KONUS DIGIMAX - 90 User manual

“Go-To” Maksutov-Cassegrain
DIGIMAX-90
󲰖90mm (3.6”) F. 1250 f/13.8
INSTRUCTIONS

“Go-To” Maksutov-Cassegrain
DIGIMAX-90
SKYSCAN AZ
The Skyscan AZ is a precision-engineered instrument that will allow you to easily find
and enjoy viewing night sky treasures, such as planets, nebulae, star clusters, galax-
ies and much more. The hand control allows you to point your telescope at a specific
object or even tour the skies at the touch of a button. The user-friendly menu system
allows automatic slewing to over 42,900 objects.
POWERING THE SKYSCAN AZ
The Skyscan Az should be powered by 11-15V DC power supply (tip-positive) ca-
pable of producing continuous current of minimum 1 amps. Correctly plug the power
cord into the 12V DC outlet on the mount. For Multi-function telescopes, flip the
Power Switch to the “on” position to turn on the power.

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DIGIMAX-90
SKYSCAN AZ HAND CONTROL
The Skyscan Az hand control cable has a RJ-45 with 8 connecting pins on one end
and a RJ-12 with 6 connecting pins on the other end. Plug the RJ-45 end into the
hand control (fig. c) and the other end into the outlet on the mount (fig. b). On the
bottom of the hand control, the middle port is used for RS-232 communications be-
tween the Skyscan AZ and a computer or other devices.
The DC power port allows independent use of the SkyScan Az hand control for users
who whish to browse the database or update the firmware without connecting to the
telescope (fig. c)
NOTE:
The DC power port on the hand control is for hand control stand-alone applications
only. For telescope applications, use the 12V DC outlet on the mount.
• To connect the Skyscan AZ to a PC, use only the RS-232 cable provided with the
mount.
The Skyscan Az hand control allows direct access to all the motion controls of the
telescope and a database with a range of preset objects. The Hand control comes
with a dual-line, 16 character display screen that is backlit for comfortable viewing of
the telescope information and scrolling text. To explore the many functions that the
SkyScan Az has to offer, there are 4 main categories of control on the Hand Control
(fig. d).
MODE KEYS
The mode keys are located near the top, close to the LCD display. They include the
ESC, ENTER, and SETUP keys:
ESC key is used to escape from a certain command or to go back a level in the menu
tree.
SETUP key is a quick hot key that takes you to the Setup submenu.
ENTER key is used to select the functions and submenus in the menu tree, and to
confirm certain functional operations.

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DIGIMAX-90
DIRECTIONAL KEYS
The directional keys allow complete control of the telescope at almost any step in the
SkyScan’s operation. These controls are locked out when the telescope is slewing
to an object. They are normally used to initially align, center objects in the eyepiece,
and manual guiding. The left and right directional keys can also be used to move the
text curser when entering data to the hand control.
SCROLL KEYS (FIG. E)
The up and down scroll keys allow you to scroll up and down within the menu tree
or selections.
DUAL PURPOSE KEYS
These keys range from the middle to the bottom of the hand control. They serve two

