Astrometric Telescope Control System documentation

Check here to find the latest version of documentation available for downloading. All documentation is in Adobe PDF format. If you need the Adobe PDF viewer, click the icon to the left for the free download from Adobe.

NOTE: There are four versions of the Astrometric Telescope Control System (ATCS). ATCS1 is old (1995-1999) and only a limited number of systems remain in use. ATCS2 (1999-2001) includes SkyWalker1, SkyWalker2 and SkyGuide-Win software. ATCS3 (2001-2004) includes SkyWalker1i, SkyWalker-Servo and SkyGuide-Win software. ATCS4 (2004-onwards) includes all SkyWalker system post October 2004 and is characterized by including "smart" SkyWalker technology: where the fucntionality of the telescope control system is implemented inside of SkyWalker rather than in software running on the PC (e.g. SkyGuide-Win). Our S-Box accessory upgrades ATCS2 and ATCS3 systems to ATCS4 capability.

Public documents
Introduction to the Astrometric Telescope Control System:
S_BoxIntro.pdf	For conversion of ATCS2 or ATCS3 SkyWalkers to ATCS4 using Astrometric's S-Box accessory updated 06-Dec-2005, 10 pages
IntroSW1i.pdf	SkyWalker1i for custom mounts updated 16-Oct-2002, 12 pages
IntroG11_GM8_HGM200.pdf	SkyWalker-Servo for Losmandy mounts updated 22-Jul-2002, 13 pages
IntroCI700.pdf	SkyWalker-Servo for Celestron CI700 mount updated 17-Jul-2002, 14 pages
SkyWalker Client Interface Specification and Programming Guide:
SW_Client.pdf	Describes how to program software to interface to ATCS4 SkyWalkers via serial connection to their "Com" port, updated 07-Jan-2006, 34 pages. Note: please visit our ATCL resource page for further information on the Astrometric Telescope Control Language (ATCL). ATCL is the preferred protocol for interfacing to ATCS4 SkyWalkers and is described in detail in the SW_Client.pdf document.

Private (password protected) documents If you are a registered Astrometric Customer, send us an email at support@astrometric.com to get the username and password for private documents.
SkyWalker User's Manual: Applies to ATCS4 SkyWalkers or ATCS3 and ATCS4 SkyWallkers that have been upgraded to ATCS4 with the S-Box accessory...
SW.pdf	Updated 2-Nov-2004, 32 pages. Includes documentation on using Maestro (Astrometric's ATCS4 SkyWalker interface program for Windows-based PCs)
SkyWalker-Servo Owner's Manual:
SWS.pdf	Updated 8-Oct-2002, 27 pages
SkyWalker1 Owner's Manual:
SW1.pdf	Updated 8-Oct-2002, 27 pages
SkyRAD User's Manual:
SkyRADman.pdf	Updated 3-Nov-2000, 16 pages
SkyGuide User's Manual:
The following documentation is for our older SkyGuide telescope control system software (Windows 95, 98 & ME) for ATCS2 and ATCS3 SkyWalkers. SkyGuide has been superceeded by Maestro for control of ATCS4 SkyWalkers from a Windows-based PC.
SG.pdf	Updated 7-Oct-2002, 161 pages
SkyWalker1 and SkyWalker2 Hardware Manual:
The following contains hardware information for our older SkyWalker2 product. Functionality for SkyWalker2 is identical to SkyWaker1 and is described in the "SkyWalker1 Owner's Manual". Hardware information for SkyWalker1 is superceded by information in the "SkyWalker1 Owner's Manual".
Sw_hw_man.pdf	Updated 28-Nov-2000, 23 pages