Meade Instruments LX850 - Manual (Page 34)

• Tracking Rate: Changes the speed at which the
telescope tracks targets in the sky.
a. Sidereal: The default setting for Autostar II;
sidereal rate is the standard rate at which
stars move from East to West across the sky
due to the rotation of the Earth.
b. Lunar: Choose this option to properly track the
Moon over long observing sessions.
c. Solar: Choose this option when observing
the Sun. (WARNING: NEVER US A MEADE
LX850 TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE
SUN! Looking at or near the sun will cause
instant and irreversible eye damage.)
d. Custom: Allows entry of user-defined
tracking rates.
Note: Custom Tracking Rate allows you to enter
values from -999.999 to 999.999. The lower the
number, the slower the rate; the higher the number
the faster the rate. If you enter -999, the telescope
will move so slow as to appear to be stopped. If
you enter 999, the telescope will be moving at
approximately twice the tracking rate.
• Guiding Rate: Allows you to change the base slew
speed, 1x. Enter a percentage of the speed (less
than 100%) and press ENTER. This function may
be useful in guiding the telescope during CCD and
long-exposure photography. See SLEW SPEEDS,
page 22, for more information.
• DEC Guiding: Allows a user using an autoguider to
disengage autoguider inputs. Allows you to select
N & S, North only, South only, and off.
• Reverse L/R: Reverses the functions of the Left
and Right Arrow keys for controlling the telescope’s
motion (i.e., the Right key moves the telescope to
the left).
• Reverse U/D: Reverses the functions of the
Up and Down Arrow keys for controlling the
telescope’s motion (i.e., the Up key moves the
telescope down).
• Home Sensor: Turns off or on the True North
sensor, if preferred, for Easy, One-Star, and Two-
Star alignment. The default setting for this menu
is “On.”
• GPS Alignment: Allows three options. Select “Off”
if you wish to align the telescope manually (turns
off GPS). Select “On” (default setting) if you wish
to automatically align your telescope and want the
telescope to get the GPS fix when it is needed
during alignment. Select “At Start Up” if you want
the telescope to get a GPS fix when the telescope
is powered up.
• HPP Dome Delay: Allows time for the dome of
an observatory-mounted telescope to catch up
with the telescope before StarLock takes a high-
precision star sighting. By default, this value is “0.”
The value should be set based on the worst-case
rotation time of your dome. The time is entered in
seconds of delay. Advanced software programs
can release this hold early if the dome system is
configured to notify the telescope when it is ready.
See the Meade Telescope Protocol Specifications
for details.
• RA PEC: Allows you to perform periodic error
correction on the RA drive.
• High Precision: If High Precision is turned on,
when looking for a faint celestial object (e.g., a
nebula or galaxy), Autostar II first slews to a nearby
bright star and displays “ENTER to Sync.” Center
the star in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. At that
point the telescope has a high precision alignment
to that part of the sky and it then slews to the object
that was originally requested.
Targets: Switches between astronomical targets and
Terrestrial targets. If “Astronomical” is selected, the
telescope tracking motor is activated and any object
you observe in the sky will remain centered in the
eyepiece. If “Terrestrial” is selected, the tracking motor
is turned off.
Date: Changes the date used by Autostar II. This
function is useful to check events in the past or future.
For example: Set the Date menu for a day three months
in the future. Then check the “Select Item: Event” menu
for the Sunset time on that date. See EVENT MENU,
page 35.
Time: Changes the time entered into Autostar II.
Setting the correct time is critical for Autostar II to
properly calculate locations and events. Time may
be set to “AM,” “PM,” or 24-hour mode (military time).
To select the 24-hour mode, press ENTER when the
“blank” option displays (i.e., neither “AM” nor “PM”
AutoStar #497 HANDBOX
AutoStar II Operation
34