Manual of Configuration and Use of

PicGoto Controller
and
PicGoto Server

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INDEX

1. Equatorial Controller - PicGoto. 2

2. Connecting the Controller. 4
3. Configuration and Use. 4
3.1. Installation of PicGoto Server. 4
3.2. Control and Coordinates. 4
3.2.1. KeyPad Panel. 4
3.2.2. Control Panel. 5
3.2.3. Log Panel. 7
3.3. Configuration of Mount and Selection of Speeds. 8
3.3.1. Mount Panel. 8
3.3.2. Misc Panel. 9
3.3.3. Conf Panel. 9
3.4. Control by means of Cartes Du Ciel. 10
3.5. Guiding with a WebCam and AstroSnap. 12
4. Other Programs. 13
5. Commercial Mounts. 14
6. Precautions. 15
7. Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements 15

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1. Equatorial Controller - PicGoto.

PicGoto is a system designed for the control of Equatorial Mounts. It is based on
accurate, configurable, step by step control of Right Ascension and Declination
speed and movement of any equatorial mount equipped with stepper motors. It is
fully configurable for different motor step sizes and gear reductions.
The circuit activates the motors in micro step (10 micro steps per step), which
results in greater smoothness and precision when compared to traditional
controllers of average steps. Optionally,it can also control the up and down ramp
speed with suitable motors.
The PicGoto controller connects to a personal computer or laptop/portable, through
the Serial Port. The software provided is compatible with the standard Protocol
known as LX200. It can be used with companion programs from Planetarium and
Goto or Guidance for capturing images.

It can be powered by Direct Current (DC battery, transformer) from 7 ~ 15 V. The

voltage will depend on the motor power and the slew speed wanted within the
limits imposed by the gear reduction of the mount.
PicGoto comes prepared to connect directly to a standard motorized EQ5 mount,
but is also adaptable to other systems of motors and mounts: Vixen, EQ6, Carton

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and to owner adapted motors, it is only necessary to change motor connectors.

PicGoto Server communicates directly with Cartes du Ciel and Astrosnap.
Practically all other software (with port redirection) can be adapted if it program
directly supports LX200 or the ASCOM protocol (The Sky, Skymap, Desktop
Universe, Astroart).
It supports auto guiding via a USB WebCam, or a Camcorder, if a video capture
device is used.
The control program implements a network server. The mount can be operated
from a separate computer (other than the Control computer) on a network or
through the Internet.
2. Connection of the Controller.
The connection is simple.
1. Connect the DB9 to any Serial Port available on the PC.
2. Connect the RJ45 (RJ12??) cables directly to the motors of the mount.
3. The control circuit box has a female pin for the DC power feed. The polarity is
Inner/Positive - Outer/ground. A regulated power supply of 6-12V with at least 1.2
Amps current is recommended.

3. Configuration and Use.

3.1. Installation of PicGoto Server.
The program installs when the Setup.exe file is executed Found at:
http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/Picgotogroup/files/Version2.7/.

If you are going to use Cartes du Ciel to control the mount it must be installed
before PicGoto Server.Cartes du Ciel is available free at the following URL:
http://astrosurf.com/astropc/cartes/prog/cdcinst.exe

For image capture and auto guiding, AstroSnap is recommended:

http://astrosnap.free.fr/telechargement.html
PicGoto Server will install by default in: C:\Program Files\PicGoto. You can modify
the installation directory to one of your choice. Setup will add a desktop icon for

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easy access to the program.

3.2. Control and Coordinates.

3.2.1. KeyPad Panel.
The KeyPad panel contains the buttons for movement and selection of manual
speed for the mount. The buttons marked with N, S, E, W and NE, NW, SE, SW
move the mount in the corresponding direction: north, south, east... northeast,
northwest etc.

