The hand paddle used at the Schulman Telescope is technically an non-optimized device for the LCOGT controller. The controller (like most of its kind) was designed for semi-professional operation and research and not so much for “starparty” type usage. Thus this paddle has some “features” that should be known before using it.

• The Red button at the top of the paddle is an Emergency Stop (E-Stop) plunger. Pressing this button will de-energize the brakes (causing them to clamp down) and disconnect the drives from the telescope. The E-stop plunger on the telescope controller works in the same way.