this position, press ENTER. The display will briefly show -

ALT REF=0°

WARP=ALT FIX OK

Press EXIT. In the top-level menu, spin the DIAL until you see –

MODE ALIGN STAR

then press ENTER. The display should show something like -

ALIGN ACHERNAR

Look up at the sky and pick a familiar bright star. Sight the star in the scope without moving more than 90° in declination. That infers that you should not cross the North or South Celestial Pole in order to sight the first star. Spin the DIAL and look for that star’s name. There are 35 from which to choose. The mode align star reference page lists the alignment stars. If you cannot find the star you have chosen in the list, pick another that is in the list. For example, say you have chosen Sirius. Spin the DIAL until you see -

ALIGN SIRIUS

Centre Sirius in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN SIRIUS

WARP= -1.75 (1)

Your “WARP” number will probably be different, but don’t worry. Now pick a second bright alignment star. You can now move the telescope in any direction to sight it. Preferably choose one approximately 30° to 90° away from the first and which will involve having to move the scope in both axes. For example, say you have chosen Capella. Spin the DIAL until you see –

ALIGN CAPELLA

Centre Capella in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. The display will briefly show something like this –

ALIGN CAPELLA

WARP= +0.20

If your WARP number was much larger you may want to check that you identified the correct stars and repeat the alignment procedure if need be. Otherwise, read the Troubleshooting Guide and the introductory sections of setup mnt errors.

This completes the alignment procedure. Be sure to take the time to read the section on mode fix alt ref. Improving the accuracy by which you perform the fix alt ref operation will dramatically improve your pointing accuracy. In particular your attention is drawn to the auto adjust on feature of mode fix alt ref.

Now go on to read An introductory run.

This section gives a quick introduction as to some of the ways you might locate objects using your Argo Navis^TM. It does so by way of examples. It assumes that you have successfully aligned the unit by following the instructions in Alignment procedures. It purposely doesn’t give a lot of detail as to how things work (that is covered in detail in the Operating modes section). However, by following the directions, you should quickly learn by this ‘hands-on’ experience. Each example builds on the previous example, so it is best to follow them in order. The objects in the examples may not be viewable from your site, or when you perform a search you may not find the same ones, but you should still be able to grasp the basic ideas.

Argo Navis^TM provides a great deal of flexibility and power in the many ways it can help you locate or identify objects. For a more detailed discussion of these methods, it is recommended you read the following reference pages –

Examples

Example 1 – You want to locate the Messier object M53, assuming it is above the horizon.

You have already aligned your scope. Enter mode catalog by spinning the DIAL in the top-level menu and pressing ENTER when you see –

MODE CATALOG

appear on the display. You will be prompted by a message such as –

BRIGHT STARS

where those words will be flashing.

The catalogs are listed in alphabetical order. Spin the DIAL clockwise and cycle through the list of available catalogs until you see –

MESSIER

then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL clockwise until the display shows -

then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL clockwise until the display shows –

M53

then press ENTER again. The display might show something like this –

M53

GUIDE 45® 25¯

Now move the scope in Azimuth (Right Ascension on a polar aligned scope) and try to make the first set of digits as close to 0.0 as possible. For example –

M53

GUIDE 0.0 25¯

Now move the scope in Altitude (Declination on a polar-aligned scope) and try to make the second set of digits as close to 0.0 as possible. For example –

M53

GUIDE 0.0 0.0

Now look through the eyepiece and hopefully there is your object!

Now press ENTER again. You will see a scrolling description of the object -

M53 ALSO KNOWN AS NGC 5024 GLOBULAR CLUSTER IN COMA BERENICES SIZE=12.6’ MAG=7.6 RA=13:12:56 DEC=+18°10’08” 2000.0 ABOVE HORIZON HB=C29

While the message is being displayed, you can grab the DIAL and scroll the text back and forth if you so desire. When you have finished reading it, press ENTER or EXIT and the display will return to guide mode.

M53

GUIDE 0.0 0.0

Now press EXIT again and return to –

MODE CATALOG

Example 2 – You want to locate the Sombrero Galaxy, assuming it is above the horizon. You know it has both a Messier and NGC number, but you have forgotten both.

Enter mode catalog and spin the DIAL until you see –

POPULAR DEEP SKY

Then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL to make the first character an ‘S’, then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and make the second character an ‘O’, then press ENTER. Now make the third character an ‘M’, then press ENTER. You should now have a display similar to this –

SOMBRERO GALAXY

GUIDE 5®0 73

You can then guide to it as you did in the previous example.

You may have noticed while you were spelling out the name of SOMBRERO GALAXY using the DIAL and the ENTER button, that Argo Navis^TMprompted you with the names of other objects that matched your partial input at each point along the way. Once enough characters had been entered to uniquely match the object name you were after, you were guided to it straight away without requiring any more input. This is known as the Intelligent Editing System^TM.

If you press ENTER, you will get the scrolling description.

SOMBRERO GALAXY ALSO KNOWN AS M104 ALSO KNOWN AS NGC 4594 GALAXY IN VIRGO SIZE=8.7’x5.3’ MAG=7.6 SB=12.1 MORPH=SA(s)a sp SOMBRERO GALAXY RA=12:40:00 DEC=-11°37’21” J2000.0 ABOVE HORIZON HB=D31,C48

Therefore you could have also retrieved the object as M104 in the MESSIER catalog or as NGC 4594 in the NGC catalog.

When the display returns to guide mode, press EXIT.

Example 3 – You want to locate the nearest Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus of Magnitude 15 or brighter. Assume the constellation is viewable.

Spin the DIAL in the top -level menu until you see -

MODE IDENTIFY

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL until you see -

FIND GLOBULAR CL

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL anti-clockwise until you see –

FAINTEST MAG +15

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and make the first flashing character an ‘O’, then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and make the second character a ‘P’. The display should now show –

IN OPHIUCHUS

Press ENTER. The display should now show –

HORIZON MASK OFF

Press ENTER. Argo Navis^TMthen will briefly display the message -

SEARCHING

before showing you the name of the closest object. The object you find will probably be different, but by way of example, you might see –

TERZAN 5

FOUND

Pressing ENTER or spinning the DIAL one ‘click’ will put the unit into guide mode.

For example -

TERZAN 5

GUIDE 76® 25¯

After guiding to the object, press EXIT or spin the DIAL one ‘click’. Then press EXIT again.

Example 4 – You want to move the scope around and let Argo Navis^TM tell you in ‘real-time’ what the closest object is.

Enter mode identify and spin the DIAL until you see -

FIND ANY OBJECT

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL until you see –

FAINTEST MAG ANY

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and make the first flashing character an ‘A’, then press ENTER. Make the second character an ‘N’ then press ENTER. Now make the third character a ‘Y’. The display should now show –

IN ANY CONSTEL

Press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and make the first flashing digit a ‘3’ then press ENTER. Make the second digit a ‘6’ then press ENTER. Now make the third digit a ‘0’. The display should now show –

WITHIN 360°

Press ENTER. The display should now show –

HORIZON MASK OFF

Press ENTER. Argo Navis^TMthen will briefly display the message -

SEARCHING

before showing you the name of the closest object.

Now move your scope across the sky. Notice how quickly Argo Navis^TM provides you with the name of the closest object. It is searching its entire database of tens of thousands of objects several times every second. The speed by which it does this should be testimony to its powerful processing ability.

Whenever the name of an object that looks interesting appears on the display, stop moving the scope. By pressing ENTER or spinning the DIAL one ‘click’ you can ‘lock-on’ to it as Argo Navis^TM enters guide mode. Pressing EXIT or spinning the DIAL one ‘click’ will return you to the continual search mode.

Remember that while in guide mode you can press ENTER to get a scrolling description of the object.

Example 5 – You would like to tour every Galaxy of 13^th Magnitude or brighter in Fornax.

Point your scope to the part of the sky from which you would like to begin the tour. The scope does not necessarily have to be pointed at Fornax.

Return to the top-level menu and spin the DIAL until you see -

MODE TOUR

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL until you see –

FIND GALAXY

then press ENTER. Now spin the dial until you see –

FAINTEST MAG 13

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and make the first flashing character an ‘F’. The display should now show –

IN FORNAX

Press ENTER. The display should now show –

HORIZON MASK OFF

Press ENTER. Argo Navis^TMthen will briefly display the message -

SEARCHING

before showing you the name of the closest Galaxy in Fornax of 13^th Magnitude or brighter. Notice that you have automatically been put into guide mode. For example –

NGC 1049

GUIDE 14® 35¯

You can then move the scope and guide to the object. While in guide mode, if you spin the DIAL one ‘click’ clockwise, Argo Navis^TMwill find you the next closest object, and so forth. When you reach the end of the tour, you will see the message –

NO MORE OBJECTS

You can even spin the DIAL anti-clockwise at any time and go backwards through the tour. While it is searching backwards, you will briefly see the message –

BACKTRACKING

At any time while in guide mode you can press ENTER to get a scrolling description. Remember by grabbing the DIAL you can stop the automatic scrolling and instead scroll manually.

That concludes this brief introductory run. Hopefully by now you might have got some feel for how the unit operates. Argo Navis^TMhas many more features than are mentioned here. As suggested earlier, you are encouraged to read the various reference pages in the Operating modes section of this manual to help give you further insight into its various capabilities.

Function

mode catalog allows you to look-up an object by name then to optionally guide to it and to also optionally retrieve more information about it. When an object is accessed in mode catalog it automatically becomes the Current Object. That means that it will appear as the alignment object when entering mode align.

Objects in the Argo Navis^TM are grouped in a number of catalogs.
mode catalog allows you to browse the available catalogs and to either access a particular object in a particular catalog or to browse objects within the catalog.

Using MODE CATALOG

Enter mode catalog by spinning the DIAL in the top-level menu and pressing ENTER when you see –

MODE CATALOG

appear on the display. You will be prompted by a message such as –

BRIGHT STARS

where the words BRIGHT STARS

will be flashing.

By spinning the DIAL, you can cycle through the list of available catalogs. The catalogs are listed in alphabetical order.

The current catalogs are –

· ASTEROIDS (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has an asteroid catalog currently loaded)

· BRIGHT STARS (a selection of stars to magnitude 6.5, particularly those with well-known historical names, such as BETELGEUSE and those with Bayer Greek alphabet or Flamsteed numbers. Names have constellation abbreviation first, then Bayer or Flamsteed identifier. For example, FOR ZETA for Zeta Fornax. They are ordered this way to make the catalog easier to browse)

· COMETS (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has a comet catalog currently loaded)

· FROM PLANETARIUM (consists of the single “FROM PLANETARIUM” object. When Argo Navis^TM is interfaced via a serial port to an appropriate planetarium program and a GOTO command is issued from that program, the RA/Dec co-ordinates corresponding to that GOTO position and optionally the name of some associated object are transmitted to the “FROM PLANETARIUM” object. This then allows you to guide to the position that was sent from the planetarium program)

· IC (non-stellar selections from the Index Catalogue)

· MESSIER (the complete Messier Catalogue)

· MISC BRIGHT NEB (miscellaneous bright nebulae, such as emission and reflection nebulae, that do not appear in the messier, ngc or ic catalogs)

· MISC DARK NEBULA (miscellaneous dark nebulae)

· MISC DOUBLE STAR (miscellaneous double stars that do not appear in the bright star catalog)

· MISC GALAXIES (miscellaneous galaxies that do not appear in the messier, ngc or ic catalog, such as ESO, MCG, UGC and Local Group galaxies)

· MISC GALAXY CLUS (miscellaneous galaxy clusters such as the Abell and Hickson clusters)

· MISC GLOBULARS (miscellaneous globular clusters that do not appear in the messier, ngc or ic catalogs)

· MISC OPEN CLUST (miscellaneous open clusters that do not appear in the messier, ngc or ic catalogs)

· MISC PLANETARIES (miscellaneous planetary nebulae that do not appear in the messier, ngc or ic catalogs)

· MISC VARIABLE ST (miscellaneous variable stars that do not appear in the bright star catalog)

· NGC (the complete New General Catalogue, including all non-stellar, stellar and non-existent objects. Also includes ‘letter suffixed’ objects such as NGC 554A and NGC 554B and all objects that are also Messier objects)

· PLANETS/MOON/SUN (in our solar system)

· POPULAR DEEP SKY (a convenient cross reference to objects in the messier, ngc or ic catalogs that have popular names, such as ANDROMEDA GALAXY, GHOST OF JUPITER and TARANTULA NEBULA)

· SATELLITES (artificial earth orbiting satellites - assuming your Argo Navis^TM has a satellite catalog currently loaded)

· SCRATCH (see setup scratch)

· USER OBJECTS (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has user defined objects currently loaded)

By way of example, say you are interested in the planetary nebula popularly known as the ‘Ghost of Jupiter’. Spin the DIAL and press ENTER when you see -

POPULAR DEEP SKY

You might be then presented with the message in the top line that reads -

47 TUCANAE

where the ‘4' will be flashing. By spinning the DIAL and pressing the ENTER button, you can use the Intelligent Editing System^TM to enter the name of the object in which you are interested, in this example, Ghost of Jupiter. By spinning the DIAL clockwise (+), the symbol at the flashing cursor position will alphabetically increase. By spinning the DIAL anti-clockwise (-), the symbol will decrease. 'Wrapping' occurs when the 'maximum' symbol is displayed and the DIAL is turned clockwise or when the 'minimum' symbol is displayed and the DIAL is turned anti-clockwise.

Note: A symbol might be a number or letter or even a special character such as a '/', a '-' or even a space ' '. In general, Argo Navis^TM treats special characters as alphabetically before numbers and numbers as alphabetically before letters. See the section on How Argo Navis orders its symbols for a reference table.

Spell out the name of the object by spinning the DIAL and pressing ENTER to select a character and advance the cursor to the next editable field. The Intelligent Editing System^TM will only prompt you with valid names. A tip is to concentrate just on one letter at a time. In this example, spin the DIAL clockwise until the letter 'G' appears at the flashing cursor position.

The display might show something like

GEM CLUSTER

Now press ENTER to advance the cursor to the next editable field. In this case the display might continue to show

GEM CLUSTER

but now the 'E' in GEM will be flashing. Spin the DIAL clockwise until an 'H' appears at that place. The display might then show -

GHOST OF JUPITER

with the 'H" still flashing. Now press ENTER again. If a valid alignment has not been performed, you will see the following warning message -

GHOST OF JUPITER

NOT ALIGNED

In this case pressing ENTER again will give a further alignment warning message. If a valid alignment has been previously performed, Argo Navis^TM will enter guide mode.

Note : As a special feature, if you select the PLANETS catalog, the planet of interest can be found by rotating the DIAL. The planets are listed in Solar System order and are spelt out in full. When the name of the planet of interest appears on the display, simply press ENTER to go to guide mode.

Continuing with our example, the display might read -

GHOST OF JUPITER

GUIDE 101®25¯

This means the telescope should be moved 101° in azimuth and 25° in altitude to locate The Ghost of Jupiter. The arrows represent a relative movement. For example, if the ® arrow is displayed, even though the arrow points to the right, whether one moves the telescope to the right or to the left is dependent on several factors according to your setup. If you wish to change the default direction sense of one or both arrows, you can do so by changing the settings in setup guide mode.

In any case, you should move the telescope in the direction that causes the angle to become smaller. As the telescope is moved, the display continually updates the angles and changes the direction arrows if the object is passed. When an angle less than 10° is displayed, the arrow will move to double as a decimal point. For example, 5¯3 means 5.3°.

Generally you might find it is easier to move the telescope in one axis at a time. When the telescope is at the correct position, you will see -

GHOST OF JUPITER

GUIDE 0.0 0.0

If a proper alignment has been performed, the object should appear within the field of view of a moderate power eyepiece (for example, one that gives a field of view of about 30 arc minutes). If objects do not appear consistently within the field of view, you might want to perform a re-alignment or review the section Factors that affect pointing accuracy.

Detailed object description

While the description is scrolling (to change the default scroll rate, see setup scroll), you can press EXIT or ENTER to have Argo Navis^TM go back to guide mode or wait until the description has completed scrolling and Argo Navis^TM will automatically return to guide mode. If you move the DIAL while the description is scrolling, manual scroll mode is entered.

Turning the DIAL clockwise scrolls the message forward for convenient reading at your leisure while turning the DIAL anti-clockwise scrolls the message in reverse. By pressing EXIT or ENTER while in manual scroll mode, Argo Navis^TM will return to guide mode

Sequentially stepping through a catalog

While in guide mode, if you spin the DIAL clockwise (+), you can browse the next object in the currently selected catalog. Similarly if you rotate the DIAL anti-clockwise, you can browse the previous object.

Below horizon indication

Whenever you are about to locate an object you may want to automatically determine if it is below your local horizon or not.

To do so, ensure that your time zone, date and local time is correctly set in setup date/time, that your latitude and longitude are correctly set in setup location and that in setup guide mode you have set guide below horz to h indicator=on.

For example, if the display showed -

GRUS QUARTET

GUIDE 19®132¯H

the h symbol at the end of the second line indicates that the grus quartet is currently beneath your local horizon.

Examples

Example 1 - You want to observe the Ghost of Jupiter.

Spin the DIAL until you see -

MODE CATALOG

then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL until you see -

POPULAR DEEP SKY

then press ENTER.

Use the Intelligent Editing System^TM to enter the name of GHOST OF JUPITER and then press ENTER.

The display might then show -

GHOST OF JUPITER
GUIDE 5®0 7¯3

Move the telescope in both axes until the display reads -

GHOST OF JUPITER
GUIDE 0.0 0.0

Pressing ENTER again will display the following scrolling information about the object.

GHOST OF JUPITER ALSO KNOWN AS NGC 3242 PLANETARY NEBULA IN HYDRA SIZE=25" MAG=7.8 GHOST OF JUPITER. BLUE GREEN. BRIGHT INNER DISK & FAINT HALO RA=10:24:46 DEC=-18°38'34" J2000.0 ABOVE HORIZON MSA=VOL II 851

While the text is scrolling, you can enter manual scroll mode by moving the DIAL.

Note: Had you known that the Ghost of Jupiter is also known as NGC 3242, you might well have accessed it via the NGC catalog.

Note that when sample mode is on, in the setup mnt err/acquire data submenu, rather than a scrolling description immediately appearing, a new submenu appears.

In this case, by spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the bottom line of the display can be alternated as follows –

· DESCRIPTION

· SAMPLE MNT ERROR

If you want to view the description of the object, spin the DIAL until the word DESCRIPTION appears and then press ENTER. If you want to sample the position of an object as part of a pointing test, spin the DIAL until the words SAMPLE MNT ERROR appears and then press ENTER (See setup mnt errors for details).

Pressing EXIT will return you to guide mode -

GHOST OF JUPITER
GUIDE 0.0 0.0

Pressing EXIT again will return you to the top-level menu -

MODE CATALOG

Example 2 - You want to align on MARS.

Spin the DIAL until you see –

MODE CATALOG

then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL until you see -

PLANETS/SUN

then press ENTER.

Spin the DIAL until you see -

MARS

Press EXIT. Mars is now the Current Object.

Spin the DIAL counter-clockwise until the display reads –

MODE ALIGN

then press ENTER.

The display should show -

ALIGN MARS

Centre Mars in the eyepiece and press ENTER to perform the alignment.

Example 3 - You want to determine the current Moon phase and when the next New Moon will be.

Spin the DIAL until you see -

MODE CATALOG

then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL until you see -

PLANETS/MOON/SUN

then press ENTER.

Spin the DIAL until you see –

MOON

Press ENTER and then press ENTER again. A scrolling description will appear. Whilst the text is scrolling, you can enter manual scroll mode by moving the DIAL.

MOON CURRENTLY IN VIRGO MAG=-11.7 DIA=30.4’ ILLUM=38.6% PHASE=LAST QUARTER NEXT LAST QTR=10-DEC-2017 18:51 LOCAL NEXT NEW MOON=18-DEC-2017 17:31 LOCAL NEXT FIRST QUARTER=26-DEC-2017 20:20 LOCAL NEXT FULL MOON=2-JAN-2018 13:24 LOCAL DIST=392462KM RA=12:16:55 DEC=+02°48’00” J2000.0 BELOW HORIZON HB=E12,C48

From the description the Moon phase is currently close to Last Quarter and the next New Moon will be on 18 DEC 2017 at 17:31 local time.

Example 4 – Whenever you are about to locate an object, you want to automatically determine if it is below your local horizon or not.

Ensure your time zone, date and local time is correctly set in setup date/time, that your latitude and longitude are correctly set in setup location and that in setup guide mode you have set guide below horz to h indicator=on.

For example, if the display showed -

TARANTULA NEBULA

GUIDE 169®108¯H

the h symbol at the end of the second line indicates that the tarantula nebula is currently beneath your local horizon.

See also

How Argo Navis orders its symbols

MODE ENCODER

Function

mode encoder allows you to check the functioning of your encoders. You can display the encoder values either as angles or encoder steps.

Using MODE ENCODER

Enter mode encoder by spinning the DIAL in the top-level menu and pressing ENTER when you see –

MODE ENCODER

appear on the display. The display will then show the current encoder values either as angles or as steps, depending upon what state mode encoder was in when last exited since power-on.

By way of example, in the case of the angle display mode, the display might show something like this -

AZ/ALT ENC ANGLE

313.77° +014.37°

This suggests that the current azimuth encoder is at an angle of 313.77° and the altitude encoder value is at 14.37°.

As the scope is rotated in each axis, the appropriate value should change. This is a good way of checking that the encoders are functioning correctly and that the cabling to each encoder has not been inadvertently swapped. Azimuth encoder values range from 0° to 360°. Altitude encoder values range from –180° to +180°.

The direction sense of the encoders is set in setup alt steps and
setup az steps. Assume that each encoder has its shaft pointing upwards and is being viewed from above. When the Azimuth encoder shaft is rotated clockwise, the Azimuth angle will decrease. When the Altitude encoder shaft is rotated clockwise, the Altitude angle will increase.

The 0° point of the Azimuth encoder is simply the position the encoder was in when Argo Navis^TM was powered on.

The 0° point of the Altitude encoder is initially the position the encoder was in when Argo Navis^TM was powered on. If a polar aligned mount was set in
setup mount, the 0° point will become equivalent to Declination 0° after a valid mode align or mode align star operation has been perfomed. If a non-polar aligned mount was set, the 0° point is determined when a fix alt ref operation is performed and subsequently might be automatically adjusted during an alignment operation if auto adjust on was set (see
mode fix alt ref).

In all cases, once Argo Navis^TM has been aligned, the 0° point should therefore correspond to the tube being at right-angles to the Azimuth axis. In the case of a polar-aligned mount, the +90° point would then correspond to the North Celestial Pole and the -90° point to the South Celestial Pole. For non-polar aligned mounts, the +90° point would correspond to the tube pointing upwards and being at right angles to the base (i.e. the Azimuthal plane).

If the DIAL is rotated one detent ‘click’ at a time, the display can be alternated between az/alt enc angle and az/alt enc steps modes. For example –

AZ/ALT ENC STEPS

+1235 +5790

suggests that the Azimuth encoder is at the 1235^th step point and the Altitude encoder is at the 5790^th step point. Azimuth steps range from 0 to the number of steps set in setup az steps minus 1. Altitude steps range from 0 to the number of steps set in setup alt steps minus 1. The ‘+’ or ‘-‘ signs in this mode are the same as what they were set to in setup alt steps and setup az steps. Assume that each encoder has its shaft pointing upwards and is being viewed from above. When either encoder shaft is rotated clockwise, their absolute steps value (i.e. ignoring the encoder sign) will increase. The 0-step point of both encoders is simply the position the encoder was in when Argo Navis^TM was powered on. Unlike the angle view mode, the Altitude encoder 0-step point is not influenced by performing an fix alt ref, align, or
align star operation.

When Argo Navis^TMhas debug set to on, in mode setup, setup debug, a third mode will appear when the DIAL is spun in mode encoder. An example of the display is shown here –

AZ/ALT ENC RAW

+1235 +5790

This mode is similar to the
az/alt enc angle mode except that the altitude reading is not affected by a fix alt ref, align, or align star operation. Normally you should have the debug set to off and so this mode would normally be hidden. Having debug set to on will send additional information to your SERIAL1 port which can be used by Wildcard Innovations during customer support sessions. This debug data may interfere with other communications that you may have occuring on SERIAL1 so therefore it is best to keep debug set to off unless instructed otherwise.

