Avalon Instruments STARGO GOTO, User Manual

Page 1: ...uary 2020 by Mauro Ghiri All the pictures and contents here included are property of AVALON INSTRUMENTS The contents may not be reproduced published copied or transmitted in any way including the inte...

Page 2: ...software with the StarGO hardware The manual is in a process of continual development and improvement Therefore it is suggested that users regularly consult the Avalon Instruments web site support pa...

Page 3: ...7 Mount control using ASCOM driver 43 3 8 Using the StarGO with a wireless connection 46 3 8 1 Bluetooth pairing the StarGO with a Windows PC 47 3 8 2 Bluetooth pairing the StarGO with a Macintosh 49...

Page 4: ...ent 77 A2 7 POLAR ALIGNMENT TOOL 78 A2 8 TIPS TROUBLESHOOTING 79 B 1 Software Updating 80 B 2 Firmware Updating StarGOLoader 81 ____________________________________________________________________ All...

Page 5: ...tc allowing the full control and features home position goto park unpark autoguide focus etc This modality is mainly suggested for astrophotography The System has been succesfully tested with Windows...

Page 6: ...____________________________________________________________________ All Rights reserved 6...

Page 7: ...B connections with Windows and Macintosh computers Wireless capability based on Bluetooth right picture or Wi Fi left picture is also integrated in the control box unit to interact with intelligent de...

Page 8: ...es become perfect smart device control pads This application as well as StarGO is under continuous development to add new functionalities 5 The Avalon Stargo ASCOM driver makes possible the interactio...

Page 9: ...acking and 1 5 A adjustable for slewing Data Base 14000 Default objects The database is easily editable by the user using a simple text editor This database is part of the StarGO software and it may b...

Page 10: ...lly in a separate case The StarGO control box item 1 above which comes with the M zero and the Stand Alone Kit is an attractive Aluminium case which contains the StarGO main control board It is also d...

Page 11: ...he mount s movement speed Fn SPEED Increases Decreases the Polarscope LED light intensity FOCUS Controls the in and out movement of the SteelDrive focuser motor in the port with the same name Also con...

Page 12: ...E key the selection order is inverted Ultra Fast Medium Low The system does not memorize the slewing speed as modified and the next time the system is powered on it returns automatically to the defaul...

Page 13: ...StarGO power supply using and characterisitics please visit StarGO power supply using web page ____________________________________________________________________ All Rights reserved 13 Figure 1 3b...

Page 14: ...rocedure that you can also find in a tutorial video on our support page is the following 1 Run the Installer file In order to have a correct installation these application must Run as administrator To...

Page 15: ...can be found in the SW StarGO_Tutorial_v1 x x_eng pdf file that is inside the flash drive Note Before launching StarGO be sure that the ASCOM platform is already installed http download ascom standard...

Page 16: ...Wizard welcome window Click Next 4 The welcome window inside the splash screen will be replaced by the License Agreement window Select I accept the agreement and then Next ____________________________...

Page 17: ...window inside the splash screen will present the summary of the task selected and proposes to start the installation Click on the Install button _______________________________________________________...

Page 18: ...process Click on the Finish button NOTE The FTDI serial USB drivers must be installed during the first installation Because they are much less frequently updated than the StarGO driver it is not neces...

Page 19: ...ion 10 Before to proceed with the installation it will be necessary to accept the agreement Check the I accept the agreement check box and click on the Next button ____________________________________...

Page 20: ...nection 12 After the FTDI driver installation if selected the Accept the License Agreement in the following window and click on Next Click on Install in the subsequent window _________________________...

Page 21: ...ion to guarantee the contemporary access of all astronomical softwares to the StarGO ASCOM driver it is necessary to give the administrator privileges to the StarGO exe X Solver exe and all the other...

Page 22: ...iled info on your mount user manual ii Alt Az mode fine balance the telescope on the altitude axis and be sure that the tripod is well levelled and the Azimuth arm is parallel to the ground by using t...

