Tip Slew Help
Tip Slew uses the iOS device's accelerometer to provide scope slewing based on the tip and tilt of the device. Tipping the device up slews the scope up, tipping down slews down, tilting left slews left and tilting right slews right. Slewing continues until the device returns to within ~15° of level. It is possible to slew diagonally by tipping in two directions at once, down and right for instance. Once mastered, Tip Slew can be a convenient way to do one-handed slewing with the eye at the eyepiece.
CAUTIONS!
• Some practice may be necessary to get used to Tip Slew. Begin with mid-range slew speeds and avoid high speeds until you are comfortable with the operation.
• Most of us hold our iOS devices at a sub-vertical angle rather than level for typical use. Be aware that switching into Tip Slew will begin an immediate slew if the device isn't held within ~15° of level.
• Obviously, dropping the device while in Tip Slew mode can lead to wild and erratic scope slews as the device tumbles in free fall or bounces on the ground.
• Don't leave the device unattended while in Tip Slew mode. If it's resting in an unlevel position, the scope could slew unnoticed, continuously until it hits the hard stop. Even in a level, but unstable position, the device could slip into an unlevel position and begin an unexpected slew.
Activating Tip Slew
To activate Tip Slew, go to the Gslew tab by pressing the Gslew button at the upper right of the Slew tab, then do a 2-finger long press gesture (2 seconds or more) in the black gesture box. The box will switch to gray and display a label identifying Tip Slew. Red arrows will appear in the appropriate direction whenever the device is tipped enough to trigger slewing. Deactivate Tip Slew with another 2-finger long press. In the unlikely event of a runaway slew, a double tap gesture on the box will perform an emergency stop command. Although rare, because of the slow processor and communications in the LX200 scopes, it is possible the scope could miss an "end slew" command from SB. Always be alert to this possibility.
Slew Speed Control
Below the Tip Slew rectangle is a 9 segment control for changing slew speed. Pressing one of the segment buttons changes the scope's slew speed to the number on the button, which corresponds to the same numeric speed set by the Slew Speed hot button (Key 1) on the real Autostar II. There are no scope commands to allow SB to determine the current scope slew speed, so under certain conditions, such as dropped communications link or scope restart, the selected Slew Speed button may not correspond to the actual scope speed. Pressing a speed button will reestablish the correspondence.
Horizontal and Vertical Slew Reverse Switches
Two switches at the bottom of the tab provide the ability to reverse slew directions for the appropriate buttons. The switch on the left reverses direction for left and right slews. For H-Direct, left slews left and right slews right. For H-Rev left slews right and right slews left. The switch on the right reverses direction for up and down slews. For V-Direct, up slews up and down slews down. For V-Rev, up slews down and down slews up. These reverse switches can be useful for improving convenience when slewing with different optical systems - finders, diagonals, etc.
Real Time Coordinate Display
In the upper left corner of the tab is a small, two-line display that updates current scope coordinates. Pressing the display will toggle between RA/Dec and Alt/Az coordinates. The additional load on the scope when outputting frequent coordinate updates can interfere with slew commands, making them sluggish or erratic. Therefore, this live update can be set to default to on or off in Preferences. In addition, they can be temporarily toggled off or on by tapping the Manual Slew title at the top of the tab.