Software Bisque Paramount 6 Series - Maintaining Accurate Time

Paramount GEM User Guide
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• The Versa-Plate is mounted 180 degrees off.
• The polar axis of the Paramount it not orientated north-south.
Make sure the mount is attached to the pier or tripod Versa-Plate is mounted in the correct orientation
before proceeding.
Maintaining Accurate Time
The Paramount can provide accurate all-sky pointing during a single session without an accurate time base
(that is, if the computer’s clock is accurate to one or two minutes or so). However, TheSky Professional
must make decisions on how to slew to various positions in the sky based on the local time. For example,
an object that is on the east of the meridian may require the telescope to be slewed to west side of the
pier and vice versa. So, maintaining accurate time is important.
Always perform “reality check” by comparing the coordinates of objects in TheSky
Professional to objects in the night sky. If TheSky Professional’s location or time is not
accurate, the coordinates reported by TheSky Professional will not be accurate.
From TheSky Professional, click Tools, Verify TheSky Time to compare the computer’s
date, time, and time zone settings with an independent time source.
Initializing the Paramount requires accurate time. TheSky Professional uses the computer’s clock to
compute the local sidereal time (LST). When a connection is established between TheSky Professional and
the “homed” Paramount, the LST is used to re-establish the synchronization between the Paramount’s
“electronic setting circles” and the celestial sphere to within a few arcseconds. Provided the computer’s
clock has been synchronized with a time server each night, you can power-up the mount, home, and then
start observing.
Setting the Computer’s Clock
The best method to maintain accurate time is to synchronize your computer’s clock is with and external
“time server.” Remember, every second of error in time translates to fifteen arcseconds of error in angular
distance near the celestial equator.
Inaccurate time causes the mount to slew to objects ahead or behind objects in right ascension by a
consistent offset. Software that periodically synchronizes your computer’s clock to an accurate time base
solves this problem.
Applications that use the simple network time protocol (SNTP) can be used to maintain accurate time.
Or most modern operating systems can be configured to maintain accurate time using an SNTP server.
Windows users might consider Dimension 4 from Thinking Man Software. Search the web for “time server
software” to locate alternatives.
Many SNTP applications can be used to maintain accurate time and most operating systems can be
configured to update the computer’s clock automatically. Windows users might consider Dimension 4
from Thinking Man Software. Search the web for “time server software” to locate alternatives.