Page 23: ...aving the StarGO powered hold the red button 1 down for at least 5 seconds The red LED will commence blinking slowly once again B If the mount is parked The red LED blink fast The mount under this sta...

Page 24: ...or Eq mode 4 6 for Alt Az mode At this point you can start with a fine star alignment 1 star or up to 24 star For detailed GUI instruction please skip to section 3 ____________________________________...

Page 25: ...ection will be established by selecting the correct COM port normally the port suggested in the Select Com Port menu and pressing OK The USB icon will be highlighted and the red LED on the StarGO star...

Page 26: ...l will flash as tracking stops This action will initiate a warning message and a confirmation to stop the tracking motors 3 2 Parameter setting Click on the setup button on the upper right and the GUI...

Page 27: ...ese buttons The Configuration Files have the following format Figure 3 2 1 b Mount Configuration File The above figure shows only a few of the mount parameters There are normally a total of several te...

Page 28: ...not active This condition keeps the system locked on the guide speed preventing any other movement By checking this checkbox the ST4 will be unlocked The TRACKING ADJUST frame allows the precise manua...

Page 29: ...Goto to the target do not perform Plate Solve at the end of this Goto otherwise the mount flip again 4 At the end of the goto check the Disable Meridian Flip option now the mount will not flip anymor...

Page 30: ...and internally set by the focuser s manufacturer The two frames below AUX1 and AUX2 contain the parameters pertaining to the auxiliary devices as follows Step mm Step degree Device speed measurement s...

Page 31: ...ot absorb any current but are not able to keep mechanical loads requiring an active effort NOTE In all three frames of this panel it is possible to define the number of decimal digits that will be sho...

Page 32: ...rames of the ADVANCED tab are related to the choice of the mount on which the StarGo system will be used and to the setting of both the RA and DEC motor torque in percentage of the maximum value In th...

Page 33: ...ll use at the end of the operating session or resetting of the starting point if needed during the session The functions of the five buttons in figure 3 2 5a are Park button moves the mount to the par...

Page 34: ...s why we repeatedly suggest checking to see if new firmware and software updates are available New versions are regularly distributed through Support page of the Avalon web site During connection when...

Page 35: ...there is a change in the mount type gear ratio or other main parameters This alarm warns the operator that restarting the StarGO is required to complete the action Figure 3 3 c StaGo restarting messag...

Page 36: ...at which the directional buttons operate the mount System Speed are chosen using the buttons in the frame below the RA DEC display The values of the system speeds are set in the RA DEC panel see secti...

Page 37: ...e several types of celestial objects as they appear to move across the sky Clicking on the first button in the Tracking row selects sidereal speed This speed remains obviously fixed because most celes...

Page 38: ...arameters are set in the three drop down menus Pre Shot for Sony Camera As the name implies this parameter is applicable only with Sony DSLR cameras These need a pre shot command to raise the internal...

Page 39: ...e lapse images Finally at the bottom of the DSLR control windows is a box for choosing the action to be performed at the end of the photographic sequence Steeldrive and Aux ports The matrix of buttons...

Page 40: ...r rotational as in degrees of a filter wheel The five buttons in each window allow easy management of these parameters The GOTO button performs the repositioning of a device to the value introduced in...

Page 41: ...performed after polar alignment to execute correct pointing to celestial objects for visual observation or photography The method of star alignment may be chosen in the ALIGN panel of the StarGO setup...

Page 42: ...e with a well aligned finderscope that has a crosshair reticle eyepiece will be useful in this procedure especially if the primary telescope has a long focal length In this position it is assumed that...

Page 43: ...e M zero manual section 1 4 page 10 To use the StarGO Control System with an Alt Az M zero follow the instructions in Section 3 2 2 of this document The Alt Az polar alignment operations described bel...

Page 44: ...ng third party software i e planetarium programs cooperating with StarGO software in the ASCOM environment The purpose of this section isn t the detailed discussion of the Avalon mounts use in ASCOM e...

