Paramount GT-1100

Overview of Software Bisque's first-generation robotic telescope mount.

• All anodized aluminum construction.

• Byers 11-inch right ascension and 7-inch declination gears.

• SBIG's TCE-1 60 ounce-inch stepper motor control system with two degree per second maximum slewing rate.

• 75-pound payload capacity. (Right ascension gear is mounted at the rear of the mount).

• No longer in production.

Manufacture Dates: August 1996-December 1999

Overview of Software Bisque's second-generation robotic telescope mount.

• All anodized aluminum construction.

• Byers 11-inch right ascension and 7-inch declination gears.

• 4-minute worm period.

• Software Bisque's MKS-3000 DC Servo control system:

  • Brushless DC-servo motors ensure long life and smooth operation.

  • Field upgradeable flash RAM permits easy, immediate software updates.  

  • Fast slew speeds and consistent torque at all slew rates. A maximum rate of five degrees per second in right ascension and seven degrees per second in declination gets you to the object, fast.

  • Virtually unlimited selection of tracking and slew rates.

  • AutoHome™ capability (to better than one arcsecond) with built-in sensor circuitry on each axis ensure that the mount always knows its orientation (after a one-time initialization), even after power failure.

  • Software controlled "hard limits" prevent the mount from tracking or slewing into itself.

  • User-defined parameters can be stored to on-board flash RAM.

  • Numerous safety features critical to remote operation including current-limit protection, encoder-error limits, acceleration ramping, and user-definable maximum slew speeds.

  • Joystick, TheSky for Windows or TheSky Pocket Edition control.

  • Programmable and updateable Periodic Error Correction.

  • Intelligent German Equatorial flipping eliminates unnecessary long slews.

  • The MKS-3000 control system can track at true lunar, solar, minor planet or comet, NEO or LEO satellite rates, or at almost any user-defined rate (when used with TheSky).  No other commercially available control system can make this claim.

  • TheSky has been updated to provide many new capabilities that were previously not possible. Some examples of these new features include: display a graph of the periodic error of the worm gear; track a low-earth satellite by clicking on the object on the Sky Display.

• 100-pound payload capacity. (Right ascension gear mounted at the front of the mount).

• No longer in production.

Links to Paramount GT-1100S Instructional Videos

Unpacking the Paramount GT-1100S

Base and Instrument Panels Explained

Declination Balance

Right Ascension Balance

Homing the Mount

Mounting the Paramount GT-1100S to the Pier

Software Bisque Pier Basics

Polar Altitude Adjustments

Polar Azimuth Adjustments

Manufacture Dates: January 2000-July 2001