Radio Eyes Help

Telescope Definition Files

This type of file contains essential information related to the functioning of a specific radiotelescope. The Telescope Control Point program will load the telescope definition file either as its default telescope or by command from Radio Eyes. The Telescope Control Point program uses this information to:

  1. Load and connect to the rotator driver which will interface to the telescope movement hardware.
  2. Establish range of motions, motor sequence order, and other parameters for operation.
  3. Retrieve the location of the telescope to correctly calculate pointing positions.

If you have multiple radiotelescopes at a single location, each will have its own telescope definition file. The files are in simple text format with each line ending a carriage return - line feed. (Comments in green.)

AZERR = .1    Allowed azimuth error determines tolerance used in moves and tracking.
ELERR = .1    Allowed elevation error determines tolerance used in moves and tracking.
ELMIN = 0    Minimum elevation allowed.
ELRANGE = 90    The angular range allowed above the elevation minimum.
EWBW=5    East West beam width of the antenna beam.
NSBW=10    North South beam width of antenna beam.
AZMIN = 0    Minimum azimuth allowed.
AZRANGE = 360    The angular range allowed above the azimuth minimum.
MOTORSEQUENCE = 1 1 - AZ then EL  2 - EL then AZ move sequences.
AZTIMEOUT = 5    Number of seconds allowed before azimuth stall is declared.
ELTIMEOUT = 5    Number of seconds allowed before elevation stall is declared.
LATITUDE = 19.2    Latitude of telescope in degrees.
LONGITUDE = 155.866  West Longitude of the telescope.
PARKAZ = 180    Park azimuth.
PARKEL = 90    Park elevation.
DEVICEINI = ScopeSim.Telescope    Initialization string sent to driver.
DRIVER = ASCOM_Rotator_Driver   Driver ActiveX EXE used to control telescope.
ISDDE = 0    Set to one to use a DDE interface with a controller.
IP = 127.0.0.1    IP address of the TCPP program.
PORT = 5566    Network port used by the TCPP program.
PW = ADMIN    Password used to access the TCPP.
SHUTDOWN = 0     Set to 1 to tell Radio Eyes to shut down the the TCPP when disconnecting.
ISREMOTE = 0     Set to 1 if the telescope is controlled from a different computer via a network.   

Telescope definition files can be created manually with a text editor or using the Telescope Creator/ Editor Tool.

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