NOTE: If you are also upgrading Maestro to the same version as SkyWalker firmware (highly recommended) then there is no need to separately download and upgrade SkyWalker's firmware since the latest Maestro installation installs the latest SkyWalker firmware upgrade files.
<========= This file best viewed with fixed-font at this screen width or greater ===============>
================ Summary of new features in this SkyWalker firmware release =====================
- Periodic Error Correction and Measurement: SkyWalker now provides PEC and Gear Index detection
largely consistent with SkyGuide. SkyWalker has an new feature that allows for PEC even if the
system has no Gear Index.
- Peripheral control: SkyWalker now includes full HighDrive functionality consistent with
SkyGuide. SkyWalker's HighDrive outputs are used to control peripherals such as focus control,
dome, dew heaters, illuminated reticle eyepieces, etc.
- Object database support: SkyWalker now includes the SAO star catalog, all Proper-named and
Bayer-named stars included in SkyGuide, NGC, IC and Messier databases.
- AutoCalibration: provides a two-step sequence for every GoTo where a bright star near the final
GoTo destination is first targeted to allow the user to calibrate the coordinates.
Note: significant internal error checking has been added to SkyWalker in this release. If you
encounter any internal errors please report them immediately to customer service.
============= Details of new features/changes in this SkyWalker firmware release ================
Periodic Error Correction
-------------------------
- SkyWalker now provides PEC and Gear Index detection largely consistent with SkyGuide as
described in Chapter 14 of the "SkyGuide User's Manual" ("Correcting for Gearing Errors").
- SkyWalker PEC support provides several improvements over Sky Guide's PEC support:
- Up to 20min of training is allowed (10min allowed by SkyGuide)
- Includes an averaging window to smooth out the training data. One important improvement with
this feature is that the drift is not calculated as the difference between start and end
correction but as the difference between the averaged start and end corrections. This
significantly reduces the impact that transiently bad start or end corrections have on the
over-all results.
- The PEC feature can be trained and used on systems that do not have Gear Index hardware.
However, it is necessary for systems without Gear Index hardware to assure that the motor/
gear position does not move independent of SkyWalker control (otherwise the zero-point for
PEC will be disrupted).
- PEC works in any MoveMode meant for viewing.
- PEC corrections are applied even if not yet aligned (so long as PEC is enabled).
- SkyWalker does not provide a few Gear Index features that SkyGuide did:
- SkyWalker does not provide Gear Index-based stall detection as SkyGuide did. This is not a
concern for SkyWalker-Servo systems since they have independent stall detection however this
means that stall detection is not available for SkyWalker1 and SkyWalker2 stepper motor based
systems.
- SkyWalker does not provide a Gear Index for Dec. This is because without stall-detection a
Dec Gear Index is not necessary (PEC is only applied in RA).
- Added support for measuring residual gear errors. This feature operates like PEC training
however no corrections are programmed. It is not necessary to have trained the periodic error
correction before using this feature, therefore one can get the raw gear error data if periodic
error correction is presently disabled, or get the residual gear errors if periodic error
correction is presently enabled. This residual tracking error feature is provided separate of
periodic error correction training to allow that flexibility.
Peripheral Control
------------------
- SkyWalker now includes full HighDrive functionality consistent with SkyGuide. SkyWalker's
HighDrive outputs are used to control peripherals such as focus control, dome, dew heaters,
illuminated reticle eyepieces, etc.
- The following HighDrive/peripheral functions are supported:
"Alarm",
"AlwaysOff",
"AlwaysOn",
"DewHeater1",
"DewHeater2",
"DewHeater3",
"DomeDir",
"DomeDrive",
"FocusDir",
"FocusDrive",
"Indicator",
"MapLight",
"Momentary1",
"Momentary2",
"Momentary3",
"OneShot",
"Timer",
"Toggle1",
"Toggle2",
"Toggle3"
- SkyWalker's HighDrive settings can be adjusted from the HP2 emulator under the
Settings/Instrumental branch or from maestro's new peripherals tab.
- Notes:
- Please refer to the SkyGuide user's manual for information on configuring and using
SkyWalker's HighDrive outputs. SkyWalker's HighDrive functionality is compatible with
SkyGuide's functionality.