Encoder sampling and errors

While it is powered-on, Argo Navis^TM samples the position of each encoder up to a possible 16,000 times every second. This is known as the encoder sampling rate. The encoder sampling rate is determined by the values set in setup enc timing. If an encoder is turned too quickly, the sampling rate may be exceeded and steps might be “missed”. In theory, each encoder can be turned at a maximum instantaneous rate such that it does not produce more steps per second than approximately half the sampling rate. If the sampling rate is exceeded, one of the following messages might appear on the display –

AZ ENCODER ERROR

means the Azimuth encoder has missed one or more steps.

ALT ENCODER ERR

means the Altitude encoder has missed one or more steps.

BOTH ENCODER ERR

means both encoders have missed one or more steps.

For most practical purposes the encoder sampling rate will never be exceeded while moving a telescope if the correct values have been set in setup enc timing. For example, if the encoder sampling rate had been set to 11kHz (11,000 samples per second) in setup enc timing and if the telescope were fitted with ungeared 8192-step encoders, the scope would have to be rotated in either axis a full 360° in less than 1-and-one-half seconds. However, it is possible to exceed the sampling rate if, for example, the encoders are held freely in the hand and their shafts rotated quickly with the fingers. Alternatively, if the encoders are mounted on a scope but have been geared to produce a much higher resolution, the user should be careful not to exceed the sampling rate.

To calculate the maximum allowed instantaneous rotational rate in degrees per second, refer to the table in the setup enc timing section and determine the sampling rate according to your setup enc timing ton and toff settings. Multiply the sampling rate by 180 and divide by the number of encoder steps that occur when you rotate the scope axis 360°.

For example, say you have geared an 8192-step encoder 2.5 times to give an effective resolution of 20,480 steps. Say you also have ton=2 and toff=10 set in setup enc timing, which you determine in the table in the setup enc timing section to correspond to an effective sample rate of 11,500Hz.

Therefore 11,500 * 180 / 20,480 = 101° per second.

The encoder error messages can also appear if the batteries are running flat or if there is a fault with the encoder cabling or possibly the encoder itself.

Examples

Example 1 - You suspect that one of your encoder shafts is slipping.

During the daytime, using a high power eyepiece, sight a distant stationary object. Enter mode encoder and take note of the step reading in the axis you suspect has a slippage problem. Move the telescope through a large angle in the suspect axis then return and centre the distant object again. Take note of the step reading. If it is not the same as the original reading within a step or two, chances are you have a slippage problem.

Example 2 - You have an encoder mounted on your Azimuth axis. Unfortunately, you have forgotten what its resolution is and the encoder has no marking.

During the daytime, using a high power eyepiece, sight a distant stationary object. Power off Argo Navis^TM then power it back on. Enter mode encoder and take note that the Azimuth step reading is 0. Move the scope in Azimuth a full 360° and re-centre the object in the eyepiece. Take note of the Azimuth step reading again. This number, plus 1, is your Azimuth encoder resolution. Enter that value into the setup az steps menu. If the encoder was not geared, chances are the value will be a multiple of 1000, such as 10,000 or 4,000 or a power of two, such as 2048, 4096 or 8192.

Example 3 – You have a Dobsonian scope and have aligned Argo Navis^TMbut suspect a problem with the fix alt ref step you performed.

Enter mode encoder and put it in angle display mode. Move the scope tube so that it is pointing vertically and at right angles to the base (i.e. the Azimuthal plane.) The encoder altitude reading should indicate +90°.

Example 4 – You have a roughly aligned equatorial mount but suspect a problem with the fix alt ref step you performed.

Move the tube so that it is at right angles to the Azimuth axis and oriented the normal way up you would observe through it. The encoder altitude reading should read 0°. As you move the tube in altitude toward the north, the Altitude encoder value should increase.

Example 5 – When you move the scope in Azimuth, you note in mode encoder that the Altitude value changes and vice versa.

You have the encoder cables swapped around. On an encoder cable assembly from Wildcard Innovations, the cable with the white sleeve near the encoder end should go to the Altitude encoder.

See also

Function

mode identify allows you to attempt to identify an unknown object or to locate the nearest object that is of interest.

In either case, Argo Navis^TM searches its Catalogs database for the object nearest to where the telescope is pointing.

You can search for particular types of objects and specify a limiting magnitude as well as a particular constellation or diameter of sky together with a minimum angular elevation above the horizon in which to limit the search.

Once an object is identified, you can guide to it by pressing ENTER.

Pressing ENTER again will give you detailed information about the object.

Note: mode identify assumes that you have performed a valid alignment. If you wish to identify ASTEROIDS, COMETS or PLANETS it is also assumed that the current date and time have been set in setup date/time. If you wish to identify SATELLITES or to filter objects that are only at or above a specified angular elevation above the local horizon, it is further assumed that your location, in particular your current latitude and longitude, have been set in setup location.

For identifying ASTEROIDS, COMETS, SATELLITES and USER objects, it is assumed you have loaded the appropriate catalog.

Using MODE IDENTIFY

Spin the DIAL in the top-level menu until you see -

MODE IDENTIFY

then press ENTER.

If a valid alignment has not been performed, you will see the following warning message -

TWO SIGHTINGS ARE REQUIRED. FIX ALT REF MAY BE REQUIRED. WARNING – DISPLAYED VALUES MAY NOT BE VALID

Otherwise the top line of the display will prompt you with a message such as -

FIND ANY OBJECT

where the words ANY OBJECT will be flashing.

By spinning the DIAL, you can change the flashing value to any of the following -

· ANY OBJECT (however, does not include artificial satellites)

· ASTERISM (groups of stars)

· ASTEROID (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has an asteroid catalog loaded)

· BRIGHT NEBULA (such an emission or reflection nebula)

· COMET (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has a comet catalog loaded)

· DARK NEBULA

· DOUBLE STAR

· GALAXY

· GALAXY CL (Galaxy Clusters)

· GLOBULAR CL (Globular Clusters)

· MESSIER (objects from the Messier Catalog)

· NEBULA (either a bright or dark nebula)

· NON STELLAR (any object that is not a star nor an artificial satellite)

· OPEN CLUST (Open Clusters)

· PLANET (within our own Solar System)

· PLANETARY N (Planetary Nebula)

· POPULAR (Objects with popular names, along with Messier objects and planets)

· SATELLITE (Artificial satellites assuming your Argo Navis^TM has a satellite catalog loaded)

· STAR

· TRIPLE STAR

· USER OBJECT (assuming you have loaded user defined objects into the USER catalog)

· VARIABLE ST (Variable stars)

Once you have selected the type of object you are interested in, press ENTER. Argo Navis^TM will then prompt you with a message such as -

FAINTEST MAG ANY

where the word ANY is flashing.

By spinning the DIAL, you can specify the limiting magnitude to eliminate objects from the search that might be too faint for your circumstances.

The limiting magnitude values range from -6 (very bright) to +16 (very faint) along with the special entry of MAG ANY. If, for example, you select a value of 10, then only objects with a limiting value of 10 or brighter will be considered.

NOTE: Not all objects within the Argo Navis^TM catalogs have a defined magnitude. These objects will only be found if the limiting magnitude is set to MAG ANY, irrespective of how bright the object's magnitude might really be. For example, to find DARK NEBULAE or SATELLITES, always choose a limiting magnitude of MAG ANY.

Once you have selected the limiting magnitude, press ENTER. Argo Navis^TMwill then prompt you with a message such as -

IN ANY CONSTEL

where the letter 'A' in ANY will be flashing. By using the DIAL and the ENTER button, you can use the Intelligent Editing System^TMto enter the name of any constellation in which to limit the search or to chose the special entry of
ANY CONSTEL. By turning the DIAL clockwise (+), the letter at the flashing cursor position will alphabetically increase. By turning the DIAL anti-clockwise (-), the letter will decrease. 'Wrapping' occurs when the 'maximum' letter is displayed and the DIAL is turned clockwise or when the 'minimum' letter is displayed and the DIAL is turned anti-clockwise. Spell out the name of the constellation or the special entry
ANY CONSTEL by using the DIAL and using the ENTER button to advance the cursor to the next editable field. The Intelligent Editing System^Ò will only prompt you with valid names.

When there are no more fields to edit, press ENTER.

If the special entry of ANY CONSTEL was selected, Argo Navis^TM will prompt you with a message such as -

WITHIN 360° ARC

where the number ‘3’ will be flashing. By using the DIAL and ENTER button, you can use the Intelligent Editing System^Ò to enter a value between 1° to 360°. This represents an angular diameter in which to limit the search, the centre point of the area being the RA/Dec co-ordinate location at which the scope is currently pointing. For example, if the scope were pointing at the zenith, an entry of 180° would select only objects in the sky above the horizon and an entry of 360° would select all objects, even those currently below the horizon. During partly cloudy nights, pointing your scope at clear openings (popularly known to some as 'sucker holes') and limiting the WITHIN angle to an appropriate value will constrain you to finding objects within the opening.

When using the Intelligent Editing System^TM to input a WITHIN diameter angle, consider only one digit at a time. For example, if you want to select an angle of 15°, turn the DIAL until the first digit is blank (a flashing block cursor will display) then press ENTER, make the second digit a 1, then press ENTER, make the third digit a 5, press ENTER again and you are done.

Once a constellation or WITHIN diameter has been specified, Argo Navis^TM will prompt you with a message such as –

HORIZON MASK OFF

where the word 'OFF' might be flashing. If it is not flashing then you have not specified your location in setup location. If it is flashing, by spinning the DIAL you can specify an angle in the range 0° to 30°. This represents an angular elevation above the computed local horizon. Only objects that match the other selected criteria that are also at the specified angular elevation or higher will be considered in the search. By leaving the selection to OFF then objects both above and below the horizon will be considered.

Once you have specified any horizon mask filtering, pressing ENTER again will cause Argo Navis^TM to search continually for the closest object that meets the selection criteria. Initially, you will see -

SEARCHING

When the first search pass is completed, the top line of the display will show the name of the closest object that meets the selection criteria and the bottom line of the display will show the word FOUND. For example -

ANDROMEDA GALAXY

FOUND

If no object meets the selection criteria, this message will be displayed –

NO MATCH

FOUND

If NO MATCH appears, press EXIT to leave mode identify. You may then consider re-entering mode identify and modifying your search criteria.

If an object has been found, either pressing ENTER or turning the DIAL one ‘detent’ click will cause Argo Navis^TM to ’lock’ that object into guide mode. The name of the object will appear in the top line of the display and guiding information will appear in the bottom line. Move the telescope to find that object. For example, if the display reads -

NGC 1407
GUIDE 101®25¯

this means the telescope should be moved 101° in azimuth and 25° in altitude to locate NGC 1407. The arrows represent a relative movement.

For example, if the ® arrow is displayed, even though the arrow points to the right, whether one moves the telescope to the right or to the left is dependent on several factors according to your setup. If you wish to change the default direction sense of one or both arrows, you can do so by changing the settings in setup guide mode. In any case, you should move the telescope in the direction that causes the angle to become smaller. As the telescope is moved, the display continually updates the angles and changes the direction arrows if the object is passed. When an angle less than 10° is displayed, the arrow also acts as a decimal point. For example, 5¯3 means 5.3°.

Generally you might find it is easier to move the telescope in one axis at a time. When the telescope is at the correct position, the bottom line of the display will show -

NGC 1407
GUIDE 0.0 0.0

If a proper alignment has been performed, the object should appear within the field of view of a moderate power eyepiece (for example one that gives a field of about 30 arc minutes). If objects do not appear consistently within the field of view, you may want to perform a re-alignment or review the section Factors that affect pointing accuracy.

At any time during guide mode, if you press ENTER, a scrolling description of the object is given. Typical descriptions include the full name of the object, other popular names the object might be known by, what constellation the object is in, the size of the object, the visual magnitude of the object, its surface brightness, in the case of stars its spectral luminosity class, in the case of many double stars their separation, in the case of many galaxies its abbreviated Hubble morphology, the object's Right Ascension and Declination, whether it is currently above or below the horizon and what volume and page of the default atlas the object would appear on (See setup atlas). While the description is scrolling (to change the default scroll rate, see setup scroll), you can press EXIT or ENTER to have Argo Navis^TM go back to guide mode. Or you can wait until the description has completed scrolling and Argo Navis^TM will automatically return to guide mode. If you move the DIAL while the description is scrolling, manual scroll mode is entered.

Turning the DIAL clockwise scrolls the message forward for convenient reading at your leisure, whilst turning the DIAL counter-clockwise scrolls the message in reverse. By pressing EXIT or ENTER while in manual scroll mode, Argo Navis^TM will return to guide mode.

Note that when sample mode is on, in the setup mnt err/acquire data submenu, rather than a scrolling description immediately appearing, a new submenu appears.

In this case, by spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the bottom line of the display can be alternated as follows –

· DESCRIPTION

· SAMPLE MNT ERROR

While in guide mode, if either EXIT is pressed or the DIAL is turned one ‘detent’ click, Argo Navis^TM will return to continually searching for the closest object that meets your criteria.

If EXIT is pressed again, Argo Navis^TM will exit from mode identify.

One feature of mode identify is that it 'remembers' the last selections you made. This includes the type of object to find, the limiting magnitude, the HORIZON MASK setting and if you chose ANY CONSTEL, the WITHIN diameter. Thus when you re-enter mode identify those last selections will become the default values. If you had chosen a particular constellation in which to limit the search, mode identify will prompt you with the name of the constellation that your telescope is currently pointing to as the default constellation selection. Argo Navis^TM will return the values to the system default values when the unit is switched off and then back on.

The last object found in mode identify automatically becomes the Current Object. That means that it will appear as the alignment object when entering
mode align and will be the default object when entering mode catalog.

Below horizon indication

Whenever you are about to locate an object you may want to automatically determine if it is below your local horizon or not.

For example, if the display showed –

GRUS QUARTET

GUIDE 19®132¯H

the h symbol at the end of the second line indicates that the grus quartet is currently beneath your local horizon.

If you specified the horizon mask to be anything but off, you should never see any objects appearing with the h indicator.

Examples

FIND GLOBULAR CL

FAINTEST MAG ANY

IN CENTAURUS

HORIZON MASK OFF

might result in -

NGC 5286

FOUND

Pressing ENTER will take you into guide mode -

NGC 5286

GUIDE 25¬ 32

This is prompting you to move the scope 25° in azimuth and 3.2° in altitude in order to locate the object.

FIND POPULAR

FAINTEST MAG +11

IN CETUS

HORIZON MASK OFF

might result in -

CETUS A

FOUND

Either pressing ENTER or turning the DIAL one ‘detent’ click will lock that object into guide mode -

CETUS A

GUIDE 5®0 73

Pressing ENTER again will display scrolling information about the object. While the text is scrolling, you can enter manual scroll mode by moving the DIAL.

CETUS A ALSO KNOWN AS M77 ALSO KNOWN AS NGC 1068 GALAXY IN CETUS SIZE=7.1'x6.0' MAG=8.8 SB=12.9 MORPH=(R)SA(rs)b

M77. BRIGHT SEYFERT RA=02:42:39 DEC=-00°00'50" J2000.0 ABOVE HORIZON MSA=VOL I 262

Pressing EXIT will return you to guide mode -

CETUS A

GUIDE 0®0 00

Pressing EXIT again will return you to search mode -

CETUS A

FOUND

Pressing EXIT again will return you to the top-level menu –

MODE IDENTIFY

See also

Function

mode tour allows you to tour objects of interest.

You can tour particular types of objects and specify a limiting magnitude as well as a particular constellation or diameter of sky together with a minimum angular elevation above the horizon in which to limit the search.

Argo Navis^TM begins the tour by examining where your telescope is initially pointing and then finds the closest object that meets your search criteria.

Having done that, Argo Navis^TM automatically enters guide mode. By following the guiding information, you can move your telescope to locate the object.

Pressing ENTER in guide mode will give you detailed information about the object, while spinning the DIAL clockwise one detent ‘click’ advances you to the next closest object in the tour and so forth. You can spin the DIAL anti-clockwise to backtrack through the tour.

Argo Navis^TM flags when you reach the end of a tour by telling you that there are no more objects.

You can even tour objects that you have loaded into the user catalog.

You can leave a tour at any time, perform other operations and then optionally rejoin the tour from the point at which you were at previously.

The flexibility, power and speed of tour mode allow it to become a real ‘work-horse’ during your observing sessions.

Note: mode tour assumes that you have performed a valid alignment. If you wish to tour ASTEROIDS, COMETS or PLANETS it is also assumed that the current date and time have been set in setup date/time. If you wish to tour SATELLITES it is further assumed that your location, in particular your current latitude and longitude, have been set in setup location. For touring ASTEROIDS, COMETS, SATELLITES and USER objects, it is assumed you have loaded the appropriate catalog.

Using MODE TOUR

Point your telescope to the region of the sky in which you would like to begin the tour. Spin the DIAL in the top-level menu until you see -

MODE TOUR

then press ENTER.

The displayed text that appears next will depend upon whether this is the first tour you have undertaken since powering on the unit. The following paragraphs will assume that is so.

If a valid alignment has not been performed, you will see the following warning message -

TWO SIGHTINGS ARE REQUIRED. FIX ALT REF MAY BE REQUIRED. WARNING – DISPLAYED VALUES MAY NOT BE VALID

Otherwise the top line of the display will prompt you with a message such as -

FIND ANY OBJECT

where the words ANY OBJECT will be flashing.

By spinning the DIAL, you can change the flashing value to any of the following -

· ANY OBJECT (however, does not include artificial satellites)

· ASTERISM (groups of stars)

· ASTEROID (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has an asteroid catalog loaded)

· BRIGHT NEBULA (such as an emission or reflection nebula)

· COMET (assuming your Argo Navis^TM has a comet catalog loaded)

· DARK NEBULA

· DOUBLE STAR

· GALAXY

· GALAXY CL (Galaxy Clusters)

· GLOBULAR CL (Globular Clusters)

· MESSIER (objects from the Messier Catalog)

· NEBULA (either a bright or dark nebula)

· NON STELLAR (any object that is not a star nor an artificial satellite)

· OPEN CLUST (Open Clusters)

· PLANET (within our own Solar System)

· PLANETARY N (Planetary Nebula)

· POPULAR (objects with popular names, along with Messier objects and planets)

· SATELLITE (Artificial satellites assuming your Argo Navis^TM has a satellite catalog loaded)

· STAR

· TRIPLE STAR

· USER OBJECT (assuming you have loaded user defined objects into the USER catalog)

· VARIABLE ST (Variable stars)

Once you have selected the type of objects you are interested in, press ENTER. Argo Navis^TM will then prompt you with a message such as -

FAINTEST MAG ANY

where the word ANY is flashing.

By spinning the DIAL, you can specify the limiting magnitude to eliminate objects from the tour that might be too faint for your circumstances.

The limiting magnitude values range from -6 (very bright) to +16 (very faint) along with the special entry of MAG ANY. If, for example, you select a value of 12, then only objects with a limiting value of 12 or brighter will be considered.

Once you have selected the limiting magnitude, press ENTER. Argo Navis^TMwill then prompt you with a message such as -

IN ANY CONSTEL

If the special entry of ANY CONSTEL was selected, the Argo Navis^TM will prompt you with a message such as:

WITHIN 360° ARC

where the number ‘3’ will be flashing. By using the DIAL and ENTER button, you can use the Intelligent Editing System^TM to enter a value between 1° to 360°. This represents an angular diameter in which to limit the tour, the centre point of the area being the RA/Dec co-ordinate location at which the scope was initially pointing when mode tour was entered. For example, if the scope were pointing at the zenith, an entry of 180° would select only objects in the sky above the horizon and an entry of 360° would select all objects, even those currently below the horizon. During partly cloudy nights, pointing your scope at clear openings (popularly known to some as 'sucker holes') and limiting the WITHIN angle to an appropriate value will constrain you to finding objects within the opening.

Once a constellation or WITHIN diameter has been specified, Argo Navis^TM will prompt you with a message such as –

HORIZON MASK OFF

Once you have specified any horizon mask filtering, pressing ENTER again will cause Argo Navis^TM to begin to search for the closest object that meets the selection criteria. During this time Argo Navis^TM will display this message -

SEARCHING

When the first search pass is completed, the Argo Navis^TM will either show the name of the closest object that meets the selection criteria or the words
NO MORE OBJECTS if there are no objects that meet the selection criteria.

If NO MORE OBJECTS appears, press EXIT to leave mode tour. You may then consider re-entering mode tour and modifying your search criteria.

If an object is found in the search, Argo Navis^TM automatically enters guide mode. The top line of the display will show the name of the closest object that meets the selection criteria and the bottom line of the display will show guiding information. For example -

ABELL 35

GUIDE 25¬ 32

means the telescope should be moved 25° in azimuth and 3.2° in altitude to locate Abell 35. The arrows represent a relative movement.

For example, if the ¬ arrow is displayed, even though the arrow points to the left, whether one moves the telescope to the left or to the right is dependent on several factors according to your setup. If you wish to change the default direction sense of one or both arrows, you can do so by changing the settings in setup guide mode. In any case, you should move the telescope in the direction that causes the angle to become smaller. As the telescope is moved, the display continually updates the angles and changes the direction arrows if the object is passed. When an angle less than 10° is displayed, the arrow also acts as a decimal point. For example, 32 means 3.2°.

Generally you might find it is easier to move the telescope in one axis at a time. When the telescope is at the correct position, the bottom line of the display will show -

ABELL 35
GUIDE 0.0 0.0

At any time during guide mode, if you press ENTER, a scrolling description of the object is given. Typical descriptions include the full name of the object, other popular names the object might be known by, what constellation the object is in, the size of the object, the visual magnitude of the object, its surface brightness, in the case of stars its spectral luminosity class, in the case of many double stars their separation, in the case of many galaxies its abbreviated Hubble morphology, the object's Right Ascension and Declination, whether it is currently above or below the horizon and what volume and page of the default atlas the object would appear on (See setup atlas). While the description is scrolling (to change the default scroll rate, see setup scroll), you can press EXIT or ENTER to have the Argo Navis^TM go back to guide mode. Or you can wait until the description has completed scrolling and Argo Navis^TM will automatically return to guide mode. If you move the DIAL while the description is scrolling, manual scroll mode is entered.

Note that when sample mode is on, in the setup mnt err/acquire data submenu, rather than a scrolling description immediately appearing, a new submenu appears.

In this case, by spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the bottom line of the display can be alternated as follows –

· DESCRIPTION

· SAMPLE MNT ERROR

While in guide mode, each time the DIAL is turned one ‘detent’ click clockwise, Argo Navis^TM will search for the next closest object that meets your selection criteria. When the end of the tour is reached, the display will show –

NO MORE OBJECTS

While in guide mode, if the DIAL is turned anti-clockwise, you can backtrack through the tour. In this case, while it is searching, Argo Navis^TM will briefly display the message –

BACKTRACKING

When you can backtrack no further, this message will be displayed –

START OF TOUR

At any time in guide mode, if EXIT is pressed, Argo Navis^TM will exit from mode tour.

One feature of mode tour is that it 'remembers' the last selections you made. This includes the type of object to find, the limiting magnitude, the horizon mask setting and if you chose
ANY CONSTEL, the WITHIN diameter. Thus when you re-enter
mode tour those last selections will become the default values. If you had chosen a particular constellation in which to limit the search, mode tour will prompt you with the name of the constellation that your telescope is currently pointing to as the default constellation selection. Argo Navis^TM will return the values to the system default values when the unit is switched off and then back on.

Another feature of mode tour is the ability to leave a tour at any point and to then rejoin the tour from that same point you were last at.

If you re-enter mode tour having been on a tour, the top line of the display will prompt you with a message such as -

FIND ANY OBJECT

However, this time the word FIND will be flashing.

By turning the DIAL, you can alternate the flashing value to either -

· FIND

· REJOIN LAST TOUR

By pressing ENTER when the display shows REJOIN LAST TOUR, you will rejoin the tour from the point you were last at. This could be at the start or the end of the tour or at any point in between. You can still search forward or backward through the tour and exit and rejoin it at any time.

