INSTRUCTION MANUAL

10",, 12" and 14" Advanced Coma-Free™ f/8 LX600™ with StarLock™ ® The name “Meade,” “AutoStar,”“StarLock” and the Meade logo are trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce and in principal countries throughout the world. Deep Sky Imager,” “LX600,” and “Tonight’s Best” are trademarks of Meade Instruments Corp. Protected by U.S. Patent: US 6,392,799 and other Patents Pending.

© 2013 Meade Instruments Corp. Battery Safety Instructions WARNING! • Always purchase the correct size and grade of Never use a Meade® LX600 Telescope battery most suitable for to look at the Sun! the intended use. • Always replace the whole Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant set of batteries at one and irreversible damage to your eye. time, taking care not to Eye damage is often painless, so there is no mix old and new ones, or batteries of different warning to the observer that damage has types. occurred until it is too late. Do not point the • Clean the battery contacts telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look and also those of the through the telescope or Finder Scope as it device prior to battery is moving. Children should always have adult installation. supervision while observing. • Ensure the batteries are installed correctly with regard to polarity (+ and -). • Remove batteries from equipment which is not to TRAVEL SCREW be used for an extended period of time. The LX600 f/8 ACF optical tube assembly (OTA) is • Remove used batteries shipped from the factory with the focusing mechanism promptly. protected by a travel screw. This screw secures the • Never attempt to recharge primary mirror in a fi xed position during travel thereby primary batteries as this may cause leakage, fi re, or protecting the focusing mechanism from shock explosion. damage. This screw is on the back cell of the OTA, near • Never short-circuit the focus knob, and is identifi ed by a dab of red paint. batteries as this may lead to high temperatures, This screw must be removed before attempting to focus leakage, or explosion. the OTA. Failure in removal can result in damage to the • Never heat batteries in focusing mechanism. Retain this screw for future use order to revive them. as it is suggested that mirror be locked down anytime • Remember to switch off the OTA is shipped. devices after use. Move the primary mirror to the travel position by • Keep batteries out of the reach of children; small rotating the focus knob counter clockwise until its batteries may be ingested. travel limit is reached. Reattach the travel screw and • Seek medical advice tighten until fi rm. Do not over tighten. immediately if a battery has been swallowed. CONTENTS Introduction The LX600 Telescope ...... 5 One-Star Alt-Az Alignment ...... 42 Polar Drift Alignment (Northern Hemisphere)...... 43 Quick Start ...... 6 StarLock Automatic Rate Calibration...... 43 Periodic Error Correction (PEC Training) ...... 43 LX600 Features ...... 10 StarLock Assisted PEC Training ...... 43 Update Menu Option ...... 43 AutoStar II Features ...... 14 Erase Menu Option ...... 43 On and Off Menu Option ...... 43 Getting Started Parts Listing ...... 17 Optional Accessories ...... 44 How To Assemble Your Telescope ...... 17 Choosing An Eyepiece...... 19 Maintenance ...... 46 Collimation ...... 46 Observing Inspecting the Optics ...... 48 Observing Using AutoStar II’s Arrow Keys ...... 20 Gauging the Movement of the Telescope...... 48 Slew Speeds...... 20 Meade Customer Service ...... 48 Astronomical Observing ...... 20 To Track An Object Automatically ...... 20 Specifi cations ...... 49 Moving Through AutoStar II’s Menus...... 21 Automatic Alignment for Alt-Az Mounted Telescopes . . 21 Appendix A One-star Polar Alignment ...... 23 Training the Drive ...... 51 Syncing Your Eyepiece or Camera Using StarLock. . . . . 23 Observe a Star Using the Automatic Feature...... 24 Appendix B Calibrate Home ...... 24 StarLock Utility ...... 52 StarLock Operation...... 25 Focusers...... 25 Appendix C Cameras...... 25 Automatic Rate Calibration (ARC) ...... 54 GoTo Saturn ...... 25 Using the Guided Tour...... 25 Appendix D Split Fork Arms...... 55 AutoStar II Operation The AutoStar II Handbox ...... 27 Appendix E AutoStar Navigation Exercise ...... 28 Equatorial (Polar) Alignment ...... 57 Example of Locating a Menu...... 28 AutoStar II Menu Tree ...... 29 Appendix F Navigating AutoStar II ...... 30 X-Wedge Installation ...... 62 Object Menu ...... 30 Event Menu...... 31 Appendix G Glossary Menu ...... 31 Latitude Chart...... 67 Utilities Menu ...... 32 Setup Menu ...... 32 Appendix H “Hot Button” Menu ...... 36 Manual Drift Alignment ...... 68 StarLock Periodic Error Correction ...... 36 Appendix I Advanced Autostar II Features The Moon Menu ...... 69 Adding Observing Sites...... 37 Creating User Objects ...... 38 Appendix J Observing Satellites ...... 38 Advanced Coma-Free Optical System ...... 70 Landmarks ...... 39 Identify ...... 40 Recycling ...... 71 Browse ...... 41 Alternate Alt-Az Alignments ...... 41 Meade Warranty Easy Alignment ...... 41 One Year Limited Warranty ...... Back Cover Two-Star Alt-Az Alignment ...... 42 INTRODUCTION The LX600 Telescope Advanced Technology for the Astro Imager and Visual Observer

Congratulations on receiving your new LX600 telescope. You’ll fi nd that this telescope system has all you need to explore the Universe we live in.

Drawing on over 40 years of experience and innovation, Meade Instruments introduces the latest in a long line of advanced astronomical Introduction products: the LX600. Using revolutionary new technology, every aspect of this amazing telescope system has been designed to deliver the new standard in astrophotographic and visual performance: • StarLock™ full-time automatic integrated guider assists with ultra-precise polar alignment, fi nds and centers targets and then automatically locks onto a fi eld star as faint as 11th magnitude for down to one arcsecond guiding. No separate computer, no guide star selection, no user focus. Just set up your camera and image. • Fast f/8 Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) optical systems on the 10", 12" and 14" OTAs. These optics produce wider, fl atter fi elds with no coma for pinpoint stars out to the edge of larger imaging sensors or extreme wide angle eyepieces. • Internal Crayford-style primary mirror focusing system with a dual speed 7:1 focus control, which eliminates image shift and mirror fl op. Precise focus is a snap. • Optional X-Wedge is made from machined aluminum and stainless steel for 30% more stability. Confi gures the LX600 telescope in the Polar mode which is essential for long exposure astro phototgraphy If you are like us, you can’t wait to get outside under a dark sky to use your new LX600 telescope. We have provided a Getting Started Guide that will get you up and running in the shortest amount of time possible. After your fi rst experience, please sit down with this manual and read about all the advanced features that are available to you with this telescope system. We are confi dent that the LX600 will keep you fascinated with the Universe and entertained for many years to come.

Clear Skies,

The People at Meade

5 QUICK START It is recommended that you attach the LX600 ACF telescope to the vertically, with the tripod feet down and with the tripod still fully supplied tripod for observing. Perform the telescope and AutoStar collapsed. Grasp two of the tripod legs and, with the full weight II setup indoors in the light so that you become familiar with the of the tripod on the third leg, gently pull the legs apart to a fully parts and operation before moving the telescope outside into the open position (Fig. B). dark for observing. The spreader bar (Fig. A, 4) has been removed for shipment. Slide the spreader bar onto the threaded rod on top of the spacer Quick Start B I that is already on the threaded rod. Position the spreader bar with the fl at side facing upward (Fig. C). C D E

H G

AutoStar #497 HANDBOX F Spacerceer

B Tripod Head F Leg Lock Knobs C Threaded Rod G Extension Strut D T-handle H Tension Hub Figure C. Slide the spreader onto the threaded rod. Tension Knob I Retaining clip E Spreader (not visible) Slide the threaded rod back through the tripod head from underneath. Push the retaining clip onto the threaded rod in the Figure A. Fully assembled tripod. depressed ring on the threaded rod (Fig. D).