- Not all Skywalker models have all HighDrive outputs available. Here is the present list:
- SkyWalker1 and SkyWalker2: BiDriveA, BiDriveB, UniDriveA, UniDriveB, UniDriveC, UniDriveD
- SkyWalker-Servo: BiDriveA, BiDriveB (dedicated to Focus) and UniDriveA (dedicated to
Indicator (i.e. reticle)).
- Default HighDrive assignments, as follows, are now implemented when the user chooses a
mount default from the "Defaults for Mount" group on Maestro's Instrumental tab or from the
Settings/Instrumental/Defaults Menu Page on the HP2 emulator.
- SkyWalker's Alarm and Timer features are not yet unavailable.
Object Database
---------------
- SkyWalker now includes the following object databases. This list is consistent with the object
database support provided by SkyGuide (with the exception that 0.20.000 does not include
planets):
- Stars: <= mag 7.0
- BrightProper: 74 stars listed by proper name. Spread more/less
uniformly across sky (for alignment).
- BrightBayer: 80 stars listed by Bayer designation (i.e. Constellation
name and Greek letter). Spread more/less uniformly
across sky (for alignment).
- Proper: 296 stars listed by proper name. Includes all stars from the
SAO catalog that have proper names.
- Bayer: 1329 stars listed by Bayer designation. Includes all stars
from the SAO catalog which have Bayer designations.
- SAO: 9017 stars. All stars with unique SAO numbers of magnitude 7.0
or brighter.
- Deepsky
- Messier: M1-M110
- New Galactic Catalog: NGC1-NGC7840
- Index Catalog: IC1-IC5386
- SkyWalker's object database can be accessed from the HP2 Emulator tab on Maestro (under the
Objects menu branch) or directly from Maestro's Objects tab. Once an object is selected you
can GoTo it or get Data on it. Data includes:
- For stars:
- ProperName
- BayerLetter
- Constellation
- SAO#
- Magnitude
- Distance
- Spectral
- Altitude
- Azimuth
- Airmass
- For deepsky objects:
- ProperName
- NGC, IC or M #
- Type
- Magnitude
- Size
- Distance
- Altitude
- Azimuth
- Airmass
AutoCalibration
---------------
- SkyWalker now includes support for AutoCalibration. AutoCalibration provides a two-step
sequence for every GoTo where a bright star near the final GoTo destination is first targeted
to allow the user to calibrate the coordinates.
- Notes:
- This support is consistent with SkyGuide's AutoCalibration feature (and the "SkyGuide User's
Manual" provides full details).
- New GoTo, un-related calibrations and any actions that would otherwise kill a GoTo kills an
existing AutoCalibration sequence.
- There are 1361 AutoCalibration stars. These stars have been carefully selected to:
1) Be bright enough, amongst background stars, to be picked out (Mag 5.0 or brighter).
2) Avoid adjacency to close similar-brightness stars to eliminate selection ambiguity.
- Assuming the target is not in the proximity of a limit SkyWalker will always find an
AutoCalibration star if more than 14 degrees away from either celestial pole. Close to the
celestial poles, or limits, an AutoCalibration star might not be found.
- The average slew distance, in both RA and Dec, from the AutoCalibration star to final
destination is 4 degrees.
- Assuming a random sampling of RA/Dec coordinates, less than 1% of GoTos have no suitable
AutoCalibration star. When considering that diminishingly smaller proportions of GoTos are
at high Declinations the percentage of GoTos with no suitable AutoCalibration star is really
only a small fraction of 1%.
- AutoCalibration only works on celestial GoTos and not from Return, GoToLast, GoToAlt/Az,
GoToPark, Anchor or any other type of GoTo.
- When using SkyWalker's object database, if you GoTo a star, that is also an AutoCalibration
star, no AutoCalibration will occur.
New Instrument Display features
-------------------------------
- The Settings/Instrumental/PEC&Backlash/PEC_Settings branch has been added to allow access to
settings and training of SkyWalker's PEC feature.
- The Objects top-level branch has been expand to allow access to all the objects within the new
databases mentioned above. Comprehensive data on each object is available as well as the
option to selected the object as a GoTo target.
