Meade-instruments LX200GPS User Manual download pdf (Page 38)

3. Set Home Position. Place the telescope in the home position.

To Set the Home Position Manually:

a. See Figs. 19 and 20, page 37. Loosen the telescope’s Dec. lock (17, Fig.

1). Set the optical tube to 0° on the Dec. setting circle (Fig. 20).

b. Tighten the Dec. lock (17, Fig. 1) to a firm feel only.

c. Level the tripod base.

d. Move the base of the telescope so that the computer control panel (13, Fig.

1) approximately faces South.

e. Unlock the R.A. lock (12, Fig. 1) and turn the telescope's optical tube hori-

zontally until it points North. See Fig. 37, page 52, for more information.

f. Re-lock the R.A. lock (12, Fig. 1). Press ENTER.

g. Press ENTER.

4 . Star Alignment. "Select Star" displays. Autostar II then displays a library of stars

for the observer to choose from. Use the Scroll keys to scroll to a star on the list

that you wish to align upon. Select a star that you can easily locate in the night

sky. Press ENTER.

5. Center Star. The telescope slews to the star. Use the Arrow keys to move the

telescope until the star is centered in the eyepiece. Press ENTER.

6. Center Star. Repeat procedure for the second alignment star. The telescope is

aligned and you are now ready to use Autostar II's GO TO capabilities for a night

of observing.

One-Star Alt/Az Alignment

One-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky. Autostar II provides a

library of bright stars. One-Star Alignment is identical to Two-Star Alt/Az: Alignment

(see

TWO-STAR ALT/AZ ALIGNMENT, page 37), except only one star from the data-

base is chosen by the observer for alignment.

Note:

Autostar II locates align-

ment stars based on the

date, time, and location

entered. The alignment

stars may change from

night to night. All that is

required is for the observer

to center the selected stars

in the eyepiece when

prompted.

Tip:

Try a Spiral Search

The GO TO key also

allows you to perform a

"spiral search." A spiral

search is useful when the

telescope slews to an

object, but that object is

not visible in the eyepiece

after the telescope finish-

es its search. (This some-

times occurs during an

alignment procedure.)

Press GO TO when the

slew is finished and the

telescope starts slewing in

a spiral pattern at a very

slow speed around the

search area. Look through

the eyepiece and when

the object does become

visible, press MODE to

stop the spiral search.

Then use the Arrow keys

to center the object.

Mirror, Mirror...

The LX200GPS telescopes provide features that allow you to control the primary opti-

cal mirror and focus functions for more precise viewing capability.

One control feature is the primary mirror lock (9, Fig. 1). The primary mirror lock helps

eliminate mirror flop. Mirror flop can sometimes occur when the optical tube slews to

opposite sides of the sky and the primary mirror shifts out of position, causing the loss

of focus and pointing precision. To prevent mirror flop: Rotate the primary mirror lock

knob toward the "lock" position and adjust the tension to a firm feel.

Another control feature is the zero-shift microfocuser (24, Fig. 1). The microfocuser

allows for "jiggle-free" focusing. It also allows you to achieve focus without causing a

viewed object to move out of position in the eyepiece.

Some tips to help you make the most out of your microfocuser (see FOCUSING THE

EYEPIECE USING THE MICROFOCUSER

, page 17, for more detailed instructions):

1. Set the "travel" (extension) of the drawtube of the microfocuser to about

halfway.

2. Rotate the mirror lock knob towards the "unlock" position, until it feels loose.

3. Use the coarse focus control (6, Fig. 1) to achieve a rough focus of a bright star.

4. Rotate the mirror lock knob towards the "lock" position and adjust the tension to

a firm feel; this action serves to lock in the coarse focus. But make sure that

you don't adjust or bump the coarse focus knob once you have tightened

tension on the mirror. If you do, reset the coarse focus as described

above.

5. Press the Autostar II Focus key and then use the Up and Down keys to control

the microfocuser. If desired, you may change the focus speed.

6. You may need to repeat this procedure when you change eyepieces.

LX200GPS TIPS

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Meade-instruments LX200GPS User Manual Page 38

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