A universal control system for small telescopes

An open loop stepper motor controller has been designed specifically for the control of small telescopes. The stepper motor driver is controlled by an IBM-type PC with TURBO PASCAL being used to develop the control software. The software has been set up to be driven either by a mouse or the keyboard. A configuration file contains information specific to the geographical location of the telescope and the mechanical details of the telescope drive such as the type of stepper motors used and the gearing ratios on the two axes. This feature allows the system to be easily attached to a variety of telescopes.