The Paramount ME™ Robotic Telescope System features a German equatorial mount with research-grade 11-inch right ascension gears that provide unsurpassed tracking performance. Astronomers equipped with a Paramount ME are defining new levels of reliability, productivity and performance.

Hefting up to 68 kg (150 lbs) of astronomical equipment, and designed for uninterrupted operation, the Paramount ME can be used as a remote or Internet Astronomy™ solution. Through advanced CNC construction, it is “field portable” at 29.5 kg (68 lbs). The system includes the Bisque Observatory Software Suite (TheSky6™ Professional Edition, CCDSoft™, TPoint™ and ProTrack™, Orchestrate™, and Internet Astronomy™ Software Client and Server applications) as well as the Bisque TCS™ dual-axis DC servomotor control system with USB and serial interface, and AutoHome™ start-up.

The Paramount ME is built for the digital age, featuring integrated telescope and CCD camera control, unattended start-up and automated operation, 7 arcseconds or less peak-to-peak periodic error before correction, and precision guided or unguided tracking (using TPoint and ProTrack™). The result is unsurpassed image quality and observatory performance. It's no coincidence that Paramount ME has quickly become the mount of choice for the world's top amateur imagers, as well as many schools and research institutions.

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Important Notes:

The Paramount ME Robotic Telescope System is Software Bisque's latest model of Paramount mount and supercedes all earlier mount designs. The Paramount GT-1100 and the Paramount GT-1100S are no longer available.

Design Enhancements:

• Every component of the mount (that's right, every single part) has been redesigned for maximum strength, minimum weight and unsurpassed overall functionality.
• Paramount ME can carry larger payloads, up to 57 kg (125 lb.). The new design uses an eight-inch roller bearing (which produces an effective 20 cm or 8-in. shaft on the right ascension axis to ensure maximum stability.
• Transportable. More efficient mount design reduces the overall weight to approximately 32 kg (70lbs.) with improved overall rigidity.
• Revolutionary new altitude and azimuth adjustment design keeps the mount stable when making adjustments to each axis.
• PEC polynomial curve-fitting (from TheSky). Ensure your periodic error is smooth by fitting 2nd to 5th degree polynomials to the PEC data, then using this equation to correct for periodic error.
• Improved altitude and azimuth adjustments. New design makes polar alignments much simpler and more precise.
• Improved exterior finish and quality. ME is completely CNC-machined by Software Bisque engineers in our Golden, CO production facility. Every step of our production process is carefully inspected.
• Improved accessory control panel. Inputs for CCD camera cables, autoguiders, focusers and other accessories are integrated into the Paramount.
• Improved MKS-4000 control system layout with a smaller integrated board design.
  
  Here are two additional significant improvements and capabilities of the Paramount ME that you will not find in any other commercially available robotic telescope mount.
  
• One: ProTrack™
  The Paramount ME incorporates the latest release of the world-renowned TPoint "pointing kernel." This technology (which is used on the 8-meter Gemini telescopes, too) now brings professional-quality tracking capabilities to the amateur astronomer. TPoint uses the telescope modeling data that makes the telescope point better to also make the mount track better. Four minute *unguided* images, with pin-point stars at 100-inches of focal length, are possible.
• Two: Brushless DC Servo Motors
  The Paramount ME's control system uses brushless DC Servo motors (which means that all moving parts in the motors are on bearing surfaces). If your mount is used for survey astronomy all night, every clear night, no other type of motor is sufficient. Many competing mounts use motors with "brushes" that don't have nearly the life expectancy of brushless motors and are not designed to be operated for long periods at the Sidereal rate.
  
  Overview of the Important Features in a Robotic Telescope Mount
  When experienced CCD astronomers are asked to list the most important features of a telescope mount, the following items always top the list:
• Tracking Accuracy
• Pointing Accuracy
• Maximum Payload Capacity
• Torque, Slew Speed and Dynamic Range of the Control System
• Control Software
• Portability
• Availability
  
  The Paramount ME ... A New Standard of Tracking Accuracy
  Perhaps the most difficult achievement for all CCD astronomers to produce round stars in long exposures. Autoguiding is the most common method used to overcome mechanical and other errors that cause a mount to drift

 Paramount ME User Manual PDF