Note that the last object found in mode tour automatically becomes the Current Object. That means that it will appear as the alignment object when entering
mode align and will be the default object when entering mode catalog.

Below horizon indication

Whenever you are about to locate an object you may want to automatically determine if it is below your local horizon or not.

For example, if the display showed -

MURRELL 1

GUIDE 18®126¯H

the h symbol at the end of the second line indicates that the planetary nebula murrell 1 is currently beneath your local horizon.

If you specified the horizon mask to be anything but off, you should never see any objects appearing with the h indicator.

Examples

Example 1

FIND GLOBULAR CL

FAINTEST MAG ANY

IN CENTAURUS

might result in -

NGC 5286

GUIDE 4¬0 41

This is prompting you to move the scope 4° in azimuth and 41° in altitude in order to locate the object. Now spinning the DIAL clockwise might then show –

OMEGA CENTAURI

GUIDE 3¬5 72

Spinning the DIAL clockwise again might then show –

RUPRECHT 106

GUIDE 5®2 57

Spinning the DIAL clockwise one more time might then show –

NO MORE OBJECTS

You might then decide to backtrack to take one more look at Omega Centauri. You would turn the DIAL anti-clockwise two detent ‘clicks’ and guide to it once again.

Example 2

TOUR POPULAR

FAINTEST MAG +11

IN CETUS

might result in -

CETUS A

GUIDE 4®2 03

You could then guide to it. Pressing ENTER again will display scrolling information about the object. While the text is scrolling, you can enter manual scroll mode by moving the DIAL.

CETUS A ALSO KNOWN AS M77 ALSO KNOWN AS NGC 1068 GALAXY IN CETUS SIZE=7.1'x6.0' MAG=8.8 SB=12.9 MORPH=(R)SA(rs)b

M77. BRIGHT SEYFERT RA=02:42:39 DEC=-00°00'50" J2000.0 ABOVE HORIZON MSA=VOL I 262

Pressing EXIT will return you to guide mode -

CETUS A

GUIDE 0®0 00

Pressing EXIT again will return you to the top-level menu –

MODE TOUR

You might then perform some other operation and then decide to rejoin the tour. Make sure that the display shows –

MODE TOUR

Then press ENTER. Turn the DIAL until the display shows -

REJOIN LAST TOUR

Then press ENTER again. The display will then show something like -

CETUS A

GUIDE 0®0 00

Which is the point that you were at when you last left the tour.

See also

Function

setup archive allows you to –

· Apply a label name to the current setups by which to remember them by. The current setups are those which are held in EEROM

· Store that labelled setup into the FLASH memory archive. You can archive up to four setups with different label names

· Load a setup by selecting it by label name from the FLASH memory archive. The system will load it into EEROM and it will become the current setup

Therefore setup archive is an ideal way of sharing your Argo Navis^TM between multiple telescopes and being able to conveniently switch between them by loading the appropriate setups.

Another potential use of setup archive is if you want to experiment with different Telescope Pointing Analysis System ^TM (TPAS^TM) models.

Technical background

Argo Navis^TM has two types of non-volatile memory storage, EEROM and FLASH. These memories retain their contents even when all sources of power are removed. The current setups are always stored in EEROM. However, you can save the contents of the EEROM into a FLASH archive or you can load from the FLASH archive back into EEROM.

Using SETUP ARCHIVE

Enter the mode setup menu then spin the DIAL until you see -

SETUP ARCHIVE

Press ENTER and the display might show something like this -

LABEL CURRENT

SETUP=NO LABEL

where the top-line of the text will be flashing. By spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the top line of the display can be cycled as follows –

· LABEL CURRENT

· LOAD SETUP

· STORE SETUP

When you have selected the desired sub-menu, press ENTER.

For example, in the case of the label current selection, you might see –

LABEL CURRENT

SETUP=NO LABEL

where the ‘NO LABEL’ will be flashing. If you wish to change the name of the label to act as a mnemonic, use the DIAL and the ENTER button to edit the name one character at a time. For example, let us edit the name of ‘no label’, which is the factory default, to ‘obs 25’.

To do so, press the ENTER button. You have now entered label name edit mode.

The ‘N’ character will be flashing indicating that the cursor is at that location. Turn the DIAL clockwise until the letter ‘O’ appears and then press ENTER to advance to the next letter, which is an ‘O’. Turn the DIAL in either direction to make it a ‘B’, press ENTER, and so on until you have spelt out the word ‘OBS 25’.

Continue to erase the rest of the characters in the old no label name by turning them into SPACES. The SPACE character is found just after the letter ‘Z’ if you are turning the DIAL clockwise. When you have entered two successive SPACE characters, Argo Navis^TM automatically leaves object name edit mode and the top-line of the text will be flashing again.

By performing the above, you have now assigned the label of ‘obs 25’ to the current setups, which are those held in EEROM.

Now let us say you wish to create new setups for a different telescope mount. First you will need to save your current setups held in EEROM, which in the example above we assigned the label name of ‘obs 25’, into the FLASH memory archive.

To do so, spin the DIAL until the top line of the display shows –

STORE SETUP

Then press ENTER. The display will then show –

STORE OBS 25

NEW=OBS 25

This denotes that you are about to store the current setups with a label name of ‘obs 25’ into an empty archive memory slot which will also be given a name of ‘obs 25’.

To do so, press the ENTER button. In the bottom line of the display, you may briefly see the words ‘saved to archive’ followed by –

STORE SETUP

ARCHIVE THE SAME

where the top-line of the display will be flashing. The text of ‘archive the same’, denotes that the FLASH memory archive now has an entry that is identical to your current setups held in EEROM. In the future, whenever you see these words, Argo Navis^TM is telling you that you do not need to re-save your current setups as you already have a FLASH memory archive set with the same label name and that has identical parameters.

Continuing with the example, since we have saved the obs 25 setups into the archive, we are now free to alter the current setups held in EEROM and give them a new label.

Let us change the label name first. Spin the DIAL until the display shows –

LABEL CURRENT

SETUP=OBS 25

Then press ENTER. Use the DIAL and the ENTER button to edit the name one character at a time. For example, let us edit the name to ‘gem’.

Having edited the label name, you would then typically want to EXIT out of setup archive and edit the various setup parameters to suit your other telescope mount. For example, you might use the setup mount menu and make a selection of gem exact align. Additional parameters, such as setup alt steps and setup az steps may often require changing as well.

Once you have edited the parameters for this other telescope mount, it would then be wise to save a copy of them into the FLASH memory archive. Go back to setup archive and press ENTER and spin the DIAL until you see –

STORE SETUP

Then press ENTER. The display will then show –

STORE SETUP

NEW=GEM

This denotes that you are about to store the current setups with a label name of ‘gem’ into an empty archive memory slot which will also be given a name of ‘gem’.

To do so, press the ENTER button. In the bottom line of the display, you may briefly see the words ‘saved to archive’ followed by –

STORE SETUP

ARCHIVE THE SAME

You now have setups for two different telescope mounts saved in the FLASH memory archive. The current set, which is the one also stored in EEROM, is labelled ‘gem’. There is another set in the FLASH memory archive which you previously labelled ‘obs 25’.

To load the set labelled ‘obs 25’ back into EEROM so that it becomes the current set, spin the DIAL until you see -

LOAD SETUP

2 MEMBERS

The bottom-line of the display denotes that you have two setups stored in the FLASH memory archive. Press ENTER and the display might show something like this -

LOAD SETUP

FROM=GEM

where the word ‘gem’ will be flashing. Spin the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time until the display shows –

LOAD SETUP

FROM=OBS 25

Then press ENTER. The display will then briefly show –

ARGO NAVIS

RESTARTING

Then briefly followed by –

ARGO NAVIS

SETUP=OBS 25

Then briefly followed by –

ARGO NAVIS

INITIALIZING

Argo Navis^TM has loaded the setups for the ‘obs 25’ mount and re-initialized. Any existing alignment will now be invalidated.

Whenever the unit is subsequently powered ON, if there is more than one setup stored in the FLASH memory archive, Argo Navis^TM will briefly show the label name of the setup currently in use.

You can also determine which setup is currently in use via mode status. To access it, spin the DIAL in the top-level ‘mode’ menu until the display shows –

MODE STATUS

Then press ENTER. Then spin the DIAL until the display shows, for example–

STATUS SETUP

LABEL=OBS 25

where the text following the ‘label=’ is the label name assigned to the current setups in EEROM.

Whenever you modify the current setups, you are only altering the values held in EEROM. If you then wish to go back to using the parameters stored in the archive, re-enter the setup archive menu and use the load setup submenu and load the appropriate set.

Alternatively, if you wish to update the setup in the FLASH memory archive, use the store setup submenu. Initially the display might show –

STORE SETUP

ARCHIVE DIFFERS

The text of ‘archive differs’ denotes that the FLASH memory archive has a member with the same label name but whose content is different to your current setups held in EEROM.

To update the archive member, press ENTER. The display might then show –

STORE OBS 25

TO=OBS 25

If you press EXIT, Argo Navis^TM will abort the operation. Alternatively if you press ENTER, Argo Navis^TM will then save the current setups held in EEROM into the FLASH archive. In the bottom line of the display, you may briefly see the words ‘saved to archive’ followed by –

STORE SETUP

ARCHIVE THE SAME

Number of members allowed in the archive

The FLASH memory archive allows you to save up to four sets of setups. You can determine how many members there are in the archive by examining the bottom-line in the ‘load setup’ sub-menu.

Purging a member by storing over it when the archive becomes full

When the FLASH memory archive has four members, it is full. However, when it becomes full, Argo Navis^TM allows you to purge an existing member when you attempt to store a setup with a new label name.

For example, if the archive were full, spin the DIAL until the top line of the display shows –

STORE SETUP

Then press ENTER. The display will then briefly show –

STORE G11

ARCHIVE FULL

where in this example ‘G11’ might be a label name you have assigned to the current setups. Shortly after, the display will then show –

STORE G11

PURGE=GEM

where in this example ‘GEM’ might a label for an existing archive member and whose text will be flashing. If need be, spin the DIAL until you select a member that you wish to usurp. Then press ENTER. In the bottom line of the display, you may briefly see the words ‘saved to archive’ followed by –

STORE SETUP

ARCHIVE THE SAME

Permanently deleting a member from SETUP ARCHIVE

To permanently delete a member from the FLASH memory archive, use the ‘label current’ submenu and change the label to the special reserved word of delete. Then use the ‘store setup’ submenu and store it to the member that you wish to permanently delete. That member will now be purged, the member count will decrease by one and a free memory slot will be made available in the FLASH memory archive.

Since the current label name was changed to ‘delete‘, you will typically want to restore your original name by either loading the appropriate member from the ‘load setup’ submenu or by editing the name in the ‘label current’ submenu.

SETUP ATLAS

Function

setup mnt errors forms the control center for the powerful Argo Navis^TM Telescope Pointing Analysis System ^TM (TPAS^TM), which allows you to measure, model, compute, analyse and store the values of various types of systematic errors in your mount/telescope.

Using its advanced “pointing kernel”, Argo Navis^TM will attempt to compensate for these errors when you align and point your telescope.

The system works with all mount types. For fork exact align and gem exact align mounts, the system has the additional benefit of being able to assist you with polar alignment.

About pointing errors

You may be reading this section because you have a pointing issue.

Therefore, before detailing how to use the functionality of setup mnt errors, it is worth reviewing here the subject of pointing errors in general.

Historically, some telescopes used mechanical scales known as “setting circles” to assist the operator in determining the co-ordinates of where the telescope was pointing. Whether one is using some mechanical measuring device or the readout of a digital telescope computer, such as the Argo Navis^TM, at any one place in the sky, the angular difference between where the telescope “thinks” it is pointing and where it is actually pointing, is known as a “pointing error residual” or simply “residual”.

For practical purposes, when you use Argo Navis^TMto locate or identify objects, pointing error issues can usually be split into two broad categories –

1. Unit setup errors, operator errors and encoder installation errors. These types of errors cannot be corrected by the features of setup mnt errors.

2. Mount/telescope fabrication errors. Some of these types of errors can be compensated for by the features of setup mnt errors.

Category 1 errors

Irrespective of how much experience you have had with the system, you should always consider category ‘1’ errors first, as they by far dominate the number of ‘real world’ pointing issues.

Common category ‘1’ unit setup errors include incorrect settings in setup az steps, setup alt steps, setup date/time and setup location.

For example, the number of encoder steps and in particular the encoder direction sense signs need to be correctly established.

When setup refraction is switched to on, Argo Navis^TM assumes that you have correctly set your time zone, date time and location in order to help it determine where your local horizon is. If they are incorrectly set, then the pointing corrections this feature provides will be incorrectly applied, perhaps being quite large in some areas of the sky.

In this regard, a common error for users who live in North, Central & South America, is to enter a positive time zone offset into setup date/time. Users in these parts of the world are West of the Greenwich meridian and will therefore have negative time zone settings. If changing your time zone setting, you should then check that the local date and time is correctly set.

Similarly, when setup refraction is set to on, you should also check that you have correctly entered your observing location’s latitude and longitude in setup location, paying particular attention as to whether you live North or South of the Equator and East or West of the Greenwich Meridian.

Common category ‘1’ operator errors include incorrect setting of the alt ref point on mounts that require a two-star alignment and incorrect identification of alignment stars.

If your mount is of a type that requires a fix alt ref to be performed, you are strongly encouraged to review and use the auto adjust feature. See also setup alt ref for details. Using auto adjust on can sometimes bring about a dramatic improvement in pointing performance and for those mounts that have negligible fabrication errors, its use alone may suffice to achieve excellent pointing performance.

Common category ‘1’ encoder installation errors include encoder shafts that slip due a loose setscrew or problem with the coupling.

For example, some couplings that use rubber ‘O’-rings can become stiff in low temperatures and allow the encoder shaft to slip.

For Dobsonian telescope owners, you should check that the Az pivot bolt is secured firmly to the base of the ground board and that the encoder shaft is held captive with the Az pivot bolt. When the Az pivot bolt on a Dobsonian is not secured tightly to the base of the ground board, it can give rise to some back-and-forth rotational ‘play’ in the bolt. This latter effect falls into a class of errors termed by the technical name of ‘hysteresis’.

For encoder installations that use gears, check that the setscrews are tightened so that the gears do not slip on their shafts or bearings.

Some installations have brackets, known as ‘tangent arms’, fabricated either from metal or plastic, that go from the body of the encoder to some fixed point on the mount. You should check that the hex nut above the shaft of the encoder holds the tangent arm securely. You should check that the tangent arm is not pushing the encoder to one side, thus causing the encoder shaft to be no longer parallel with the coupling to which it is attached.

To help identify encoder installation errors, it is strongly recommended that you perform a ‘daylight encoder test’.

Daytime encoder test

The following describes how to perform a daytime encoder test.

During the day, using a high-powered eyepiece or cross-hair reticle, center a distant fixed terrestrial object.

Power on Argo Navis^TM and after it has initialized, spin the DIAL until the display reads –

MODE ENCODER

then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL until the display reads –

AZ/ALT ENC STEPS

+0000 *0000

When in this mode, the value of Azimuth steps range from 0 to the number of steps set in setup az steps minus 1. Altitude steps range from 0 to the number of steps set in setup alt steps minus 1.

If your mount is of the style that allows you to lock the Alt (or Dec) axis, lock it.

Take note of the left-hand displayed value, which is the Az (or RA) encoder count.

Rotate the mount through 360° in Az (RA) and re-center the object. Take note of the displayed Az encoder count value. Ideally, it should be within an encoder step or two of the value from which you started. Keep in mind that the displayed count “wraps”, so that, for example, a value that is equivalent to the number of steps set in setup az steps minus 1 is only 1 step away from a count of zero.

Now exercise the scope back-and-forth in Az (RA) to attempt to induce any potential encoder shaft slippage error, or the like. Again, re-center the object and check that the displayed value has returned to within a step or two of what it originally was.

Now take note of the right-hand displayed value, which is the Alt (or Dec) encoder count.

If your mount is of the style that allows you to lock the Az (or RA) axis, lock it.

Now exercise the scope up-and-down in Alt (Dec) to attempt to induce any potential encoder shaft slippage error, or the like. Again, re-center the object and check that the displayed value has returned to within a step or two of what it originally was.

To diagnose for hysteresis effects, carefully observe the display in mode encoder whilst moving the scope to-and fro. When you begin to move the scope, look for any noticeable delay or “lag” from the time the scope starts to move to the time mode encoder registers motion.

Start by rotating the mount in one direction, then stopping and reversing the direction of travel. If you notice the above mentioned lag effect from when the scope begins to move, this is a telltale sign of hysteresis. It is best rectified by inspecting your encoder mounting hardware for any ‘play’ and then applying a mechanical fix.

Category 2 errors

The following discussion should be regarded as an advanced topic. It assumes you are completely familiar with setting-up, aligning and guiding with your Argo Navis^TM and that you have used it successfully for several observing sessions. If not, it is recommended that you review the section on Initial setup of Argo Navis^TM and the section on Alignment procedures.

Category 2 errors can be divided into three sub-categories –

a. Random errors. (Neither Argo Navis^TM, nor any other system, can ever model or compensate for errors that are random or non-repeatable in nature).

b. Systematic errors of a type for which Argo Navis^TM provides no support.

c. Systematic errors of a type that Argo Navis^TM can model and compensate for.

Examples of Category 2a errors include a sudden mirror-flop, or a truss pole on a Dobsonian that is not secured in its block allowing the top-end to ‘flop’. These are always best addressed by fixing the problem at its source.

Category 2c errors can be computed using the features available in setup mnt errors and the remaining discussion will be devoted to this topic.

Even multi-billion dollar professional telescopes have some intrinsic systematic fabrication error in their mounts.

The TPAS^TM Approach

TPAS^TM can help you measure pointing error residuals, then compute and compensate for many of the more common types of systematic fabrication errors.

Internally, TPAS^TM has a mathematical formula for each of the supported errors. Such a formula is referred to as a “term”. A set of terms that work in unison forms what is referred to as a “model” and when applied, such a model can be used to help improve the pointing of your telescope.

The TPAS^TM approach involves you performing an initial alignment of the unit and then centering stars in the eyepiece and sampling their positions. Ideally, the stars sampled will be distributed uniformly across the sky.

Once you have sampled a sufficient number of stars (anywhere from 2 to 150, depending upon your requirements), you can define a model and then have TPAS^TM compute the values of each of the terms in the model.

When TPAS^TM computes the value of the terms of the defined model, it also provides you with important statistical feedback that will assist you in determining the merit of the overall model and the merit of each of the individual terms.

Depending upon the values provided by this statistical feedback, you might then decide to either apply this model as your current pointing model, or to reject the model and try another. For example, you might decide to experiment and add or remove terms from your model. TPAS^TM allows you to do this in a fast and convenient manner.

Once you have determined a model that provides the best pointing performance for your telescope, you can save the model in the unit’s non-volatile memory (EEROM device) and then re-use it on subsequent nights. If no changes are made to the telescope, then many terms also should remain the same from session to session. Some terms, however, will not be persistent between sessions, but you can quickly re-establish these by performing a short sampling run at the beginning of the night.

TPAS^TM works on all mount types, whether they are an equatorial mount such as Fork or a GEM or an Alt/Az type such as a Dobsonian.

Pointing errors interact with one another in very complex ways. One remarkable aspect of TPAS^TM is that it can untangle each of the error terms.

TPAS^TMwill compute the value of each of these terms so that the model you have defined provides the best possible fit to your sampling data.

Root Mean Square (RMS)

One statistical measure that the system provides is a value known as the Root Mean Square (RMS).

Mathematically, RMS is defined as the square root of the mean (average) of the squares of the pointing error residuals.

Suffice to say, RMS provides a measure by which one can estimate the pointing performance of the telescope.

You will undoubtedly be interested in the pointing performance of the telescope when no modelling is applied (known as raw RMS pointing performance) and the pointing performance after a model is applied (known as modelled RMS pointing performance).

Just as an individual pointing error residual is expressed as an angle, so is RMS. The smaller the RMS value, the better the performance.

The RMS value can be thought of as the radius of a circle. As a rule of thumb, for any given RMS value, approximately 68% of stars in the sampling data will fall within a circle whose radius is equivalent to the RMS of that data.

Figures 11 and 12 are example two-dimensional plots of pointing error residuals, known as “scatter diagrams”.

Each of the small squares represents a sampled star position, 46 in all. These sampled positions were more or less evenly distributed in azimuth and altitude across the whole-sky to provide meaningful data about the telescope’s whole-sky pointing performance.

The distance a square is from the center of the circles represents the magnitude of that star’s error residual. The direction from the center of the circles represents the direction of the error residual.

The inner circle has a radius equivalent to the RMS of the data. The outer circle has a radius that encompasses all the residuals.

Figure 11 shows the raw pointing residuals of a real telescope. The raw RMS for the 46 stars was analysed by TPAS^TM to be 14.5’ (arcminutes) and some residuals were nearly 26.7’ (outer circle). This represents the raw pointing performance of this particular telescope when no mount error modelling has been applied.

Figure 11

Figure 12 shows the fitted pointing residuals after a model was fitted by TPAS^TM. The fitted RMS drops to 2.1’ (about the same resolution as one step of a 10,000-step encoder, which this particular telescope was fitted with) and the largest pointing residual dropped to less than 4.5’.

Figure 12

These two diagrams therefore help illustrate the significance of the statistical measure known as RMS and provide an example of how TPAS^TM improved the pointing performance of this particular telescope.

It may be convenient to imagine the circles represent the Field Of View (FOV) of an eyepiece. It should therefore be apparent that after a model was fitted, more objects fell within the FOV of a high-powered eyepiece.

Pointing Terms

The TPAS^TM philosophy is, as far as possible, to provide pointing correction terms that describe real effects, such as geometrical misalignments and gravitational flexures.

Some advantages of this approach include –

· The model may help you identify, diagnose and correct mechanical deficiencies with your telescope.

If you make no changes to your telescope, some terms will be persistent from session to session. This allows you to perform a short sampling run to re-synchronize those terms that do not persist from session to session.
For exact-align mounts, polar misalignment in both axes can be determined using two specific error terms.

Table 1 lists the error terms supported by TPAS^TM.

The first column lists the abbreviated name of the term. These abbreviations are identical to that used by many professional observatories and are thus a de facto “industry standard” nomenclature. Argo Navis^TM also displays abbreviated term names using this same convention.

Whenever Argo Navis^TM displays the name of a term in a longer fashion, it does so according to the “long-names” shown in the second column.

The third column contains the full name and a detailed description of each term.

Note that the error terms that TPAS^TM will make available to you depend on your mount type setting in setup mount.

For example, if the mount type is set to fork exact align, additional terms are available compared to when the mount type is set to fork rough align. Examples of additional terms in this instance are the polar misalignment terms (MA & ME), flexure terms (FO & TF) and RA axis harmonic terms (HCEC & HCES).

Power recommendations before performing a large star pointing run

If you are considering performing a large pointing test in order to help diagnose the fabrication errors in your telescope, then it is highly recommended you install a fresh set of batteries in the unit or power the unit from an external DC power source. A large pointing test can take several hours and if the power should fail, your valuable pointing data will be lost.

Using SETUP MNT ERRORS

Before using setup mnt errors, you should ensure that your local time zone, date and time is set in setup date/time and that the local location is set in setup location. You should then switch refraction modelling on in setup refraction.

In setup guide mode, you might also find it convenient to set the guide decimal setting to 2 decimal places.

Once you have performed the above steps, enter the mode setup menu, then spin the DIAL until you see -

SETUP MNT ERRORS

then press ENTER. The display might then show -

ACQUIRE DATA

where the top-line of the display will be flashing. By spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the top line of the display can be cycled as follows –

· ACQUIRE DATA

· COMPUTE ERRORS

· DEFINE MODEL

· REVIEW DATA

· SET ERROR VALUES

Each of these corresponds to a submenu, of which the following paragraphs provide an initial brief overview.

The acquire data submenu allows you to switch sample mode either on or off. When sample mode is on, an additional submenu will appear when you press ENTER in guide mode.