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DIGIMAX-90
distinct purposes data entry and quick reference hot keys.
TOUR key (fig.f) takes you on a preset tour across the sky you are currently under.
RATE key (fig. f) changes the speed rate of the motors when the direction keys are
pressed. There are 10 speeds to choose from: 0 (slowest) to 9 (fastest).
UTILITY key (fig.f) shows functions such as Show Position, Display Time....etc.
USER key (fig. f) gives access to up to 25 user-defined coordinates.
ID key (fig. f) identifies the object the telescope is currently pointing to.
NGC, IC, M, PLANET and OBJECT keys (fig. g) allow direct access to SkyScan da-
tabase of over 42,900 objects.
HAND CONTROL OPERATION
INITIAL SETUP
1. Make sure the mount is level to the ground.
2. Point the telescope roughly to one or a group of visible bright stars in the sky.
3. Connect the hand control to the mount with the provided cable. For autoTracking
telescopes, plug the DC12 volt power into the outlet of the mount to turn on the pow-
er. For Multi-function telescopes simply flip the power switch to the “on” position.
4. the initial screen displayed on the hand control is the Version screen. Press ENTER
to proceed.
5. The hand control will display a warning concerning pointing of telescope at the sun
without proper equipment. If you have read the message already, pressing ESC will
bypass the message and skip to the next step.
The hand control’s red light will become dimmer and the backlight of the key pads
will turn off if idle for 30 seconds. Pressing any key turns it back on.
6. Enter the telescope’s current latitudinal and longitudinal position using the numeric
keypad. First enter the longitudinal coordinate, followed by the latitudinal coordinate.
Use the scroll keys to choose between W or E, and N or S. Pressing the left or right
directional keys will move the cursor to the previous or next number. Press ENTER to
confirm. The format you enter should look like this: 123 04’W 49 09’N.
7. Enter your current time zone in hours and minutes (see Appendix C) using the scroll
keys and numeric key pad (+ for East - for West). Press ENTER to confirm. The format
you enter should look like this if you are in Pacific Standard Time (PST): -08:00
8. Enter the date in the following format mm/dd/yyyy using the numeric keypad.
Press ENTER to confirm.
9. Enter your current local time using the 24ht time mode (e.g. 2:00PM=14:00). Press
ENTER to view the time you just entered. If it is incorrect, press ESC to go back to
the previous screen. If correct, press ENTER again to proceed to the daylight saving

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setting.
10. After entering the current time, the Skyscan AZ will prompt “DAYLIGHT SAV-
ING?” use the scroll keys to make the selection and press ENTER to confirm.
After setting the daylight saving, Skyscan will display “Begin alignment?”. Press “1”
or ENTER to start the alignment procedure. Press “2” or ESC to skip the alignment
and exit to the main menu.
• If a mistake was entered into the SkyScan Az hand control, press the ESC key to
go back to the previous menu, and press ENTER to start again.
STAR ALIGNMENT
In order for the SkyScan Az to correctly point to objects in the sky, it must first be
aligned to two or three known positions (stars) in the sky. As the Earth rotates on its
axis every 24 hours, astronomical objects appear to move through the sky following
an arc. With the supplied information, the telescope can replicate a model of the sky
and the movements of astronomical objects. Star alignment can be done anytime
during the observing session by choosing Alignment under Setup Mode, in the Main
Menu.
There are two ways to align the SkyScan AZ - Brightest Star alignment and 2-Star
alignment. If you are using the Skyscan AZ for the first time, and you are not familiar
with the celestial object in the sky, we recommend that you begin with the Brightest
Alignment. The Brightest star alignment will prompt and help you find the brightest
star of a specific direction in the sky at your current site. It is convenient for user to
identify the brightest star in the sky. Before performing the alignment method, make
sure that your finderscope is well aligned with the telescope tube. See the next page
for tips on how to choose the alignment stars. Below describes a step-by-step pro-
cedure on how to perform the brightest star alignment.
BRIGHTEST STAR ALIGNMENT
1. In the Alignment screen, select Brightest-Star Align using the scroll keys. Press
ENTER to confirm. The hand control will prompt “Select Region” for you to select
one of the eight directional divisions in azimuth angle from the north, northeast, east,
southeast to northwest etc. Each division covers 90-degree span in azimuth. That
means if you select the northeast sky, the division will cover from 0 degree to 90 de-
grees in azimuth where North equals to 0 or 360 degree in azimuth angle, East equals
to 180 degree in azimuth angle, and West equals to 270 degree in azimuth angle. The
table on the right is the range of the eight directional divisions

