Baader Planetarium 10Micron HPS Series Instruction manual

1
All functions for setting-up and operating a 10Micron HPS-Mount can be accessed via the Keypad,
you do NOT need a laptop/computer
1. SETUP / PREPARATIONS (if possible, do this during daylight)
1.1 SET UP THE MOUNT
Attach the mount head onto the tripod. Roughly align the mount with a compass in such a way that the
telescope faces north. Set the altitude with the scale at the side to your geographical latitude. Connect
mount and keypad with the control-box. Connect the control-box to the 24V power supply or two optional
Powertanks which are connected together with the special connector cable. Take a crosshair-eyepiece
and do not use a star diagonal, even if looking through the telescope this way is uncomfortable for the
alignment mentioned in step 2.
1.1 MOUNT AND BALANCE TELESCOPE AND ACCESSORIES
Attach all instruments and accessories to the telescope (incl. camera and finderscope). If you use a reflec-
ting (catadioptic) telescope, make sure that the main mirror is locked; make also sure that the focuser is
locked. Now you can start to balance both axes of the mount precisely. Use the mounts balancing function
to achieve this. Once both axes are in balance, fix them by hand.
Menu > Drive > Balance > Balance RA
Menu > Drive > Balance > Balance Dec
4-line display
Direction Keys North-West-South-East
to move RA and DEC-axes
Scroll keys for the menu lists. During operation,
they can change the motor speed
Confirm inputs or execute functions
Menu-key
ESC-key, takes you back
to a higher level in the menu
Use this key to manually abort Goto-processes
if there is a risk of collisions or disrupted cables.
QUICKSTART-MANUAL
for setting-up 10Micron HPS-Mounts

GM Montierungen
High Precision – for your astronomical future
2 3
1.3 BASIC SETTINGS OF THE KEYPAD
Please enter the current values for the following settings into the keypad exactly in this order:
a) Activate or deactivate daylight-savings time.
Menu > Local Data > Clock >: Daylight SavON oder Daylight SavOFF
b) Enter your timezone (Central Europe: +01:00)
Menu > Local Data > Clock > Local Timezone
c) Enter the current date and time accurate to the second.
Menu > Local Data > Clock > Date and Time
d) Enter the coordinates of your location and save the data.
Menu > Local Data > Site > Enter
For example: Geographic Longitude: Lon E007 20‘ 30‘‘. Geographic Latitude: Lat N49° 14‘ 55‘‘
E/W: East/West (Longitude), N/S: North/South (Latitude)
e) During the alignment, Dual Axis Tracking must be turned off. There must be no asterisk * at this option.
Menu > Drive > Dual tracking
Please note: Alternatively at step c) the time can be synchronized via PC and the Tool „ClockSync“,
at step d) you can connect a GPS-Module (#1454105), to automatically import time and coordinates.
2. ALIGNMENT (Polar Alignment and final pointing model, to be done at night)
2.1 POLAR ALIGNMENT
a) Adjust the finderscope by pointing the telescope at a bright star, focussing and centering it in the
eyepiece and then adjusting the finderscope onto that star.
b) Move the mount to the Park-Position. The telescope must point north.
Menu > Alignment > Park (do not use the option Park Position !)
c) Use the finderscope to adjust azimut and elevation of the polar axis manually so that it points to the
celestial pole, if it is visible.
d) Delete all previous alignment data which may still be stored in the mount.
Menu > Alignment > Clear align
e) Do a 3-Star-Alignment. Point the telescope at the stars and center them with the direction keys of the
keypad in a crosshair eyepiece. If the star is not visible in the eyepiece, use the finderscope first. The
precision of the aligment depends on the precision with which you center the star in the eyepiece.
You will achieve the best results if you use a camera and a digital cross-aim on a computer display
instead of a crosshair eyepiece.
Please note: The first three Alignment-Stars should be on the same side of the meridian, so that you
don‘t have to move the mount from east to west over the meridian. The stars should be at least 30°
above the horizon and form a very large triangle. This way, you avoid the influence of atmospherical
refraction.
Please note: Do not use the pole star for alignment.
Menu > Alignment > 3-stars
f) Now you need to adjust the R.A. axis. Select a star (you will achieve best results, if the star is inside of
the triangle of alignment stars), confirm and center it in the crosshair by manually adjustig azimut and
elevation of the mount‘s head.
Menu > Alignment > Polar Align
g) Take a look at the values for the achieved precision of the alignment:
Menu > Alignment > Align info
»If the value Polar align err. is larger than 2’ (minutes of arc), you need to repeat the
steps d) to g) – incl. deleting the alignment data!
»If the value is smaller than 2’ (minutes of arc), proceed with step 2.2 Refine Alignment
Remember: The smaller the value is, the better is the polar alignment of your mount. If you want to work
without and autoguider (UNGUIDED) with large focal lengths (> ~1.000mm) and cameras with small
pixels (< 6 Micron), the value should be closer to 1,5’.
2.2 FINAL POINTING MODEL: 3-STARS-ALIGNMENT AND REFINEMENT
Now you need to improve the adjustment of the alignment by adding further stars to the pointing model.
This is done with the function REFINE.
a) Delete all alignment data, which are still stored in the mount.
Menu > Alignment > Clear Align
b) Do another 3-Star-Alignment.
Menu > Alignment > 3-stars
c) Add further stars to the pointing model with the Refine-function.
Menu > Alignment > Refine Stars
»If you use a guiding system, you should add at least three more stars by repeating the function
REFINE three times. Always use an odd number of stars.
»If you are imaging without an autoguider (UNGUIDED), you should add at least 11 more stars –
21 would be better. Always use an odd number of stars.
d) Now you have to activate Dual Tracking for both axes, then you can start
Menu > Drive > Dual Tracking

4
e) e)Make sure that you are using the correct tracking speed. For Deep Sky, you must select sidereal:
*Sidereal
Menu > Drive > Tracking Speed
With this proven and tested method you should be able to take
»images with an autoguider (GUIDED) for up to 20 minutes of exposure time.
»images without an autoguider (UNGUIDED) with focal lengths of ~1.000mm
with exposure times of up to 10 minutes.
Authorized 10Micron dealer:
© Baader Planetarium 2017. All Rights reserved. Products or instructions may change without notice or obligation. Images and
illustrations may differ slightly from the original products. We reserve the right of errors. Reproduction of this brochure, complete or
in parts, only with written permission by Baader Planetarium GmbH
GM 1000 HPS and TEC 140:
Canon 5D Mark II, exposure
10x7min., 400 ISO.
UNGUIDED!
M-13 : © Markus Beer
GM 1000
GM 2000
GM 4000
GM 3000