Primaluce Lab ALTO-3L telescope cover motor for GIOTTO 560mm

ALTO-3L is the telescope cover motor we designed to let you use GIOTTO 560mm as remotely controlled motorized cap. Now you can remotely open and close your telescope allowing you to use GIOTTO to record flat calibration frames without having to be at your telescope. ALTO provides a USB-C port to connect to your EAGLE or standard Windows computer that you choose to control it with our PLAY astrophotography software, or via a third party astronomy software using the ASCOM CoverCalibrator driver. You can also control ALTO by connecting to its WiFi network from your smartphone or tablet and use the included Virtual HandPad. The provided USB and 12V power passthrough plugs (to directly connect GIOTTO to ALTO) and the included Cable Locking Clips (CLC) allows you to improve cables management and simplify your telescope setup. ALTO natively runs off of a 12V power source to avoid the need for external power units.

If you want to automate the capture of your calibration files or if you are searching for the best way to remotely open and close your telescope, you can add the optional ALTO-3L telescope cover motor paired with GIOTTO 560mm model as a remotely controlled motorized cap!

ALTO-3L telescope cover motor for GIOTTO 560mm - main features:

• Designed to let you use use GIOTTO 560mm model as a remotely controlled motorized cap
• It natively runs off of a 12V power source to avoid the need for external power units
• USB and 12V power passthrough plugs to directly connect GIOTTO to ALTO and improve cables management
• Included Cable Locking Clips (CLC) to let cables rotate together with the ALTO arm and GIOTTO
• USB-C port to let you easily connect it to your EAGLE or Windows computer
• WiFi connectivity so you can wirelessly control it using your smartphone or tablet via the included Virtual HandPad
• Control with PLAY astrophotography software for EAGLE or Windows
• ASCOM driver to let you control it through third party softwares that support ASCOM CoverCalibrator
• Weight: 1.8 kg (4.0 lb)

ALTO provides USB-C port and WiFi connectivity

ALTO integrated control electronics offers USB-C port to let you easily connect it to your EAGLE or standard Windows computer and control it with PLAY or third party astrophotography software that supports ASCOM CoverCalibrator. It also comes with WiFi connectivity so you can wirelessly control it using your smartphone or tablet via the included Virtual HandPad! In order to power ALTO, you don't need a separate power unit, since it natively runs off of a 12V power source so it's easy to power together with your astrophotography telescope.

ALTO with passthrough ports to connect GIOTTO and improve cable management

In order to connect ALTO and GIOTTO to your control computer, you do not have to connect USB and power cables to each device. Instead, ALTO offers USB and 12V power passthrough plugs to improve cables management. Connect short USB and power cables from GIOTTO directly to ALTO and then you will connect just a USB and a 12V power cable from ALTO to your computer; it will recognize GIOTTO and ALTO as separate devices in device manager. This way you will always be able to control them individually from your software.

ALTO-3L is designed for GIOTTO 560mm

In the bottom part of ALTO-3L body you can find different M6 threaded holes that allow you to attach the ALTO to your telescope by adding a custom adapter (not included with ALTO-3L). Note: since GIOTTO with ALTO can't seal the telescope front opening, we do not suggest to use GIOTTO with ALTO to record dark calibration frames; we suggest you to record a dark library instead.

ALTO is easy to use with PLAY software or ASCOM driver

You can control ALTO with PLAY astrophotography software that we designed not only to control PrimaLuceLab devices but also to let you do astrophotography in the easiest way. In fact PLAY comes also with a special wizard that allows you to easily calibrate the opening and closing position of ALTO and GIOTTO installed on your telescope. Then with a simple mouse click you will be able to remotely open or close your telescope. And if you want to use your preferred Windows astrophotography software, you can also control ALTO by using third party software that supports the ASCOM CoverCalibrator driver.

Use the Virtual HandPad to control ALTO even without a computer

You can also control ALTO without a computer by connecting your smartphone or tablet to ALTO’s WiFi network, then access the controls via the built-in Virtual HandPad. Here you can open or close your telescope cap without the need of a computer, like using your smartphone as an additional handpad! It will also allow you to save your preferred settings and recall them very easily.

 In this table you can see the compatibility of different ALTO models with GIOTTO flat field generators. For example, ALTO-3L is compatible with GIOTTO560 but not with smaller models (that require ALTO-1, ALTO-2 or ALTO-3).

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

* Name

Please enter your full name

* Telephone Number

Please input your telephone number here

* Model Number

Please enter the model number which is just above

Additional Information

Please include any information here that will help our staff members assist your query

*

Please add the two numbers

SubmitSubmit