The Field Tripod is supplied as a completely assembled unit, except for the spreader bar (Fig. A, 4). For visual observations and short exposure astro-imaging, the drive base of the telescope’s fork mount is attached directly to the fi eld tripod. The telescope in this way is mounted in an “Altazimuth” (“Altitude-Azimuth” or “vertical-horizontal”) format. CAUTION: “Firm feel” tightening is suffi cient; over-tightening may strip the threads or damage the tripod and results in no additional strength. B How to Attach the Tripod to the Telescope Assembly. (See Figure D. Push the retaining clip onto the threaded rod. Appendix F for attaching the tripod to X-Wedge. ) After removing the Giant Field Tripod from its shipping carton, stand the tripod Move the spreader bar so that the three arms of the spreader bar are lined up with the three tripod legs. Place the entire telescope onto the top of the tripod head, and thread the rod into the central threaded hole in the bottom of the drive base of the telescope. Note: that the LX600 features split fork arms; you can now break down the telescope into easier to mount parts (see page 55 for details). Tighten the T-handle tension knob (Fig. A, 3); fi rm tightening of the tension knob is suffi cient to result in rigid positioning of the tripod legs. It is not necessary to use extreme force in tightening this knob. To vary the tripod height, loosen the six leg lock knobs and slide the three inner tripod leg sections out to the desired height. Retighten the lock knobs to a fi rm feel (Fig. E). 6 Figure B. Extend the tripod legs out. On/Off switch HBX port

Lock knobs Qucik Start

Figure E. Loosen the leg lock knobs, extend the lower portion of Figure G. The LX600 control panel). the leg and tighten the knobs (turn to a fi rm fi t). E Remove the travel screw on the rear OTA Use the provided To collapse the tripod (after removing the telescope), rotate hex key to remove the travel screw (the position of the travel the spreader bar 60° from its assembled position, so that one screw will vary by OTA model) (Fig. H). DO NOT OPERATE THE spreader bar arm is located between each adjacent pair of FOCUS KNOB BEFORE REMOVING THE SCREW or you will tripod legs. At the base of the tripod is a three-vane extension damage your telescope. Place the provided black plastic cap in strut system, with a circular hub at its center (Fig. A, 7). Grasp the hole left by the travel screw. Retain the travel screw for use in the tripod head (Fig. A, 1) with one hand and, with the other future shipments. hand, pull directly “up” on the central hub of the extension strut system. This operation will cause the tripod legs to move inward to a collapsed position. CAUTION: If the tripod does not seem to extend or collapse easily, do not force the tripod legs in or out. By following the instructions above, the tripod will function properly, but if you are unclear on the proper procedure, forcing the tripod into an incorrect position may damage the extension Travel screw strut system. C Remove the covers of the battery compartments located Figure H. Remove the travel screw before operating the focuser. on the fork arms (one on each fork arm) and carefully lift the Return the travel screw before shipping the telescope. battery holders from their compartments, being mindful of the F Attach the 1.25" Diagonal Remove the dust cap from the connector wires. Insert four (user-supplied) C-cell batteries into rear cell of the telescope. Thread the eyepiece holder into the each battery holder, oriented as shown on the diagram on the rear cell thread. Slide the diagonal prism into the eyepiece holder battery holder. Return the battery holders to their respective and lock in place by turning the thumbscrew to a fi rm feel. compartments. Replace the covers when you are done. Place the Super Plössl 26mm eyepiece into the diagonal prism and tighten the attachment thumbscrew to a fi rm feel only.

Battery G Attach the Microfocuser (Optional Accessory) Remove compartment

Eyepiece

Figure F. The battery compartments are located on inside of Thumbscrews each of the fork arms.

D Press the computer control panel power switch to OFF, if Diagonal prism necessary. Remove the AutoStar II handbox and the AutoStar II coil cord from the packing materials. Plug one end into the HBX port of the telescope’s computer control panel (Fig. G) and plug Rear cell port the other end into the coil cord port on the AutoStar II handbox. 7 the dust cap from the rear cell port (A) of the telescope (Note: Telescope not shown for clarity). Thread the microfocuser adapter (B) into the rear cell port thread. Slide the microfocuser (C) over the microfocuser adapter and tighten the three hex screws on the microfocuser (K) using the provided hex keys.

Quick Start ൴ ൻ Ꭿ Ꭾ Ꭽ I Attach the StarLock cable. The StarLock cable has a ൵ small connector on one end and a larger connector on the other end. Plug the smaller connector into the“StarLock Telescope OR Connection” port on the StarLock unit and the larger connector into the “StarLock” port located on the fork arm.

Fork arm jumper cable — other ൶൳ end is obscured AutoStar #497 HANDBOX ൷൸ ൹ ൺ Fork arm jumper

Figure I. Attaching the optional microfocuser.

1.25" Diagonal Prism Users: If using the 1.25" diagonal prism (G), slide the 1.25" adapter (D) into the microfocuser. Line up the thumbscrew into the groove in the microfocuser. Slide the J Connect the two (2) jumper cables that bridge the OTA 1.25" diagonal prism into the adapter (D). Tighten and the telescope base. These jumpers are non-directional the adapter thumbscrew (H) to a fi rm feel only. and identical on each fork arm. Secure the connectors to the Tighten the microfocuser thumbscrews (I) to a receptacle by tightening the knobs on both sides of the plug. fi r m f e e l o n l y . Finger tight, do not over tighten. 2.0" Diagonal Mirror Users: If using the optional 1) Remove the dust covers from the ends of the telescope tube 2.0" diagonal mirror, slide the mirror directly into and the narrow and wide angle tubes of the StarLock. the microfocuser (C). Tighten the microfocuser thumbscrews (I) to a fi rm feel only. 1! Mount and align the viewfi nder. To assemble and align the viewfi nder perform the following during the daytime: Dovetail bracket 1. Assemble the viewfi nder by attaching all included RetainingRRe bolts thumbscrews onto the viewfi nder bracket and insert the 8X50 viewfi nder into the bracket. Tighten the thumbscrews to a fi rm feel only so the 8x50 optical tube is roughly centered in the middle of the bracket. 2 . Slide the viewfi nder bracket into its mounting assembly on the OTA. To secure the viewfi nder to the mounting assembly, tighten the two thumbscrews to a fi rm feel only. Remove the H Attach the StarLock assembly. Loosen the two retaining viewfi nder dust cover. bolts on the StarLock dovetail bracket with the provided hex key. 3. Loosen the RA and DEC clutches. Point the Slide the StarLock unit fully into the saddle plate. Tighten the telescope at some well-defi ned and stationary retaining bolts to a fi rm feel only. land object at least 200 yards distant, such as 8 BC Depending on the optional accessories you attach, additional weights may need to be purchased. 1# Tighten, to a fi rm feel only, the RA and DEC locks. 1$ Press the Power Switch on the computer control panel to the ON position. The copyright message lights on AutoStar II’s LCD display.

