Quote:
Originally Posted by Miaplacidus
Briefly, it is a dedicated hand-held computer that is connected to your telescope by encoding cables that measure how far you move the scope in RA and Dec (or altitude and azimuth). It then tells you how far you need to move the telescope in each direction to have it pointing to a celestial object that you have previously selected from its extensive onboard database (which you can edit). It is a PUSH TO system, as opposed to a GOTO system.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Brian
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....and if you couple it with a Servo-cat, you have goto as well. The Wildcard Innovations website has the details.
One of the most impressive features is that you can customise your own tours, such as "all the galaxies brighter than magnitude 12 in the constellation of Leo". This means you can conduct some very specfic observing plans at the drop of a hat. Pretty awesome IMHO.
Argo Navis even has a Telescope Pointing Accuracy System (TPAS) which enables you to diagnose inherent pointing errors in your scope set-up, and then it will automatically recalculate pointing of the scope to take those errors into account. It also takes into account the affect of atmospheric refraction, so that the scope accurately points at targets closer to the horizon.
From all of my reading and discussions with others, there is nothing else even close on the market. Give Gary Kopff a call....he's one of the nicest blokes you could ever hope to meet.