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DIRECTIONAL DIVISION SPAN RANGE IN AZIMUTH
The northern sky 315°-45°
The northeast sky 0° - 90°
The eastern sky 45°-135°
The southeast sky 90° - 180°
The southern sky 135° - 225°
The southwest sky 180° - 270°
The western sky 225° - 315°
The northwest sky 270° - 360°
2. Once the directional division has been selected, the hand control will calculate and
generate a list of the stars located within this region that are brighter than 1.5 in mag-
nitudes. The stars and planets below 10 degrees, higher than 75 degrees in elevation
or fainter than 1.4 in magnitudes will be filtered out.
3. The name and magnitude of the alignment star will be
displayed on the first line of the LCD. The approximate
position will be prompted on the second line. For exam-
ple, if Arcturus is prompt as alignment star, its magnitude
is 0.0 and location is at 88.1 degree east and 24.1 degree
above the horizon. You will see the LCD displays as shown in fig. H.
4. For the first alignment star, the mount will not slew to the star automatically. use the
directional buttons to manually slew the telescope to point to the object in the finder
and then center it in the eyepiece. You may change the sweling speed by pressing
the RATE button, and then choose a number between 0 (slowest) - 9 (fastest).
5. Once the star has been centered in the eyepiece, if it is a planet the hand control
will prompt you to reselect a star from the list and the first alignment star. Otherwise
the hand control will prompt a list of objects for you to choose as the second align-
ment star. Select an object from the list. The hand control will command the mount
to slew the telescope to point to the object.
Center the object in the eyepiece again. If both alignment stars are properly aligned
“Alignment Successful” will display on the LCD. Otherwise, the warning “Alignment
ailed” will show and the alignment will have to be done again. You may exit the align-
ment procedure by pressing the ESC key anytime during the procedure.
• The slewing speed can be adjusted by pressing on the RATE button. Then choose
a number between 0 (slowest) - 9 (fastest).

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• Skyscan Az will beep once when it has finished slewing to an object. Do not try to
adjust the telescope before you hear the beep.
Skyscan Az will only respond to the ESC key while slewing.
TWO-STAR ALIGNMENT
The two star alignment procedure is similar to the Brightest Star alignment, except
that the hand control will not prompt for you to select a directional region for a bright
star. Below describes a step-by-step procedure on how to perform the Two-Star
alignment.
1. In the alignment screen, select 2-Star using the scroll keys. Press ENTER to con-
firm.
2. The Skyscan Az will provide a list of stars available in your current sky for you to
choose as the first alignment str. Using the scroll keys, choose a star you are most
familiar with and press ENTER. The telescope will not automatically selw to the first
selected alignment star. Use the directional buttons to manually slew the telescope to
point to the object. Now look through the eyepiece and adjust the telescope so that
the object is centered in the field of view of the eyepiece. Press ENTER to confirm.
3. Skyscan Az will now provide a list of objects for the second alignment star. Choose
a star using the scroll keys and press ENTER. The telescope will start slewing to-
wards the chosen object. When the slewing stops, adjust the telescope with the di-
rectional keys until the star is centered on the crosshairs in the finderscope. Repeat
the centering procedure to center the object in the field of the eyepiece and press
ENTER to confirm.
4. If both alignment stars are properly aligned, “Alignment successful” will display on
the LCD. Otherwise the warning “Alignment failed” will show and the alignment will
have to be done again.
• Following is some pointers on how to choose appropriate alignment stars:
Select two stars that are at least 60 degrees apart. The more distance between the
two alignment stars, the better accuracy the alignment will produce. Choosing two
stars with the same altitude in elevation will also create a better result.
POINTING ACCURACY ENHANCEMENT (PAE)
Both the star alignment methods provide alignment adequate for any visual observing
purpose. For applications that require extra precision in a particular part of the sky,
theSkyscan Az provides a Pointing Accuracy Enhancement (PAE) function to further
improve the accuracy. The PAE can be performed in 85 zones to cover the whole sky.
The area(s) where the chosen alignment star(s) is located should be already mapped