RA lock Quick Start DECC lock 1% “Press 0 to Align or Mode for Menu” displays. You can Figure J. The RA and DEC locks. use the Arrow keys to slew (move) the telescope up, down, right, or left. To change the telescope’s slew speed, press the Speed the top of a telephone pole or street sign. Center key and then the Number keys. “9” is the fastest speed and “1” the object in the telescope eyepiece. Re-tighten is the slowest speed. See page 20 for more details, or you can the RA and DEC clutches. Press “0” to begin Automatic Alignment. See page 21 for more 4. With the object centered in the telescope information. eyepiece, look through the viewfi nder and loosen or tighten, as appropriate, one or more of the viewfi nder collimation screws until the viewfi nder crosshairs are precisely centered on the object you previously centered in the telescope eyepiece. Twist the rear section near the eyecup clockwise or counter-clockwise to bring the object into clear focus. 5. Check this alignment on a celestial object, such as the Moon or a bright star, and make any necessary refi nements. 1@ Balance the OTA. Rotate the OTA so that it is parallel to the ground plane. Locate the counterweight (Fig. K, 3) and loosen its locking hex screw just enough so that the counterweight can

B Counter- weight rail C Counterweight hex screw

D Counterweight

Figure K. OTA counterweight assembly.

slide easily along the counterweight rail. While maintaining a hold on the OTA, lightly loosen the DEC Lock (Fig.J, 2) so that the OTA rotates freely. With your free hand move the counterweight until the OTA balances; favoring neither front nor back. Tighten the counter weight hex screw to secure. Note that the counterweight provides adjustment to balance the OTA equipped with the standard factory accessories.

9 LX600 FEATURES B 3! C 3( 2$ D

LX600 Features 1( E 1* F (Not shown) 1& AutoStar #497 HANDBOX G H 1^ I J (Not shown)hown) 1$ 1) 1# 1! (Not shown) Ꭽ 1@ Ꭿ ൳ ൵൶ ൷ Ꭾ ൴

B Eyepiece 1) RA slow-motion control C Eyepiece thumbscrew 1! RA setting circle D 1.25" diagonal prism 1@ RA lock E Diagonal prism thumbscrew 1# Computer Control Panel (see page 12 for more information) F Rear cell port 1$ Autostar II holder G Two-speed focus knob 1% Fork handles H Fork arms 1^ DEC slow-motion control I Battery compartments 1& DEC lock j Travel screw 1* Dust cover Figure 1(a): LX600 Key Features - Right View; Control panel (inset) 10 2( 2) 3) 2# LX600 Features 2! 2@ 2^ 2% 2& 2* 3^ 3& 1%

3( 3* 3% 3@ 3# 3$

1( Optical tube (see page 10) 2* AutoStar II handbox 3^ Fork Arm Jumper Cables 2) DEC setting circle 2( StarLock assembly 3& Fork Arm Connecting Plates 2! Viewfi nder collimation screws 3) StarLock dovetail bracket 3* Connecting Plate Bolts (4 per fork 2@ 3! arm) 8 x 50 viewfi nder StarLock retaining bolts (see page 3( 2# GPS receiver 10) StarLock Cable 2$ 3@ Threaded rod Tube adapters (see page 10) 3# 2% Counterweight(s) Spreader bar 2^ 3$ T-handle tension knob Counterweight hex screw 3% 2& Counterweight rail X-Wedge (see Appendix F) Figure 1(b): LX600 Key Features - Left View 11 LX600 FEATURES