Slew, Find, Center, Guide indicate the speed selected and the speed that the
telescope will move when we press the direction buttons. The value of these
speeds can be set for mount's configuration as explained later.
The program will respond to any installed joystick controller of the standard type
(Gameport), wireless, or USB. We can manually center, move or change the
selected speed while at the eyepiece or finder without having to look at the PC
monitor.
Accel selects the speed change or progressive slowdown. This is highly
recommended for mounts with low gear reduction and high slew speed, for most
other mounts this is not necessary.
EAST or West tells the program which way the the world appears to be rotating,
that is, if you are in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. It is important that this
setting is correct to make accurate GOTO searches and auto guiding corrections.
3.2.2. Control Panel
To monitor the position of the mount, select the Control tab.
If PicGoto controller is not connected you will get a Device not connected warning.
The green Position panel are the coordinates of mount in Right ascension and
Declination, Any change in postion made with the GamePad, the direction buttons
or with a GOTO will be shown instantaneously panel.

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The panels with red numbers are user entered coordinate values that will aim the
mount to these coordinates.
Sync. Syncronizing the mount. Point the mount to known bright star, enter the
star's coordinates and press Sync.
GOTO initiates the movements to the entered coordinates. The mount will go to the
object at the selected speed. The next software version will include routines for
auto alignment with two stars as opposed to one to obtain greater precision and
more accurate polar alignment.
If a compatible planetarium program the user can SYNC and GOTO by selecting
the object on the monitor display with the mouse (this is explained later in the
Manual).
Adjust: fixes the fine adjustment speed.
Focus: controls a user installed focusing motor.
3.2.3. LOG Panel
PicGoto server communicates with other programs using a TCP connection. In this
tab you can see the TCP traffic. This will confirm if the server has established a
connection with another program.

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In the image we can see traffic between Cartes du Ciel and the program. This is
useful to detect any kind of problem.

3.3. Configuration of Mount and Selection of Speeds.

3.3.1. Mount Tab.
PicGoto server comes configured for a standard motorized EQ5 mount. If you
wished to configure for a different mount it will be necessary to know following the
parameters:
1. Number of teeth of the primary gear
2. Relation of the reducing gear
3. Number of motor steps.
In the example is the configuration of mount EQ5 (VIXEN, cg5 or similar). In this
case the values are equal for both 144 teeth on each primary gear, 120:1 reduction
(120 turns of the worm per 1 turn of the crown) and a 48 step motor (7.5/step), as
we work to 10 micro steps the input value to is 480.

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3.3. Configuration of Mount and Selection of Speeds.

After introducing the values we pressed:
Save to store the configuration in the PC (it will be necessary to modify the values
again if we used another mount or we changed a mechanical part of the mount).
Save EEPROM if we wished to also record it in the PicGoto Controller (necessary
for the use of the guiding control and programs. The configuration will remain
although we maintain the setting between one session and the next).
After introducing the values you select either:
Save to store the configuration in the PC (it may be necessary to modify the values
again if you use another mount or change a mount's mechanical characteristics).
Save EEPROM if you wished to also record it in the PicGoto controller. This is
necessary for the use of the control and guiding programs. The configuration will
will be saved for your next session and will not have to be re-entered unless
mounts are changed.
3.3.2. Misc Tab
This panel monitors microcontroller (uP) activity and some other low level
parameters:
1. uP service load.
2. Virtual encoder gross values.
3. LED circuit brightness.

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The buttons +Speed and -Speed vary sidereal speed dramatically. This can be
useful alignment is way off. This value is not stored for future sessions.
3.3.3. Conf. Tab
Serial Settings is used to select the serial port where the PicGoto controller will
physically connect and the transfer speed (must be 19200 bps).

In Host Server frame it is possible the IP address and the Port where PicGoto
Server will accept connections. If the PC is not networked the specified values will
be those shown above: 127,0,0,1 and port 10001.
An IP address must be assigned logically to the PC.
3.4. Control By means of de Cartes Du Ciel.
Using Cartes du Ciel it is possible to control the mount using the LX200 protocol.

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The steps to make for the configuration are

.Start PicGoto Server.

. Start Cartes du Ciel.

1.

From the Tool Bar select "Telescope" "Select Scope

Interface" "LXnet."