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DIGIMAX-90
out accurately by the Skyscan Az. Further accuracy enhancement is not necessary.
The following provides a step-by-step procedure on how to perform PAE:
1. Use the direction keys to center the last go-to object, then go to the next step (this
step may be skipped)
2. Press and hold down the ESC key for 2 seconds. The hand control will display
“Re-center” and the name of the reference object will appear in a blinking mode (3
times). If the go-to command is sent from the planetarium software, instead of the
name of the object, the hand control will display “Last goto object”.
3. Make sure that the reference object is still in the center of the view and press EN-
TER. If you do not wish to record the result, press ESC to abort the operation. After
pressing ENTER, the Skyscan will record the amount of pointing inaccuracy and
recalculate the model of the sky. Now the pointing accuracy of this particular part of
the sky should be greatly improved.
NOTE: The result for the star alignment and PAE is stored in the hand control even
after the power has been shut off. You will only need to perform the star alignment
once as long as these two criteria are met: 1. The telescope is moved to its home
position (Park the telescope) before turning off the power. 2. The telescope setup,
including the mount, has not been moved.
Accessory change is acceptable as long as it is done with great caution. When the
hand control is turned on for the next time, make sure that the time entered dur-
ing initial setup is based on the same source as last time. For example, if you enter
the time on your watch during this observing session, the time you enter next time
should also be read from your watch.
OBJECT CATALOGUE
Object database in the Skyscan AZ
The Skyscan Az comes with a vast database with over 42,900 objects coordinates
and information all available in the palm of your hand. The database contains the fol-
lowing catalogs:
Solar system:- The other 8 planets of our solar system plus the Moon
Named star: A list of 212 best known stars from the Skyscan Az database
*NGC: 7,840 of the brightest deep sky objects from the Revised New General Cata-
log.
IC: 5,386 of standard stars and deep sky objects from the Indexed Catalog.
MESSIER: Complete list of 110 Messier objects
Caldwell: complete list of 109 Caldwell objects
Double Stars: Includes 55 well-known double stars

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DIGIMAX-90
Variable stars: Includes 20 well-known variable stars
SAO: Includes 29,523 stars
SELECTING AN OBJECT
Once the telescope has been aligned, you can now access and view the 42,900 dif-
ferent objects in the Skyscan database. There are three methods of selecting a ce-
lestial object to view:
TOUR: Takes you on a preset tour across your current sky. It
will automatically choose from the database the brightest and
most beautiful deep-sky objects for your viewing pleasure.
Use the down scroll key to view trough the deep sky objects.
Choose the desired object by pressing ENTER. It will show
the coordinate of the chosen object. Pressing ENTER once
more will cause the telescope to slew to the object.
M, NGC, IC: These shortcut keys give you access to the most
popular celestial catalogues to date. Each Catalog has a set
number of objects to choose from. Use the numeric keys to
select an object by entering its number. Pressing ENTER will
display its coordinate. Primary information such as size, mag-
nitude, and constellation are obtained by pressing the scroll
keys. Pressing ENTER once more will cause the telescope to
slew the object.
PLANET: This shortcut key takes you straight to the Plan-
ets sub menu in the database. Use the scroll keys to scroll
through the list of planets in our solar system. Press ENTER
to view its coordinates, and ENTER once more to slew to the
planet.
USER: This will take you to the database that you have de-
fined for yourself. You can enter a new location or recall the objects that have been
previously saved (see Using the User Defined Database).
The OBJECT key takes you to the Objects Catalogue, where you have complete
access to over 42,900 celestial objects in the database (see Object database in the
Skyscan Az and the menu tree).
MENU (FIG.K): In the main Menu, scroll down to Object catalog and press ENTER.
Similar to the OBJECT key, this gives you the complete access to all 42,900 celes-
tial objects in the database. (see Objects database in the Skyscan Az and the menu
tree)