The compute errors submenu allows you to compute the values of terms you have defined to be computed in the define model submenu. It also reports to you the RMS value before and after the fit, the ‘Population Standard Deviation’ (PSD) before and after the fit and another statistical measure, known as the standard deviation, of each term, along with other useful diagnostic information. Once the computation is performed, it allows you to either accept (i.e. put in use and optionally save for later use) or reject the pointing model.

The define model submenu allows you to define which terms you would like compute errors to compute, which terms you would like to declare as constant ‘fixed’ values and which terms not to include in the computation at all.

The review data submenu allows you to examine the pointing data you have sampled. You can examine and delete entries, look at individual raw and fitted pointing residuals for each star sampled and also examine the raw and modelled RMS values for the entire data set.

The set error values submenu allows you to examine or manually edit two sets of terms. One set of terms are those that are currently in use by the ‘pointing kernel’. The other set of terms are those that are saved in the unit’s non-volatile memory (EEROM device) for use on subsequent observing sessions. Normally you would not manually edit either set of terms, but instead use the power and utility of the compute errors function to determine and save them for you.

The ACQUIRE DATA submenu

Assuming you would like to perform a star-pointing test, begin by switching sample mode to on.

Spin the DIAL until you see –

ACQUIRE DATA

then press ENTER. The display might then show –

SAMPLE MODE=OFF

where the OFF will be flashing, Spin the DIAL until the display shows -

SAMPLE MODE=ON

then press EXIT or ENTER. If you have changed the state from what it originally was, Argo Navis^TM will save the new setting into its memory (EEROM device).

When sample mode is on, whenever the unit is in guide mode and you press the ENTER button, a new submenu will appear. guide mode is reached from mode catalog, mode identify or mode tour.

Initial alignment

Align the unit as you normally would. For example, if your mount type is set as fork exact align or gem exact align, perform a one star alignment using either mode align star or mode align.

If your mount is of any other type, you will be required to perform a fix alt ref step and a two star alignment.

Unless your mount type is gem rough align, you can use auto adjust on when you perform the fix alt ref step, if you so choose. Part of the utility of the TPAS^TM system is that once you have sampled some stars and put an initial model in use, it can further refine your alt ref point, irrespective of your mount type, including a gem.

Sampling stars

Once you have aligned the system, you can then begin to start sampling some stars. The initial alignment star(s) are a good place to start.

Since the last alignment star will become the default object when you enter mode catalog, it is sometimes convenient to use that mode to guide to that star.

For example, say the last star you aligned on was SIRIUS. Navigate to mode catalog and press the ENTER button a successive number of times until the guide mode appears in the bottom line. In this example, the display might show –

SIRIUS

GUIDE 0®01 0.00

Now press ENTER. The display might then show -

SIRIUS

DESCRIPTION

where the word DESCRIPTION will be flashing.

Normally at this point, rather than the word DESCRIPTION appearing, Argo Navis^TM would have displayed a scrolling description of the object. However, when sample mode is on, this new submenu appears.

By spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the bottom line of the display can be alternated as follows –

· DESCRIPTION

· SAMPLE MNT ERROR

If you want to view the description of the object, spin the DIAL until the word DESCRIPTION appears and then press ENTER.

However, to continue with the example of sampling the star position, spin the DIAL until the display says SAMPLE MNT ERROR. Now center the star using a high-powered or reticle eyepiece. Then press ENTER to sample the star position.

For example, the display might then show, for two seconds -

SIRIUS

ITEM=1 D=30”

ITEM=1 denotes that this was the first item sampled.

The D symbol is the capital Greek letter “Delta” and Argo Navis^TM uses it to denote a raw pointing residual. Thus, D=30” denotes that the raw pointing error residual was 30 arcseconds.

In this example, you may be surprised that the raw pointing residual was non-zero, despite the fact this star was just aligned on. There can be several reasons for why you may see a value that is not exactly zero. One factor is due to the finite resolution of the encoders in your system. For example, the resolution of a 10,000-step encoder is approximately 2.16 arcminutes per step.

mode identify and mode tour can also be used to assist you in sampling stars.

For example, you might point your telescope at a bright star (e.g. if you performed a two star alignment, perhaps this time, the first star you aligned on) and then using the DIAL and ENTER button you might select -

MODE IDENTIFY

FIND STAR

FAINTEST MAG +4

IN ANY CONSTEL

WITH 360° ARC

The display might then show –

CAPELLA

FOUND

Now press ENTER. The display might then show -

CAPELLA

GUIDE 0®02 0¯01

Now press ENTER. The display might then show -

CAPELLA

SAMPLE MNT ERROR

Center the star as accurately as possible in the eyepiece and then press ENTER to sample it.

mode tour is particularly convenient in assisting in star pointing tests.

For example, you may decide to point the scope toward the zenith and begin a tour of bright stars from there.

To minimize the chance of misidentifying an object to sample, use only bright stars (for example, those of magnitude 6 or brighter, such as those that appear in the bright star catalog) and planets.

Avoid the use of –

· Non-stellar objects. For example, it can be difficult to determine the center of an extended non-stellar object. Some non-stellar objects have larger positional uncertainties, as accurate astrometric positional data may not have been available for them or their astrometric centers were determined photographically perhaps at a wavelength not easily discernable to the human eye.

· Double stars or multiple stars. It can be difficult to identify which star to center on.

· Variable stars. For example, the variable star GK PER has a maximum recorded magnitude of 0.2 but a minimum magnitude of 14. mode identify and mode tour filter objects according to their maximum magnitude. Therefore, the system might suggest such a variable, but the star may currently be too dim to identify with any certainty.

For a long sampling run, it is recommended that you initially sample 4 stars. At that point, it is advisable to define, compute and accept an initial model. This will then provide some initial refinement of your pointing and you can then go back to your sampling run.

The DEFINE MODEL submenu

Enter the setup mnt error menu and spin the DIAL until you see –

DEFINE MODEL

then press ENTER. Depending upon the setting in setup mount, the display might then show –

COLLIMATION ERR

CH=DON’T USE

where the top line will be flashing. If you spin the DIAL a detent click at a time, you can cycle through the various terms available for your mount.

The top line of the display shows the long name of the term and the bottom line shows the abbreviated name and how it is currently defined in the model.

A term can be defined to be one of the following states –

COMPUTE – The term will be computed by the compute errors function.
DON’T USE – The term will not be considered by the compute errors function.
Fixed Value – The term will be held fixed at the value specified when the compute errors function is invoked.

To change the state of a specific term, press ENTER and then spin the DIAL to select the required state.

To edit a fixed value, press ENTER, then use the DIAL and ENTER button to alter the value a field at a time. Values are expressed as plus or minus minutes and decimal-minutes of arc. (There are 60 arcminutes to 1 degree).

Once you have selected the required state, then press EXIT or ENTER. If you have changed the state from what it originally was, Argo Navis^TM will save the new setting into its memory (EEROM device).

Continuing with the earlier example, assume you have so far sampled 4 stars.

If your setup mount setting is fork exact align or gem exact align, the number of terms that you can define as COMPUTE is equal to the number of stars you have currently sampled.

If your mount is of any other type, the number of terms you can define to compute is equal to the number of stars you have sampled minus three.

If your setup mount setting is fork exact align or gem exact align, then at this point it is recommended you set the following terms to compute -

· DEC INDEX ERROR ID=COMPUTE

HA INDEX ERROR IH=COMPUTE
POLAR LEFT-RIGHT MA=COMPUTE
POLAR VERTICAL ME=COMPUTE

All other terms should be set to DON’T USE.

If your setup mount setting is fork rough align or gem rough align, then at this point it is recommend you set the following term to compute -

· DEC INDEX ERROR ID=COMPUTE

All other terms should be set to DON’T USE.

If your setup mount setting is altaz/dobsonian or eq table exact, then at this point it is recommended you set the following term to compute -

· INDEX ERROR EL IE=COMPUTE

All other terms should be set to DON’T USE.

Once you have set the states of the terms as recommended, exit the define model submenu by pressing EXIT.

The COMPUTE submenu

Spin the DIAL until you see –

COMPUTE

then press ENTER. For a brief moment, the top line of the display will then show –

COMPUTING…

followed by -

COMPUTATION DONE

The bottom line of the display will begin scrolling information. Whilst the information is scrolling (to change the default scroll rate, see setup scroll), various options are available to you –

Press EXIT to abort the compute submenu.
Press ENTER to transition to a state that allows you to accept, reject, or save terms,
Wait until the text has completed scrolling and Argo Navis^TM will automatically enter the state that allows you to accept, reject or save terms.
Move the DIAL and then manual scroll mode is entered. Turning the DIAL clockwise scrolls the text forward for convenient reading at your leisure while turning the DIAL anti-clockwise scrolls text in reverse. Pressing EXIT while in manual scroll mode will abort the compute submenu. Pressing ENTER will transition to a state that allows you to accept, reject or save terms.

For example, if your setup mount setting is fork exact align or gem exact align, the scrolling information might read‑

RMS=1.5’ (WAS 6.7’) ID=‑78.8±12.9’ IH=+1.0±1.0’ MA=‑11.1±5.4’ (POLAR AXIS EAST OF SCP, MOVE WEST 13.2’) ME=+78.6±12.5’ (POLAR AXIS ABOVE SCP. LOWER 1.31°)

In this example, TPAS^TM has computed the ‘best-fit’ values of the four terms that were set to the compute state in define model. It has done this based on the error residuals of the sampling data.

The RMS of the fitted data using the model defined by define model was reported to be 1.5’.

The RMS of the data using the pointing kernel’s current ‘in use’ model was reported to be 6.7’.

TPAS^TM reported that the ID term was ‑78.8±12.9’.

The value after the ± sign is a statistical measure of that term known as the Standard Deviation (also known as ‘sigma’). The significance of Standard Deviation will be discussed further below.

The value of the IH term was reported as +1.0±1.0’.

ID & IH are important terms and you should always compute and use them. However, since the values of the ID & IH terms vary between sampling tests, their actual values can largely be ignored and the terms simply accepted ‘on faith’.

The value of MA, which is the polar misalignment term in Azimuth, was ‑11.1±5.4’. TPAS^TM then reports that this value is equivalent to the polar axis being East of the South Celestial Pole (SCP) by 13.2’, this example test having been conducted in the Southern Hemisphere.

The value of ME, which is the polar misalignment in Elevation (i.e. Altitude) was +78.6±12.5’. TPAS^TM then reports that this value is equivalent to the polar axis being above the SCP by 1.31°.

At this point, it may be tempting to adjust the mount in Az and Alt in order to improve the polar alignment. However, there are two disadvantages to doing that at this time –

· Whenever you move the mount, the pointing data becomes invalid, the data would need to be deleted, and the pointing test done again.

By sampling more stars, additional terms may be tried in the model and the polar misalignment terms will become better defined.

Later in this section, a suggested procedure for using TPAS^TM to improve a polar alignment will be given.

If you have been examining the reported information in manual scroll mode and would now like to accept the terms, press ENTER. The display might then show –

ID=-78.8±12.9’

USE NOW

where the words ‘use now’ will be flashing. By spinning the DIAL a detent click at a time, the bottom line of the display can be cycled as follows –

use now – Select this if you would like to use this term in the current ‘pointing kernel’.
use now & save– Select this if you would like to use this term in the ‘pointing kernel’ as well as save it into non-volatile memory (EEROM device) for use during a subsequent observing session.
don’t use– Select this if you do not want to use the term in the current pointing kernel.

Once you have selected what you wish to do with the term, press ENTER. TPAS^TM will then prompt with the next term. For example –

IH=+1.0±1.0’

USE NOW

Make your selection and press ENTER as before. At any time, should you decide to cancel the acceptance of the entire model, press EXIT. The display will then briefly show –

ALL SETTINGS

CANCELLED…

Otherwise, when you press ENTER when the last term appears, the display will return to –

COMPUTE

All about Standard Deviation

When the compute function reports the values of terms, it also reports a statistical measure for the term known as Standard Deviation. This is the number that appears after the ± symbol.

You are probably familiar with the most common statistical measure of all, which is the ‘average’ (also known as the ‘mean’). To find the mean value of a set of data, we add up the values of each data item and then divide by the total number of items.

The Standard Deviation gives some measure about the distribution or ‘spread’ of data about the mean. Therefore, when a data item has a small Standard Deviation, one would expect most values would be grouped around the mean.

Therefore, ideally, we want the Standard Deviation of a term to be as small as possible and the ratio of the actual value of a term to its own Standard Deviation to be as large as possible.

One analogy to help understand the significance of this is to think about a radio signal from a distant radio station. The signal is subject to interference that manifests itself in the way of noise. Think of Standard Deviation as being like noise. The Radio Engineer wants to achieve the best ‘signal-to-noise-ratio’ possible.

Likewise, if the values of your terms have associated large Standard Deviations, it is difficult to distinguish what is ‘real’ from what is noise.

As a practical guideline, except for the ID, IE, IH, MA & ME terms, never use a term in a model unless the value of the term is at least two to three times larger than its own reported Standard Deviation.

All about Population Standard Deviation (PSD)

When there are more data samples than terms in the model, along with RMS values, the compute function also reports another useful statistical measure known as the Population Standard Deviation or ‘PSD’. PSD is similar to RMS. However, PSD also factors-in the number of terms used in the model to attempt to provide a better estimate of the model’s performance.

Sometimes when you add a new term to the model, the RMS will reduce. If the PSD reduces as well, then that is good. However, if the PSD increases, then the new term should probably be removed, as it is likely to being doing more harm than good.

Therefore, carefully note the RMS, PSD and individual Standard Deviations of terms whenever you compute a model.

TPAS^TM provides these statistical measures to assist you in determining the merit of your model.

The SET ERROR VALUES submenu

Using the set error values submenu, you can –

· Review and optionally edit the values of terms that are currently ‘in use’ by the ‘pointing kernel’.

· Review and optionally edit the values of terms that are currently saved in non-volatile memory (EEROM device) for use on subsequent sessions.

To access this submenu, spin the DIAL until you see –

SET ERROR VALUES

then press ENTER. The display might then show –

SET ERROR VALUES

IN USE NOW

where the bottom line of the display will be flashing.

If you wish to leave the set error values submenu, press EXIT.

Alternatively, by spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the bottom line of the display can be alternated as follows –

· IN USE NOW

· SAVED IN NVRAM

For example, to review the terms currently in use by the pointing kernel, spin the DIAL until the display shows in use now and press ENTER. Depending upon the setting in setup mount, the display might then show –

COLLIMATION ERR

CH=+000.0’

where the top line will be flashing. If you spin the DIAL a detent click at a time, you can cycle through the various terms available for your mount. The top line of the display shows the long name of the term and the bottom line shows the abbreviated name and its current ‘in use value’.

For example, you might spin the DIAL until the display shows -

POLAR LEFT-RIGHT

MA=-011.1’

The bottom line shows the value of the MA term in this instance.

If you wish to leave the in use now submenu, press EXIT.

If you wish to edit the value, press ENTER. Then use the DIAL and ENTER button to alter the value a field at a time. Values are expressed as plus or minus minutes and decimal-minutes of arc.

Reviewing and editing of the saved in nvram values is achieved in a similar way. If you have changed the value of a term saved in nvram from what it originally was, Argo Navis^TM will save the new setting into its non-volatile memory (EEROM device).

Normally it is unlikely that you would manually edit entries in this way and instead you would use the convenience of the compute submenu to put terms ‘in use’ and/or ‘save’ them for you.

When Argo Navis^TM is powered on, for any non-zero terms in the saved in nvram submenu, the following will automatically take place –

· They will be copied to the in use now submenu.

· They will immediately be put in use by the ‘pointing kernel’.

· They will be copied to the define model submenu, where they will be available as a selection, should you decide to fix a term.

The saved in nvram feature therefore allows you to save terms that you have found to be persistent between observing sessions. Since they are put in effect the moment you power the unit on, your initial alignment and subsequent pointing benefits from having a preliminary model in place from the start of the session.

To ‘re-synchronize’ the model, it is recommended that you then perform a short pointing test of perhaps 4 to 8 stars.

Using define model, you would set any non-persistent terms (such as any Index Error term and possibly the Polar Misalignment and Collimation Error terms) as compute and leave any persistent terms as fixed values.

If you have an equatorial mount on a permanent pier, you might require as few as 2 to 4 stars to re-synchronize the model, in this case, recomputing only the Index Error terms (ID & IH) and possibly the Collimation Error term (CH).

The REVIEW DATA submenu

Using the review data submenu, you can -

· Review pointing test samples an item at a time and examine their raw pointing error residuals.

· Review pointing test samples an item at a time and examine their current fitted pointing residuals (as determined by the model currently ‘in use’ by the ‘pointing kernel’).

· Delete any individual item.

· Delete all items.

· Examine the raw RMS for the entire pointing test data (i.e. as if all terms were zero).

· Examine the fitted RMS for the entire pointing test data (as determined by the model currently ‘in use’ by the ‘pointing kernel’).

Assuming you are in the setup mnt error menu, spin the DIAL until you see‑

REVIEW DATA

then press ENTER. By default, TPAS^TM then shows you the last object that was sampled. For example, the display might then show –

CANOPUS

ITEM=4 D=12.0’

The capital Greek “Delta” symbol, D, denotes that that the raw pointing residual for the sampled star, canopus, was 12’.

If you spin the DIAL anti-clockwise a detent click at a time, you can review the earlier pointing samples. For example, spinning the DIAL anti-clockwise one step might show -

PROCYON

ITEM=3 D=3.4’

spinning the DIAL anti-clockwise one step more might show –

CAPELLA

ITEM=2 D=57”

Note in the previous display, the residual was shown in arcseconds. Spinning the DIAL anti-clockwise one step more might show –

SIRIUS

ITEM=1 D=30”

Spinning the DIAL anti-clockwise one step more would then show –

START OF DATA

When the display shows start of data, if you press ENTER, the display will show –

START OF DATA

DELETE ALL? NO

where the word no will be flashing. By spinning the DIAL, you can alternate the flashing text between no and yes.

To delete all the pointing data, you would select yes and press ENTER.

To avoid deleting the data, either press EXIT or select no and press ENTER or EXIT.

You can also delete individual items. For example, spin the DIAL clockwise one step and the display might show –

SIRIUS

ITEM=1 D=30”

If you press ENTER, the display would then show –

SIRIUS

DELETE ITEM?

To delete the item, press ENTER. To avoid deletion of the item, press EXIT. If you delete an item, the item numbers automatically re-sort.

Now spin the DIAL clockwise until the display shows, for example –

END OF DATA

RAW RMS=6.7’ D

This shows the raw RMS for the sampled data. That is, the RMS if no terms were in use.

Now press ENTER. The display might then show –

END OF DATA

DELTAS=RAW D

where the text, “raw D” , will be flashing.

By spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the bottom line of the display can be alternated as follows –

· DELTAS=RAW ∆

· DELTAS=FITTED ∂

The ∂ symbol is the lowercase Greek letter “delta” and Argo Navis^TM uses it to denote a fitted pointing residual.

For example, spin the DIAL until the display shows –

END OF DATA

DELTAS=FITTED ∂

then press ENTER. The display might then show –

END OF DATA

FIT RMS=1.5’ ∂

This shows the fitted RMS for the sampled data. That is, the RMS using the terms that are currently in use by the ‘pointing kernel’. The values of these terms can be examined in the “in use now” submenu of the set error values submenu.

Note in this example that the raw RMS of 6.7’ dropped to a fitted RMS value of 1.5’.

To examine the fitted residuals of each object, spin the DIAL anti-clockwise a detent click at a time.

For example, spinning the DIAL anti-clockwise one step might show‑

CANOPUS

ITEM=4 ∂=1.5’

Note that the fitted residuals of individual items should generally become smaller when compared to their raw residuals, though some may actually increase. However, TPAS^TM will always compute the optimal value for each of the terms in the model in order to provide the best possible fit for the pointing data.

Now and then, immediately after having performed a compute function and putting a model in use, it is recommended you use the review data submenu to examine the fitted pointing residuals.

If any one item stands out as having a very large fitted residual compared to other items, then you might contemplate whether the object was misidentified and therefore should be deleted.

After deleting a term, it is recommended to use the compute function to fit and put ‘in use’ a new model.

However, it is recommended you delete judiciously. Deleting perfectly valid samples, which happen to have high residuals, in order to reduce the overall RMS, contradicts the purpose of a pointing test. Specifically, the system will have less information from which to derive meaningful results for your telescope.

Continuing the pointing test

The advantage of fitting and putting in use a model early during the pointing test is that your pointing improves and the risk of misidentifying a subsequent sample star is reduced.

Thus, having fitted an initial model, you may then wish to continue with sampling more stars.

One useful feature of using mode tour to perform a sampling run is the rejoin last tour selection.

For example, say you had been using mode tour to perform a pointing run and then had exited from that mode in order to use the features of setup mnt errors.

If you re-enter mode tour having been on a tour, the top line of the display will prompt you with this message -

FIND ANY OBJECT

However, the word FIND will be flashing.

By turning the DIAL, you can alternate the flashing value to either -

· FIND

· REJOIN LAST TOUR

By pressing ENTER when the display shows REJOIN LAST TOUR, you will rejoin the tour from the point you were last at. If you spin the DIAL one detent click clockwise, you will then be presented with the next star in the tour. For example, the display might then show -

RIGEL

GUIDE 5®0 7¯3

As before, center the star using a high-power or reticle eyepiece. Then press ENTER to sample the star position.

For example, the display might then show, for two seconds -

RIGEL

ITEM=5 ∂=15”

ITEM=5 denotes that this was the fifth item sampled.

The ∂ symbol denotes a fitted pointing residual. Once there are non-zero terms in the set error values/in use now submenu, the ‘pointing kernel’ will then use those terms and the ∂ symbol acts as a reminder that you have a pointing model in use.

In a similar fashion, if you have non-zero terms in the set error values/in use now submenu and then perform an alignment operation, rather than the word

WARP

appear, the display will show the word –

∂WARP

Again, this acts a reminder that you have non-zero mount error terms and an associated pointing model in place.

Re-define and re-compute a model often during a pointing test

As mentioned earlier, there is an advantage in fitting and putting a model in use early during a pointing test.

For a long pointing test, one strategy is to initially sample just a few stars that are possibly close together, for example, in the same constellation. At that point, fit and put in use an initial model. You may then find that the pointing accuracy of the telescope has improved to a sufficient extent that you can then start to sample stars further away from that starting point.

As you take more samples, take the time to return to setup mnt errors and experiment with fitting a new model. Think of the define model and compute submenus as being an experimenter’s workbench. If the reported RMS and PSD do not improve when you compute a new model, simply press EXIT, return to the define model submenu and try adding or removing terms.

Note that as you move to different parts of the sky, the RMS and PSD values may increase because some un-modelled fabrication error might be more pronounced in that region.

Recommendations on the number and distribution of sample stars

How many stars you should sample is dependent on what type of telescope and mount you have and what your pointing goals are.

For example, to perform an initial analysis of your telescope, you should consider 10 to 30 stars.

A more in-depth analysis may require 50 to 100 stars, particularly if your model has many terms.

Depending upon your goals, you may decide to perform more than one pointing run. The value of a model is in its predictive capability. If you find that you get similar values for terms from one session to the next, your confidence in the predictive ability of the model will increase.

Telescopes mounted on permanent piers are good candidates for long pointing runs as the model is less likely to change.

Ideally, the sampled stars should be evenly distributed across the sky in Azimuth and Altitude. Keep in mind that because of the apparent rotation of the sky, choosing stars with an even distribution in RA & Dec is not the same.

When sampling stars, Argo Navis^TM will reject any that are not at least 10 degrees above the horizon and will also reject stars that are too close to the pole of the telescope.

Recommendations on what terms to add and when to add them

The following provides very rough guidelines on what terms to consider adding to your model and when.