Page 45: ...wing Figure 3 7b and click OK Figure 3 7 b CdC Telescope Interface selection window Open the Control Panel clicking on the icon highlighted with the green oval in Figure 3 7c The ASCOM telescope inter...

Page 46: ...n Figure 3 7 d ASCOM telescope interface The classic ASCOM Telescope Chooser panel will open Select the AvalonStarGo NET driver in the dropdown menu and then click OK _________________________________...

Page 47: ...vative features of the Avalon Mount and the StarGO Control System is the capability to manage the connection with the user devices in a wireless manner using the Bluetooth or Wifi standards depending...

Page 48: ...ill be described in section 5 3 8 1 Bluetooth pairing the StarGO with a Windows PC The use of a Bluetooth link for the data transmission requires the pairing with a Bluetooth capable device For exampl...

Page 49: ...Figure 3 8 1c Insert pincode In this panel insert the passcode for the StarGO Normally it is 1234 If different the correct one will be provided together with StarGO documentation The PC is now connect...

Page 50: ...nnected will be shown in the window and the rotating wheel in the upper right side will indicate that the Mac is searching other available devices When the StarGO is powered up the Mac will find it wi...

Page 51: ...c is now connected to the StarGO 3 8 3 Connect the StarGO to a Windows PC via WiFi The use of a WiFi link for the data transmission between the PC and StarGO requires the PC to be connected to the WiF...

Page 52: ...StarGO requires that Mac is connected to the WiFi network that is created by the WiFi version of the StarGO hardware On the Mac follow these steps Power on the StarGO Click the WiFi icon among the top...

Page 53: ...Android connection via Bluetooth is described in the following sections 4 1 1 and 4 1 2 respectively The connection of iOS devices is described in section 4 1 3 Once the connection has been establish...

Page 54: ...provided by Avalon usually 1234 and press OK After few seconds the device will be paired see next screenshot with the StarGO The mount will then be ready to be controlled by the device _______________...

Page 55: ...ices 1 Select Setting in the device main screen and when window opens select Wi Fi in Wireless and network section then choose StarGO_xxx where xxx represents the StarGo serial number in the Wi Fi NET...

Page 56: ...vided with the software 3 After few seconds the connection is established as shown in the picutre below ____________________________________________________________________ All Rights reserved 56 Figu...

Page 57: ...e preliminary settings The preliminary settings are choice of the correct mount configuration file setting of the observatory location choice of the pointing system One star Three star Multistar These...

Page 58: ...settings 5 Set the correct Observatory Location ____________________________________________________________________ All Rights reserved 58 Figure 4 3 b Set the correct mount Axis Mod Figure 4 3 c Set...

Page 59: ...ble from the StarGO control unit Now the mount is ready to work with a device using SkySafari without the need of a pc 1 Launch the SkySafari version 4 or above on the device The program will open wit...

Page 60: ...corner to save and exit the current page Figure 4 3f SkySafari time and date settings 3 Open the Location Settings page Insert the site name and the geographic coordinates insert also the approximate...

Page 61: ...TO or Alt Az as needed respectively Figure 4 3h SkySafari communication settings panel In case of a Macintosh and iOS device connection via Wi Fi an IP Address of 10 0 0 1 and a Port Number 4030 shoul...

Page 62: ...n after the connection has been done is suggested to uncheck it and leave it always unchecked because the StarGO keep in memory the Location also after the shutdown NOTE Readout Rate option setting th...

Page 63: ...e Polar Alignment 2 After few seconds the Connect button will change to read Disconnect A chime will sound and the telescope FOV pointer position CCD or eyepiece on the SkySafari screen will appear ex...

Page 64: ...atorial mode is useful to understand the event sequence and its results They were taken a just after the connection has occurred Figure 4 4c b at the moment of syncing to a near South Meridian star Fi...

Page 65: ...e At this point is possible to tap the Align command on the Telescope Bar Figure 4 4e System aligned This will cause the movement of the telescope pointer to the North Celestial Pole see oval 7 at the...

