Meade Instruments LX200 - Manual (Page 38)

Meade Instruments Corporation - Meade LX200 Instruction Manuals
latitude. The entered longitude and latitude is compared by the LX200's computer to your local time, GMT
offset, and calendar date to accurately calculate celestial coordinates. Once entered, the information is
stored in the telescope's internal memory, you need never to re-enter the same information unless you
decide to change it. To enter new site information or to change an old one, refer to section D. Quick Start.
You can choose any one of the four site selections at your convenience, without the bother of entering
longitude and latitude every time you use the LX200. Once the site is chosen, exit the SITE menu by
pressing the MODE key.
[ toc ] 2) ALIGN
The Align menu selection of the TELESCOPE file demonstrates the unique ability to transform the LX200
into an Altazimuth, celestial tracking telescope, a polar-equatorial celestial tracking telescope, or land
spotting scope with electric Altazimuth movements within three options, which are; ALTAZ, POLAR, and
LAND.
Assuming that you have already entered correct local time and your site' s latitude and longitude (refer to
section D. Quick Start) you are ready to choose a particular type of alignment, by pressing the NEXT or
PREV key to run the LCD arrow beside the desired option of ALTAZ, POLAR, or LAND, and then pressing
the ENTER key. The display will then give you specific instructions from this point that will literally walk you
through the chosen alignment type.
[ toc ] a) ALTAZ
The 2-Star initialization routines provide three options for aligning the LX200 telescope when in the ALTAZ
mode. (Note: The 2-Star initialization routines only apply to the ALTAZ alignment mode.
The first and second options require that you have entered the SITE and TIME information, and the third
option can be used when the SITE information is not known or has not been entered into the LX200's
memory.
[ toc ] a. 1-Star with Known SITE
After selecting the SITE location (1-4), move to the ALIGN menu (see steps 5-9).
When you select the ALTAZ alignment mode, the display will give you two options: 1-Star or 2-Star
alignment. If you select the 1-Star alignment (by pressing the "1" key), the alignment routine is exactly the
same as the procedure described earlier.
[ toc ] b. 2-Star at Known SITE
To use the 2-Star alignment procedure at a known site, follow these steps:
(1) Select the 2-Star alignment (by pressing the "2" key); the Keypad display will prompt you to level the
tripod. This leveling step requires a rough level only and, unlike the 1-Star alignment routine, does not
affect the pointing accuracy of the telescope. (See Section d. below for a summary of the differences in
telescope operation when selecting each of the three alignment procedures.)
(2) After leveling the base and pressing ENTER, follow the Keypad display prompts to select the first
alignment star. Slew to that star using the N, S, E, W keys. (3) Follow the Keypad display prompts to
choose and center the the second alignment star. Be sure to use the Keypad to slew to the second star.
After pressing the ENTER key in the last step, the Keypad display should show the TELESCOPE /
OBJECT LIBRARY screen.
The LX200 calculates the distance between the two stars that you chose in the alignment steps and
compares this to the distance that you actually slewed the telescope. This is a check to be sure you
centered the correct stars during the alignment steps. Should the LX200 discover a discrepancy, the
Keypad will display an "Align Mismatch - Check Stars" message. If you get this message after aligning the
telescope, check that you are using the correct stars and align again.
IMPORTANT
Whenever using either of the two 2-Star alignment procedures (at a known SITE or at an UNKNOWN
SITE), choosing the proper two stars will determine the pointing accuracy of the telescope. Choose two
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