For fork exact align and gem exact align –

2 stars – ID, IH

4 stars – MA, ME

5 – 6 stars – NP

6 –10 stars – CH

10-30 stars - DCEC, DCES, HCEC, HCES

30-100 stars DAF, FO, TF

For fork rough align and gem rough align –

4 stars – ID

5 –6 stars – NP

6-10 stars – CH

10-30 stars DCEC, DCES

For altaz/dobsonian and eq table exact‑

4 stars – IE

5 –6 stars – NPAE

6-10 stars – CA

10-30 stars ECEC, ECES

It may seem tempting to simply set all terms to compute. However, the best model is the one that provides the best possible fit with the smallest number of terms.

The following “rules” may assist in that regard –

· Except for the Index Error terms (ID, IE, IH) and the Polar Misalignment terms (MA, ME), never use a term in a model unless its value is at least two to three times larger than its reported Standard Deviation (also known as its ‘sigma’).

· When adding a term to a model, look at its own individual Standard Deviation, its effects on other terms and whether both the RMS and the Population Standard Deviation (PSD) decreased. PSD is often a better indication of whether there was a real improvement. If the RMS decreased, but not the PSD, consider revising the model by removing or trying a different term.

Using TPAS^TM to assist with polar aligning a mount

If your setup mount setting is fork exact align or gem exact align and you would like to align your mount more accurately, the following procedure will be helpful.

Perform a pointing sample run and fit the best possible model to the data.

Then manually edit the MA and ME terms in the set error values, in use now submenu to be zero.

Then GUIDE to a star so that the bottom line of the display reads, as closely as possible to–

GUIDE 0.00 0.00

Now look through the telescope (or if need be, the finder) and observe where the star actually is.

The difference between where the system ‘thinks’ the star is and where it actually is will then be predominantly due to the polar misalignment of the mount.

Without moving the telescope in RA and Dec, move the mount in Az and Alt to center the star in a high-power or reticle eyepiece.

guide to a second star and adjust the mount in Az and Alt if need be. Repeat if necessary.

The advantage of this approach is that it can often be quicker than a drift test and it can take into account mount fabrication errors that a drift test does not. One limiting factor will be the finite resolution of the encoders in your system.

SETUP REFRACTION

Function

Argo Navis^TM has two independent RS-232 serial communications ports, named SERIAL1 and SERIAL2. The serial ports allow you to connect your Argo Navis^TM to a PC or Macintosh^TM computer.

setup serial allows you to set the Baud rate (communications speed) and “startup command” for both of them.

To understand what is meant by “startup command”, some background explanation is required. Each serial port runs its own copy of a powerful command interpreter program called the “shell”. The “shell” accepts the names of programs and other command parameters (called arguments) on a command line and then calls upon the Argo Navis^TM multi-tasking operating system to run them. The various commands that the “shell” can run are listed in the Programmer’s reference. As a special feature of the “shell”, some of these commands can be made to execute automatically when the Argo Navis^TM is first powered on. These are known as “startup commands”.

One startup command is called “navis”. You would set your startup command as “navis” if you want to use that port for user catalog, asteroid, satellite or comet orbital element downloads from the supplied Argonaut^TM utility. You would also set it to “navis” for use with “Argo Navis^TM aware” programs such as Star Atlas:PRO^TM that can provide a tracking cursor display against a map of the sky as you move your scope or Astroplanner^TM that allows you to download observing lists into the Argo Navis^TM user catalog.

Another one of these commands is called “meade” because when it executes, it emulates a sub-set of the Meade
LX-200^TM protocol commands. This enables you to interface your Argo Navis^TM to a PC running a program such as TheSky^TM or SkyMap Pro^TM, which you would configure as if it were communicating to a Meade telescope. This would also enable you to have a tracking cursor display against a map of the sky on your PC screen.

When used in conjunction with the appropriate startup command, Argo Navis^TM can be interfaced to every known planetarium program.

Planetarium programs that support the ASCOM Initiative for Windows are fully supported. In this case, you should configure your ASCOM driver as if it were communicating to a Meade LX-200^TM.

Planetarium programs running on the Linux^TM operating system are fully supported by the INDI library.

Argo Navis^TM provides support for the ServoCAT^TM GOTO controller via the “servocat” startup command.

Argo Navis^TM provides support for the SiTech^TM GOTO controller via the “sitech” startup command.

Argo Navis^TM provides support for the SkyTracker^TM GOTO controller via the “skycomm” startup command.

Argo Navis^TM can be ‘piggybacked’ to a device that responds to Tangent^TM protocol commands via the pbt command. Such devices include the Orion IntelliScope^TM controller, NGC-MAX^TM, Celestron Advanced Astromaster^TM, the Lumicom Sky Vector^TM and the Software Bisque BBox^TM.To interface these devices to Argo Navis^TM, a special serial cable is required that acts as a ‘null-modem’ device. Contact Wildcard Innovations for details on how to purchase this cable.

Using SETUP SERIAL

Enter the mode setup menu then spin the DIAL until you see -

SETUP SERIAL

then press ENTER. For example, the display might then show something like this –

SERIAL1 BAUD

where the ‘1’ will be flashing. Spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time toggles the serial port selection to be either ‘1‘ or ‘2’. When you have selected the appropriate serial port, press ENTER. In this example, the word “BAUD” will then start flashing. Spinning the DIAL a detent click at a time toggles this selection to be either “BAUD” or “STARTUP”. To change or view the current Baud rate, select “BAUD” and then press ENTER. For example, the display might then show something like this –

SERIAL1 BAUD=

38400

In this case the SERIAL1 port communications rate is currently set at 38400 Baud. This is the factory default. By spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the Baud rate selection can be changed. The possible Baud rates are –

· 300

· 600

· 1200

· 2400

· 4800

· 9600

· 19200

· 38400

· 57600

You should ensure that the Baud rate you select matches the Baud rate selection of your PC application. For example, the Argonaut^TM utility has a default Baud rate of 38400. However, it can be changed. Argo Navis^TM also ignores the Baud rate setting you have made for loading firmware when it is in boot loader mode. In this mode, the Baud rate is fixed at 38400. For downloading firmware in boot loader mode, Argonaut^TM should also be set at 38400 Baud. Only the SERIAL1 port can be used in boot loader mode.

Some programs, such as Sky Safari^TM and SkyMap Pro^TM when configured to communicate with a Meade telescope, expect the Baud rate to be fixed at 9600.

Argo Navis^TM always uses 8 data bits, 1 stop bit with no parity for data communications.

Continuing with the example, once you have selected the desired Baud for this port, press either EXIT or ENTER. If you have changed the value from what it originally was, the word SAVING … will appear briefly on the bottom line as Argo Navis^TM sets the serial port to this speed and stores the new setting into its memory (EEROM device). The display should now once again show –

SERIAL1 BAUD

where the word “BAUD” is flashing. Spin the DIAL until the display shows –

SERIAL1 STARTUP

then press ENTER. The display might then show –

SERIAL1 STARTUP=

navis

This is the factory default. By spinning the DIAL a detent ‘click’ at a time, the startup command selection can be changed. The possible choices are –

· meade

· navis

· pbt

· servocat

· sitech

· skycomm

· tangent

See the Programmer’s reference for an explanation of these commands.

Once you have selected the desired startup command for this port, press either EXIT or ENTER. If you have changed the value from what it originally was, the word SAVING … will appear briefly on the bottom line as Argo Navis^TM stores the new setting into its memory (EEROM device). Keep in mind that the chosen startup command will not execute until next time you power on your Argo Navis^TM.

Pressing EXIT again will cause the display to show –

SERIAL1 STARTUP

where the ‘1’ will be flashing. By spinning the DIAL until it shows ‘2’ and then pressing ENTER, it is then possible to edit the Baud rate and startup command for SERIAL2 as was done for SERIAL1. Alternatively, the EXIT button could be pressed and the unit will return to the setup menu level. Pressing EXIT once more will return it to the main mode menu level.

Of course, it is possible to perform the above steps in any order, editing only the required parameters for the required ports.

Interfacing via a USB port

If your PC/Mac does not have a RS-232 serial port but is equipped with a USB port, Wildcard Innovations have available a USB to RS-232 Serial Port Adaptor (Wildcard Innovations Part No. pn-usb) which works in conjunction with the optional RS-232 serial cable (pn-ser-cbl).

Interfacing via WiFi or Bluetooth

The Argo Navis^TM RS-232 serial cable (Part No. pn-ser-cbl) can be used in conjunction with third party WifI or Bluetooth adapters.

Interfacing to a ServoCAT^TM GOTO controller

Argo Navis^TM fully supports the ServoCAT^TM GOTO system. In this case, the startup command on the appropriate serial port should be set to “servocat” and the Baud rate on the same serial port should be set to 19200. Note that the cable used to interface the Argo Navis^TM to the ServoCAT^TM is a different cable to that which is used to interface to a PC. Be sure to identify the correct cable when interfacing the two units. See the section “Using Argo Navis with the ServoCAT Track/GOTO controller” for further details.
See also

mode setup

setup loadcat

Using Argo Navis with the ServoCAT Track/GOTO controller

Programmer’s reference – shell commands

On some current versions of Windows, the following User Account Warning will appear –

The publisher, though listed as Unknown, is Wildcard Innovations Pty Ltd and it is safe to press Yes.

The Select Setup Language dialog box will appear -.

Select your language. Note that the Argonaut^TM interface itself is only available in English. Press OK.

The following Welcome dialog box will appear –

Press Next >
The Select Destination Directory dialog box will appear –

Press Next >

The Select Start Menu Folder dialog box will appear –

Select an appropriate Start Menu folder underneath which Argonaut^TM will appear or simply leave the default of Wildcard and then press Next >

The Select Additional Tasks dialog box will appear -

Check “Create a desktop icon” if you would like one. Press Next >

The Ready to Install dialog box will appear -

Press Install.
The Completing dialog box will appear -

Argonaut^TM will then be installed on your system. Press Finish to exit the Setup and to launch Argonaut^TM.

Launching Argonaut^TM

To start the program, go to the Start icon at the lower left hand side of your Desktop.

Press Start->Programs->Wildcard->Argonaut

Argonaut^TM should then start running –

Establishing communication

Connect the optional serial cable from your PC to Argo Navis^TM. If your PC has an RS-232 COM port you can do this directly.

If your PC does not have an RS-232 COM port, use the optional serial cable in conjunction with a USB Serial Adapter. Wildcard Innovations recommend and stock the Keyspan USA-19HS USB Serial Adapter. Install the device driver that came with your adapter if you have not done so already and then and only then, plug in the adapter.

If you want to upgrade firmware, then you must use SERIAL1 on the Argo Navis^TM. The ports are clearly marked on the top of the unit. (See Figure 2).

For performing any operation, except upgrading firmware, use the following procedure. For upgrading firmware you will need to also read the section Transferring firmware files.

The Baud rate selection of Argo Navis^TM and Argonaut^TM need to match. Wildcard Innovations recommends that you set both Baud rates to 38400. This is the default Baud rate for Argonaut^TM.

To set your Baud rate on Argo Navis^TM, do the following. Power on your unit. Go to mode setup, then setup serial then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL to match the serial port number that is accommodating the serial cable then press ENTER. Spin the DIAL until you see the BAUD selection, then press ENTER. Now spin the DIAL and select the Baud rate (38400 recommended) then press EXIT. Now spin the DIAL one click and you will see the STARTUP selection. Press ENTER. Spin the DIAL until you see navis, then press EXIT. Power off your Argo Navis^TM then power it back on.

You need to determine the correct COM Port selection on Argonaut^TM. One way to determine this is to open the Device Manager from the Windows Control Panel and expand the Ports (COM & LPT) entry -

You can see in the previous screenshot that the computer in this example has two COM ports. COM1 is an in-built RS-232 COM port. COM3 is a Keyspan USB Serial Adapter.

Argonaut^TM allows you to select a COM port in the range 1 thru 4. If Windows has assigned your USB Serial Adapter to a port greater than 4, you can use the Device Manager dialog to re-assign it.

For example, right-click on the Keyspan USB Serial Port (COM3) item and select Properties from the pulldown menu. The following dialog will open –

Select the Port Settings tab and click on “Advanced…”.

The following dialog will open –

Use the “COM Port Number:” pulldown to change the assignment to be in the range of 1 thru 4.

Alternatively if you are using the Keyspan USA-19HS USB to Serial Adapter, under the “Keyspan USB Serial Adapter” folder in the Window’s Start Menu you can invoke a utility called the “Keyspan Serial Assistant”. Within the “Port Mapping” tab, use the “COM port mapping” pulldown to make the assignment.

Use the Argonaut^TM pull down Port menu to select your COM port like this –

Ensure that the Argonaut^TM Baud rate selection is the same as that on the Argo Navis^TM.

Then attempt to Connect to the PC COM port using the Connection pull down menu –

To check whether your PC can communicate with Argo Navis^TM, try putting your mouse cursor into the large white Terminal window (see figure below for location) and pressing the Enter key on your computer’s keyboard a couple of times.

Argo Navis^TM should respond with a ‘%’ character prompt if communications have been established -

If you do not get a ‘%’ prompt, or Windows^TM displays an error dialog such as this –

then it indicates you must have made an invalid COM port selection or that you already have another Argonaut^TM session running that is connected to the same COM port.

It is important to appreciate that the appearance of a blinking cursor in the Terminal Window does not necessarily indicate that the correct COM port was used. If you did not receive the percent prompt or if you received an error, do the following. Use the Disconnect selection in the Connection pull-down. Verify the correct COM port using the Device Manager dialog described earlier. Change the COM port selection. Then use the Connect selection in the Connection pull-down. If you are still unable to establish communications then check that the serial port connections at each end are correct and verify the Argo Navis^TM serial setup once again.

Where to obtain Asteroid, Comet or Satellite Orbital Element Files

Argo Navis^TM uses the same orbital element formats as TheSky^TMsoftware package.

You can obtain the orbital elements of Asteroids (Minor Planets) and of Comets from the IAU Minor Planet Center web site –

http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/Ephemerides/Soft06.html

Argo Navis^TM currently allows you to download a maximum of 50 Asteroid orbital elements and 10 Comet orbital elements at any one time. If need be, use a plain text editor, such as Notepad^TM to edit your downloaded orbital element files so as to choose the objects you would like to load. Do not use an editor such as Word^TM or WordPad^TM as they might embed hidden text formatting characters that will corrupt your file. Save your files with a ‘.txt’ suffix.

Later, when you load an Asteroid file into Argo Navis^TM, an ASTEROIDS catalog will appear in the mode catalog menu. Similarly when you load a Comet file, a COMETS catalog will appear.

When comets are first discovered there may not have been sufficient observations over a long enough period of time for the Minor Planet Center to accurately determine their orbital elements. Therefore you should update your comet orbital elements on a very regular basis, particularly if you plan on observing a recently discovered comet. You should also ensure that the current date and time is correctly set on Argo Navis^TM, otherwise it will calculate the positions of the Asteroids and Comets for the time it is set at. Furthermore, due to the iterative method used to compute the positions, an incorrectly set date or a very old orbital element set may prevent Argo Navis^TMconverging on a solution. In this case it will set the J2000.0 position of the object to RA 00:00:00 Dec 00:00:00. It will also provide a warning message when you look at the object’s description. In this circumstance, you should delete the old catalog and load a newer orbital element set.

Orbital elements for Satellites (known as Two Line Elements - TLE’s – even though they are three lines long) are available from a variety of places on the Internet including -

http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/

Argo Navis^TM currently allows you to download a maximum of 25 satellite orbital elements at any one time. Use a text editor such as Notepad^TM to edit your downloaded orbital element files. Do not use an editor such as Word^TM or WordPad^TM. Save your files with a ‘.txt’ suffix.

When you later load a Satellite file into Argo Navis^TM, a SATELLITES catalog will appear in the mode catalog menu.

Since the orbits of many satellites decay and alter quite quickly, you should always use a recent set of orbital elements if you plan to observe satellites. As a rule of thumb, don’t use satellite orbital elements that are more than about a week old. Make absolutely sure that your current date, time and location are accurately set. Argo Navis^TM may devote unnecessary computational time trying to calculate a position for a satellite when the date has been incorrectly set or when the orbital elements become old. Delete or update old Satellite catalogs on a regular basis.

Though Argo Navis^TM allows for the names of objects to be up to 32 characters long, those names must be unique within the first 16 characters. Edit the names if need be to create unique entries.

Argo Navis^TM will flag missing or incorrectly formatted fields as errors and the transfer will be aborted if they are encountered.

Argo Navis^TM organizes its loadable catalog area as a pool of memory that is shared between Asteroid, Comet, Satellite and User catalog entries. If the memory pool is full, then you may need to delete a catalog before loading a new one.

How to create your own User catalog files

Argo Navis^TM has a powerful feature whereby you can create your own User catalog files. Use a plain text editor such as NotePad^TM. Do not use an editor such as Word^TM or WordPad^TM as they will embed hidden text formatting characters that will corrupt your file. Save your file with a ‘.txt’ suffix.

Typically you can load up to 1100 objects depending upon how much free space is available in your loadable catalog memory pool and how long the names and descriptions of objects are.

Later, when you load a User catalog file into Argo Navis^TM, a USER catalog will appear in the mode catalog menu. You can even identify or tour your own User objects in mode identify and mode tour.

Here is an example of a small User Catalog file below containing some fictitious
objects –

BEBOP GALAXY|12:34:56|+12:34|GALAXY|14.2|COOL OBJECT, FIRST SHOWN TO ME BY CHARLIE

JAZZ GALAXY|00:01:23|-52:09|GALAXY|15.2|SIZE=10', BRIGHT CORE, MORPH=Sa, OBSERVED IN THE 20"

SAX NEBULA|13:45.2|-12.33|PLANETARY|12.1|MAG 15 STAR AT CENTER. USE FILTER.

THE SPOT|18:12:00|-75:00|DARK NEBULA|ANY|SIZE=2.0'x3.0' VERY OPAQUE

BIG NOVA|23:34:14|+75:34|VARIABLE|-6|

THELONIOUS TRIPLE|03:09:12|+12:23:45|TRIPLE STAR|10.2|TRIANGLE OF RED, WHITE , BLUE STARS

The formatting rules for User catalog files are as follows –

There can be only one entry per line and the entry can only be one line long. A line entry can be no longer than a total of 254 characters. The various fields of the entry are separated by vertical bar characters ‘|’. White space characters (Spaces and Tabs) are allowed before and after vertical bars. Empty (blank) lines are permitted. Argo Navis^TM will flag missing or incorrectly formatted fields as errors and the transfer will be aborted if they are encountered. The entry format is –

NAME can be up to 32 characters long but must be unique within the first 16 characters. Names are case sensitive. Therefore the object ‘BEPOP GALAXY’ is regarded as different to the object ‘bebop galaxy’. Names must not begin with a ‘#’ character.

RA is expressed in hours, minutes and seconds. Many formats are acceptable such as 12:34:56, 12:34.5, 12:34, etc.

DEC is expressed in degrees. Many formats are acceptable including 12:34:56, 12:34.5, 12.34, +12:34:56, -12:34, etc. Don’t forget the ‘-‘ sign for Southern objects.

OBJECT TYPE is case insensitive and can be one of –

· ASTERISM

· ASTEROID

· BRIGHT[ NEBULA]

· COMET

· DARK[ NEBULA]

· DOUBLE[ STAR]

· EMISSION[ NEBULA]

· GALAXY

· GALAXY CL[USTER]

· GLOBULAR[ CLUSTER]

· NEBULA

· OPEN[ CLUSTER]

· PLANETARY[ NEBULA]

· REFLECTION[ NEBULA]

· STAR

· TRIPLE[ STAR]

· USER

· VARIABLE[ STAR]

The characters between the square brackets ‘[]’ are optional. For example, you only need enter ‘GALAXY CL’ or ‘galaxy cl’ for ‘GALAXY CLUSTER’.

In mode identify and mode tour, ‘FIND’ searches will match both the type you specified as well as the type ‘USER OBJECT’. For example, if you loaded an object with the type ‘GALAXY’, you can search for it by specifying ‘GALAXY’ or ‘NON STELLAR’ or ‘USER OBJECT’.

If you give the object the type ‘USER’, then ‘FIND’ searches will only match it if you specify ‘USER OBJECT’.

If you give the object the type ‘ASTEROID’ or ‘COMET’, the object will only appear in the USER catalog and not the ASTEROID or COMET catalogs. However, mode identify and mode tour ‘FIND’ searches will still match it if you specify ‘ASTEROID’ or COMET’. This can be handy if you know the RA and Dec of an asteroid or comet on the night you wish to observe but do not know its orbital elements.

MAGNITUDE can be in the range –26.7 to +28 or the special keyword ANY (or any). Use ANY if you do not know the magnitude, or if a magnitude is not appropriate for the entry. An empty magnitude field is equivalent to ANY.

The OPTIONAL DESCRIPTION can either be left empty or can be any number of characters as long as the entire line entry does not exceed 254 characters. A combination of upper and lower case characters can be used if desired.

Generally upper case letters tend to look better on character LCD’s and are therefore recommended where practical. The ‘Caps Lock’ key on your keyboard can aid in typing large amounts of text in uppercase.

Transferring catalog files

To transfer Asteroid, Comet, Satellite or User Files, first ensure that your setup serial baud rate matches that of Argonaut^TM and that the startup command is set to “navis”. If changing the startup, the unit needs to be powered OFF and then ON for the new startup to start. Place the unit in setup load cat mode. Then use the Transfer pull down menu and select the appropriate file type –

Then use the file navigation dialog to select the appropriate file –

Then press Open. The file transfer should begin. In the Terminal window you should see Argo Navis^TM ‘echo’ each line from the file it receives from Argonaut^TM. As it processes each line, it also reports ‘OK’. The File Transfer Progress meter in the lower left hand corner should also indicate the transfer is taking place –

At the same time the transfer is taking place, status information will also be shown on the bottom line of the Argo Navis^TM display. For example, if you were transferring an Asteroid file you would see –

LOAD CATALOG

ASTEROID LOAD..

When the file is transferred, Argonaut^TM sends Argo Navis^TMa ‘#Write’ command. This tells Argo Navis^TM to commit the data to FLASH memory. This write operation takes a second or so. In the example of an Asteroid file, the Argo Navis^TM display will show –

LOAD CATALOG

ASTEROID WRITE…

Then Argonaut^TM sends Argo Navis^TMa ‘#Quit’ command, which signals the end of the transfer. For example, in the case of an asteroid file transfer, the Argo Navis^TM display will show something like this –

LOAD CATALOG

ASTEROID FINISH

If you have no more data to transfer, press the EXIT button on Argo Navis^TM. The display will show for a few seconds –

LOAD CATALOG

INITIALIZING …

before returning to the setup menu level. Your catalog will now be loaded. The FLASH memory will retain it even if you power the unit off.

During and after the transfer you should also examine the Status panel on the lower-right hand corner of Argonaut^TM. Combined with the Terminal window transcript and the Argo Navis^TM display, it can provide you with valuable information that may help you understand what went wrong with an aborted or ‘hung’ transfer.

For example, in the case of a good transfer, you might see something similar to this –

In the case where you have forgotten to put Argo Navis^TM into load cat mode, you might see this –

Updating catalog entries

You can edit and re-load an existing catalog at any time using the same procedure that you used for loading them.

Whenever a loadable catalog entry is transferred, Argo Navis^TM examines the first 16 characters of the object’s name. If the first 16 characters match an existing entry, Argo Navis^TM updates that entry with the new data.

For example, say you had previously loaded the satellite orbital elements for the Hubble Space Telescope. The orbital element file entry might have listed this object under the name ‘HST’. If you load a new satellite orbital element file that also has an entry for ‘HST’, then your old entry will be replaced by the new entry, which is probably what you wanted to do.

However, as a further example, say you had loaded an object with the name ‘SUPERNOVA DISCOVERY 1’. Then, at a later time, you loaded an object with the name ‘SUPERNOVA DISCOVERY 2’. Since both of these names are not unique within the first 16 characters, the second object will replace the first. If you had really wanted them to be two distinct objects, then you should rename them before loading them. For example, you might rename them ‘SUPERNOVA 1 DISCOVERY’ and ‘SUPERNOVA 2 DISCOVERY’.

Loadable catalog entries will not replace objects in the Argo Navis^TM in-built catalogs. The loadable catalogs reside in a different part of the unit’s memory. For example, in the in-built NGC catalog, there is an entry for ‘NGC 1234’. If you download your own object that is also named ‘NGC 1234’ then it is regarded as a totally separate object.

