Star Base Telescope Operation Manual

This is the manual for the safe start up and operation of the Star Base Telescope.

Power Startup

1. Ensure that the Main Power Switch is in the Downward “Off” position. 2. Turn on the Phase Generator by pressing the red button. (See Figure 2) 3. Wait until Phase Generator is fully running (this should take a maximum of 5 seconds). 4. Flip the Main Power Switch into the Upward “On” position. 5. Turn on the Amplifiers. (See Figure 1) 6. Turn on the Encoder Controller. (Switch in back of controller. See Figure 1) 7. Press the enter button on controller.

“Finding Zeros” Routine (Should be done at the start of each day of observation)

1. Open the “West Telescope Program” or “East Telescope Program” by clicking on the

corresponding icon on the Desktop. 2. Click the white “Run” arrow in the tool bar at the top of the window. 3. Click the “Set Up Communication” button.

1. Figure 8's should now be showing on the amplifiers. 4. Click “manual control” tab at the top of the window. 5. Click the “Encoder Is On” button.

1. The button should now read “Encoder Is Off” 6. Click “Start Manual Control” button.

1. “Start Manual Control” button should be dark. 2. Other buttons above and below this should be lighter than before and un-clickable

7. Click the “Up” and “Right” buttons displayed in the middle of the screen. 8. Set corresponding boxes (speeds) to 10. 9. Walk out to the encoder, and wait until coordinate numbers begin changing. 10. Set both speeds back to 0. 11. Deselect “Up” and “Right” buttons by clicking on them. 12. Click “End Manual Control”

Positioning Routine

1. Click the “Positioning” tab. 2. Click the “Go to a Position” button. 3. Browse to Desktop/Data Files/Position Data. 4. Double click a Position. Confirm. 5. Click the “Start” button 6. When the telescope arrives, click the “Stop” button 7. Deselect “Go to a Position” button by clicking on it.

Manual Position Entry Routine

1. Click the “Positioning” tab. 2. Click the “Manual Entry” button. 3. Enter desired position manually. 4. Click “Start” button. 5. When the telescope arrives, click the “Stop” button. 6. Deselect “Manual Entry” by clicking on it.

Tracking a Star Routine

1. Click the “Positioning” tab. 2. Click the “Track a Star” button. 3. Browse to Desktop/Data Files/Star Data. 4. Double click desired star.

1. It is possible to filter the star data to a more specific range by entering a minimum and maximum into the boxes at the top of the page.

5. Click the “Yes” button. 6. Click the “Start” button.

1. To make corrections, enter an estimate correction into azimuth and elevation correction boxes. If the star is still not centered, re-estimate your corrections as necessary. 2. Enter accurate corrections into the data log book.

7. Click the “Stop” button when done. 8. Deselect “Track a Star” button by clicking on it.

When Finished

1. Click the “Positioning” tab. 2. Click the “Go to a Position” button. 3. Browse to Desktop/Data Files/Position Data 4. Double Click either “West home position” or “East home position” depending on which

telescope has been running. 5. Click the “Start” button. 6. When the telescope arrives, click the “Stop” button. 7. Deselect the “Go to a Position” button by clicking on it. 8. Go to the “Main” tab. 9. Click the “End Communication” button. 10. Click the “Stop Program” button. 11. Turn off the Amplifiers. 12. Turn off the Encoder Controller. 13. Flip the Main Power switch to the Downward “Off” position. 14. Making sure step 13 is completed first, turn off the Phase

Generator by pressing the black button.

Figure 1: The Amplifier/Encoder box in the West Telescope Hangar

Figure 2: The Power Switch and Phase Generator behind the shed between the hangars