The Meade LX600 ACF models are extremely versatile, high- Caution: Do not operate the RA or DEC slow-motion controls performance telescopes for imaging and visual use. With with the locks in the fully locked position, as such operation pushbutton controls, precision GPS alignment, true-level and may result in damage to the internal gear system and also North electronic sensors, StarLock automatic guiding and ultra- cause you to lose alignment. precise pointing, automatic tracking of celestial objects, and a 1! Right Ascension (RA) Setting Circle: See Appendix E, library of 145,000+ objects in the AutoStar II database, the LX600 page 57, for detailed information. ACF models offer unmatched state-of-the-art performance. 1@ Right Ascension (RA) Lock: Controls the manual horizontal Observe or image the rings of the planet Saturn from a distance rotation of the telescope. Turning the RA lock counterclockwise of 800 million miles or focus beyond the Solar System on ancient unlocks the telescope, enabling it to be freely rotated by hand LX600 Features star clusters, remote galaxies, and stars recently discovered to about the horizontal axis. Turning the RA lock clockwise locks the have planets orbiting about them. Meade LX600 ACF telescopes telescope, prevents the telescope from being rotated manually, are capable of growing with your interest and can meet the and engages the horizontal motor drive for AutoStar II operation. requirements of the most demanding advanced observer. 1# Computer Control Panel (see Pg. 10, Fig. 1 inset): Caution: Using products other than standard Meade A. ON/OFF Switch: Turns the computer control accessories may cause damage to the telescope’s internal panel and AutoStar II ON or OFF. The red power AutoStar #497 HANDBOX electronics and may void the Meade warranty. indicator LED next to the switch illuminates when B Eyepiece: Place the Series 4000 26mm Plössl eyepiece into power is supplied to the AutoStar II handbox, the 90° diagonal prism (Pg. 10, Fig. 1, 1) and tighten in place with the optional microfocuser and to the telescope’s the eyepiece thumbscrew (Fig. 1, 2). The eyepiece magnifi es the motor drives (the LED can be turned off in the image collected in the optical tube. Panel Light menu; see page 32). C Eyepiece Thumbscrew: Tightens the eyepiece (Fig. 1, 2) in B. 12vDC Power Connector: Provides a connection place. Tighten to a fi rm feel only. so that the telescope assembly may be powered from a standard 115/240v AC home outlet using D 1.25" Diagonal Prism: Provides a more comfortable right the optional Universal Power Adapter (product# angle viewing position. 07584) or the optional 12v DC #607 Cigarette E Tightens the diagonal prism Diagonal Prism Thumbscrew: Lighter Adapter (product# 07043). See Optional in place. Tighten to a fi rm feel only. Accessories, page 44. F The diagonal prism slides into this port. Rear Cell Port: C. Focus Port: (An additional focus port is located G Two-speed Focus Knob: 2-Speed Crayford-style focusing on the fork arm). Plug the optional microfocuser system moves the telescope’s primary mirror in a fi nely-controlled into this port. Control the microfocuser through motion to achieve precise image focus. LX600 telescopes can be the AutoStar II menus. See Hot Button Menus, focused on objects from a distance of about 100 ft to infi nity. page 36. Rotate the focus knob clockwise to focus on distant object. D. Reticle Port: Plug the optional reticle eyepiece H Fork Arms: This heavy-duty mount holds the optical tube cable into this port. Control the reticle through securely in place. the AutoStar II menus. See Hot Button Menus I Battery Compartments: Insert four user-supplied C-cell page 36. Also see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES, batteries into each compartment (one compartment on each fork page 44. arm; eight batteries total). Note: See the instruction sheets that are J Travel Screw: Locks down the primary mirror during included with the focuser and the reticle for transportation. more details. 1) Right Ascension (RA) Slow-Motion Control: When not E. 12vDC Output: (An additional 12vDC power using AutoStar electronic control, make fi ne adjustments in the output is located on the fork arm) Use the 12vDC Right Ascension, i.e. the horizontal axis, by turning this control output to power telescope accessories. with the RA lock in the unlocked position. Set the RA lock to a F. Handbox (HBX) Port: Plug the AutoStar II coil “partially locked” position to create a comfortable drag for the cord into this port. RA slow-motion control. G. RS232 Port: Provides a connection with a PC 12 and for current and future Meade accessories. the telescope eyepiece. Your PC can control your LX600 ACF telescope 2# GPS Receiver: Receives information transmitted from using the supplied AutoStar Suite software for Global Positioning System satellites. See page 24 for more custom applications. Go to the Meade website information. (www.meade.com) to download the latest serial 2$ Tube Adapters: The optical and mechanical axes of the commands and device pinouts. LX600 telescope have been carefully aligned at the factory to H. Auxillary Autoguider Port: If you wish to use ensure accurate object pointing. Do not loosen or remove the an add-on autoguider in place of the integrated optical tube assembly from the tube adapters. The resulting StarLock, plug the autoguider cable into this misalignment of the axes will result in inaccurate pointing of the port. See the instruction sheet that came with telescope in the GO TO mode. LX600 Features your autoguider for more information. 2% 1$ 1% StarLock Counterweight(s): Precisely counter balance the Tiltable AutoStar II Holder: Attach to fork handles (see StarLock assembly and optional accessories by moving this below) or X-Wedge. Holds your handbox in a convenient location. weight. 1% Fork Handles: Use to lift optical tube assembly or to rotate 2^ StarLock Counterweight Hex Screws: Tighten to secure the telescope when attached to the tripod. the counterweight in place. Important After the telescope is aligned do not use the RA or 2& StarLock Counterweight Rail: Slide the StarLock DEC manual slow motion controls or alignment will be lost counterweight along this rail to achieve optimum balance. and the telescope will need to be realigned. 2* 1^ AutoStar II Handbox: The LX600 user interface. Use the Declination (DEC) Slow-Motion Control: Make fi ne Handbox to command the LX600 to automatically slew to any adjustments in declination (altitude) by turning this control. In object in the night sky. See pages 27 thru 36 for a description of order for this control to operate properly, power must be off. features. 1& DEC Lock: Controls the manual vertical movement of the 2( StarLock Assembly: Integrated autoguiding unit made telescope. Turning the DEC lock counterclockwise unlocks the up of the StarLock narrowfi eld OTA and sensor, used for high- telescope, enabling it to be freely rotated by hand about the precision guiding, and the StarLock widefi eld OTA and sensor, vertical axis. Turning the DEC lock clockwise (to a fi rm feel only) used in alignment and ultra-precise pointing. prevents the telescope from being moved manually, but engages 3) StarLock Dovetail Adapter: Attaches StarLock to the the vertical motor drive for AutoStar II operation. telescope mount. Caution: When loosening the DEC lock, be sure to support 3! StarLock Retaining Bolts: Secures the StarLock assembly the optical tube (Fig. 1, 19). The weight of the tube could to the dovetail adapter. cause the tube to swing through the fork arms suddenly. 3@ Tripod Threaded Rod: Secures the LX600 mount to the 1* Dust Cover: Gently pry the dust cover from the front lens of tripod. the telescope. 3# Tripod Spreader Bar: Holds the LX600 mount and tripod legs Note: The dust cover should be replaced after each observing in place. session and the power turned off to the telescope. Verify 3$ that any dew that might have collected during the observing Tripod T-handle Tension Knob: Use to apply tension to the session has evaporated prior to replacing the dust cover. tripod spreader bar. 3% 1( Optical Tube: The main optical component that gathers X-Wedge: See Appendix F for details. the light from distant objects and brings this light to a focus for 3^ Fork Arm Jumper Connector: Bridges the break between examination through the eyepiece. OTA and Telescope base. 2) Declination (DEC) Setting Circle: See Appendix E, page 3& Fork Arm Connecting Plate: Mates OTA to base for easier 57, for detailed information. assembly. Four connecting screws per side(See Appendix D). 2! Viewfi nder Collimation Screws: Use these six screws to 3* Connecting Plate Bolt: Used to secure the OTA to Telescope adjust the alignment of the viewfi nder. base. Four (4) connecting screws per side. 2@ 8 x 50mm Viewfi nder: A low-power, wide-fi eld sighting scope with crosshairs that enables easy centering of objects in

13 AUTOSTAR II FEATURES 1! Library Number of Objects New General Catalog (NGC) ...... 7,840 B Index Catalog (IC) ...... 5,386 Messier Catalog (M) ...... 110 Caldwell Catalog ...... 109 C E Named Objects ...... 227 Herschel Catalog ...... 400 D Abell Catalog of Galaxy Clusters ...... 2,712 F Arp Catalog of Irregular Galaxies ...... 645 AutoStar II Features Uppsala Galaxy Catalog ...... 12,940 Morphological Catalog of Galaxies ...... 12,939

AutoStar #497 HANDBOX G General Catalog of Variable Stars ...... 28,484 I SAO ...... 17,191 Hipparcos Star Catalog ...... 17,325 ■ Take a guided tour of the best celestial objects to view on any given night of the year. H J ■ Control your LX600 ACF with your PC using an RS232 interface. 1) ■ Align your telescope automatically using GPS Figure 2: The AutoStar II handbox (Global Positioning System), Level North sensors and StarLock. Tour the Cosmos with Just the ■ Push of a Button Access a glossary of astronomical terms. ■ Mount the telescope in the “Alt-az” mode Control of the LX600 ACF telescope models is through the (altitude-azimuth, or vertical-horizontal), or operation of the standard AutoStar II system. Nearly all functions polar mode with the optional X-Wedge, for fully of the telescope are accomplished with just a few pushes of automatic tracking, GoTo pointing and guiding on AutoStar II’s buttons. celestial objects. Because the AutoStar II system uses fl ash (rewritable) memory, The AutoStar II system provides control of virtually every your system will be able to grow when new features and telescope function. The AutoStar II handbox has soft-touch keys enhancements become available. Download the latest satellite designed to have a positive feel. The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) data, star and object catalogs, tours, serial commands list and is backlit with red LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for easy viewing software revisions, directly from the Meade website (www. in the dark. The backlit display, key arrangement, and sequential meade.com). To learn about downloading updates see Page 35. menu structure make AutoStar II extremely user friendly. Requires the optional #507 Cable Connector Kit (product# 07047. B See OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES, page 44). 2-Line LCD Display: This screen displays AutoStar II’s menus and information about the telescope. Some of the major features of the AutoStar II system are: • Top line: Lists the primary menu. ■ Automatically move the telescope to any of the more than 145,000 objects stored in the object • Bottom line: Displays other menus that library, including: may be chosen, menu options, telescope status, or information about a function that is being performed. 14 c ENTER Key: Press to go to the next menu level or to choose Additionally, use the Arrow keys to to move the cursor across the an option in a menu. The ENTER key is similar to the RETURN display: Use the Right or Left Arrow key (Fig. 2, 5) to move the or ENTER key on a computer. See NAVIGATING AUTOSTAR II, cursor from one number to the next in the display. page 30 and AutoStar II Menu Tree, page 29. g Number Keys: Press to input digits 0 to 9. Each Number key d MODE Key: Press to return to the previous menu or data level. also has a specifi c function, which is printed on each key (these The top menu level is “Select Item”. The MODE key is similar to are commonly known as “hot buttons”—see page 36): the ESCAPE key on a computer. 1 SPEED: Changes the slew speeds. To operate, Note: Pressing MODE repeatedly while in the “Select press Speed and then a Number key (1 is the Item” level moves AutoStar II to the topmost slowest speed, 9 is highest speed). To learn screen: “Select Item: Object”. about changing slew speed see Page 20. Note: If MODE is pressed and held for two 2 CALD (Caldwell): Press to display the Caldwell

