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The Open University astronomy club has just had a new Paramount mount attached to its Sky software in its obervatory.
We can’t get it setup so if there’s anyone able to assist with this we are willing to pay expenses and perhaps a meal.
HELP please as we are unable to take local schools, cubs, brownies, scouts etc round.Sheridan Williams
We have been given the mount and I’ve tried following the manual however…
I switched the scope on and loaded The Sky software, the software recognised the scope and when I clicked on Home it slewed to a position different to where I found it.I managed to slew to an object so got quite excited. I tried the joystick hand controller and this only worked in E-W not in N-S.
I checked the time which was correct and then checked the location which was set for somewhere in the US. So I changed this to the exact lat/long for the observatory.
From then on nothing worked, the scope started bleeping and the was no way to stop it doing so.
Slewing gives an error code: 2003
When I clicked on Home I got error code 212.
We would gladly pay you out of club funds to help us set it up.
Could you respond to: sw@clock-tower.com or phone 07767 788146?Sheridan Williams
Paul is more experienced, but the way I would start out is.
Install TheSkyX
Install the driver
Connect USB cable to mount
Set mount into balance position and reengage the gear.
Power up mount
Sync the laptop time in Windows
Run TheSkyX
Make sure your location is set (Google earth can give long/lat)
Tell TheSkyX to Connect to mount (I assume its an older mount and you select the COM port first – newer mounts don’t need that)
Tell TheSkyX to Home (listen for 2 tones as it slews in RA/Dec)
Choose a target not far from Home position using the cursor and slew to that… Watch the OTA to check it moves in both Dec and RA….If it does all that okay you’re 9/10ths there.
Personally I would ignore the hand controller until everything works fine from the computer as thats the best way to schedule a public viewing.
It may not end up pointing at the target you selected until the thing is polar aligned. Doing a brief manual TPoint was the way I worked out the adjustment initially using an OTA with a 1 degree FOV. TPoint provides instruction on whether the Azimuth or altitude needs adjustment – and how much.
Theres a list of error messages here: https://www.bisque.com/wp-content/cs-content/help/scripting/thesky6/software_bisque_error_codes.htm
I couldn’t find error 2003. Did you mean 22003?
The Software Bisque support Forums provide a mine of information for troubleshooting Paramount problems, sometimes even the Bisque brothers respond. You do have to register though, but it’s a formality (under My Account/Register). The support page is https://www.bisque.com/support/ but you won’t be able to see the forums until you are registered and logged in….
Martin
These were previously done when before I tried to use the scope:
Install TheSkyX
Install the driver
Connect USB cable to mount
Set mount into balance position and reengage the gear. (Not sure what reengage the gear means)I then:
Power up mount
Sync the laptop time in Windows
Run TheSkyX
Made sure your location is set (Google earth can give long/lat)
Told TheSkyX to Connect to mount (yes it’s an older mount and selected the COM port first)
Told TheSkyX to Home (listen for 2 tones as it slews in RA/Dec)
From then on the mount keeps constantly beeping and will not respond to slew requests with out giving an error.I live a few miles from the obsevatory and can’t interact with an advisor as I try different things, it needs to be set up urgently and we are happy to pay someone to help if anyone is available.
Sheridan Williams
Our Paramount will send out warning bleeps if we try to send it below the limits set on our declination axis.
I cant remember what the error code was but just check if the limits were still set for when the mount was set for its US location.
Will it return to its park poosition? If not switch it off, loosen the RA and Dec axes, and manually slew it back to its park position (pointing north).
Switch it back on and start again.David
When you set up the mount, the weights should be adjusted so that if you disengage the gears/worms (only do this if someone has a very firm hold on the counterweight arm) the telescope can be pushed to any position by finger.
Is that the case with this mount? If the telescope is strongly out of balance then the Home request may fail.
Also, am not quite clear from what you wrote. Does it complete the Home operation (with two tone noises) and come to a complete halt without producing the error message or does it only produce the error message when you try a subsequent slew?
I am with Martin on this one, the help support from the SB website is a good place to look to cure this problem – but its not rapid.
Balance checked OK.
I’ve been getting the attached error messages, so I checked the PC’s port settings and it might be an old serial-USB adapter so I’ll try another one.
Also we are using Sky6 so maybe we need SkyX.
Any ideas?Attachments:
Sheridan Williams
Ah, the code is 19 years old. Am impressed it ran. Do you know what version of Windows the previous owner was using?
It might be worth:
1, Try a newer serial port cable
2, If running on a modern version of Windows run TheSky6 in an appropriate compatibility mode ie if was running on W98 run the TheSky6 application in W98 compatibility mode on W8, W10 or W11
3, Get TheSky6 licence transferred to you, set up SB account and raise problem on their help groups.
4, Consider buying the previous owner’s laptop with working code on from them. 🙂
5, Consider updating to TheSkyX plus necessary add ons – expensive possibly.Sheridan,
A later version 10.2.0 or newer SkyX software needs to be installed this works with Windows 7 or 10.
Regards,
Jack
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