2.

Open the "LX200" by "Telescope" "Configuration Panel...."

3.

Select the Server tab, enter the address of the remote server
(127,0,0,1) and remote port (10001) These are the values that you
have configured in the PicGoto Server.

4.

Select the "Port Config." tab.

5.

In "Serial Port:" select "TCP1."

6.

Select "Save Setting" before leaving the tab.

7.

Select the "Coordinates" tab.

8.

Select the "Connect" button. The indicator next to it should go

green from red.

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9.

You can verify that communication has been established by going

to the PicGoto Server Log panel and if there's traffic (see 3.2.3.).

Cartes du Ciel always opens with "Display Precision" at "Low", This can be
changed in the "Telescope" "Configuration Panel...." "Configuration" tab
"Display Precision" frame by selecting "High." Also in Configuration tab you
can select the refresh rate, the period in milliseconds between each request of
coordinates. It is not advisable to lower it to 300ms since that loads the PC. A rate
of 1000 ms is better. Once you have completed and saved the configuration,
whenever you restart your PC and reload the Server and Cartes du Ciel you must
carry out steps 2 and 9 and reset the Dispaly Precision. Then you can use Cartes
du Ciel interface, the PicGoto Server controls or of course the GamePad to control
any LX200 compatible mount.
For synchronization, GOTO, once you've positioned the telescope on the screen,
it's more comfortable to work with the CDC Control Panel hidden and to use Sync.
and GoTo buttons on PicGoto Server. The best reference is the Cartes du Ciel
Help file and little playing around.....
3.5. Autoguiding with a WebCam and AstroSnap
The PicGoto controller can communicate directly with AstroSnap to autoguide
using a WebCam. For this PicGoto Server does not have to be open at the time.
The best way is to use PicGoto to find the guide star and then to close the program
and let the telescope continue to be guided by AstroSnap. You can open or close
the software and be able to use the benefits of one or another program as you
think best. The configuration for this connection is shown in the screen capture
below.
You get to this screen by selecting Options from the AstroSnap main menu. The
LX200 Mount interface must be selected The serial port selected must be the
same one to which the PicGoto Controller is connected.
Once configured, press OK and then select Telescope from the main menu. The
GoTo functions are diabled. Thus the movement and speed of the mount controls
do not function.
If we have I modulate optional of approach control we can Focusing the image can
be done manually or by the Autofocus feature of the program. To get the best
autoguiding results study the Help file in AstroSnap.

4. Other Programs.
With Com/tcp it is possible to use almost any LX200 compatible astronomy
program using Com port redirector software. The Sky, Skymap, StarryNight,
AstroArt, Desktop Universe, as well as, ASCOM have been tested

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PicGoto for Windows NT/2000/XP will support the Com port redirection, but for
Win98 redirector software is necessary.
5, Commercial mounts
PicGoto tested with the following models Motorized Mounts:
Model
Synta EQ6
Motores Standard (48
steps)
Synta EQ6 +kit
Astromeccanica (200 steps)
Synta EQ6 + motores
Sanyo Denkki (200 steps)
Carton Supernova
Motores originales 48 steps
(baja potencia)
EQ5
Motores Originales (48)
steps

6.

Max Slew

Current @ 12V

Gear
reduction

35 X

700mA

132:1

596X

1400mA

3.92:1

290X

1200mA

6:1

12X

200mA

200:1

40X

800mA

120:1

Caution

DO NOT reverse the power supply polarity. The control circuit is protected by
diodes but prolonged they can fail if the controller is powered on w/o the motors
drawing current. Avoid disconnecting the the drives will the controller is powered.
Avoid use in wet conditions. Maximum voltage is of 14V. Keep control box away
from flammable objects it may get hot.
7. Minim. Hardware & Software
Compatible Computer PC Pentium Processor 100MHz 8Mb. Operating systems
Windows 95/98/Me or NT/2000/XP. Port Series RS232. (or adapter USB series)
Recommended USB or GamePort for GamePad.

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