seconds or more, information about the catalog on the AutoStar II handbox. AutoStar II Features telescope’s status displays. When the status 3 M (Messier): Press to display the Messier displays, press the Scroll keys (Fig. 2, 7) to catalog library. display the following information: 4 Focus: Press to display the Focus Control menu. • Right Ascension and Declination 5 SS: Press to display the Solar System library. (astronomical) coordinates 6 STAR: Press to display the Star library. • Altitude (vertical) and Azimuth (horizontal) coordinates 7 RET (Reticle): Press to display the StarLock Control menu. To learn about the StarLock menu • Local Time and Local Sidereal Time (LST) see Page 32. • Timer and Alarm Status 8 IC: Press to display the Index Catalog library. • Date 9 NGC (New General Catalog): Press to display • Site coordinates the NGC catalog library. • Battery status 0 LIGHT: Press to turn on and off the red utility Press MODE again to return to the previous menu. light on the top of the hand-box. h e GO TO Key: Press to slew (move) the telescope to the Scroll Keys: Press to access options within a selected menu. coordinates of the currently selected object. While the telescope The menu is displayed on the fi rst line of the screen. Options in is slewing, the operation may be aborted at any time by pressing the menu are displayed, one at a time, on the second line. Press any key except GO TO. Pressing GO TO again resumes the slew to the Scroll keys to move through the options. Press and hold a the object. Also, press during the alignment or GO TO procedures Scroll key to move quickly through the options. to activate a “spiral search”. To learn more about the GO TO The Scroll keys also control the speed of text scrolling on the function and performing a spiral search see Page 23. AutoStar II display. When text is scrolling, press and hold the Up f Arrow Keys: The Arrow keys have several functions. Press Scroll key for a faster display speed and the Down Scroll key for an Arrow key to slew the telescope in a specifi c direction (up, a slower display speed. down, left, and right), at any one of nine different speeds. See i ? Key: Press to access the “Help” fi le. “Help” provides Slew Speeds, page 20. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to on-screen information on how to accomplish whatever task is move the telescope vertically up and down. The Left Arrow currently active. key rotates the telescope horizontally counterclockwise, while Press the ? key and then follow the prompts on the display to the Right Arrow key rotates it clockwise (unless reversed for access details of AutoStar II functions in the Help feature. The Southern Hemisphere use). Help system is essentially an on-screen instruction manual. Also, use the Arrow keys to scroll through numbers 0 through 9 If you have a question about an AutoStar II operation, e.g., and the alphabet. The Down Arrow key begins with the letter “A”, INITIALIZATION, ALIGNMENT, etc., press the ? key and follow the Up Arrow key begins with digit “9”. 15 the directions that scroll on the second line. When satisfi ed with the Help provided, press MODE to return to the original screen and continue with the chosen procedure. Tip: When an astronomical term appears in [brackets], press ENTER for a defi nition or more detailed information. Press MODE to return to the scrolling AutoStar II Help display. If a celestial object’s name appears in brackets (and your telescope is aligned), press ENTER and then GO TO to slew the telescope to the object. j Coil Cord Port: Plug one end of the AutoStar II coil cord (Pg. 14, Fig. 2, 10) into this port located at the bottom of the AutoStar

AutoStar II Features II handbox. 1) Coil Cord: Plug one end of the AutoStar II coil cord into the HBX port (Pg 10, Fig 1 inset, F) of the computer control panel of

AutoStar #497 HANDBOX the telescope and the other end into the AutoStar II coil cord port. See #9 above. 1! Utility Light: Use this built-in red light to illuminate star charts and accessories without disturbing your eye’s adaptation to darkness. Press “0” to turn the light on and off.

16 GETTING STARTED Parts Listing replace the covers.) Getting the telescope ready for fi rst light requires only a few 3. Plug in the AutoStar II handbox: Be certain minutes. When fi rst opening the packing box, note carefully the that the power switch on the computer control following parts: panel (Fig. 1, 13A) is in the OFF position. Plug the coil cord of the AutoStar II handbox into the ■ LX600 ACF telescope with fork mount system HBX port (Fig. 1, 13F). ■ AutoStar II handbox and interface coil cord; handbox holder Note: The AutoStar II handbox does not ■ 8 x 50mm viewfi nder assembly require batteries. The telescope supplies

■ Eyepiece holder and 1.25" diagonal prism its power. Getting Started ■ Series 4000 26mm Super Plössl eyepiece 4. Remove the dust cap from the rear cell of the ■ OTA Counterweight(s) telescope. Thread the eyepiece holder into the ■ DEC Jumper cables (2) rear cell thread. Slide the diagonal prism into the ■ Anti-vibration pads (3) eyepiece holder and lock in place by turning the ■ 507 Connecting Cable thumbscrew to a fi rm feel. ■ Variable height Giant Field Tripod and mounting 5. Insert eyepiece: Remove the Series 4000 base, threaded rod with T-handle tension knob, 26mm Super Plössl eyepiece (Fig. 1, 1) from its spacer cone and c-clip, and spreader bar container and place it in the diagonal prism (Fig. ■ Set of hex keys 1, 3). Tighten the eyepiece holder thumbscrew ■ StarLock unit with cable (Fig. 1, 2) to a fi rm feel only. ■ Instructional Manual and Software DVD. 6. Remove the travel screw. The LX600 is shipped with a travel screw in place to protect How to Assemble Your Telescope the primary mirror during shipping. Use the Assembly of the LX600 ACF telescope requires eight C-cell (user- provided hex key to remove the screw. Replace supplied) batteries or the optional Universal AC Power Adapter the screw with the provided plastic cap. DO NOT (product# 07584) connected to a standard 115v home outlet or ADJUST THE FOCUS KNOB BEFORE REMOVING to an optional #607 Cigarette Lighter Adapter (see OPTIONAL THE TRAVEL SCREW OR DAMAGE TO YOUR ACCESSORIES, page 44). Plug an adapter into the 12vDC In port TELESCOPE WILL OCCUR. of the computer control panel (Fig. 1, 13B). 7. Remove dust cover: Remove the dust cover Note that the LX600 features split fork arms allowing you the (Fig. 1, 18) from the optical tube assembly (Fig. option of breaking the telescope down into to two, easier to 1, 19) by gently prying it off. maneuver units. See Appendix D, Page 55 for details. 8. Attach the handbox holder: Remove the 1. Position the telescope: Start by turning the handbox holder from the plastic bag. If DEC lock (Pg. 10, Fig. 1, 17) counterclockwise necessary, loosen the lock knob (Fig. 3a, A) and to unlock the the optical tube (Fig. 1, 19). Next, place the clamp (Fig. 3a, B) about one of the fork move the optical tube through the fork arms to arm handles (Fig. 1, 15). Tighten the lock knob the position depicted in Fig. 1 and turn the DEC to a fi rm feel. Slide the AutoStar II handbox into lock clockwise to a fi rm feel to relock the position the holder (Fig. 3a, C). You may also snap the of the optical tube. Ꭽ Ꭾ 2. Install batteries: Remove the battery compartment covers (Fig. 1, 8) and carefully remove the battery holders, being mindful of the connector wires. Insert four user-supplied C-cell batteries into each battery holder, oriented as shown on the diagram on the battery slots Ꭿ inside the battery holder. Return the battery holders to their respective compartments and Figure 3a: Handbox holder: (A) Lock knob; (B) Clamp; (C) Holder. Fig. 3b: Handbox holder attached to fork arm handle. 17 handbox into the holder: Slide one side of the GPS Collimation screws Viewfi nder handbox into the holder and then fi rmly press receiver eyepiece the other side of the handbox into the holder until it snaps in place. Adjust the tilt of of the holder by loosening the lock knob and then moving the holder clamp to the desired angle. Retighten the lock knob.