When you edit and re-load a catalog file, any objects that you deleted from that file will be still present within Argo Navis^TM until you delete them from there as well.

Deleting loadable catalogs

Loadable catalogs can be deleted on a catalog-by-catalog basis.

Argonaut^TM currently offers no support for deleting individual object entries. For this reason you should maintain your source catalog files on your PC so that you can edit and reload them into Argo Navis^TM as need be.

To delete an Argo Navis^TM catalog, the unit needs to be set-up the same way as when you transferred files. Make sure that it is in the setup load cat state. Then use the Argonaut^TM Delete pull-down menu to select the catalog type you would like to purge –

If you study the output in the Terminal window, you will see that Argonaut^TM will send an “asteroid”, “comet”, “satellite” or “user” command, as appropriate, followed by “#Purge”, “#Write” and “#Quit” commands. Argo Navis^TM will display a “FINISH” message when the catalog purge is complete.

If you have new catalogs to transfer, you can now load them.

Querying loadable catalog free memory

You can use Argonaut^TM to query how much free memory Argo Navis^TM has in its loadable catalog memory pool.

To perform this, the unit needs to be set up the same way as when you transferred files. Make sure that it is in the setup load cat state. Then use the Argonaut^TM Memory pull-down menu and select Report Free Memory –

The amount of free memory in bytes is reported in the lower right hand Status window –

Keep in mind that Argo Navis^TM might report that there is some free memory but it may not be sufficient to hold new entries.

When no catalogs are loaded, the amount of available free memory is approximately 125535 bytes (approx. 123KB).

Transferring setups

Argo Navis^TM allows you to save your current setup menu parameters held in EEROM to a file on a PC. It also allows you to restore setups from that file back into the Argo Navis^TMEEROM so they appear in the setup menu.

Since some firmware upgrades will need to automatically reset the EEROM to its factory default settings, this is a handy feature that enables you to save your setups prior to performing the upgrade and to then restore them afterwards.

In the previous sections it was explained how you can use Argonaut^TM to transfer loadable catalogs. This section explains how you can transfer Argo Navis^TM setups. You should make yourself familiar with the set-up and running of Argonaut^TM as explained in the previous sections, as that part of the operation is similar and will not be explained again in detail here.

Ensure that your setup serial baud rate matches that of Argonaut^TM and that the startup command is set to “navis”. If changing the startup, the unit needs to be powered OFF and then ON for the new startup to start.

Receiving setups from Argo Navis^TM to PC

To receive the current setups from the Argo Navis^TM, first place the unit in setup load cat mode. Then use the Transfer pull down menu and select “Receive Setups File…”–

Then use the file navigation dialog to select an appropriate folder and type in the name of a file into which you would like to record the setups. If you suffix the name of the file with “.txt” then the file can also be examined with a plain text editor such as NotePad^TM–

Then press Save. The setups transfer should begin. In the Terminal window you should see Argo Navis^TM ‘echoing requests from Argonaut^TM to “Read” a parameter and then you should see Argo Navis^TM transmit that parameter. The File Transfer Progress meter in the lower left hand corner should also indicate the transfer is taking place –

At the same time the transfer is taking place, status information will also be shown on the bottom line of the Argo Navis^TM display. For example, during the transfer you would see –

LOAD CATALOG

SETUPS..

When the data transfer is complete, Argonaut^TM sends Argo Navis^TMa ‘#Quit’ command. The Argo Navis^TM display will show –

LOAD CATALOG

SETUPS FINISHED

Note that if you have additional setups that are saved in the setup archive FLASH memory archive, you should do the following. For each setup, use the setup archive, load setup functionality to load it into EEROM and then use the Argonaut^TM “Receive Setups File…” menu to store it into a file with a unique identifying name on your PC.

Sending setups from PC to Argo Navis^TM

To load setups into your Argo Navis^TM from a file on your PC, first place the unit in setup load cat mode. Then use the Transfer pull down menu and select “Send Setups File…”–

Then use the file navigation dialog to select the file that you had previously created when you had transferred setups from Argo Navis^TMto your PC –

Then press Open. The setups transfer should begin. In the Terminal window you should see Argo Navis^TM echoing requests from Argonaut^TM to “Write” a parameter and then you should see Argo Navis^TM acknowledge each parameter transfer with “OK”. The File Transfer Progress meter in the lower left hand corner should also indicate the transfer is taking place –

At the same time the transfer is taking place, status information will also be shown on the bottom line of the Argo Navis^TM display. For example, during the transfer you would see –

LOAD CATALOG

SETUPS..

When the data transfer is complete, Argonaut^TM sends Argo Navis^TM a “#Commit” command to commit the setups to EEROM. The display will show -

LOAD CATALOG

SETUPS FINISHED

It then issues a ‘#Version’ command and Argo Navis^TM reports the current firmware version. It next issues a “#Status” command. If Argo Navis^TM reports “AUTOREBOOT: Yes”, then an automatic reboot is required and will take place. It also reports what serial port number you are currently connected to and what startup command will be running on the serial port when the next reboot takes place.

If your setup file loaded a different startup command than “navis” or a different baud rate then Argonaut^TM will not be able to communicate with the unit until you change these parameters.

Similarly, if an automatic reboot takes place, Argo Navis^TM will no longer be in the setup load cat menu. To continue using some Argonaut^TM commands, the unit needs to be in the setup load cat menu.

Note that if you have additional setups that you would like loaded into the setup archive FLASH memory archive, after loading each one you should use the setup archive, store setup functionality to move it from EEROM into the archive.

Transferring firmware files

A key feature of Argo Navis^TM is the ability to upgrade its firmware via the serial port. Wildcard Innovations periodically offers free firmware upgrades on their web site. After downloading the firmware file via the Internet, you can then transfer it to your Argo Navis^TM. Some of the key benefits of this include –

· New features and enhancements

· New catalogs, catalog corrections and improved descriptions

· Bug fixes

· It’s free

For these reasons it is worthwhile acquiring the optional serial cable (pn-ser-cbl) if you have not done so already.

The Argo Navis^TM FLASH memory area is divided into four regions –

· Boot Loader

· Firmware including in-built catalogs

· Archived setups

· Loadable catalogs

The Boot Loader area cannot be erased. The Firmware and Loadable catalog areas, however, can be erased and re-written. The Argonaut^TM utility services this function.

In the previous sections it was explained how you can use Argonaut^TM to transfer loadable catalogs. This section explains how you can upgrade the Argo Navis^TM firmware. You should make yourself familiar with the set-up and running of Argonaut^TM as explained in the previous sections, as that part of the operation is similar and will not be explained again in detail here. However, there are some key differences in how the Argo Navis^TM unit needs to be set-up in order to perform a firmware upgrade.

To upgrade the firmware, perform the following steps -

If you have not done so already, register your unit on the Wildcard Innovations Registration web site page. Record your Registration Code.

By following the links on the Wildcard Innovations Firmware Upgrades web site page, enter your Registration Code and download a firmware upgrade file. The firmware file will have a ‘.sgz’ suffix. Check that the downloaded file size is identical to the size of the file on the web site. The firmware file is in a format that is ready for Argonaut^TM to transfer. You do not need to unzip it.

Before upgrading your firmware, it is a good idea to make a copy of your setup menu settings. Some firmware upgrades will need to automatically reset the EEROM to its factory default settings. The easiest way to do this is to use the Argonaut^TM “Receive Setups File…” functionality. Alternatively transcribe your setup menu settings by pen and paper.

Some firmware upgrades may also automatically clear the loadable catalog region. Therefore any objects that you have loaded might be erased. Make sure you retain the original catalog source files on your PC.

Power off the Argo Navis^TM unit. If you are powering your unit from batteries, ensure that they are fresh.

Connect the serial cable to the SERIAL1 port of Argo Navis^TM. Only the SERIAL1 port can be used for firmware upgrades and during this operation its Baud rate is fixed at 38400. Make sure the other end of the cable is connected to your PC’s serial port.

Start Argonaut and set the appropriate COM port. Also ensure that Argonaut^TM is set at 38400 Baud rate. Use the Connection pull-down menu, and Connect to the COM port.

On Argo Navis^TM, press and keep depressed the EXIT button and then power the unit on. The display should show something similar to this –

BOOT LOADER

1.0.X

where ‘X’ is a digit representing the version of the Boot Loader.

Now release the EXIT button. Argo Navis^TM is now running exclusively out of its Boot Loader region in the FLASH memory. The Boot Loader’s job is to take commands and data from Argonaut^TM and write the data to the Firmware area.

Check the Argonaut^TM Terminal window. If it says “USE OTHER PORT” then you have inadvertently plugged the connector into Argo Navis^TM SERIAL2 port.

Otherwise, as a test of communications, try typing a ‘?’ character in the Terminal window followed by the keyboard’s ‘Enter’ key. Argo Navis^TM should respond with ‘OK’.

Now use the Transfer pull-down menu and select Send Firmware File. A file navigation dialog should pop-up. Select the appropriate firmware file and press Open.

The Terminal window should now start filling with ‘OK’ responses from Argo navis^TM. You can monitor progress by watching the File Transfer Progress meter, and by watching the Argo Navis^TM display. After the first 2% is transferred, Argo Navis^TM should show –

BOOT LOADER

2% RECEIVED

Further progress is shown in 2% increments. The transfer should typically take between 25 to 90 minutes. When the display says that 100% has been transferred, power off your Argo Navis^TM and power it on normally. If your unit should fail to initialize, check the batteries and then try setting factory defaults in the EEROM as follows. Power off your unit, press and keep depressed both the ENTER and EXIT buttons. Power on your unit. After initialization, release the buttons. If the unit still fails to initialize, put it in BOOT LOADER mode again and try repeating the firmware installation.

You will then want to restore any setups you had using the Argonaut^TM “Send Setups File…” functionality or if you recorded them by pen and paper, by entering each into the appropriate setup menu.

If you had any loadable catalog entries that you would like to re-load, use Argonaut^TM to restore them.

Be sure to regularly check the Wildcard Innovations web site for firmware upgrade announcements.

Setting the date/time from your PC to Argo Navis^TM

Argo Navis^TM has a built-in battery-backed time-of-day clock. An internal lithium coin cell battery powers the clock even when the power is switched off or the main batteries are removed.

You can manually set the date and time using the setup date/time menu.

Alternatively you can use Argonaut^TM to transfer the current date and time on your PC to Argo Navis^TM.

Network Time Protocol package

Having the time accurately set is critical when wishing to observe fast moving man-made satellites. In this case it is also important that the time on your PC is also accurately set.

One of the best ways to ensure that your PC’s time is accurately maintained is to use the Network Time Protocol (NTP). This protocol uses a network of servers on the Internet to synchronize the time on your own computer to within a few milliseconds.

Although all versions of Windows^TM since Windows 2000^TM include the Windows^TM Time Service (“W32Time”) which utilizes NTP, Microsoft state that their W32Time service can only reliably maintain sync to within 1 to 2 seconds. For higher accuracy, Microsoft recommends using an alternative NTP implementation.

An NTP implementation that Wildcard Innovations recommends is the Meinberg NTP package. It includes a GUI installer and documentation. It is available for free download and can be found by following the links at the Meinberg web site.

An alternative step-by-step guide to installing and setting up the Meinberg NTP server can be found at http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/setup.html

After performing the installation it is important to double-check that the Windows^TM Time Service is disabled. If it is enabled, it will contend with the newly installed Meinberg NTP service. To check whether the Windows^TM Time Service has been disabled, from the Windows^TM Control Panel select “Date and Time”. From the “Internet Time” tab ensure that it says “This computer is not set to automatically synchronize with an Internet time server”. If it is still enabled, use the “Change settings…” button.

As part of the installation, Meinberg also provides the “Quick NTP Status” command which can be found in the Windows Start menu in the Meinberg->Network Time protocol folder. We highly recommend you run it to check that your NTP client is successfully in contact with NTP servers. An example window is shown here –

Take note of the “reach column”. This indicates whether your NTP client has been able to reach the corresponding NTP server time reference source. When your client first starts, the reach values will be 0. After a few minutes, one or more should become non-zero. If they remain 0, then there is a problem with the installation. A common issue is that the Windows^TM Firewall may require you to add rules to enable UDP protocol both inbound and outbound on port 123. The Meinberg web site addresses Windows^TM Firewall configuration on their web site here - http://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/faq/faq_28.htm

The Meinberg NTP service runs quietly in the background as a Windows^TM service and once installed will start automatically each time your PC is booted. It can reliably maintain your PC’s clock to within milliseconds. The next time you re-boot your PC use the “Quick NTP Status” command to check the service is running and that the servers are being reached.

Using Argonaut^TM to set the Argo Navis^TM date/time

Argo Navis^TM does not need to be in the setup load cat mode to use this feature.

Use the Date/Time pull down menu and select “Set Date/Time”–

In the Terminal Window area, you should see Argo Navis^TM echoing a command from Argonaut^TMto set the date/ time in the form of a Julian Date (JD). Argonaut^TM then sends commands for Argo Navis^TM to make a sound and report back the new UTC and local date/time -

Scaling the Argo Navis^TM time-of-day clock

The Argo Navis^TM time-of-day clock uses a quartz crystal with a nominal frequency of 32768Hz. However, due to manufacturing tolerances a crystal can oscillate at a slightly different frequency.

For most practical purposes, these tiny frequency differences will not impact upon the ability of Argo Navis^TM to reliably locate and identify objects. For many users, the frequency provided by the crystal is accurate enough that it can go for an extended period without needing to set the date and time.

Temperature, shock and vibration and ageing can also cause a quartz crystal to deviate slightly from the nominal frequency.

For observing fast moving man-made satellites, split-second timing can be a necessity. The ability to set the date/time from a PC running a Network Time Protocol (NTP) client can assist in ensuring that the Argo Navis^TM time is accurately set. This function was described in the section on “Setting the date/time from PC to Argo Navis^TM”.

As a further aid, Argo Navis^TM has a feature whereby its time-keeping can be scaled in software by a simple linear model. Once the date/time has been accurately set, the software clock scaling feature can often assist in maintaining the accuracy of the time over a longer period.

Argonaut^TMhas special features to -

Report on the Argo Navis^TM software clock scaling performance.
Compute and apply software clock scaling.
Reset the software clock scaling.

Whenever the Argo Navis^TM time-of-day-clock is set, either via the setup date/time menu or from the PC, the time at which this took place is recorded within the Argo Navis^TM EEROM.

Argo Navis^TM bases its internal time on a virtual software clock. The rate at which the software clock runs is equivalent to that of the hardware clock rate multiplied by a scaling parameter stored within EEROM referred to as the "Current Scale" or curScale for short.

· The factory default value of curScale is 1.

· All real-world curScale values will be very close to 1.

· A value less than 1 will scale the time provided by Argo Navis^TM to run slower.

· A value greater than 1 will make it run faster.

For example, a scale value of 1.000023148 will cause the Argo Navis^TM clock to run faster by about 2 seconds a day.

The Argonaut^TM Report Clock Scaling menu provides a list of parameters on the hardware clock and software clock performance compared against the current PC clock time as a reference -

For example, below is the output from one Argo Navis^TM–

“Power users” might be interested as to what the parameters mean -

Elapsed: Time in seconds since Argo Navis^TM time was last set.
Temp: Temperature inside unit in degrees Celsius.
hwDelta: How far ahead or behind in seconds the PC clock is compared to the Argo Navis^TM hardware clock.
swDelta: How far ahead or behind in seconds the PC clock is compared to the Argo Navis^TM software clock.
hwPPM: Calculated accuracy of Argo Navis^TM hardware clock compared to PC clock in parts-per-million.
swPPM: Calculated accuracy of Argo Navis^TM software clock compared to PC clock in parts-per-million.
hwJD: Current Julian Date as derived from Argo Navis^TM hardware clock.
swJD: Current Julian Date as derived from Argo Navis^TM software clock.
curScale: Current Scale factor stored in EEROM.
hwScale: Scale factor of Argo Navis^TM hardware clock compared to PC clock calculated over the time-base of ‘Elapsed” seconds. If hardware clock were “perfect” then this ideally would have a value of exactly 1. However, it will normally be some value close to 1.If it is less than 1, then the hardware clock is running faster than the PC clock. If it is greater than 1, it is running slower than the PC clock. It is independent of what the “curScale” is but ideally curScale would be identical to it.
swScale: Scale factor of Argo Navis^TM software clock compared to PC clock calculated over the time-base of ‘Elapsed” seconds. If it is less than 1, then the software clock is running faster than the PC clock. If it is greater than 1, it is running slower than the PC clock. It is dependent on the value of “curScale” and ideally would be 1. The goal of the Argonaut^TM clock scaling feature is to in fact make it as close to 1 as possible.

If using the clock scaling feature, you should ensure that the time on your PC is accurate. Specifically, your machine should be running the Network Time Protocol (NTP) which then helps ensure that the PC is in sync with a global array of servers providing precision time references. Use the Meinberg “Quick NTP Status” command discussed earlier to ensure that your NTP client is reaching NTP servers and synchronizing with them.

Having ensured that your PC time is now keeping accurate NTP-synced time, one initially sets the Argo Navis^TM time by using the Argonaut^TM Set Date/Time menu –

At any time, you can run the Report Clock Scaling menu and Argo Navis^TM will provide a list of parameters as mentioned above. This is a "power user" feature, but nevertheless if the PC is reliably running NTP it can provide valuable feedback on your Argo Navis^TM clock performance.

In order to estimate the clock scaling, Argo Navis^TM requires a long baseline of time. Ideally this would be many weeks.

However, Argonaut^TM allows you to first estimate and apply clock scaling 6 hours (equivalent to an Elapsed: 21600 seconds) after you set the time. It purposely prevents you from attempting to apply scaling earlier but will tell you when you can next try.

To compute and apply scaling, use the Set Clock Scaling menu –

Argonaut^TM will then take 10 samples and report an average hardware scale value (avhwScale parameter). It will automatically store this parameter into EEROM as the new curScale value.

The whole process only takes a few seconds. It is then instructive to run Report Clock Scaling again. Below is an example output –

The parameter to look at immediately is -

· swDelta, which is measured in seconds and is the PC clock time compared to the software clock time, should now be very small.

Some other parameters that are interesting to look at are -

· swScale should be close to 1.The ideal swScale value would be exactly 1.

· hwScale should be close to curScale. Ideally they would be the same.

· hwDelta time will always remain uncorrected as it reports on the time the actual time-of-day hardware clock is keeping without any scaling. In the example above it is

· swPPM is in terms of parts per million and is ideally small.

· hwPPM is in terms of parts per million and it reports on the performance of the crystal itself.

After the first time you perform Set Clock Scaling, you can then apply it at any time thereafter.

However, during this time you should refrain from using Set Date/Time again as doing so will disrupt the establishment of a long baseline of time to estimate your clock's performance. In any case, whenever you run Set Clock Scaling the scaling operation inherently synchronizes your Argo Navis^TM clock.

Then any subsequent time you wish to accurately set the date/time, you can now perform Set Clock Scaling operations in lieu of using the Argonaut^TM Set Date/Time. Likewise, you should refrain from going into the Argo Navis^TM setup date/time menu. Entering and exiting into the date/time setting part of menu will also disrupt the baseline but simply changing your time zone will not.. If you want to know the time, simply use mode time in the top level menu.

Performing the Set Clock Scaling should not become obsessive. You might want to try again a full day after first setting the time, then perhaps a week later and then perhaps after a few weeks or a month, or before a satellite observing run.

If the parameters being reported back by successive Report Clock Scaling runs are erratic, then chances are that NTP is not reliably running on the PC and that it is the PC time that is drifting. In which case use the Meinberg “Quick NTP Status” command discussed earlier. One or more “reach values” must be non-zero.

If you ever want to set the scale factor back to 1, simply select Reset Clock Scale –

It is important to appreciate that the parameters Argo Navis^TM uses for clock scaling are stored on a per-setup basis. If you have additional setups stored in the setup archive, FLASH archive then each may have different clock scaling parameters.

Linux^TM operating system file transfer utilities

The ability to load and purge asteroid, comet, satellite and user catalogs as well as perform firmware upgrades is also supported for the Linux^TM operating system. Two command line utilities are currently provided for Intel-based Linux^TM platforms.

You can copy them from the supplied CD-ROM or download them from Wildcard Innovations. You should move them into a suitable bin directory on your system. Make sure that the directory is in your execution path.

If installing from the CDROM, perform the following –

% mount /dev/cdrom <your mount point>

% cd <your mount point>/sofware/linux

% cp catload <suitable bin directory>

% cp sgzload <suitable bin directory>

You should read the sections of this manual concerning the Argonaut^TM utility, which is supplied for the Windows OS^TM. This will give you the basic background you require for knowing how to create your catalog files and how to set-up Argo Navis^TM for performing a transfer.

catload

The catload command is used to download or purge asteroid, comet, satellite or user catalogs.

The syntax is –

catload [–b baud rate] [-s serial port] –c command –f file | -p [-v] [-w]

The default Baud rate is 38400.

The default serial port is /dev/argo. You should determine which serial port device is in use on your system, for example, /dev/ttyS0.

The –c flag is for the catalog type either asteroid, comet, satellite or user.

The –f flag is followed by the name of your catalog input file.

The –p flag purges (removes) the specified catalog.

The –v flag prints the version number of catload and then exists.

The –w flag is essential if you want your catalog to be written to FLASH.

catload will give percentage milestones or error messages on standard output.

sgzload

The sgzload command is used for loading firmware files. These have a ‘.sgz’ suffix.

The syntax is –

sgzload [-s serial port] –f file [-v]

The default serial port is /dev/argo.

The –f flag is followed by the name of the firmware file.

The –v flag will print the sgzload version number and then exit.

sgzload will give percentage milestones or error messages on standard output.

Mac OS X^TM operating system file transfer utility

The ability to load and purge asteroid, comet, satellite and user catalogs as well as perform firmware upgrades is also supported for the Mac OS X^TM operating system.

The Argoload utility for Mac OS X^TM can be downloaded from Wildcard Innovations.

This utility is kindly provided by Jeff Terry and is based upon the Wildcard Innovations GNU Public License (GPL) open-sourced catload and sgzload Linux^TM utilities. Wildcard Innovations have further contributed to Argoload and as at the time of writing have ported it to run on Mac OS X Mountain Lion^TM 10.8, Mavericks^TM 10.9 and Yosemite^TM 10.10.

Argoload has a graphical user interface and supports the Keyspan^TM USA-19HS USB Serial Adapter. These adapters can be purchased from Wildcard Innovations (Part No pn-usb) and are used in conjunction with the optional RS-232 serial cable (Wildcard Innovations Part No. pn-ser-cbl). Other USB Serial Adapters can be supported by end-user source-code modification.

After downloading the zip archive to your Mac, click on it to open it. Carefully follow the step-by-step installation instructions found in the Instructions.txt file.

The package includes the pre-compiled Argoload application plus source code which can be compiled using the free Mac OS-X XCode^TM development package.

Thanks to Jeff Terry for providing Argoload to the Argo Navis^TM/Mac OS X^TM community.

Using Argo Navis with the ServoCAT Track/GOTO Controller

ServoCAT introduction

The ServoCAT^TM is a Track/GOTO controller manufactured by StellarCAT. It drives a pair of servo motors and when combined with an Argo navis^TM can bring motorized “GOTO” and tracking to your mount. The term “GOTO” refers to the ability to dial up a target on your Argo navis^TM, press the “GOTO” button on the ServoCAT^TM hand controller and the mount will automatically “go to” the target. “Tracking” refers to the ability of the telescope to then continually follow the target without you having to manually push the mount. A view of the ServoCAT^TM front panel interface is shown here -

Interfacing to ServoCAT^TM and setups configuration

Argo navis^TM interfaces to ServoCAT^TM via a proprietary serial cable, Wildcard Innovations Part No. pn-cat-cbl. Email Wildcard Innovations if you need to order one. Please note that this cable is different to the Argo navis^TM to PC serial cable, which is Part No. pn-ser-cbl.

Plug one end of pn-cat-cbl into either the SERIAL 1 or SERIAL 2 port of your Argo navis^TM. Plug the other end into the DSC port on the ServoCAT^TM (see illustration above).

