Meade Instruments LX600 - Manual (Page 38)

AutoStar #497 HANDBOX
Adv
anced AutoStar II F
eatures
38
Alaska -9 Hours
Hawaii -10 Hours.
10. After entering the shift, press ENTER. “Edit Time
Zone” displays.
11. Press MODE. “Site: Edit” displays.
12. Using the Arrow keys, scroll to “Site: Select”.
The site you have just edited displays. Press
ENTER to select the site.
Creating User Objects
In this procedure, you will enter coordinates of celestial objects
that do not appear in any of the AutoStar II libraries. You will
enter the object’s name and RA and DEC coordinates (required
information). You may also enter the object’s magnitude and size
(optional information).
Although AutoStar II contains an extensive database of celestial
objects (stars, nebulae, planets, etc.) that you can observe, you
may eventually want to view objects that are not part of a library.
AutoStar II provides a feature that allows you to enter an object’s
RA and DEC coordinates in the “User: Objects” option of the
Object menu and allows automatic slewing of the telescope to
the user-entered coordinates.
In order to use this menu option, you fi rst need to look up the RA
and DEC coordinates of the object or objects you wish to observe.
Check the internet, your local library or bookstore for astronomy
books, CD Roms, or magazines (such as Sky & Telescope or
Astronomy) to fi nd coordinates of celestial objects. The objects/
coordinates you enter become part of your own permanent
database, called “User Objects”.
To enter coordinates of an object into the “User: Objects”
option of the Object menu:
1. Make sure AutoStar II has been initialized and the
telescope has been aligned.
2. After the telescope is aligned, “Select Item:
Object” displays. (If necessary, use the Scroll
keys to scroll through the menus, as previously
described, to fi nd this option). Press ENTER.
3. “Object: Solar System” displays. Keep pressing
the Scroll Up key until “Object: User Object”
displays and press ENTER.
4. “User Object: Select” displays. Press the Scroll
Down key once. “User Object: Add” displays.
Press ENTER.
5. “Name” displays on the top line and a blinking
cursor on the second line. Use the Arrow keys,
as previously described, to enter the name of the
object you wish to add to the database. When
you are fi nished, press ENTER.
6. “Right Asc.: 00.00.0” displays. Use the Number
keys to enter the digits for the Right Ascension
coordinate of your object. When you are fi nished,
press ENTER.
7. “Declination: +00°.00'” displays. Use the
Number keys to enter the digits for the
Declination coordinate of your object. If
necessary, use the Scroll Keys to change “+” to
“-”. When you are fi nished, press ENTER.
8. AutoStar II then prompts you to enter the size
of the object. This step is optional. Use the
Number keys to enter the size (in arc-minutes),
if so desired, and press ENTER to go to the
next display. If you do not wish to enter this
information, simply press ENTER.
9. AutoStar II then prompts you to enter the
magnitude of the object. This step is also
optional. Use the Number keys to enter this
information, if so desired, and press ENTER to go
to the next display. “User Object: Add” displays
again.
To GO TO a user-entered object:
In this procedure, you will choose an object from the User Object
list and GO TO the object.
1. With “User Object: Add” displayed, press the
Scroll Up key once. “User Object: Select”
displays. Press ENTER.
2. Use the Scroll keys (if necessary) to scroll to the
desired object. Press ENTER.
3. The name of the object and the Right Ascension
and Declination coordinates display.
4. Press GO TO and the telescope slews to the
object.
Observing Satellites
In this procedure, you will prepare your telescope to observe a
satellite pass.
1. Navigate to the “Object: Satellite” menu option