- Settings/Align/AlignFromStars now supports SkyWalker's BrightBayer database (80 stars) in
addition to the BrightProper (74 stars) provided in previous releases.
- The Settings/Instrumental/HighDrive branch has been added to allow access to settings and
control of SkyWalker's HighDrive features.
Miscellaneous new features and/or changes
-----------------------------------------
- The HP1 "assignable" keys are now functional. SkyWalker maps the HP1 A1, A2 and A3 keys to
QuickKey1, QuickKey2 and QuickKey3 functions. In addition, the HP1 AKey LEDs now provide
meaningful indication of the state of the associated QuickKey function.
- SkyWalker now allows for spaces in coordinate formats in place of colons (':') and commas (',')
in place of decimal points ('.').
- For units format, SkyWalker would previously accepted "US" or "Metric". This has been changed
to "Imperial" or "Metric".
- Added the FocusPulseToggle QuickKey. This toggles on/off the pulse focus feature for the HP1
handpaddle.
- Rearranged QuickKey assignments and removed a few that will not be supported.
NOTE: QuickKey assignments are NOT carried over when upgrading to 0.20.000. Please review your
QuickKey assignments and make sure they are still what you expect.
- Added the requirement that SSW must be in TrackRate of Drift to calibrate from Alt/Az.
- SkyWalker's use of Epoch has been changed to only accept "Now" (i.e. epoch of date), "2000"
(i.e. J2000.0) or "2050" (i.e. J2050.0)
- Change the ambiguous warning: "Not supported for this SkyWalker model." to indicate the actual
SkyWalker model (e.g. "Not supported for SkyWalker1.").
====================== New ATCL commands and Client interface features ==========================
New ATCL commands for object-database support
---------------------------------------------
- The following ATCL command has been changed:
- Was: SelectBrightStarProber OSbp
- Is: SelectProperStar OSps Accepts a string with star's proper name.
or SelectBayerStar OSbs Accepts a string with star's Bayer name.
- The following ATCL commands have been added to allow for selecting objects:
SelectSAO_Star OSss Accepts a SAO #.
SelectMessierObject OSmo Accepts a Messier #.
SelectNGC_Object OSno Accepts a NGC #.
SelectIC_Object OSio Accepts a IC #.
SelectSolarSystemObject OSso String with planet name (Pluto and Moon excluded).
- The following ATCL commands have been added to provide for retrieving object status from
SkyWalker:
GetObjectProperName OGpn E.g. "Sirius"
GetObjectBayerLetter OGbl E.g. "Alp"
GetObjectConstellation OGco Returns 3-letter constellation name for star (if the star
has a Bayer designation)
GetObjectSAO_Num OGsn
GetObjectNGC_Num OGnn
GetObjectIC_Num OGin
GetObjectM_Num OGmn
GetObjectType OGty
GetObjectMagnitude OGmg
GetObjectSize OGsz
GetObjectDistance OGds
GetObjectSpectral OGsp
GetObjectAltitude OGal
GetObjectAirmass OGam
GetObjectAzimuth OGaz
- Other ATCL commands added
GoToSelectedObject GOsl
Static Status Change Notification
---------------------------------
- Added the Static Status Change Notification (SSCN) feature as described in SW_Client.pdf. SSCN
is a mechanism of informing the Client when "static status" has changed and provides
significant performance improvements over polling.
- Added the following commands to control the enable/disable of Static Status Change Notification
EnableSSCN QEcn Enable Static Status Change Notification
DisableSSCN QDcn Disable Static Status Change Notification
New/changed ATCL commands
-------------------------
- Miscellaneous
- Moved:
GetShaftVelocityX XSvx
GetShaftVelocityY XSvy
...to the C- Coordinates/Status group so that they go with GetShaftX/Y:
GetShaftVelocityX CSvx
GetShaftVelocityY CSvy
- Moved:
GetMoveMode XGmm
...to the P- Pointing model group:
GetMoveMode PGmm
- Changed
GetCoordinateAggregate1 CGca
...to
GetCoordinateAggregate1 CGa1
- Added the following aggregates
- GetPModelStatAggregate PGsa Returns MoveMode, RefractionCorrMagnitude, AirMass, and
TargetSync in the format:
"mmmmmm|XX.XXXamin|X.XX|bbb", where "mmmmmm" is MoveMode
text and "bbb" is "Yes" or "No".
