Use these settings to specify what kind of telescope hardware you have, and how SkySafari should communicate with your telescope.
In order to communicate with your telescope, you will need either:
a Wi-Fi-to-serial adapter, like our SkyFi or Orion's StarSeek Wi-Fi Module, that relays wireless communication from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android device, to the serial port on your telescope.
our SkyWire serial cable accessory for iOS devices. This connects your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch to the serial port on your telescope using a direct cable connection.
a bluetooth serial adapter for Android devices, like the StarryNight BlueStar adapter, which relays communication from SkySafari through your Android's bluetooth radio hardware to your telescope's serial port.
Please Note: SkyWire only works with iOS devices. Since iOS only supports limited bluetooth communication, bluetooth serial adapters will not work with iOS. Android devices must support Ad Hoc Wi-Fi networks to use our SkyFi wireless adapter. All iOS devices support Ad Hoc Wi-Fi networks by default, and therefore can use SkyFi.
You can also use our SkySafari software, running on a Mac OS X computer with Wi-Fi and a serial port, as a Wi-Fi-to-serial server. See Southern Stars's web site at www.southernstars.com for more details.
Scope Type: Use this setting to select the type of telescope to control. SkySafari can control any of the telescopes in the list. Many "Go-To" telescopes can emulate the Meade LX-200 command protocol; you may wish to try that option if your telescope is not listed separately here. Your telescope may need to be set to "LX-200 mode" in order for this to work; check your telescope manual for more details.
SkySafari supports many encoder systems that can read out the telescope position but not actually move the telescope. The Meade Magellan I and II, Losmandy DSC, and Sky Commander are examples of such encoder systems.
Mount Type: Use this setting to select your telescope's type of mounting:
Equatorial Push-To - a non-motorized mount whose right ascension axis is pointed at the celestial pole. The mount must be manually turned around this axis to follow the diurnal motion of the sky.
Equatorial GoTo (Fork) - a motorized equatorial mount that automatically follows the diurnal motion of, and can automatically slew to, targets in any part of the sky. Has one or two fork arms that suspend the telescope between them. The Meade LX-200 and Celestron NexStar (when used with an equatorial wedge) are examples.
Equatorial GoTo (German) - a motorized, polar-aligned mount that requires reversing the telescope tube to the east or west side of the mount when the telescope passes through the meridian. Examples include the Losmandy and Takahashi mounts.
Alt-Az. Push-To on Equ. Platform - a non-motorized mount that must be manually pushed to targets in different parts of the sky. However, it sits on a motorized platform that is aligned with the Earth's polar axis, so the mount follows the diurnal motion of the sky when it is not being pushed.
Alt-Az. Push-To - a non-motorized alt-azimuth platform with fork arms that suspend the telescope between them. It is moved manually by pushing the telescope tube. It sits flat on the ground, so its "up-down" and "left-right" axes of motion align to the local horizon and zenith. This includes most Dobsonian telescopes.
Alt-Az. GoTo - a motorized alt-azimuth platform with fork arms that suspend the telescope between them, and can slew to any set of coordinates in the sky on command. Includes the Meade LX-200 and Celestron NexStar when used in the alt-azimuth configuration.
If your telescope mount has encoders which provide a digital readout of the scope's position, additional text fields will appear here. These let you specify the encoder resolution.
RA/Azm: The number of steps per revolution for the encoder attached to the telescope's Right Ascension axis (or Azimuth axis, if you have an alt-azimuth mount).
Dec/Alt: The number of steps per revolution for the encoder attached to the telescope's Declination axis (or Altitude axis, if you have an alt-azimuth mount).
Get Automatically: If turned on, SkySafari will attempt to read these values from your encoders when it connects to the telescope controller. If turned off, you can enter the encoder steps per revolution manually; then SkySafari will send the values you entered to the encoders when connecting to the telescope. You can do this if (for example) your mount is using gears or pulleys to increase the effective encoder resolution.
Depending how your encoders are installed, their position readouts may increase when they are turned clockwise, or increase when they are turned counterclockwise. If the encoder position readouts increase when they are turned counterclockwise, enter a negative value for the number of steps per revolution. You may need to determine the correct + or - sign by trial-and-error. If you push your telescope left (or up), but the telescope field-of-view indicator on the sky char moves right (or down), the sign is probably wrong.
If you are using SkySafari with SkyWire connected to your iPhone, iPad, or iPad Touch, then SkySafari will use SkyWire (rather than Wi-Fi) to communicate with your telescope.
If you are using SkySafari for Android, then the first two settings below determine how SkySafari communicates with your telescope - either via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. These settings are not present in the iOS version of SkySafari.
Connect via Bluetooth: If selected, SkySafari will only attempt to communicate with your telescope using a bluetooth serial adapter. The adapter must be turned on, physically connected to your telescope's serial port, and paired with your Android device.
Connect via Wi-Fi: If selected, SkySafari will only attempt to communicate with your telescope using a Wi-Fi adapter like SkyFi. The adapter must be turned on, and physically connected to your telescope's serial port.
If you are using Wi-Fi, then the following settings must be correct. These are only used with Wi-Fi telescope communication. They will be disabled if you are communicating via bluetooth, and ignored if you are using SkyWire with an iOS device.
Auto-Detect SkyFi: Detects your SkyFi unit's IP address automatically, using the name you have configured for your SkyFi. This requires SkyFi firmware version 2.3 or later!
SkyFi Name: The name of the SkyFi device whose IP address you want SkySafari to automatically detect. This requires SkyFi firmware version 2.3 or later. Make sure to enter the same name here as you entered into your SkyFi unit's configuration web page!
IP Address: If you choose not to detect your SkyFi's IP address automatically, you can enter it here manually instead. This is the IP address of the Wi-Fi adapter or server that is physically connected to the telescope. If you are using a Wi-Fi device that does not respond to SkyFi auto-detection protocol, you must enter its IP address manually. Your iOS or Android device must be on the same Wi-Fi network as the adapter or server, and must have an IP address on the same subnet. Check your iOS or Android's Wi-Fi network settings to make sure this is correct.
Port Number: The TCP port number to be used for communication with the adapter. Make sure this is the same TCP port that the telescope adapter or server is listening on.
Set Time and Location: If turned on, SkySafari will send the time and location from your iOS or Android device to the telescope when establishing a connection. This will overwrite your telescope's previously-set time and location. For older Meade LX-200 telescopes, this may also cause a delay of up to 15 seconds when connecting, so you may wish to turn this setting off.
Readout Rate: The readout rate is the frequency with which SkySafari requests the telescope's position from the mount so it can update the position on-screen. If you set this rate to "4 per second", then SkySafari will request the telescope's position four times every second.
If the telescope frequently stops communicating, the rate of position requests may be too frequent for the telescope to respond properly. Setting a lower readout rate of 1 or 2 readouts per second may solve the communication problem. The optimal readout rate varies with the type of mount used and may require some triall and error to determine. A lower readout rate means that the telescope position displayed on the sky chart will be updated less frequently, and using SkySafari to control the telescope may feel sluggish.
SkyFi Settings Web Page: If you have a SkyFi wireless adapter, this item displays its settings/configuration web page. You must be connected to SkyFi's wireless network in order to see this web page, and the SkyFi's IP address must match the IP address entered at the top of the view.