Using the setup serial menu, you need to configure the serial port you plan on using to have a BAUD rate of 19200 and a STARTUP command of “servocat”. Whenever you change the STARTUP command, you need to power the Argo navis^TM off and then on so that the new STARTUP command starts.

To minimize the chance of your mount accidentally slewing in altitude beyond its mechanical limits, configure the setup goto, goto limits submenu. The factory default settings for LOW and HI are very conservatively set and do not represent any limitation of the ServoCAT^TM. Adjust them to match your mount’s capability. After performing a valid mode fix alt ref step you can use the angular ALT reading in mode encoder as a diagnostic to determine a safe LOW limit.

Whenever a GOTO is commanded, Argo navis^TM determines if the target is below the horizon. If it is, it communicates to the ServoCAT^TM that the slew would be unwise and ServoCAT^TMdoes not take the slew but instead sends a request to Argo navis^TMto play some down-beat warning notes. Argo navis^TM computes where the local horizon is based on your mode fix alt ref step and alignment and the time zone and local time you entered in setup date/time and the latitude and longitude you set in setup location. You should ensure that these parameters are correctly set.

Operation with ServoCAT^TM

A few seconds after powering on both the Argo navis^TM and ServoCAT^TM, the red LED on the ServoCAT^TM next to the DSC port should start blinking. This indicates successful communication between the two.

Immediately after performing a valid alignment the red LED should go steady on. This indicates that an alignment has taken place.

If you dial up an object on Argo navis^TM that is currently above the horizon and above the setup goto, goto limits low limit and beneath the setup goto, goto limits hi limit and then press the green GOTO button on the ServoCAT^TM hand controller, the mount will slew to the target. When the slew has successfully completed, ServoCAT^TM sends a request to Argo navis^TMto play an up-beat pair of notes. Argo navis^TM then continuously sends tracking rate data to the ServoCAT^TM and the mount will follow the target.

If for any reason you want to perform an emergency stop during a slew, simply press any three buttons on the ServoCAT^TM hand controller.

SmartTrack^TM

Argo navis^TM firmware version 3.0.0 and later and ServoCAT^TMfirmware version 7.0.A and later support a feature called SmartTrack^TM.

SmartTrack^TM provides tracking rates inherent to the target when you are tracking solar system objects.

Solar system objects include the planets, Sun, Moon, asteroids, comets and artificial satellites. Tracking of near-Earth asteroids or comets (NEOs) as they pass very close to Earth, for example between the Earth and the Moon, is not supported.

To enable SmartTrack^TM, dial up the solar system object you wish to observe from within mode catalog, mode identify or mode tour. Ensure that the lower line of the display shows the word GUIDE or that you are within a sub-menu beneath guide mode.

SmartTrack^TM then provides tracking rates inherent to the target object when you are within 5° radius of a satellite or 2.5° radius of any other type of solar system object.

SmartTrack^TM reverts back to the sidereal rate inherent to the point in the sky you are observing whenever the target object is not a solar-system object, or in the case it is a solar system object, whenever the menu is no longer in GUIDE mode or one of the submenus beneath it, or whenever the satellite is outside of the 5° radius or any other type of solar system object is outside the 2.5° radius.

In other words, what SmartTrack^TM tries to do is provide you with a tracking rate that is appropriate for what you are observing.

If for example you have the MOON dialled up on Argo navis^TM and are tracking the Moon, SmartTrack^TM will guide the scope at lunar rates. If you then grab the ServoCAT^TM hand controller and slew well away from the Moon, beyond the 2.5 degree radius, SmartTrack^TM assumes you are manually cruising the area and so it reverts back to the sidereal rate.

Tracking artificial satellites

When attempting to track artificial satellites with Argo navis^TM and ServoCAT^TM the following tips can be useful.

· Timing can be critical. The section “Setting the date/time from your PC to Argo navis^TM” describes how to install a Network Time Protocol (NTP) client on your PC and then how to use the Argonaut^TMSet Date/Time feature. The section “Scaling the Argo navis^TM time-of-day clock” describes how to use Argonaut^TM to compute and apply a simple linear model that can further improve time-keeping.

· Set your latitude and longitude in setup location accurately.

· Set your setup goto, goto limits values to suitable values for your mount.

· Ensure setup refraction is ON.

· Set setup guide mode, guide below horz, h indicator on. You will be able to determine at a glance whether a candidate satellite is above or below the horizon.

· Ensure you have the latest orbital elements.

· Use heavens-above.com to determine what satellites may be visible from your location at the time which you wish to observe. Generally low Earth orbit satellites are only visible just after sunset and just before sunrise as otherwise they are eclipsed by Earth’s shadow. Geostationary satellites, in their very high orbits of 32,786km, are out of Earth’s shadow for even longer periods and can often be observed late at night.

· Perform an accurate alignment.

· Consider using TPAS to improve your mount’s whole sky pointing.

· If you have loaded the orbital elements of more than one satellite, there are several ways one can seek out a potentially observable candidate. One way is to use mode identify with an object filter selection of satellite, a magnitude selection filter of any, a constellation filter selection of in any constel, a “within” filter selection of within 360° arc and a horizon mask filter set to 0 or larger. Leave mode identify in the mode where it is continually searching. Initially the display might show no match found. However, as soon as a satellite rises above the value specified by the horizon mask, one can then spin the dial one detent click or press ENTER to lock onto it and then press the GOTO button.

· Alternatively, use the special feature of mode catalog which enables you to step through the catalog by spinning the dial while in guide mode. While stepping through each object, take note of the presence or absence of the H horizon indicator on the far-right of the lower line of the display. The H indicates that the object is currently below the horizon. If you dial up a satellite that is below the horizon, Argo navis^TM will emit down-beat tones. Whenever you see a candidate satellite where the H indicator is not present, Argo navis^TM will emit up-beat tones and pressing GOTO will slew to the target.

· If using mode catalog in the way just described, one strategy is to leave the telescope waiting at the LOW limit. Examine the ALT guide value to try and get some sense as to whether the satellite might be about to rise. If the satellite rises above the horizon and the specified LOW limit, Argo navis^TM will emit up-beat tones. If you press GOTO and the satellite is within 5° radius, SmartTrack^TM automatically turns on and the ServoCAT’s^TM AutoLOCK^TMfeature will then track it.

· As long as the satellite remains in the 5° radius lock range it will continue to be tracked, unless the satellite speed gets to be too high, in which case if it falls out of range, ServoCAT^TM requests Argo navis^TM to emit a double-beep to warn you. The satellite speed may become too high if the satellite happens to pass overhead through the pole of the scope. Once the satellite has peaked and is descending in altitude, you can regain lock by hitting the GOTO button once again.

· Initially use the eyepiece with the widest field of view (FOV) you have available to locate the satellite. If you would like to observe the satellite with higher power, have those eyepieces ready to go so you can change over quickly.

· Be aware that some satellites are fast moving and hence the scope can track quickly. We don’t recommend you track a satellite on a scope that requires a ladder. However, if you do, be very careful if observing from atop a ladder as the telescope hitting you or the ladder could result in injury and damage.

· There is a limit to how fast a satellite can be tracked. For example, if a satellite goes straight up and should pass through the pole of the mount, at the instant it crosses the pole the mount would need to rotate at an infinite speed in azimuth in order to keep tracking it. The ServoCAT^TM can be configured to track fast but not infinitely fast.

· Mount fabrication errors, timing errors or errors within the orbital elements themselves can conspire to put the satellite not quite where Argo navis^TM computes it should be. Use the ServoCAT^TM hand controller Guide buttons in conjunction with an eyepiece with a wide FOV to locate the satellite if need be. Also use the ServoCAT^TM hand controller sliding Guide-fast/Guide slow switch to change the manual guide speed if required. These manual guide rates are scaled based on the satellites actual rate on each of the two axes. SmartTrack^TM has a special feature that when you move around the field using the ServoCAT^TM hand controller you automatically change where the ‘center point’ lock is. When you stop pressing the Guide buttons, within 1 second it will re-establish that point as the “lock point”. By making adjustments in this way with the Guide buttons, you can center the target and lock onto it.

· If you have used the ServoCAT^TM hand controller Guide buttons and want to go back to the Argo navis^TM computed position, simply press GOTO again. Note that if you were off by some distance it will take a few seconds to get back to the computed location.

· When a satellite you are tracking goes beneath the setup goto, goto limits LOW limit or beneath the horizon, the mount will continue to track in azimuth but will stop in altitude. Be aware that the tracking rate in azimuth may then become very high. To stop this track rate, press EXIT on Argo navis^TM which will then cancel SmartTrack^TM satellite tracking.

· Geostationary satellites are in high 32,786km orbits above the Earth’s equator. Argo navis^TM will also compute their tracking rates which are effectively zero. Thus the ServoCAT^TM will not move at all whilst observing them. When you observe these objects in the eyepiece it is fascinating to watch the background stars move across the FOV whilst the satellite remains stationary.

Appendix I—World time zones

The following list is sorted alphabetically by country. It provides the local time zone including when Daylight Saving (Local summer time) is in effect –

Afghanistan: +4.5 hours

Albania: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Algeria: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

American Samoa: -11 hours

Andorra: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Angola: +1 hours

Anguilla: -4 hours

Antarctica: -2 hours (Summer -3 hours)

Antigua: -4 hours

Argentina: -3 hours

Argentina western provinces: -4 hours

Armenia: +4 hours (Summer +5 hours)

Aruba: -4 hours

Ascension: 0 hours

Australia Northern Territory: +9.5 hours

Australia Lord Howe Island: +10:30 hours (Summer +11 hours)

Australia New South Wales: +10 hours (Summer +11 hours)

Australia Queensland: +10 hours

Australia Victoria: +10 hours (Summer +11 hours)

Australia Australian Capital Territory: +10 hours (Summer +11 hours)

Australia South: +9:30 hours (Summer +10:30 hours)

Australia Tasmania: +10 hours (Summer +11 hours)

Australia Western: +8 hours

Austria: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Azerbajian: +3 hours

Azores: -1 hours (Summer 0 hours)

Bahamas: -5 hours (Summer -4 hours)

Bahrain: +3 hours

Bangladesh: +6 hours

Barbados: -4 hours

Belarus: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Belgium: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Belize: -6 hours

Benin: +1 hours

Bermuda: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

Bhutan: +6 hours

Bolivia: -4 hours

Bonaire: -4 hours

Botswana: +2 hours.65

Brazil Acre: -4 hours (Summer -5 hours)

Brazil Atlantic Islands: -1 hours (Summer -2 hours)

Brazil East: -3 hours (Summer -1 hours)

Brazil West: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

British Virgin Islands: -4 hours

Brunei: +8 hours

Bulgaria: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Burkina Faso: 0 hours

Burundi: +2 hours

Cambodia: +7 hours

Cameroon: +1 hours

Canada Central: -6 hours (Summer -5 hours)

Canada Eastern: -5 hours (Summer -4 hours)

Canada Mountain: -7 hours (Summer -6 hours)

Canada Yukon & Pacific: -8 hours (Summer -7 hours)

Canada Atlantic: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

Canada Newfoundland: -3:30 hours (Summer –2:30 hours)

Canary Islands: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Canton Enderbury Islands: -11 hours

Cape Verde: -1 hours

Caroline Island: +11 hours

Cayman Islands: -5 hours

Central African Rep: +1 hours

Chad: +1 hours

Channel Islands: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Chatham Island: +12:45 hours (Summer +13:45 hours)

Chile: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

China People's Rep: +8 hours

Christmas Islands: -10 hours

Cocos (Keeling) Islands: +6:30 hours

Colombia: -5 hours

Congo: +1 hours

Cook Islands: -10 hours

Costa Rica: -6 hours

Cote d'Ivoire: 0 hours

Croatia: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Cuba: -5 hours (Summer -4 hours)

Curacao: -4 hours

Cyprus: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Czech Republic: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Dahomey: +1 hours

Denmark: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Djibouti: +3 hours

Dominica: -4 hours

Dominican Republic: -4 hours

Easter Island: -6 hours (Summer -5 hours)

Ecuador: -5 hours

Egypt: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

El Salvador: -6 hours

England: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Equatorial Guinea: +1 hours

Eritrea: +3 hours

Estonia: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Ethiopia: +3 hours

Falkland Islands: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

Faroe Island: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Fiji: +12 hours

Finland: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

France: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

French Guiana: -3 hours

French Polynesia: -10 hours

Gabon: +1 hours

Galapagos Islands: -5 hours

Gambia: 0 hours

Gambier Island: -9 hours

Georgia: +4 hours

Germany: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Ghana: 0 hours

Gibraltar: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Greece: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Greenland: -3 hours (Summer -2 hours)

Greenland Thule: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

Greenland Scoresbysun: -1 hours (Summer 0 hours)

Grenada: -4 hours

Grenadines: -4 hours

Guadeloupe: -4 hours

Guam: +10 hours

Guatemala: -6 hours

Guinea: 0 hours

Guinea Bissau: 0 hours

Guyana: -3 hours

Haiti: -5 hours (Summer -4 hours)

Honduras: -6 hours

Hong Kong: +8 hours

Hungary: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Iceland: 0 hours

India: +5:30 hours

Indonesia Central: +8 hours

Indonesia East: +9 hours

Indonesia West: +7 hours

Iran: +3:30 hours

Iraq: +3 hours (Summer +4 hours)

Ireland Republic of: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Israel: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Italy: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Jamaica: -5 hours

Japan: +9 hours

Johnston Island: -10 hours

Jordan: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Kazakhstan: +6 hours (Summer +7 hours)

Kenya: +3 hours

Kiribati: +12 hours

Korea Dem Republic of: +9 hours

Korea Republic of: +9 hours

Kusaie: +12 hours

Kuwait: +3 hours

Kwajalein: -12 hours

Kyrgyzstan: +5 hours (Summer +6 hours)

Laos: +7 hours

Latvia: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Lebanon: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Leeward Islands: -4 hours

Lesotho: +2 hours

Liberia: 0 hours

Libya: +2 hours

Lithuania: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Luxembourg: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Macedonia: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Madagascar: +3 hours

Madeira: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Malawi: +2 hours

Malaysia: +8 hours

Maldives: +5 hours

Mali: 0 hours

Mallorca Islands: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Malta: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Mariana Island: +10 hours

Marquesas Islands: -9:30 hours

Marshall Islands: +12 hours

Martinique: -4 hours

Mauritania: 0 hours

Mauritius: +4 hours

Mayotte: +3 hours

Melilla: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Mexico: -6 hours

Mexico Baja Calif Norte: -8 hours (Summer -7 hours)

Mexico Nayarit: -7 hours

Mexico Sinaloa: -7 hours.68

Mexico Sonora: -7 hours

Midway Island: -11 hours

Moldova: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Moldovian Rep Pridnestrovye: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Monaco: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Mongolia: +8 hours

Morocco: 0 hours

Mozambique: +2 hours

Myanmar: +6:30 hours

Namibia: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Nauru Republic of: +12 hours

Nepal: +5:45 hours

Netherlands: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Netherlands Antilles: -4 hours

Nevis Montserrat: -4 hours

New Caledonia: +11 hours

New Hebrides: +11 hours

New Zealand: +12 hours (Summer +13 hours)

Nicaragua: -6 hours (Summer -5 hours)

Niger: +1 hours

Nigeria: +1 hours

Niue Island: -11 hours

Norfolk Island: +11:30 hours

Northern Ireland: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Northern Mariana Islands: +10 hours

Norway: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Oman: +4 hours

Pakistan: +5 hours

Palau: +9 hours

Panama: -5 hours

Papua New Guinea: +10 hours

Paraguay: -4 hours (Summer -3 hours)

Peru: -5 hours

Philippines: +8 hours

Pingelap: +12 hours

Poland: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Ponape Island: +11 hours

Portugal: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Principe Island: 0 hours

Puerto Rico: -4 hours

Qatar: +3 hours

Reunion: +4 hours

Romania: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Russian Federation zone eight: +9 hours (Summer +10 hours)

Russian Federation zone eleven: +12 hours (Summer +13 hours)

Russian Federation zone five: +6 hours (Summer +7 hours)

Russian Federation zone four: +5 hours (Summer +6 hours)

Russian Federation zone nine: +10 hours (Summer +11 hours)

Russian Federation zone one: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Russian Federation zone seven: +8 hours (Summer +9 hours)

Russian Federation zone six: +7 hours (Summer +8 hours)

Russian Federation zone ten: +11 hours (Summer +12 hours)

Russian Federation zone three: +4 hours (Summer +5 hours)

Russian Federation zone two: +4 hours (Summer +5 hours)

Rwanda: +2 hours

Saba: -4 hours

Samoa: -11 hours

San Marino: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Sao Tome e Principe: 0 hours

Saudi Arabia: +3 hours

Scotland: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Senegal: 0 hours

Seychelles: +4 hours

Sierra Leone: 0 hours

Singapore: +8 hours

Slovakia: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Slovenia: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Society Island: -10 hours

Solomon Islands: +11 hours

Somalia: +3 hours

South Africa: +2 hours

Spain: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Sri Lanka: +5:30 hours

St Christopher: -4 hours

St Croix: -4 hours

St Helena: 0 hours

St John: -4 hours

St Kitts Nevis: -4 hours

St Lucia: -4 hours

St Maarten: -4 hours

St Pierre & Miquelon: -3 hours (Summer -2 hours)

St Thomas: -4 hours

St Vincent: -4 hours

Sudan: +2 hours

Suriname: -3 hours

Swaziland: +2 hours

Sweden: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Switzerland: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Syria: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Tahiti: -10 hours

Taiwan: +8 hours

Tajikistan: +6 hours

Tanzania: +3 hours

Thailand: +7 hours

Togo: 0 hours

Tonga: +13 hours

Trinidad and Tobago: -4 hours

Tuamotu Island: -10 hours

Tubuai Island: -10 hours

Tunisia: +1 hours

Turkey: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

Turkmenistan: +5 hours

Turks and Caicos Islands: -5 hours (Summer -4 hours)

Tuvalu: +12 hours

Uganda: +3 hours

Ukraine: +2 hours (Summer +3 hours)

United Arab Emirates: +4 hours

United Kingdom: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

USA Central: -6 hours (Summer -5 hours)

USA Eastern: -5 hours (Summer -4 hours)

USA Mountain: -7 hours (Summer -6 hours)

USA Arizona: -7 hours

USA Indiana East: -5 hours

USA Pacific: -8 hours (Summer -7 hours)

USA Alaska: -9 hours (Summer -8 hours)

USA Aleutian: -10 hours

USA Hawaii: -10 hours

Uruguay: -3 hours

Uzbekistan: +5 hours

Vanuatu: +11 hours (Summer +12 hours)

Vatican City: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Venezuela: -4 hours

Vietnam: +7 hours

Virgin Islands: -4 hours

Wake Island: +12 hours

Wales: 0 hours (Summer +1 hours)

Wallis and Futuna Islands: +12 hours

Windward Islands: -4 hours

Yemen: +3 hours

Yugoslavia: +1 hours (Summer +2 hours)

Zaire Kasai: +2 hours

Zaire Kinshasa Mbandaka: +1 hours

Zaire Haut Zaire: +2 hours

Zaire Kivu: +2 hours

Zaire Shaba: +2 hours

Zambia: +2 hours

Zimbabwe: +2 hours

Appendix J—Warranty

Wildcard Innovations (Wildcard) warrants that its products shall be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of original retail purchase. Wildcard will repair or replace such product or part thereof, which, upon inspection by Wildcard, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of Wildcard to repair or replace such product, the product must be returned to Wildcard together with proof-of-purchase satisfactory to Wildcard.

The Proper Return Authorization Number must be obtained from Wildcard in advance of return. Email customer service at sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au to receive the number to be displayed on the outside of your shipping carton.

All returns must be accompanied by a written statement setting forth the name, address, daytime telephone number and/or email address of the owner, together with a brief description of any claimed defects. Parts or product for which replacement is made shall become the property of Wildcard.

The customer shall be responsible for all costs of transportation and insurance, both to and from the Wildcard repair facility, and shall be required to prepay such costs. The customer shall be responsible for carrying out all firmware upgrade procedures when firmware is made available to correct defects or otherwise.

Wildcard shall use reasonable effort to repair or replace any product covered by this limited warranty within thirty days of receipt. In the event repair or replacement shall require more than thirty days, Wildcard shall notify the customer accordingly. Wildcard reserves the right to replace any product that has been discontinued from its product line with a new product of comparable value and function. In the event no product of comparable value and function is then marketed by Wildcard, Wildcard may, in lieu of replacement, pay the current fair market value of the product in serviceable condition.

This warranty shall be void and of no force of effect in the event a covered product has been modified in design or function, or subject to abuse, misuse, mishandling or unauthorized repair or has been damaged through the use of cables or components not supplied or directly endorsed by Wildcard. Misuse shall include failure to observe all warnings within this manual. Further, product malfunction or deterioration due to normal wear is not covered by this warranty.

Wildcard disclaims any warranties, express or implied, whether of merchantability of fitness for a particular use, except as expressly set forth herein.

The sole obligation of Wildcard under this limited warranty shall be to repair or replace the covered product, in accordance with the terms set forth herein. Wildcard expressly disclaims any lost profits, general, special, indirect or consequential damages which may result from breath of any warranty, or arising out of the use or inability to use any Wildcard product. Any warranties which are implied and which cannot be disclaimed shall be limited in duration to a term of one year from the date of original retail purchase.

Some countries and states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages or limitation on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations and exclusions may not apply to you.

This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from country to country and state to state.

Wildcard reserves the right to modify or discontinue, without prior notice to you, any of its products.

If warranty problems arise, or if you need assistance in using your Wildcard product, contact:

Your Argo NavisTM dealer from whom you purchased the unit

sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au

Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.

20 Kilmory Place

Mount Kuring-Gai NSW 2080

Australia

Phone +61 2 9457 9049

Fax +61 2 9457 9593

Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM AEST

http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au/

This warranty supersedes all other product warranties. This warranty is valid to customers who have purchased this product from an Authorized Wildcard dealer.

Appendix K—Conformance

FCC CONFORMITY

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.

This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures –

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user's authority to operate the equipment under FCC rules.

Argo Navis^TM Model 102

Declaration of Conformity

Manufacturer's Name: Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.

Manufacturer's Address: 20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai, NSW 2080 Australia

declares, that the product

Product Name: Argo Navis

Model Number: Model 102

conforms to the following Product Specifications

EMC: EN55022:1998 Class B Complies

EN55024:1998 EN61000-4-2 Complies, Criterion A

EN61000-4-3 Complies, Criterion A

Supplementary Information:

This unit is not for mains connection.

The product was tested by EMC Technologies Pty. Ltd. Castle Hill, NSW, Australia.

Wildcard Innovations

Mount-Kuring-Gai NSW

21 July 2002

Argo Navis^TM Model 102

C-Tick Declaration of Conformity

Manufacturer's Name: Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.

Manufacturer's Address: 20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai, NSW 2080 Australia

Australian Business No. 56 076 242 240

ACA Supplier’s Code: N11511

declares, that the product

Product Name: Argo Navis

Model Number: Model 102

conforms to the following mentioned standards

EMC: AS/NZS 3548 Class B Complies

AS/NZS 61000-4-3 Complies, Criterion A

Supplementary Information:

This unit is not for mains connection.

The product was tested by EMC Technologies Pty. Ltd. Castle Hill, NSW, Australia.

Wildcard Innovations

Mount-Kuring-Gai NSW

21 July 2002

Appendix L—Glossary

Asterism — a group of stars that is neither a constellation nor an open cluster.

Baud rate — the communications speed of a serial port.

BOOT LOADER mode — the mode in which Argo Navis^TMis placed in order to have its firmware upgraded. To put the unit in boot loader mode, power it off, press and keep depressed EXIT and power it on. Then release the EXIT button.

Celestial Pole — the point in the sky around which the stars appear to rotate. In the Northern Hemisphere the North Celestial Pole (NCP) is at Declination +90°. The closest bright star is Polaris. In the Southern Hemisphere, the South Celestial Pole (SCP) is at Declination -90°. The closest bright star (Magnitude 5.4) is Sigma Octantis.