- GetMotorStatAggregate MGsa Returns Motor Diag PositionX, Motor Diag PositionY, Motor
VelX, Motor VelY, Motor LoadX, Motor LoadY in the format
"XXXXXX|XXXXXX|XXX|XXX|XXsteps/sec|XXsteps/sec"
- GetCoordinateAggregate2 CGa2 Returns AutomaticMoveStatus, ScopeOrientation, ShaftX,
ShaftY, ShaftVelocityX, ShaftVelocityY in the format:
"bbb|oooooo|SIGNED_3DIGIT|SIGNED_2DIGIT|XX.XXdeg/sec|XX.XXdeg/sec", where
"bbb" is "Yes" or No" and "oooooo" is "Primary" or "Secondary".
- GetMarkedPositionAggregate VGma Returns MarkedRA, MarkedDec, MarkedRA_Offset,
MarkedDecOffset, MarkedSeperation, MarkedPositionAngle in
the format:
"HOURS|SIGNED_2DIGIT|SIGNED_3DIGIT|SIGNED_3DIGIT|EF_SIGNED_3DIGIT|XX.XXdeg".
- GetHardwareAggregate HGha Returns HP1_FirmwareVersion, HP2_FirmwareVersion,
SkyWalkerSupplyVoltage, SkyWalkerSupplyVotlageStatus,
AutoGuiderState, TopActiveFault, and TopLimitViolation in
the format: "vvvvv|vvvvv|XX.Xv|sss|UDLR|ffffff|llllll"
Note: HP1 and HP2 firmware versions can change if a users
plugs-in or unplugs a handpaddle (i.e. "N/A" is a
possible state).
- GetPEC_BacklashStatAggregate MGpa Returns PECorrAppliedX, PECorrAppliedY, BLashAppliedX,
BLashAppliedY in the format
"XXXXsteps|XXXXsteps|XXXXsteps|XXXXsteps"
- GetGearStatAggregateX MGxa Returns GearCountX, Gear IndexToggleX, Gear
IndexGateStateX and Gear IndexHysteresisCountX in the
format
"XXXXsteps|FLAG|FLAG|XXXXsteps"
- Removed the following Site commands:
SelectSiteToEditByName SSen
SelectSiteToEditByNumber SSeu
GetEditingSiteName SGen
GetEditingSiteNumber SGeu
RenameEditingSite SRes
SetEditingSiteLatitude SSla
GetEditingSiteLatitude SGla
SetEditingSiteLongitude SSlo
GetEditingSiteLongitude SGlo
SetEditingSiteGMT_Offset SSgo
GetEditingSiteGMT_Offset SGgo
- And replaced the above with the following site commands
SetSite1_Latitude SSa1 LATITUDE
SetSite2_Latitude SSa2 LATITUDE
SetSite3_Latitude SSa3 LATITUDE
SetSite4_Latitude SSa4 LATITUDE
SetSite5_Latitude SSa5 LATITUDE
SetSite6_Latitude SSa6 LATITUDE
SetSite7_Latitude SSa7 LATITUDE
GetSite1_Latitude SGa1 LATITUDE
GetSite2_Latitude SGa2 LATITUDE
GetSite3_Latitude SGa3 LATITUDE
GetSite4_Latitude SGa4 LATITUDE
GetSite5_Latitude SGa5 LATITUDE
GetSite6_Latitude SGa6 LATITUDE
GetSite7_Latitude SGa7 LATITUDE
SetSite1_Longitude SSo1 LONGITUDE
SetSite2_Longitude SSo2 LONGITUDE
SetSite3_Longitude SSo3 LONGITUDE
SetSite4_Longitude SSo4 LONGITUDE
SetSite5_Longitude SSo5 LONGITUDE
SetSite6_Longitude SSo6 LONGITUDE
SetSite7_Longitude SSo7 LONGITUDE
GetSite1_Longitude SGo1 LONGITUDE
GetSite2_Longitude SGo2 LONGITUDE
GetSite3_Longitude SGo3 LONGITUDE
GetSite4_Longitude SGo4 LONGITUDE
GetSite5_Longitude SGo5 LONGITUDE
GetSite6_Longitude SGo6 LONGITUDE
GetSite7_Longitude SGo7 LONGITUDE
SetSite1_GMT_Offset SSg1 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite2_GMT_Offset SSg2 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite3_GMT_Offset SSg3 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite4_GMT_Offset SSg4 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite5_GMT_Offset SSg5 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite6_GMT_Offset SSg6 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite7_GMT_Offset SSg7 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite1_GMT_Offset SGg1 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite2_GMT_Offset SGg2 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite3_GMT_Offset SGg3 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite4_GMT_Offset SGg4 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite5_GMT_Offset SGg5 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite6_GMT_Offset SGg6 GMT_OFFSET
GetSite7_GMT_Offset SGg7 GMT_OFFSET
SetSite1_Name SSn1 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
SetSite2_Name SSn2 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
SetSite3_Name SSn3 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
SetSite4_Name SSn4 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
SetSite5_Name SSn5 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
SetSite6_Name SSn6 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
SetSite7_Name SSn7 The site name must be 14 characters or less.