Getting Started 9. Mounting and Adjusting the Viewfi nder. To align the viewfi nder, perform steps A through E below during the daytime; perform step F at night. A. Slide the track on the bottom of the Fig. 5. Viewfi nder collimation screws and eyepiece viewfi nder into the slot in the viewfi nder mounting assembly. To secure the viewfi nder AutoStar #497 HANDBOX 5) until the viewfi nder crosshairs are precisely to the mounting assembly, tighten the two centered on the object you previously centered in thumbscrews (Fig. 9) to a fi rm feel only. the telescope eyepiece. B. If you have not already done so, insert the F. Check this alignment on a celestial object, such as the Moon or a bright star, and make Mounting slot any necessary refi nements, using the method outlined in steps C through E. 10. Mounting the StarLock unit. Mount the StarLock unit by sliding it into the StarLock dovetail adapter on the top of the OTA. The unit slides into the adapter from back to front. Track Dovetail bracket

Thumbscrewscrc es RetainingRRe bolts Viewfi nder base locking screws

Fig. 4. Viewfi nder assembly

26mm eyepiece into the diagonal prism. C. Unlock the RA (Pg. 10, Fig. 1, 12) and DEC (Fig. 1, 17) locks so that the telescope moves Mount StarLock freely on both axes. D. Point the telescope at some well-defi ned and Once positioned, secure the unit by tightening stationary land object at least 200 yards distant, the thumbscrews until they are snug. Do not such as the top of a telephone pole or street sign. overtighten. Remove both dustcovers from the Center the object in the telescope eyepiece. Re- lenses of the StarLock. tighten the RA and DEC locks. 11. Attach the StarLock cable. The StarLock E. Look through the viewfi nder eyepiece (Fig. cable has two distinct connections, a four-pin 5) and loosen or tighten, as appropriate, one or and a six-pin. Make sure that you plug the more of the viewfi nder collimation screws (Fig. four-pin end into the “StarLock Telescope 18 Connection” port on the back of the StarLock unit, and the six-pin into the “StarLock” port Too Much Power? on the fork arm. Can you ever have too much power? If the 11. Attach the DEC jumper cable. LX600 features type of power you’re referring to is eyepiece split fork arms. In order to make electric magnifi cation, yes, you can! The most connection between the two portions you must common mistake of the beginning observer install the jumper cables on the left and right is to “overpower” a telescope by using high sides. . magnifi cations which the telescope’s aperture and atmospheric conditions cannot reasonably Choosing an Eyepiece support. Keep in mind that a smaller, but bright Getting Started A telescope’s eyepiece magnifi es the image formed by the and well-resolved image is far superior to one telescope’s main optics. Each eyepiece has a focal length, that is larger, but dim and poorly resolved. expressed in millimeters, or “mm”. Powers above 400X should be employed only The smaller the focal length, the under the steadiest atmospheric conditions. higher the magnifi cation. For example: An eyepiece with a focal length of 9mm has a higher magnifi cation than an eyepiece with a focal length of 26mm. Your telescope comes supplied Jupiter; examples of the right amount of magnifi cation with a 26mm Plössl eyepiece (left) and too much magnifi cation (right). which gives a wide, comfortable Series 4000 26mm Super fi eld of view with high Plössl eyepiece AutoStar II can calculate the best eyepiece for image resolution. you to use. Try out the “Eyepiece Calc” feature in Low power eyepieces offer a wide fi eld of view, bright, high- the Utilities menu. contrast images, and eye relief during long observing sessions. Most observers should have three or four To fi nd an object with a telescope, always start with a lower additional eyepieces to achieve the full range power eyepiece such as the 26mm Plössl. When the object is of reasonable magnifi cations possible with located and centered in the eyepiece, you may wish to switch to a the LX600 ACF telescopes. See OPTIONAL higher power eyepiece to enlarge the image as much as practical ACCESSORIES, page 44. for prevailing seeing conditions. For information about optional eyepieces for the your telescope, see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES, available for the LX600 ACF telescopes, see OPTIONAL page 44. ACCESSORIES, page 44. The power, or magnifi cation of a telescope is determined by the Note: Seeing conditions vary widely from night-to-night and focal length of the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece site-to-site. Turbulence in the air, even on an apparently being used (an eyepiece’s focal length is printed on the side of clear night, can distort images. If an image appears fuzzy the eyepiece). To calculate eyepiece power, divide the telescope’s and ill-defi ned, back off to a lower power eyepiece for a focal length by the eyepiece’s focal length. more well-resolved image (see above example of Jupiter). For example: A 26mm eyepiece is supplied with LX600 ACF models. The focal length of the 14" f/8 LX600 ACF is 2845mm (see Specifi cations, pages 49 and 50). Eyepiece Power = Telescope focal length ÷ Eyepiece focal length Eyepiece Power = 2845mm ÷ 26mm Eyepiece Power = 109 The eyepiece power, or magnifi cation is therefore 109x. Note: For a list of magnifi cation ratings of the eyepieces 19 20 AutoStar #497 ObservingHANDBOX OBSERVIING AutoStar II’s Arrow keys tomove telescope. II’s the Arrow AutoStar using objects You landandastronomical may observe Arrow Keys Using Observing AutoStar II’s on AutoStar II’s display.on AutoStar seconds two forabout slewspeed,which isshown change the key keySpeed “1”) (Number aNumber key press andthen to been calculated toaccomplish specifi the Press c functions. andhave siderealrate tothe proportional aredirectly that rates at nine tube move has optical slewspeedsthat the II AutoStar Slew Speeds viewfi the Use nder( 8. key key Speed the “1”) (Number Press and 7. the Press keys arenowactivated. Arrow The 6. key several Mode times the Setup until Press 5. fi has II Autostar the After "Press nished startup, 4. anda isactivated screen II AutoStar The ON tothe power switch Flip telescope the 3. to connected isproperly II AutoStar that Verify 2. ( locks andDEC RA the Tighten 1. supervision whileobserving. supervision always have adult should Children moving. viewfi or eyepiece telescope’s the through Warning: Donotlook of view. telescope’s in the object keys the tocenter fi eld II’s Arrow using AutoStar the andpractice object speed). “9” ishighest telescope’s slewspeed(“1” speed, slowest isthe aNumber keythen ( orleft. up,telescope right, down, keys ( Arrow displays. Item: Object Mode. displays". or0toAlign forMenu Mode Press system. upthe tostart moments afew takes II AutoStar beep. Then by ashort displays briefl message copyright y, followed position. telescope. your and 17 ). ). Pg. 14, 5 2, Fig. See Quick Start, page 6. 6. page Start, Quick See nder while it is rapidly rapidly whileitis nder Fig. 1,22 Fig. Fig. 6 2, ) to change the ) tochangethe ) toslew(move) the ) to locate an an ) tolocate Fig. 1, 12 to another.to Speed 9: viewfi nder. Speeds 7 or 8: Plössl 26mm. Super power eyepiece,a low-to-moderate standard the suchas Speeds 4, 5, or 6: a 9mm eyepiece. fithe eld ofviewahigher power eyepiece, a12mm suchas or arc-min/sec or8°/sec) 480 Speeds 1, 2, = Max or 3: 180 arc-min/sec or3°/sec Number Key 9= 3°= Number arc-min/sec or1.5°/sec Key 8= 90 1.5° = Number Key 7= arc-min/sec or0.5°/sec 30 128x = Number Key 6= xsidereal(16 64 arc-min/sec = 64x Number Key 5= 16 xsidereal(4 arc-min/sec or 16x = Number Key 4= 8xsidereal(2arc-min/sec or = 8x Number Key 3= 2xsidereal(0.5arc-min/sec or = 0.067°/sec) 2x programmable Rate, Guide Number Key 2= 1x = Number Key 1= or0.27°/sec) nine availableThe speedsare: 0.033°/sec)0.008°/sec) to initialize and align yourtelescope. keypad operates in order to move through menus. its You will need II AutoStar howthe youneedtolearn To objects, track automatically in telescope’s the centered eyepiece. fi keeps anobject automatically function eld ofview. tracking The eyepiece ofthe out will object drift the object, an astronomical isnottracking in night telescope sky. the the If objects and other (follows) stars the tracks automatically it that so siderealrate the You tomove siderealrate. called at the yourtelescope setup can move is stars speedatwhich the The toWest. East move from appearto night the sky, beneath stars the rotates Earth the As To Track anObject Automatically only by observer’s the motivation. islimited objects astronomical ofobservable visible. range The isreadily high the level where applications performance ofoptical isin astronomical capabilities. It andelectromechanical optical many has yourtelescope instrument, anastronomical as Used Astronomical Observing Moves the telescope quickly from one point in the sky sky in onepoint the from quickly telescope the Moves Best used for rough centering of an object in the ofanobject centering usedforrough Best Enable centering of an object in the fi in the ofanobject centering Enable eld of Best used for fi ne centering of an object in Moving Through AutoStar II’s Menus parked it, AutoStar II will remember its position on the worm gear. If you do not park the scope The AutoStar II database is organized in levels for quick and and turn it off, it will not remember its position. easy navigation. See Parking the Telescope, page 32 and PEC ■ Press ENTER (Pg. 10, Fig. 2, 2) to go deeper into Training, page 43. AutoStar II’s menu levels.

