Meade Instruments LX600 - Manual (Page 42)

AutoStar #497 HANDBOX
Adv
anced AutoStar II F
eatures
42
move the telescope until the star is visible and
centered in the eyepiece. Press ENTER. Repeat
the procedure for the second alignment star.
Note: See WHICH ONE’S THE ALIGNMENT STAR, page 23, for
some important tips concerning alignments stars and using
your viewfi nder.
When the procedure is performed correctly,
“Alignment Successful” displays. If AutoStar
does not display this message, perform this
procedure again. (Keep pressing MODE until
“Align: Easy” displays and repeat the procedure.)
Two-Star Alt-az Alignment
Two-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky.
AutoStar II provides a library of bright stars and two stars from
this library are chosen by the observer for alignment. In this
procedure, AutoStar II does not automatically fi nd home,
level, or North.
1. Select Alignment. Select “Align: Two Star” from
the Setup menu. Press ENTER.
2. Set Home Position. Place the telescope in the
home position.
3. To Set the Home Position Manually:
a. See Figs. 12 and 13. Loosen the telescope’s DEC lock
(Pg. 10, Fig. 1, 17). Set the optical tube to 0° on the DEC
setting circle (Fig. 1, 20).
b. Tighten the DEC lock (Fig. 1, 17) to a fi rm feel only.
c. Level the tripod base.
d. Move the base of the telescope so that the computer
control panel (Fig. 1, 13) approximately faces South.
e. Unlock the RA lock (Fig. 1, 12) and turn the
telescope’s optical tube horizontally until it points North.
f. Re-lock the RA lock (Fig. 1, 12). 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 a second
alignment star. Once ENTER is pressed, the
telescope is aligned and you are now ready to
use AutoStar’s II 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 (above), except only one
star from the database is chosen by the observer for alignment.
Fig. 12. Alt-az home position
Fig. 13. DEC circle at 0°
North
DEC setting
circle
Level
base
NOTE: OTA should be level.