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DIGIMAX-90
OTHER FEATURES
UTILITY FUNCTIONS
Utility Functions are useful tools that provide simple, one-step precesses to your
Skyscan Az.
SHOW POSITION: This displays the coordinates of the location where the telescope
is currently pointed.
SHOW INFORMATION: Under this submenu, you may check local time, local sideral
time, hardware, firmware and database version of the Skyscan hand control. If the
hand control is connected to the mount, this menu will also display the firmware of
motor control board.
PARK SCOPE: This moves the telescope to the Home position or parks the tele-
scope at the current previously stored parking position.
PAE: Pointing accuracy Enhancment function.
CLEAR PAE DATA: This allows you to clear all PAE data.
GPS: This allows you to obtain information from the Skyscan GPS receiver
SETUP FUNCTIONS:
The setup functions allow you to change any system variable or information regard-
ing location, time, date, and alignment configurations. To access the Setup Func-
tions, either press SETUP key on the key pad or scroll to SETUP under menu option
using the scroll keys. Below lists the different types of functions available to you, and
their purposes.
Date: Allows you to change the date entered at the initial setup.
Time: Allows you to change the current time.
Observing site: Allows you to change the current location.
Daylight Savings: Allows you to change the Daylight Savings option.
Alignment: Allows you to perform the star alignment.
Alignment Stars:
Auto select: when this option is chosen, the hand control will filter out
the star not suitable for star alignment.
Sort by: this allows the hand control to generate a list of alignment stars
and display them alphabetically or by their magnitude.
Backlash: This feature allows you to insert a value for each axis to
compensate for its backlash. For better pointing accuracy, it is important that
the backlash value is set to be equal or greater than the real amount of
backlash between the gears. The default setting of the backlash is 0 d 00’ 00”
(0 degree, 0 arcmin. And 0 arcsec). Use the numeric keys to enter the desired

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DIGIMAX-90
value and press the RIGHT directional key to move the cursor to the next
digit. First set the value for R.A.
Press ENTER to proceed to DEC.
Tracking:
Sid. Rate: This activates tracking in Sideral rate (Dual Axis Tracking)
Lunar Rate: This activates tracking in Lunar rate (Dual Axes Tracking)
Solar Rate: This activates tracking in Solar rate (Dual Axes Tracking)
Stop Tracking: This stops the tracking instantly.
Handset Setting: this submenu allows adjustments of the brightness of the
LCD backlit, the darkness of the LCD lettering, the brightness of the LED
backlit and the beeper volume. Press the RIGHT or LEFT directional key to
increase or decrease the value.
Factory setting: This submenu allows you to reset the hand control to its
default setting.
USING THE USER DEFINED DATABASE
Skyscan AZ allows you to save up to 25 objects in the user defined database
SAVING AN OBJECT TO THE DATABASE
1. In the main Menu, use the scroll keys to scroll down
the list until you find Object Catalog. Press ENTER
2. Select User Defined in the Object Catalog scroll list
and press ENTER
NOTE: The User Defined menu can also be accessed by
pressing the quick reference hot key “USER” (number 9).
Fig. 1
3. The first available selection in the Object Catalog is
Recall Object. This is where you select previously-saved
objects to view. Use the scroll keys to scroll down to “Input Coordi>” and press EN-
TER.
4. The Skyscan Az stores the user-defined objects in two
formats-R.A./DEC and Alt(/AZ. Press 1 for R.A./Dec for-
mat and 2 for the Alt-azimuth format.
5. By default the Skyscan will display the R.A./DEC
or Alt/Az coordinates where the telescope is currently
pointed. In the case of R.A./Dec format the coordinate
readout will be similar to this “22h46.1m +90 00” (fig.
m) which means 22 hours and 46.1 minutes in R.A. and