5. “Automatic Alignment” displays. The system Observing ■ Press MODE (Fig. 2, 3) to move back toward the now performs the following routines (press any top menu level. AutoStar II key to abort Automatic Alignment) : ■ Press the Scroll keys (Fig. 2, 7) to move up and Caution: As the telescope performs the down through the options available for each level. following operations, it will swing and rotate. ■ Press the Arrow keys (Fig. 2, 5) to enter Keep a safe distance from the telescope. The characters and digits. The Arrow keys are also telescope now fi nds the level and tilt position used to move the telescope. of the telescope, and also detects where ■ Use the Number keys (Fig. 2, 6) to enter digits. true North is. It may not actually level or tilt the telescope or point to North — it is just detecting these positions. This may take a Automatic Alignment for Alt-Az minute or two. Mounted Telescopes a. Finds the home position. Moves the telescope to fi nd the “home” position. When the AutoStar II offers four methods of altazimuth (alt-az) alignment; this section describes how to initialize and align your telescope home position is found, the system knows the using Automatic Alignment. (For a description of the other alt- limiting positions of the telescope and can avoid az alignment methods, see page 41. For information about tangling cables and over-rotating the telescope. equatorial (polar) alignment, see the next section, Appendix D and Appendix E). b. Detects “level” position of the telescope; fi nds tilt and tip. To detect level, AutoStar II To prepare your telescope for Automatic Alignment: must calculate “level” at three compass points. See Detecting True Level on page 24. 1. Tighten the RA and DEC locks (Pg. 10, Fig. 1, 12 and 17). AutoStar II also determines the positioning (i.e., tilt and tip) of the optical tube. 2. Verify that AutoStar II is properly connected to your telescope. See How To Assemble Your c. Finds North. Locates magnetic North, then Telescope, page 17. calculates true North. See Detecting True North, page 24. 3. Flip the telescope power switch to the ON position. d. Attempts a “GPS Fix”. The GPS receiver attempts to acquire and sync up with signals When you slide the On/Off switch to “On” on your from the GPS satellite system. “Getting GPS Fix” telescope’s computer control panel, a version displays. See The Global Positioning System screen briefl y appears, followed by “Welcome on page 24. to AutoStar”. After performing these operations, AutoStar II 4. “Press 0 to align or Mode for Menu” displays. now knows: Press “0” to begin Automatic Alignment. (If you wish to choose a manual alignment method, ■ The telescope’s limiting positions keep pressing Mode to go through the menus to ■ Where level is for the telescope fi nd other alignments.) ■ The location of true North Note: AutoStar II initializes the Smart Drive if it has been turned “On,” has been previously ■ The observing site’s location selected, PEC training has been performed and ■ The date and time you have “parked” the telescope. If you have 21 22 AutoStar #497 ObservingHANDBOX been aligned, do not loosen the telescope locks (Pg. locks 10, Fig. telescope the notloosen do aligned, been has telescope the Once telescope. Arrow keys the move to the use only aligned, is telescope the Once Note: Important information. more 33for page fi the SENSORS fi GPS a notattempt do you that recommended Itis Note: Important . “Alignment “Alignment displays. If successful” 7. second nowslews tothe telescope The 6. Note: Note: and Star” Selecting “Automatic Alignment: Note: x indoors. It is also recommended that you CALIBRATE you that recommended also Itis x indoors. over again. procedure the displays, perform Unsuccessful” eyepiece. in the alignment the star center keys to displays. Arrow the Use ENTER” Press Star: Brightest “Center secondalignmentthe star and“Slewing” display. to Star” isclose it When alignment star. Selecting “Automatic Alignment: star to align upon. Scroll key Down andAutoStar will fi ndanother that hasbeenchosen, no problem. press Just the star, orif you have any doubts at allaboutthestar or abuildingblocking your view ofthealignment example, “Arcturus: Press ENTER” may display. star that AutoStar haschosenwill display. For Star” displays, thename ofthealignment StarLock sensor. defialso telescope’s nesthe onthe center optical This ENTER. press iscentered, alignment star the When (and star”). hence,sky “brightest in areaofthe that star will brightest bethe star eyepiece. in the alignment alignment The the star keys tocenter Arrow displays. the Use ENTER” Press Star: Brightest “Center alignmentthe star “Slewing” display. Finally, to isclose it when database. in its stars 145,000 than willthis, it toany beabletopoint more ofthe sky.done tothe has it Once itself toorient order stars. “Go To” will alignment two telescope the detected, are North and tilt level, the e. Once location. will thenbeprompted to enter thetime, date and Ifyou press key the “?” while“Ctr Brightest If you have anobstruction, suchasatree Press any key fi to aborttheGPS x. You The telescope will go to these stars in in will telescope stars gotothese The rst time your telescope takes aGPS fi telescope your rst time x. See See x. Saving changes. See TIMING ISEVERYTHING, See changes. Saving 35. page Daylight when twodays ayear the on offor setting this turn disables the or enables The Note: menu Saving Daylight Important Daylight Savingsbe lost. Time setting:1, 12 17), and will manually, base alignment or the move or Remember to Polar Mode Alignment” described below is preferred method. belowispreferred described Alignment” Polar “One-Star generally but from, choose to alignments polar youseveral offers Meade modetelescope. Alt-Azmuth from differs foranX-Wedge alignment procedure The LX600 mounted (Page 62-66) befoundin can telescope X-Wedge the LX600 the andmount toattach Instructions photography. astro term ideally suited forlong platform asteady andprovides telescope giant fi the between securely mount LX600 andthe eld tripod precisionmachined,This rigid wedge equatorial isdesignedto modeusing in Polar Meade’s the to beoperated X-Wedge. designed was telescope LX600 mode. The Alt-Azmuth in the LX600 we ofthe point this until haveUp operation the described one-star polaralignment The LX600inproperorientationfor . North Appendix F: X-Wedge Installation F:X-WedgeAppendix Installation at Polarisat Pointing Tip: The GO TO key also allows you to perform a “spiral Which One’s the Alignment Star? search”. A spiral search is useful when the telescope slews to an object, but that object is not visible in the If AutoStar II has chosen an alignment star with which eyepiece after the telescope fi nishes its search. (This you are unfamiliar, how can you be sure if the star in your sometimes occurs during an alignment procedure.) Press GO TO when the telescope stops slewing. The tele- eyepiece is really the alignment star? scope begins to move in a spiral pattern at a very slow The rule of thumb is that an alignment star is usually the Observing speed around the search area. Look through the eyepiece and when the object does become visible, press MODE to brightest star in that area of the sky. If you perform a GO stop the spiral search. Then use the Arrow keys to center TO to an alignment star and you’re not sure if you have the object. located the alignment star or it isn’t in the eyepiece, look through your viewfi nder. When you view an alignment star in the viewfi nder, it stands out dramatically from the rest One-star Polar Alignment of the stars in that portion of the sky. The viewfi nder will Setup the telescope facing true North with the tripod level. Use help you locate a star more quickly than the eyepiece, the altitude adjustment knob on the X-Wedge to set your latitude. because it has a much wider fi eld of view than the Make sure the telescope is set to Polar mode in the Autostar eyepiece. Using AutoStar II, set the slew speed to 6 or Setup/Telescope/Mount Menu (See page 32). Turn on the power higher and use the Arrow keys to center the alignment to the telescope and when the AutoStar II handbox displays star in the viewfi nder. If your viewfi nder has been aligned "Press 0 to Align, Mode for Menu", press "0". The AutoStar II will with the telescope, the alignment star should now be in ask you to place the telescope in the polar home position. Polar the eyepiece. Set the slew speed to 4 or less and center home position is where the DEC axis is at 90 degrees (telescope the star in the eyepiece. tube pointing directly away from the drive base and parallel to the fork arms) and the RA axis is at 0:00 hour angle (rotate the RA axis to put the viewfi nder on the underside of the telescope tube and Syncing your Eyepiece or Camera the base of the fork arms is parallel to the ground). Press "ENTER" using Starlock and the telescope will get GPS time, date and location, and will Whenever you change eyepieces, diagonals or cameras, the then slew near to the star Polaris. Find Polaris in the viewfi nder (it center fi eld of view may shift slightly. Starlock can compensate is very important to have the viewfi nder aligned with the optics of for this slight difference by performing the following routine: your telescope. See page 18) and using the azimuth and altitude controls on the X-Wedge, center Polaris on the crosshairs of the 1. Press the MODE key several times, until “Select Item: Object” viewfi nder. Now, look through a low power eyepiece like the 26mm is displayed. Super Plössl and further adjust the X-Wedge controls until Polaris 2. Press the ENTER key to choose the “Object” option and move is accurately centered in the fi eld of view. Relock the X-Wedge down four (4) levels. “Object: Star” is displayed. locking screws. Press "ENTER" to confi rm and the telescope will 3. Press the ENTER key to choose the “Star” option and move slew to a second star. Using the AutoStar II handbox slew keys, down one (1) level. “Named” is displayed. center the star in the viewfi nder and then accurately center it in the eyepiece. Press "ENTER" and the alignment is complete. 3. Press the ENTER key to choose the “Named” option. 4. Scroll thorough the lists of Named star until you come to a bright star that is visible (if you are not sure what to choose Tip: To manually enter the RA and DEC coordinates of use the same star that AutoStar used during the alignment an object: procedure). Press the GOTO key to choose that star. Press and hold MODE for two seconds or more. The 5. The telescope will slew to that star. When slewing has been RA and DEC coordinates display. Press GO TO. “Object completed, re-center the star in the eyepiece or camera. Then Position” and a set of coordinates displays. Then enter the RA and DEC coordinates of any celestial object using hold the “ENTER” key for 2 seconds. Then press “ENTER” again Number keys. As soon as the coordinates are entered, to confi rm your position. AutoStar II slews the telescope to the coordinates. Note that the telescope must be initialized for this procedure StarLock will now compensate for the offset. to operate properly.