GetSite1_Name SGn1
GetSite2_Name SGn2
GetSite3_Name SGn3
GetSite4_Name SGn4
GetSite5_Name SGn5
GetSite6_Name SGn6
GetSite7_Name SGn7
New ATCL commands for HighDrive functionality
---------------------------------------------
Dome
SetDomePolarity HSdp "Positive" or "Negative"
GetDomePolarity HGdp
DomeLeftOn HDlo
DomeRightOn HDro
KillDomeMovement HXdm
Focus
SetFocusFastRate HSff
GetFocusFastRate HGff
SetFocusSlowRate HSfs
GetFocusSlowRate HGfs
SetFocusPolarity HSfp "Positive" or "Negative"
GetFocusPolarity HGfp
SetFocusPulseTime HSfu SECONDS
GetFocusPulseTime HGfu SECONDS
ZeroFocusDisplacement HZfd
GetFocusDisplacement HGfd SECONDS
FocusFastOn HEfo "Out" or "In"
FocusSlowOn HEso "Out" or "In"
KillFocusMovement HXfc
FocusFastPulse HEfp "Out" or "In"
FocusSlowPulse HEsp "Out" or "In"
Indicator
SetIndicatorEnabled HSie
GetIndicatorEnabled HGie
SetIndicatorBrightness HSib
GetIndicatorBrightness HGib
SetIndicatorOnTime HSio
GetIndicatorOnTime HGio
SetIndicatorPeriod HSip
GetIndicatorPeriod HGip
OneShot
SetOneShotOnTime HSoo
GetOneShotOnTime HGoo
OneShotFire HEos
GetOneShotStatus HGos
DewHeaters
SetDewHeater1_Enabled HSe1 String "Yes" to enable and "No" to disable
GetDewHeater1_Enabled HGe1
SetDewHeater2_Enabled HSe2
GetDewHeater2_Enabled HGe2
SetDewHeater3_Enabled HSe3
GetDewHeater3_Enabled HGe3
SetDewHeater1_OnTime HSo1 "0.075sec" to dew heater period
GetDewHeater1_OnTime HGo1
SetDewHeater2_OnTime HSo2
GetDewHeater2_OnTime HGo2
SetDewHeater3_OnTime HSo3
GetDewHeater3_OnTime HGo3
SetDewHeater1_Period HSp1 "0.075sec" to "18.000sec"
GetDewHeater1_Period HGp1
SetDewHeater2_Period HSp2
GetDewHeater2_Period HGp2
SetDewHeater3_Period HSp3
GetDewHeater3_Period HGp3
Momentary
SetMomentary1_Enabled HSm1 String "Yes" to enable and "No" to disable
SetMomentary2_Enabled HSm2 String "Yes" to enable and "No" to disable
SetMomentary3_Enabled HSm3 String "Yes" to enable and "No" to disable
Toggle
Toggle1 HEt1
GetToggle1_Status HGt1
Toggle2 HEt2
GetToggle2_Status HGt2
Toggle3 HEt3
GetToggle3_Status HGt3
HighDrive assignments
SetBiDriveA_Assignment HSba
GetBiDriveA_Assignment HGba
SetBiDriveB_Assignment HSbb
GetBiDriveB_Assignment HGbb
SetUniDriveA_Assignment HSua
GetUniDriveA_Assignment HGua
SetUniDriveB_Assignment HSub
GetUniDriveB_Assignment HGub
SetUniDriveC_Assignment HSuc
GetUniDriveC_Assignment HGuc
SetUniDriveD_Assignment HSud
GetUniDriveD_Assignment HGud
HighDrive diagnostics
SetDiagHighDriveEnabled HSdh String "Yes" to enable and "No" to disable
GetDiagHighDriveEnabled HGdh
DiagToggleBiDriveA HTba
DiagGetBiDriveA_State HDba
DiagToggleBiDriveB HTbb
DiagGetBiDriveB_State HDbb
