>My guess is that the above procedure will work but for a different reason.
>My theory is that is does NOT "continue to update it's view of the sky" in
>LAND mode rather it simply assumes that it is pointing south and level when
>first entering ALTAZ mode (either at power up or when going from LAND to
>ALTAZ). This is the so-called "zero star alignment". If your
>lat/long/time are correct and your tripod is level that is sufficient to
>establish alignment.
>
>One could distinguish between my theory and Paul's by pointing at some
>other point than due south and level and trying Paul's procedure. If it is
>indeed "continueing to update it's view of the sky" then the procedure will
>work; if my theory is correct it will be off by the distance between the
>chosen point and the assumed south/level point.
>
>---
>Bill Arnett

Well, you are correct in part.....

I did a simple experiment where I slewed to the sun via RS232 from ECU,
identified a sunspot in the view, and then switched to LAND mode. After
the sun drifted out of the FOV, I switched back to ALT-AZ mode and again
sent the slew to sun command, and it slewed right back to the same sunspot.
From this, I deduce that it is updating its view of the sky while in LAND
mode.

However, if you want to have it aligned after a power down/power up, you do
indeed need to slew it to south and level prior to shutting it off.

What I was getting at by suggesting that it be placed into LAND mode as the
first step was that done that way, there is no timing issue. If this isn't
done, it will slew off zero degrees ALT and AZ after it arrives and before
you can issue another command (such as GUIDE EAST) or simply turn it off.

Putting it into LAND mode is also a good way to leave it powered and
aligned but not tracking if you want to leave it unattended for a while.
While the motor drivers can still go berzerk in LAND mode, I would assume
it is more likely if it is tracking.


Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI

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