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“+90 oo” in Dec. Change the coordinates using the numeric keypad and scroll keys.
Use the RIGHT or LEFT directional keys to move the cursor to the next or previous
digit. Press ENTER to save.
NOTE: If the R.A./Dec. coordinate entered does not exist, the Skyscan Az hand con-
trol will not respond when the ENTER key is pressed. Check the entry for mistake and
re-enter the correct coordinate.
6. To store an object/location in Alt/Az format, first point
the telescope to the desired location to obtain the Alt/Az
value, then press ENTER to save.
7. After the coordinates have been saved, the Skyscan
Az will display and User Object number as shown in Fig.
n. Use the scroll keys to change to the number you wish
to represent the coordinates and press ENTER.
8. The Skyscan Az will display “View Object?” and the
User Object number you just entered. Press ENTER to go to the object of ESC to
return to the Input Coordinate menu.
NOTE: The user Object number displayed may not be a vacant one. If you are unsure
which numbers are vacant, it is recommended that you first check for the available
numbers by recalling the saved user objects.
RECALLING AN USER DEFINED OBJECT
1. See Step 1-4 of “Saving an object to the database” for details on how to access
to the User Defined menu. Select Recall Object and press ENTER.
2. Use the scroll keys to browse through the User Object number until the number
representing the object you wish to view is present. Press ENTER to show its coor-
dinate. Press ENTER again to slew to the object. The hand control will not respond
if a vacant User Object number is selected. Use the scroll keys to choose another
number and try again
NOTE: If the recalled object is below horizon, the Skyscan Az hand control will dis-
play “below horizon” and automatically return to the Recall Object menu.
IDENTIFYING AN UNKNOWN OBJECT
Skyscan Az has the ability to identify the unknown object the telescope is currently
pointing at. To do so, simply
1. Press the ID key (fig. o) or scroll down to IDENTIFY the telescope menu and press
ENTER to identify the object.
2. The hand control will display a list containing the closest known object in each

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M, IC, NGC and Named Star catalogs and its distance to the
exact location where the telescope is pointed. Use the scroll
keys to view these objects.
3. Press ESC to exit from this function.
SKYSCAN AZ MENU TREE
MAIN MENU
SETUP MODE
- Date
- Time
- Observ. Site
- Daylight Saving
- Alignment
- Brightest star Align.
- 2-star alignment
- Alignment stars
- Auto Select
- Sort by
- Backlash
- Tracking
- Sidereal Rate
- Lunar Rate
- Solar Rate
- Stop Tracking
- Handset Setting
- Factory setting
UTILITY FUNC.
- Show Position
- Show Information
- Time
- Version
- Temperature
- Power voltage
- Park Scope
- PAE
- Clear PAE Data
- GPS
- PC Direct Mode
TOUR OBJECT CATALOG
- Solar System
- Mercury
- Venus
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
- Moon
- Named Star
- Messier Catalogue
- IC Catalog
- NGC Catalog
- Caldwell Catalog
- SAO Catalogue
- Double Star
- Variable Star
- User Defined
- Input Coordinate
- Recall Object
IDENTIFY

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
SKYSCAN AZ SPECIFICATIONS
Power Supply: 11 to 15 V DC 1 Amp (tip positive)
Motor type and resolution: DC servo Motors
Resolution: 0.8923 arc sec. or 1,452,425 steps/rev (AZ 80).
Slew speeds: Rate 0: 1.0X
Rate 1= 2.0X
Rate 2= 16X
Rate 3= 32X
Rate 4= 64X
Rate 5= 128X
Rate 6= 400X
Rate 7= 500X
Rate 8= 600X
Rate 9= 800X
Tracking rates: Sidereal, Lunar, Solar
Tracking mode: Dual Axes Tracking
Alignment Method: Brightest Star Alignment, Two-star Alignment
Database: 25 user defined objects. Complete M, NGC, and IC and
SAO catalogues, total 42,900 objects.
Pointing Accuracy: Up to 10 arc. Min.
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