A popular classic is now easier to use than ever before. The Orion SkyView Pro 8 GoTo Reflector Telescope with the computerized GoTo system, pushing a button or two is all it takes to swing the optical system automatically to any one of 42,900 celestial wonders. Dual internal stepper motors slew the telescope at up to 3.4° per second right to your target, placing it directly in the eyepiece's field of view. Using the intuitive menus on the hand controller, you will see more incredible celestial sights than you ever dreamed possible. The GoTo system will even take you on a guided sky tour or show you the best sights of the month! A simple two-star or three-star initial alignment is all that's needed to begin easy, accurate GoTo operation!

The Orion SkyView Pro 8 Reflector has long been admired for outstanding optics and a rock-solid mount. The telescope features an 8" (203mm) parabolic primary mirror, which gives you a whopping 73% more light grasp than a 6" scope. And more light means brighter, sharper images. You can go way beyond the Messier catalog with this telescope! And for the moon and planets, the SkyView Pro 8's 1000mm focal length (f/4.9) gives you the ability to resolve fine detail at high power.

Other features include an upgraded 2" Crayford-style focuser with a 1.25" adapter and focus lock knob, an 8x40 finder scope, and two Sirius Plössl telescope eyepieces (25mm and 10mm). It even has a center mark on the primary mirror for easy collimation! The stalwart SkyView Pro equatorial mount and steel tube tripod provide a stable platform that's so smooth you'll think the telescope is floating on air.

The GoTo system consists of a computerized hand controller and two stepper motors that attach to the SkyView Pro telescope mount. With intuitive menus and easy-to-use pushbutton controls, the GoTo system allows you to locate and track any computerized object in its database of 13,400+ objects including the entire Messier and NGC catalogs. You can use the GoTo controller to take a guided tour of the night sky or to pinpoint celestial highlights for the month. The GoTo system requires an external 12-volt power source, such as the Orion Dynamo Pro 12 Rechargeable Power Station (02302).

For owners of the SkyView Pro Equatorial GoTo Mount whose version of the GoTo hand controller is 3.0 or greater, the GoTo hand controller's firmware can be updated over the internet.

Updating the GoTo Hand Controller's Firmware
From version 3.0 and up, the GoTo hand controller's firmware can be updated over the internet.

System Requirements

• GoTo hand controller version 3.0 or greater
• Windows95 or later
• An available RS-232 COM port on the PC
• Computer interface cable (supplied)
• DC power supply (7.5V to 15V @ 100mA or greater output with 2.1mm tip positive plug)

Preparing the Computer for the Update

1. Create a folder where you will store the files necessary for the update.
2. Click on the Download Firmware Files link below and save the Firmware Loader program to the folder you have created on your computer. You will need to download this program only once; after it is saved on your computer, only the firmware data file is needed for future updates.
3. Download and save the firmware update date file to the folder you created. The file will be named OrionVxxxxEQ.ssf, where xxxx indicates the version number of the firmware.

Updating the GoTo Hand Controller

1. Plug the modular plug end of the computer interface cable into the middle jack in the hand controller. Plug the serial connector end of the cable to the COM port on your PC.
2. Press and hold down the 0 and 8 numerical buttons simultaneously, then plug the power supply into the hand controller's DC power jack. The hand controller will beep and display "SynScan Update Ver. x.x" on the LCD screen.
3. Run the Firmware Loader program on your computer.
4. Click on the "Browse" box and select the OrionVxxxx.ssf file location where it was saved previously on your computer.
5. Click on the "Update" button, and the new firmware will begin loading into the hand controller. The Firmware Loader will show the progress of the update on your computer screen. It will usually take approximately 5 minutes for the new firmware to load into the hand controller. It may take significantly longer if a serial-to-USB adapter is employed on your computer.
6. When the download is complete, the Firmware Loader will display "Update Complete".

The firmware in the GoTo hand controller has now been updated. You can click on the "HC. Version" button to confirm the new version number of the firmware (and possibly the database, but the hardware version will not change with internet updates).

Note: If the error message "Can not connect to a SynScan hand control" appears on your computer, check all cable connections. Also, try closing all other computer programs that might be attempting to use the COM port.

Note: If the error message "Firmware update failed..." appears on your computer, remove the power plug from the hand controller, and then reconnect it. Now, repeat the firmware update procedure.

By default, the data communication rate between the GoTo hand controller and the computer is 115kbps. The RS-232 port on some PCs may not support this high data transfer rate. If the firmware update procedure fails after a few tries, try reducing the data transfer rate by pressing the SETUP button on the hand controller. This will reduce the data transfer rate to 9.6kbps. The controller's LCD screen will show "Lo" in the lower right hand corner to indicate the lower transfer rate setting. The firmware update procedure remains the same except it will take much longer for the firmware to load into the hand controller.

Download Firmware Files