DiagToggleUniDriveA HTua
DiagGetUniDriveA_State HDua
DiagToggleUniDriveB HTub
DiagGetUniDriveB_State HDub
DiagToggleUniDriveC HTuc
DiagGetUniDriveC_State HDuc
DiagToggleUniDriveD HTud
DiagGetUniDriveD_State HDud
ATCL_VERIFY support
-------------------
- The following commands have been added in support of SkyWalker's ATCL verify feature (see
SW_Client.pdf for details):
ATCL_VerifyOK QAvo
ATCL_VerifyCancel QAvc
GetATCL_VerifyActive QGva Returns "Yes" or "No"
GetATCL_VerifyString QGvs Returns the last verification string send to the
Client (proceeded by ATCL_VERIFY special character)
New ATCL commands for Backlash & PEC
------------------------------------
Backlash diagnostics
GetBLashCorrAppliedX MGfx
GetBLashCorrAppliedY MGfy
Gear Period
SetGearPeriodX MSix
GetGearPeriodX MGix
GetGearCountX MGux
Gear Index
SetGear IndexEnabledX MSnx
GetGear IndexEnabledX MGnx
GetGear IndexToggledX MGax
GetFindingGear IndexX MGxx Yes or No
SetGear IndexHysteresisX MShx NN,NNNsteps
GetGear IndexHysteresisX MGhx NN,NNNsteps
GetGear IndexHysteresisCountX MGnx NN,NNNsteps
Gear Index gate
SetGear IndexGateEnabledX MSgx
GetGear IndexGateEnabledX MGgx
GetGear IndexGateStateX MGjx
PEC
SetPECorrEnabled MSpe "Yes" or "No" Enables/Disables PE correction
GetPECorrEnabled MGpe None Returns "Yes" if PE correction is
enabled, "No" otherwise.
GetPECorrTrained MGpt None Returns "Yes" if PE correction is
trained, "No" otherwise.
GetPECorrAppliedX MGcx None Returns present magnitude of X-axis PE
correction. Format is "NN,NNNsteps" in
the range of +32,767/-32,768.
StartPECorrTraining MSpt None Starts PEC training if the following
conditions are met:
CancelPECorrTraining MCpt None Cancels PEC training
GetPECorrTrainingTimeRemaining MGtt None SECONDS
GetPECorrTrainedDrift MGtd None ARCSECONDS
GetPECorrTrainedMagPeakToPeak MGtm None ARCSECONDS
GetPECorrTrainedMagRMS MGtr None ARCSECONDS
SavePECorrTraining MScb None PEC corrections are saved to SkyWalker's
Flash memory.
StartPEMeasurement MSpm None Starts PE measurement if the following
conditions are met:
CancelPEMeasurement MCpm None Cancels PE measurement
GetPEMeasurementTimeRemaining MGmt None SECONDS
GetPEMeasurementDrift MGmd None ARCSECONDS
GetPEMeasuredPeakToPeak MGmm None ARCSECONDS
GetPEMeasuredRMS MGmr None ARCSECONDS
Misc new/changed ATCL commands
------------------------------
- Units format commands have been changed from accepting "US"/"Metric" to accepting
"Imperial"/"Metric"
SetUnitsFormat FSuf "Imperial" or "Metric"
GetUnitsFormat FGuf "Imperial" or "Metric"
- Epoch commands have been changed to only accept "Now" (i.e. epoch of date), "2000" (i.e.
