Nexus DSC Firmware update

[JG777]

I know there is a few of us on here using these wonderful gadgets!

From the email notification.

We've updated the firmware and catalogues for the Nexus DSC and it's now available from the Downloads section of our website.

We introduce a new feature - AstroLock™. The new feature has been implemented in the previous release but needed some drastic improvements. AstroLock is designed to allow telescopes equipped with motor controllers to lock onto a coordinate and track that coordinate even if the gear ratios in the motor controller are not set very precisely. AstroLock will work with ServoCAT, SiTech and SkyTracker. Please see the AstroLock section of the updated User Manual for details (starting at page 10).

We have also worked on improvements to operating Nexus DSC based on customers' feedback:

Now it is possible to reverse the scrolling order when going through lists of catalogues and objects. The new option is located in Settings->Other parameters->Reverse scrolling.

With a growing number of catalogues it became evident that we needed a faster method of selecting a catalogue. We introduce a new selection method. The Find->From Catalogue mode now displays the currently selected catalogue's index which can be used to select the catalogue by entering its index using the keypad. For example, the NGC catalogue's index is 39 and if any other catalogue is selected then pressing 3 and then 9 will quickly select the NGC catalogue

To scroll through observing notes and objects' descriptions we added ability to go to previous/next page using keys 4 and 6

Increased the number of objects returned by Tour/Identify modes to 256

Another new feature adds the ability to slew, issue GOTO/STOP commands to telescopes equipped with ServoCAT, SiTech, SkyTracker and ScopeDog. It is activated by pressing the <OK> key in any of the Find modes. Please note the special requirements for additional connection to support this feature for ServoCAT and SkyTracker described in the User Manual (pages 22 and 23).

Users of Nexus DSC with telescopes equipped with SiTech servo controller will find that Test->Encoders mode now also shows motor encoder tics that can be used to precisely configure the gear ratios in SiTech servo controller.

We have added two new catalogues - Catalogue of Galaxies and of Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG) and General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS). As a consequence a new input method is used to specify designators in the GCVS catalogue described on pages 19 and 20. The full list of catalogues can be seen downloading this  document (new catalogues are highlighted in light blue) - this takes the total number of objects in the database to over 2.5 million.

We have also updated most of the catalogues to make sure an observing note from Steve Gottlieb is displayed if it is referenced. There are more than 10,100 observing notes referencing more than 40,000 objects in different catalogues. 

The updated User Manual PDF now contains bookmarks/table of contents (depending on the program used) that can be used to quickly navigate through the manual.

The full list of changes is described in the revisions document.

Two useful documents available - Index of Named Stars and Index of Common Named Objects. The indices can be used to access an object by typing its index. These documents are available in our Manuals & Guides section.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some of the configuration parameters (time zone, last location, MPoint, currently enabled catalogues) will be reset to the factory defaults after this firmware update. The time zone needs to be set first after the update (Settings->Time & Date) then Nexus DSC must acquire a GPS fix. None of the telescope configuration parameters will be reset unless your Nexus DSC is running a very old firmware.

Please make sure to set the brightness level to the maximum (31) before the firmware update if the current version of the firmware in your Nexus DSC is 1.0.10 or earlier.

Just to remind you the firmware update procedure:

Download the new firmware and decompress the ZIP archive to a folder 

Copy nxdsc.hex to a USB memory stick (should be formatted as FAT32/16/12)

Plug it into the USB connector on Nexus DSC

Press 'OK' key and while holding it turn Nexus DSC ON and keep holding the OK for another 5 seconds; you will see that the 'ESC' key flashes slowly then quickly then slowly again while it is updating the firmware

It should take less than 30 seconds to update the firmware

The new firmware will start automatically immediately after the update

To update the internal and external catalogues:

Update Nexus DSC’s firmware to the latest version

Download Catalogues archive and extract it to the microSD card (delete all files from the micro SD card before that)

Insert the microSD card into Nexus DSC and turn it ON

Go to Utilities->Updates Catalogues from uSD and select ADCTS125.BIN, select ‘Update’ and press OK

Wait until Nexus DSC finishes the update

Power cycle Nexus DSC

The user manual has been updated and is available from our website now. We recently updated our site and have moved all of our product manuals and setup guides to their own page: Manuals & Guides.