New Feature Summary
- The Polar Alignment Wizard tab uses "electronic drift alignment", a process using your webcam or video camera that helps you achieve the best possible polar alignment quickly and painlessly.
- The PEMPro Video interface appication can work with any DirectShow or WDM compliant device including most capture cards and webcams (like the Philips Toucam Pro and Meade LPI). It allows you to use PEMPro with an inexpensive webcam without having to buy an expensive third party CCD control application.
- The Star Finder tab is helpful if you have a small CCD field of view to locate a star or other object when your mount's alignment is not perfect. Press one button to calibrate, then another to start building a spiral mosaic, which is displayed directly on the screen. Once the star you are looking for shows up on the mosaic you can click on it and the scope will slew to it.
- The Backlash exerciser issues alternating North/South moves to the mount while exposing an image. It allows you to assess the state of backlash of your mount. Too much backlash could result in poor autoguider performance.
- The Calibration Wizard has been improved. It now allows you to slew to the correct position in the sky, and also to nudge the scope if needed to find a star or center it.
- Numerous other small changes to make using PEMPro easier and more intuitive.
Other Features
- Collects periodic error data with using any CCD camera supported by MaximDL (v3 or v4 required), CCDSoft V5, or AstroArt V3/V4.
- No Autoguider is required or used. If you are using a CCD with dual chips the main CCD is used making it easier to put a bright star on the CCD.
- Corrects for camera tilt and star declination.
- Graphically displays periodic error in real-time.
- Analyzes collected data and creates a smoothed periodic error curve.
- “Plays back” the inverse of the periodic error curve to the mount, thus minimizing the periodic error.
- Writes the PEC correction directly to some mounts.
- Has easy to use Wizards to set up parameters accurately.
- Frequency Spectrum shows worm gear fundamentals, giving you insight into where in the gear train the periodic errors are coming from.
- No need to wait for steady skies. PEMPro fits the periodic data to an optimized smoothed curve.
- No need to be perfectly polar aligned. PEMPro can subtract drift from the periodic curves.
- Analyze data and compare curves. Use PEMPro to evaluate the next mount you are planning to purchase.
- Playback with the mount's PEC on to see how much improvement was actually made to the mount’s periodic error.
- Allows further refinement of curves to optimize error correction even more.
- Many advanced control features that allow you to tweak the correction curve.