J2000.0) or "2050" (i.e. J2050.0)
SetEpochOfEntry PSep "Now" (i.e. epoch of date), "2000" (i.e. J2000.0) or
"2050" (i.e. J2050.0)
GetEpochOfEntry PGep "2000", "2050" or "Now"
- Removed the GetQuickKeyFunction (KGqk) command (accepted a digit, 1-7) and replaced with:
GetQuickKey1_Function KGq1
GetQuickKey2_Function KGq2
GetQuickKey3_Function KGq3
GetQuickKey4_Function KGq4
GetQuickKey5_Function KGq5
GetQuickKey6_Function KGq6
GetQuickKey7_Function KGq7
- The GetAtPark (CGap) command (If the telescope has not moved since the last GoToPark command
then this returns "Yes", otherwise "No" is returned) has been moved from the "C- Coordinates"
command group to the "A- Alignment and calibration" group and has a new mnemonic "AGak"
========================= Bug fixes in this SkyWalker firmware release ==========================
- Fixed a few instances where saving one setting could corrupt the value of an unrelated setting.
- In firmware version 0.11.002 and before there was a potential failure mode resulting in all
settings being lost at power-up. The problem was that there was a period of time, after the
settings had been read from non-volatile Flash memory, when settings were only kept in volatile
RAM. The firmware was vulnerable to loosing settings (and forcing restoration of default
settings) if the S-Box was powered-off before the new settings were written from RAM to Flash.
In version 0.20.000 the settings are copied to a "safe" section of non-volatile memory during
this vulnerable period in power-up to avoid lost settings. Note: 0.20.000 takes a bit longer
to power-up as a result.
- Fixed a bug where clicking on a disallowed HP2 Menu Page (on Maestro's HP2 Emulator Map)
would NOT cause a warning if that page was not currently legal.
- Fixed a bug with the S-Box feature that saves last position at power-down. In previous versions
of firmware, the "last" motor position would be saved fine however when backlash correction was
enabled the side of the backlash that the motors were currently on was not saved. This meant
that the "last" position, in both axes, could be inaccurate by up to the magnitude of backlash
programmed into the S-Box.
- Fixed a bug (actually carried from SkyGuide's installation program) where Meridian Avoidance
East and West limit angles were not defaulted properly per hemisphere (i.e. North/South). For
example, in the Northern hemisphere for SkyWalker-Servo, the East meridian limit is -30deg and
the West Meridian Limit is 0deg however for Southern hemisphere they should be swapped (East
meridian limit is 0deg and the West Meridian Limit is -30deg).
- Fixed a bug for German Equatorial mounts where, for southern hemisphere installations, the
"Y Polarity Valid In" (i.e. InEast or InWest) was not properly set for default mount settings.
====================== Known problems with this SkyWalker firmware release ======================
- A bug exists that will render your S-Box in need of re-programming at the factory. This bug
does no physical damage but it corrupts the settings in a way that causes a fatal error at
start-up which means that the S-Box cannot ever get to the point where the corrupt settings can
be reversed. To avoid this bug do NOT select Hunt or Wobble for QuickKey assignments.
- For PCs with high loading, or high latency communications connections, firmware upgrade may not
work. A fix, to be incorporate in the normal firmware upgrade, is being investigated.
- If an illegal value is entered in the Instrument Display Edit Box, an unfriendly "Client Syntax
Error" can result when a more friendly error describing the illegality of the value should be
presented.
- Some messages are reported multiple times rather than just once. For example, when alignment
is voided it is reported 3 times.
- Occasionally there can be a "Client Syntax error" with an unknown command that is shown as 3
characters rather than the standard 4 characters for all ATCL commands. SkyWalker firmware is
loosing a communications character from time to time. This is a non-fatal error and system
operation should not be effected however occasionally, this bug causes down-stream problems
(e.g. ASCOM clients not getting a reply and disconnecting). The incidence of this error was
dramatically reduced starting with firmware version 0.11.002.
==================== List of features that were in SkyGuide missing in S-Box ====================
(more/less in order they will be ported)
- Alignment for other than Polar-aligned instruments
- Polar alignment calibration (PolarAlignRefine)
- LX200-emulation
- TrackingCorrection diagnostics available from Status/Diagnostics/TrackingCorrection Menu Page