Page 66: ...ide of SkySafari screen below On the left the RA direction controls and on the right the DEC controls The telescope movement rate can be adjusted using the yellow Rate slide bar above the telescope co...

Page 67: ...r the app installation and use The starting point for the installation is the establishment of communication between the Android device and StarGO hardware This operation has been already described in...

Page 68: ...Sources within the Security menu Figure 5 1 b Enable unknown resources function 5 2 Application Use As with all Android apps StarGO BT is launched by touching the icon created during the installation...

Page 69: ...n screen looks familiar because it is dominated by the same directional keys and the central STOP key that have equivalent functions of the StarGO software keys Figure 5 2 a StarGO BT interface The sp...

Page 70: ...the desired tracking speed Sidereal Solar Moon and Earth The latter is used for taking terrestrial time lapse pictures The MISCELLANEOUS Figures 5 3b 5 3c 5 3d label controls the auxiliary functions i...

Page 71: ...touching the MOUNT SETTING Fig 5 3e label brings up a set of commands to reverse the motion direction of the RA and or the DEC motors to chose among the M zero ________________________________________...

Page 72: ...hat both applications StarGO BT and Sky Safari have identical geographic coordinates or unpredictable mount behaviours could ensue If the Android device s internal GPS is used to obtain Latitude and L...

Page 73: ...panel i e the 8 8 model The modeling function is particularly useful in fixed observatory installations however for the speed of its execution it may be used also for mobile setup for visual observati...

Page 74: ...th calls for the Polar Alignment function and the last activates the Sky Model tool Below the picture there are two progress bars that will show the solving process time to solve average time to solve...

Page 75: ...ction is to build a sky model for imaging In case your CCD Camera has no ASCOM Driver it is possible to use MaximDL for image acquisition It is also possible to take images outside ASCOM and then use...

Page 76: ...OCAL Solving is needed to che the related check box If the Local Plate Solve method is chosen it will be necessary to enter the telescope focal length and the radius of the search range expressed in d...

Page 77: ...and star plate soving after downloading SOLVED RA and DEC The actual coordinates of the solved image SOLVE After GOTO right frame Acquires an image and solve it just after a GOTO completion SYNC Afte...

Page 78: ...ec as exposure time and binning 2 Make a Plate Solve Sync the telescope on the target works only in case of positive solved image Use this method if an imaging session is planned for only a few target...

Page 79: ...updated and the point color change to green d If the plate solving failed the point color become red e In any case the telescope will slew to the next point repeating the operation a to d for all poin...

Page 80: ...tton initiate the live view function on the base of the shooting parameters defined in the PLATE SOLVE tab Figure A2 6b The ABORT button will immediately stop the operation of any acquisition and or s...

Page 81: ...the minimum elevation in degrees above the horizon to be used in the process Double clicking on the white rectangles above and under the number will change the desired value The third frame allows th...

Page 82: ...78 74 79 2 61 8 110 4 The fraction of turn to be applied may be calculated dividing the values of the errors provided by the X Solver by the number of the table for each avalon mount A2 8 TIPS TROUBL...

Page 83: ...en a new StarGO software application is first launched and connected a warning message will appear indicating that the existing StarGO firmware within the hardware is obsolete and incompatible with th...

Page 84: ...application window to open as below Figure B 2a Firmware Upgrading loading window NOTE Avalon Instruments provides the firmware to be installed pre set with generic parameters so that the existing set...

Page 85: ...g window 3 A warning window will appear informing the user that the uploading utility will set the default configuration overwriting the current settings So the user will be invited to save his own co...

Page 86: ...Firmware upgrading completed 6 Restart StarGO and connect it A warning will appear informing that the mount is not configured asking to reload the Mount Configuration File previously saved 7 Pressing...

Page 87: ...Figure B 2 g StarGO Misconfiguration Warning Figure B 2 h StarGO Mount Configuration File selecting ____________________________________________________________________ All Rights reserved 87...

Page 88: ...configuration NOTE The uploader is able to restart its function even after an accidental interruption of the uploading process without any risk of StarGO hardware damage In this case the led does not...