Astronomy & Electronics Centre

How to get the most out of your TAKAHASHI Temma Mount

TAKAHASHI Equatorial Mounts - Still The Best!!

TAKAHASHI started manufacturing their Equatorial Mountings about 50 years ago! And since then, they have produced professional-standard mounts such as the SKY PATROL, P2-Z, EM-2, NJP, JPZ, EM-10, EM-11, EM-200, EM-500, EM-2500, EM-3500, and PM-1.

These mount are still the most reliable, sturdily constructed, and long-lasting mounts on the market! Sure, the Pegasus-21 software shipped with these mounts is a bit outdated, but the fact remains that advanced and professional astronomers around the world are still using them in preference to other mounts, which have come down with the last shower, so to speak. We have been Australia’s Sole Dealers for TAKAHASHI for the past twenty years. And during this long time I don’t recall having had a single functional or construction problem with any of the legendary EM-200 Temma-2 mounts I have sold, and the same can be said for all the other models, apart from an EM-400 Temma-2 mount which developed an electronic fault after about 4 years of use.

The same cannot be said about some other brands of equatorial mounts which, according to what we often heard, develope both electronic and mechanical problems. Arguably, the best world’s amateur astro-photographer, Rogelio Bernal Andreo (click here to see some of his work) (http://deepskycolors.com/) uses two Takahashi mounts, and he is delighted with their performance! And he is just one of the tens thousands of advanced astro-photographers who use TAKAHASHI equatorial mounts.

Here in Australia, I have personally contacted serious observers and astro-photographers, and they all agreed that TAKAHASHI Mounts are still the best way to go. For example; Advanced amateur astronomer, John Glossop from Cootamundra (NSW), has had quite a lot of experience with TAKAHASHI mounts, and he certainly wouldn’t exchange them for any other brands! On our request, John has kindly provided us with the following technical information, which shows how to get the best out of these professional-standard mounts by using the correct type of software.

How to connect a TAKAHASHI Temma mount to an ASCOM-compliant program

Go to the ASCOM website and download the current ASCOM platform and install it to your computer:
Weblink: http://ascom-standards.org/

For TheSky 5 or TheSky 6 you will need the TeleAPI plug-in, download and install it:
Weblink: http://ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Plugins.htm

For the TheSky X you will need to download and install the Mount/Telescope X2 driver, get it here:
Weblink: http://ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Plugins.htm

For programs other than TheSky you can skip the above step. Next you will need the Telescope Driver, you can get that from here: http://ccdastro.net/temma.html

For programs other than TheSky, go to the ASCOM controlled telescope mount, open and select from the list “Temma by Takahashi” open the Properties dialog and enter your mount details, hit OK and your done. To use go to your Telescope dialog and click, Connect, you should now be able to control your mount using that program.

For TheSky 5/6, go to the Telescope Menu, open Setup, from the list, select TelescopeAPI, then select Settings and the ASCOM box will open, select “Temma by Takahashi” from the list then click Properties and enter the required details. To connect, go to the Telescope Menu click Link then Establish and you should be connected.

Make sure your mount is powered up before clicking connect and is in the Counterweight Down position, you will then get a dialog asking you to select a suitable star either East or West of the Meridian, loosen the mount clamps and centre the star and click Sync, provided you are accurately Polar Aligned, that is it.

Using an Ipod/IPad or Android device to operate your TAKAHASHI Temma mount

To operate a Takahashi Temma mount using either an Ipod/Ipad or an Android device use SkySafari 6 Pro.
Here is a link to the SkySafari Astronomy webpage (https://skysafariastronomy.com/).

(1) Install SkySafari 6 Pro on your Ipod/Ipad or Android device.

You'll also need a SkyFi 3 Wireless Control System, also available from SkySafari Astronomy
(https://skysafariastronomy.com/skyfi-3-professional-astronomy-telescope-control.html).

(2) Attach the controller to the PC RS232 cable.
(3) Using either batteries or a dedicated power supply, turn on the unit.
(4) In the Settings Menu of SkySafari, select Takahashi Temma 2 as the Telescope Mount
(5) Enable the detect WiFi in your Ipod/Ipad or Android device
(6) Select Scope from the Menu and then select Connect.

You are now connected to your Temma Mount and can control it via wireless control through SkySafari 6 Pro.

For more information on this subject, please contact AEC