Current Object — a term used to refer to the last object referenced either in mode align, mode align star, mode catalog, mode identify or mode tour.

Declination — the celestial equivalent to latitude. Measured in degrees. See Right Ascension.

Detent — a mechanical catch that regulates something to move. The Argo Navis^TM DIAL has detent “clicks” that you can feel when you rotate it.

EEROM – Electrically Erasable Read-Only Memory. Argo Navis^TM uses EEROM to store such parameters as your mount type, location and encoder resolution settings so that these values may be retained even when the power is switched off or if the batteries are removed.

Encoder — an electro-mechanical device that creates pulses when its shaft is rotated. Encoders are fitted to your telescope on each of its two axes and are the means by which your telescope computer can determine where the telescope is pointing.

Firmware — a term used to describe software that is embedded in an electronic appliance such as the Argo Navis^TM

FLASH — a type of high-speed electronic memory that can be written to and erased electrically. Argo Navis^TM uses FLASH memory to store its firmware and catalogs, including user-loadable catalogs. Firmware and catalogs can be downloaded from a PC using the supplied Argonaut^TM software utility.

Hubble Morphology — a system for classifying a galaxy based on its appearance. For example, whether it is spiral, spiral-barred, elliptical, irregular, peculiar, etc. Argo Navis^TMuses a succinct notation used by astronomers to describe galaxy morphologies.

J2000.0 Epoch – 12:00 UTC, 1st January 2000. Due to the effects of precession, nutation and proper motion, the positions of objects are catalogued by astronomers according to where they were at some moment in time, or ‘Epoch’. The ‘J’ stands for Julian and refers to the time-keeping system used. Older catalogs often have B1950.0 positions. In this case, ‘B’ stands for Besselian. It is the current convention of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that celestial co-ordinates are reported with respect the fixed International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) which is for practical purposes the same as the previous FK5 J2000.0 co-ordinate system. This co-ordinate system remains invariant to the effects of precession and nutation and so by IAU convention, all object positions are reported according to where an object happened to be at midday UTC on 1 Jan 2000. Argo Navis^TM follows the IAU convention and displays RA and Dec values with respect the ICRF.

Julian Date — the number of days that have elapsed since Julian day 0 on 1 January 4713 BC Julian.

Meridian – an imaginary circle passing North-South through the celestial poles and the zenith directly above you.

Nadir — the point directly beneath you (opposite to zenith)

Nutation — an approximately 11,000 year “wobble” in the Earth’s axis that causes an apparent displacement of the stars when viewed from the Earth. See Precession.

Precession — an approximately 25,000 year “wobble” in the Earth’s axis that causes an apparent displacement of the stars when viewed from the Earth. See Nutation.

Refraction — the bending of light rays through the atmosphere that causes objects close to the horizon to appear higher in altitude than they actually are.

Real Time — a computing term used to describe a system that responds extremely quickly to external events. As you move your telescope, Argo Navis^TMhas sufficient compute power to respond in real-time.

Right Ascension — the celestial equivalent to longitude. Abbreviated as RA. Measured in hours, minutes, seconds. See Declination.

RS-232 — designation of a computer serial communications standard. Not to be confused with Universal Serial Bus (USB). Argo Navis^TMis fitted with two independent RS-232 serial ports. Some PC’s have a 9-way RS-232 serial male D-connector. However, some newer machines do not have RS-232. In this case, either install a PCI or PCIe serial card or use a USB Serial Adapter. Wildcard Innovations recommends the Keyspan USA-19HS.

RTC — Real Time Clock. Argo Navis^TMbattery-backed time of day clock.

Shell — the name of a command interpreter program that runs on each Argo Navis^TMserial port. The “shell” accepts the names of programs and other command parameters (called arguments) on a command line and then calls upon the Argo Navis^TM multi-tasking operating system to run them.

Sidereal — ‘Star’ time – the rate at which stars appear to move across the sky. The orbit of the Earth around the Sun makes the Sun appear to drift eastward about 1° per day with respect to the stars. In one year, when the earth has completed 365.2422 rotations with respect to the sun, it has made exactly 1 additional rotation with respect to the stars. Therefore 1 year is equivalent to 366.2422 sidereal days. This makes for a Sidereal Day being approximately 4 minutes shorter than a Synodic or ‘solar’ day.

Synodic — ‘Sun’ time. The familiar rate of time like that which occurs on a wristwatch.

Time zone — the number of hours and minutes the local time is offset from Universal Co-ordinated Time (UTC).

Topocentric — on the Earth’s surface. A topocentric Azimuth-Altitude co-ordinate system is one centred on the observer’s location on the surface of the Earth. A topocentric Altitude of 0° corresponds to the local horizon and that of 90° to the zenith. A topocentric Azimuth of 0° is due North and that of 90° due East.

UTC — Universal Co-ordinated Time. For practical purposes, very close to the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) time reference.

Zenith — the point in the sky directly above you (opposite nadir).

Alignment procedures

AUTO ADJUST ON, 62

dobsonians, 26

fork rough align, 28

GEM rough align, 29

introduction, 25

MODE ALIGN, 39

MODE ALIGN STAR, 41

MODE FIX ALT REF, 60

Argonaut

clock scaling, 198

date/time setting, 196

establishing communication, 175

firmware transfer, 194

functions, 166

installation, 167

orbital element file sources, 180

running, 175

setups transfer, 189

software utility, 166

transferring catalogs, 184

updating catalogs, 187

user catalog format, 182

asteroid

command, 212

battery

coin cell replacement, 241

battery power, 12

external, 13

internal, 12

Baud rate

definition, 262

BOOT LOADER

definition, 262

catalogs

listing, 234

MODE CATALOG, 46

celestial pole

definition, 262

comet

command, 213

Conformance

CE, 260

FCC, 259

date

command, 214

Setting via SETUP DATE/TIME, 103

daytime encoder test

how to perform, 128

declination

definition, 262

detent

definition, 262

dial, 9

enc

command, 215

encctl

command, 216

encoder

direction senses, 17

errors, 16

interface, 9

sampling rate, 54

SETUP ENC TIMING, 108

slipping, 55

technical background, 14

test procedure, 16

testing with MODE ENCODER, 53

equatorial table

MODE EQ TABLE, 57

event

command, 217

command, 218

Glossary, 262

Hubble morphology

definition, 263

Initial setup, 12

interfaces, 8

J2000.0

definition, 263

MODE RA DEC, 72

relation to ICRF, 72

Julian Date

definition, 263

LCD

brightness adjust, 101

contrast adjust, 102

heater, 119

liquid crystal display, 8

Linux

file transfer utilities, 204

MAC OS-X

Argoload file transfer utility, 205

meade

startup command, 219

meridian

definition, 263

MODE ALIGN, 39

aligning on any object, 39

MODE ALIGN STAR, 41

MODE AZ ALT, 45

MODE CATALOG

below horizon indicator, 50

below horizon indicator example, 52

detailed object description, 49

FROM PLANETARIUM, 46

Intelligent Editing System, 47

introduction, 46

manual scroll of description, 50

Moon phase, 51

PLANETS/SUN/MOON, 47

scrolling description, 50

sequential stepping of items, 49

MODE ENCODER, 53

MODE EQ TABLE, 57

MODE FIX ALT REF

introduction, 60

using, 62

MODE IDENTIFY

below horizon indicator, 68

constellation filter, 65

horizon mask filter, 66

introduction, 64

magnitude filter, 65

object filter, 64

within filter, 66

MODE RA DEC, 71

MODE SETUP, 73

MODE SIDEREAL, 75

MODE STATUS

introduction, 76

STATUS POWER, 76

STATUS SETUP, 76

STATUS THERMAL, 76

MODE TIME, 78

MODE TIMER, 79

MODE TOUR

below horizon indicator, 85

constellation filter, 82

horizon mask filter, 82

introduction, 80

magnitude filter, 81

object filter, 81

rejoin last tour, 85

within filter, 82

Moon phase

MODE CATALOG, 51

nadir

definition, 263

navis

startup command, 221

nutation

definition, 263

Operating modes

menus, 37

pbt

startup command, 222

Port pin descriptions, 238

power sources, 12

precession

definition, 264

Programmer’s reference, 211

rad

command, 223

Right Ascension

definition, 264

RS-232

definition, 264

samples

command, 224

satellite

command, 225

servocat

alarm sounds SETUP GOTO, 114

interfacing to, 206

operation with, 207

satellite tracking, 208

SETUP GOTO, 113

SmartTrack, 207

startup command, 226

using with Argo Navis, 206

Setting

encoder steps, 14

location, 22

mount type, 14, 18

refraction, 24

SETUP ALIGN PICK, 87

SETUP ALT REF, 90

SETUP ALT STEPS, 92

SETUP ARCHIVE, 93

SETUP ATLAS, 98

SETUP AZ STEPS, 100

SETUP BRIGHTNESS, 101

SETUP CONTRAST, 102

SETUP DATE/TIME, 103

SETUP DEBUG, 106

SETUP DEFAULTS, 107

SETUP ENC TIMING, 108

SETUP EQ TABLE, 111

SETUP GOTO, 113

SETUP GUIDE MODE

arrow sense change, 117

BELOW HORZ H indicator, 118

GUIDE DECIMALS, 117

introduction, 116

SETUP LCD HEATER, 119

SETUP LOAD CAT, 121

SETUP LOCATION, 123

SETUP MNT ERRORS, 127

SETUP MOUNT, 126

SETUP REFRACTION, 157

SETUP SCRATCH, 159

SETUP SCROLL, 161

SETUP SERIAL, 162

setups

command, 227

transferring to/from PC, 189

sitech

SETUP GOTO, 113

startup command, 228

skycomm

startup command, 229

synodic

definition, 264

tangent

startup command, 230

Technical specifications, 236

therm

command, 231

time

local apparent sidereal time (LAST), 75

MODE TIME, 78

Network Time Protocol, 196

setting via Argonaut, 198

SETUP/DATE/TIME, 103

software clock scaling, 198

timezone. See Mode Time

by country, 248

setting. See SETUP DATE/TIME

topocentric

definition, 265

TPAS

ACQUIRE DATA submenu, 142

COMPUTE submenu, 146

DEFINE MODEL submenu, 145

pointing terms, 132

polar align assist, 156

recommended number of stars, 154

REVIEW DATA submenu, 151

RMS (Root Mean Square), 131

sampling stars, 143

SET ERROR VALUES submenu, 149

Standard Deviation, 148

Telescope Pointing Analysis System, 130

what terms to use, 155

uptime

command, 232

user

command, 233

user interface, 8

UTC

Universal Co-ordinated Time, 265

WARP factor

definition, 42

Warranty, 257

World time zones

by country, 248

zenith

definition, 265

Name	Constellation	Greek	RA J2000.0	Dec J2000.0	Mag
ACHERNAR	ERI	ALPHA	01:37:43	-57:14	0.5
ACRUX	CRU	ALPHA	12:26:36	-63:06	1.3
AL NAIR	GRU	ALPHA	22:08:15	-46:57	1.7
ALBIREO	CYG	BETA	19:30:43	+27:51	3.1
ALDEBARAN	TAU	ALPHA	04:35:55	+16:30	0.9
ALPHARD	HYA	ALPHA	09:27:35	-08:27	2.0
ALPHERATZ	AND	ALPHA	00:00:58	+29:05	2.1
ALTAIR	AQL	ALPHA	19:50:47	+08:44	0.8
ANTARES	SCO	ALPHA	16:29:24	-26:25	1.0
ARCTURUS	BOO	ALPHA	14:15:40	+19:14	0.0
BETELGEUSE	ORI	ALPHA	05:55:10	+07:24	0.4
CANOPUS	CAR	ALPHA	06:23:57	-52:42	-0.7
CAPELLA	AUR	ALPHA	05:16:41	+46:00	0.1
CASTOR	GEM	ALPHA	07:34:36	+31:53	1.6
DENEB	CYG	ALPHA	20:41:26	+45:17	1.3
DENEBOLA	LEO	BETA	11:49:03	+14:51	2.1
DUBHE	UMA	ALPHA	11:03:43	+61:45	1.8
FOMALHAUT	PSA	ALPHA	22:57:39	-29:37	1.2
HADAR	CEN	BETA	14:03:48	-60:22	0.6
KAUS AUSTRALIS	SGR	EPSILON	18:24:11	-34:22	1.9
MIMOSA	CRU	BETA	12:47:43	-59:41	1.3
MIRFAK	PER	ALPHA	03:34:19	+49:52	1.8
MIZAR	UMA	ZETA	13:23:55	+54:56	2.3
NAVI	CAS	GAMMA	00:56:42	+60:43	2.5
POLARIS	UMI	ALPHA	02:31:50	+89:16	2.0
POLLUX	GEM	BETA	07:45:20	+28:01	1.1
PROCYON	CMI	ALPHA	07:39:18	+05:21	0.4
RASALHAGUE	OPH	ALPHA	17:34:56	+12:34	2.1
REGULUS	LEO	ALPHA	10:08:22	+12:13	1.4
RIGEL	ORI	BETA	05:14:32	-08:12	0.1
RIGEL KENT	CEN	ALPHA	14:39:37	-60:38	0.0
SIRIUS	CMA	ALPHA	06:45:09	-16:43	-1.5
SPICA	VIR	ALPHA	13:25:11	-11:10	1.0
SUHAIL	VEL	LAMBDA	09:08:00	-43:26	2.2
VEGA	LYR	ALPHA	18:36:56	+38:47	0.0

TON	TOFF	ON Time	OFF Time	Sampling Rate	Power Consumption As Percentage of Encoders Always ON	Notes
Any Value	0	Always ON	Never OFF	~16kHz	100%	Encoders always ON. Highest sampling rate. Highest power consumption. Use this with 32,000 step encoders.
2	10	28ms	59ms	11.5kHz	65%	Works with most native 10,000 step encoders to provide a very high sampling rate. May not work with some encoders.
4	10	32ms	59ms	11.0 KHz	69%	Works with most native 10,000 step encoders to provide a very high sampling rate. May not work with some encoders.
17	17	54ms	61ms	8.7kHz	80%	Factory default setting. Will work reliably with nearly all encoder types and will provide a high sampling rate.
19	19	58ms	66ms	8.1kHz	80%	Will work reliably with nearly all encoder types and will provide a high sampling rate.
17	170	54ms	333ms	2.6KHz	51%	Will work with nearly all encoder types to provide low power consumption at the trade-off of a lower sampling rate.

Term abbreviation on Argo Navis^TM	Displayed long-name on Argo Navis^TM	Term full name and description
CA	COLLIMATION ERR	Collimation Azimuth For an Alt/Az mount, the non-perpendicularity between the pointing axis and the Alt axis. Results in a left-right shift in the sky that is constant for all Altitudes. Can result from many causes such as the scope’s optical axis not being perpendicular to its Alt axis, the scope’s optical axis not being parallel to its pointing axis, misaligned optics, etc. If the scope had this error on its own, there will be an area around the pole of the scope (the zenith) that the scope cannot point.
CH	COLLIMATION ERR	Collimation Hour Angle For an Equatorial mount, the non-perpendicularity between the pointing axis and the Dec axis. Results in an East-West shift in the sky that is constant for all Declinations. On a Fork mount, when it is pointing above the pole, a positive value of CH moves the pointing axis West of where it would otherwise be. On a GEM, if the scope is pointing West of the meridian, a positive value of CH means it is pointing further West than it would be if CH were zero. If the scope is pointing East of the meridian, a positive value of CH means it is pointing further East than it would be if CH were zero. CH can result from many causes such as the scope’s optical axis not being perpendicular to its Dec axis, the scope’s optical axis not being parallel to its pointing axis, misaligned optics, etc. Note that rotating a tube within the rings of a mount, or rotating a diagonal mirror will affect this term. If the scope had this error on its own, there will be an area around the pole to which the scope cannot point.
DAF	DEC AXIS FLEXURE	Declination Axis Flexure The sag downward under gravity of the Dec axis on a GEM.
DCEC	DEC CENTER COS	Declination Centering Error Cosine For an equatorial mount, cosine component of a once-per revolution cyclic effect produced by miscentered Dec encoder or Dec bearing eccentricity.
DCES	DEC CENTER SIN	Declination Centering Error Sine For an equatorial mount, sine component of a once-per revolution cyclic effect produced by miscentered Dec encoder or Dec bearing eccentricity.
ECEC	EL CENTER COS	Elevation Centering Error Cosine For an Alt/Az mount, cosine component of a once-per revolution cyclic effect produced by miscentered Alt encoder or Alt bearing eccentricity or tube flexure.
ECES	EL CENTER SIN	Elevation Centering Error Sine For an Alt/Az mount, sine component of a once-per revolution cyclic effect produced by miscentered Alt encoder or Alt bearing eccentricity or gravitational flexure.
FO	FORK FLEXURE	Fork flexure Flexure of fork arms in Fork mount.
HCEC	HA CENTER COS	Hour Angle Centering Error Cosine For an equatorial mount, cosine component of a once-per revolution cyclic effect produced by miscentered RA encoder or RA bearing eccentricity.
HCES	HA CENTER SIN	Hour Angle Centering Error Sine For an equatorial mount, sine component of a once-per revolution cyclic effect produced by miscentered RA encoder or RA bearing eccentricity.
ID	DEC INDEX ERROR	Index error Declination For an equatorial mount, the Dec encoder zero point correction. ID brings about a fixed North-South offset and on FORK ROUGH ALIGN and GEM ROUGH ALIGN mount types, combines with the ALT REF value to help provide a more accurate Alt encoder zero reference point than the ALT REF value alone. ID is not persistent from session to session and for this reason should not be saved. Probably best described as a term that helps provide a best fit for all other terms, given that the mount is initially aligned on arbitrary stars.
IE	INDEX ERROR EL	Index error Elevation For an Alt/Az mount, the Alt encoder zero point correction. IE brings about a fixed vertical offset and combines with the ALT REF value to help provide a more accurate Alt encoder zero reference point than the ALT REF value alone. IE is not persistent from session to session and for this reason should not be saved. Probably best described as a term that helps provide a best fit for all other terms, given that the mount is initially aligned on arbitrary stars.
IH	HA INDEX ERROR	Index error Hour angle For a GEM EXACT ALIGN or FORK EXACT ALIGN mount, the RA encoder zero point correction. IH is not persistent from session to session and for this reason should not be saved. Probably best described as a term that helps provide a best fit for all other terms, given that the mount is initially aligned on arbitrary stars. A small error in the time setting of setup date/time or a small error in site longitude set in setup location is indistinguishable from this term.
MA	POLAR LEFT-RIGHT	polar Misalignment Azimuth For an equatorial mount, the misalignment of the polar axis left or right of the celestial pole. In either hemisphere, a positive MA corresponds to the mount’s pole being to the right of the Celestial Pole.
ME	POLAR VERTICAL	polar Misalignment Elevation For an equatorial mount, the misalignment of the polar axis above or below the Celestial Pole. In the Northern Hemisphere, a positive ME means the mount’s pole is below the refracted North Celestial Pole. In the Southern Hemisphere, a positive ME means the mount’s pole is above the refracted South Celestial Pole.
NPAE	NON-PERPEN. AXES	Non Perpendicular Axes Error For an Alt/Az mount, the non-perpendicularity between the Az and the Alt axes. Produces a shift that is zero at zero Altitude (i.e. the horizon) and reaches a maximum at the pole of the scope (i.e. the zenith). If the scope had this error on its own, there would be an area around the pole of the scope (the zenith) to which it could not point.
NP	NON-PERPEN, AXES	Non Perpendicular axes error For an equatorial mount, the non-perpendicularity between the RA and the Dec axes. Produces a shift that is zero at zero Declination (i.e. the Celestial Equator) and reaches a maximum at the pole of the scope (i.e. the Celestial Pole). If the scope had this error on its own, there will be an area around the pole to which it could not point.
TF	TUBE FLEXURE	Tube Flexure In an equatorial mount, the gravitational flexure of the tube.

ALTAZ/DOBSONIAN or EQ TABLE EXACT
Terms	Always Use	Not Persistent between sessions (i.e. do not SAVE)	Often Persistent between sessions (i.e. may be OK to SAVE)
CA		NOT ALWAYS	NOT ALWAYS
ECEC			YES
ECES			YES
IE	YES	YES
NPAE			YES

FORK ROUGH ALIGN or GEM ROUGH ALIGN
Terms	Always Use	Not Persistent between sessions (i.e. do not SAVE)	Often Persistent between sessions (i.e. may be OK to SAVE)
CH		NOT ALWAYS	NOT ALWAYS
DCEC			YES
DCES			YES
ID	YES	YES
NP			YES

Controller & serial port startup command	GOTO ALT LIMIT check support	AUDIBLE ALARM support
*ServoCAT*^TM controller. Startup command - servocat	yes	yes
SiTech^TM controller. Startup command - sitech	yes	no
Skytracker^TM controller Startup command – skycomm.	no	no

FORK EXACT ALIGN
Terms	Always Use	Not Persistent between sessions (i.e. do not SAVE)	Often Persistent between sessions (i.e. may be OK to SAVE)
CH		NOT ALWAYS	NOT ALWAYS
DCEC			YES
DCES			YES
HCEC			YES
HCES			YES
FO			YES
ID	YES	YES
IH	YES	YES
MA	YES	YES if mount portable	YES if mount on pier
ME	YES	YES if mount portable	YES if mount on pier
NP			YES
TF			YES

The Argo Navis interfaces

Initial setup of the Argo Navis

Internal Battery Power

External battery power

Setting encoder steps (resolution)

Determining encoder direction senses

Setting the local time zone, date and time

Setting refraction modelling

Alignment procedures

Alt/Az Dobsonian Mounts including on Equatorial Tables

An introductory run

Operating modes

MODE ALIGN

MODE ALIGN STAR

MODE AZ ALT

MODE CATALOG

MODE ENCODER

MODE EQ TABLE

MODE FIX ALT REF

MODE IDENTIFY

MODE SETUP

MODE STATUS

MODE TIME

MODE TOUR

SETUP ALT REF

SETUP ALT STEPS

SETUP ARCHIVE

SETUP AZ STEPS

SETUP DATE/TIME

SETUP ENC TIMING

SETUP EQ TABLE

SETUP GOTO

SETUP GUIDE MODE

SETUP LCD HEATER

SETUP LOAD CAT

SETUP LOCATION

SETUP MOUNT

SETUP MNT ERRORS

SETUP REFRACTION

SETUP SCRATCH

SETUP SCROLL

SETUP SERIAL

Argonaut software utility Version 2.0

What does ArgonautTM do?

What else do I need besides ArgonautTM?

Installing ArgonautTM

Launching ArgonautTM

Establishing communication

Where to obtain Asteroid, Comet or Satellite Orbital Element Files

How to create your own User catalog files

Transferring catalog files

Updating catalog entries

Deleting loadable catalogs

Querying loadable catalog free memory

Transferring setups

Receiving setups from Argo NavisTM to PC

Sending setups from PC to Argo NavisTM

Transferring firmware files

Setting the date/time from your PC to Argo NavisTM

Network Time Protocol package

Using ArgonautTM to set the Argo NavisTM date/time

Scaling the Argo NavisTM time-of-day clock

LinuxTM operating system file transfer utilities

catload

sgzload

Mac OS XTM operating system file transfer utility

Using Argo Navis with the ServoCAT Track/GOTO Controller

Interfacing to ServoCATTM and setups configuration

Operation with ServoCATTM

SmartTrackTM

Programmer’s reference

meade

navis

pbt

servocat

sitech

skycomm

tangent

Appendix D—Factors that affect pointing accuracy

Appendix E—Factors that affect encoder direction senses

What does Argonaut^TM do?

What else do I need besides Argonaut^TM?

Installing Argonaut^TM

Launching Argonaut^TM

Receiving setups from Argo Navis^TM to PC

Sending setups from PC to Argo Navis^TM

Setting the date/time from your PC to Argo Navis^TM

Using Argonaut^TM to set the Argo Navis^TM date/time

Scaling the Argo Navis^TM time-of-day clock

Linux^TM operating system file transfer utilities

Mac OS X^TM operating system file transfer utility

Interfacing to ServoCAT^TM and setups configuration

Operation with ServoCAT^TM

SmartTrack^TM