23 24 AutoStar #497 ObservingHANDBOX information. option inthe Telescope menu. fiin thelocalmagnetic eld usingthe Sensors”“Calibrate to year. youtoadjust fordiscrepancies AutoStar IIallows fithe magnetic eld of theEarthchangesslightlyfromyear disturbances,Some areasaresubjecttomagnetic and position of True North. Northinformation,GPS andmagnetic the cancalculate determinedbythe II, sitelocation using theobservation severaldegreesfrom deviate True North. But AutoStar linesoftheEarth.the magnetic Northmay Magnetic Northisnot Magnetic True North, butameasurementof netic Northsensor. North. magnetic The sensorlocates The LX600 ACF determines True Northbyusingamag- or accelerometers. Another waytocalculate True Northistousegyroscopes North Star, Polaris, close whichliesvery to True North. One traditionalwaytofi nd True the Northistolocate in thesky. time, ofalltheotherobjects thelocation itcancalculate where AutoStar IIknows True the Northisandalsoknows revolve aroundonepoint—thepoleor True North. When exposure photograph, thestarsseemto you’drealizethat fact, longenoughortookatime- ifyouwatched thenightsky,As youlookat thestarsseemtomove;in key referenceforthemotionofEarth. axis—the pole—whichtheEarthspinsaboutandisa dients inthealignmentofatelescope. True Northisthe Locating True Northisoneofthemostimportantingre- oftruelevel. determination measurementstomakeaprecise makes gravitational solid, aminimumofthreelegs. itmusthave AutoStar II not unlikebuildingatable: For atabletostandleveland to defi ne aplane, threepositionsarenecessary. This is ofa involves thegeometriccalculations “plane”. Inorder forit.compass pointsandthencompensate Finding level three thetipandtiltoftelescopeat must calculate To detectlevelofthebasetelescope, AutoStar II aligning yourLX600 ACF telescope. positions ofcelestialobjects, GPSisanimportanttoolfor latitude, longitude, the tocalculate andtimeinformation position maybewithin10to15feet.) As AutoStar IIuses tude, andtimeofthereceiver. (Accuracy ofthereceiver’s todeterminethepreciselatitude,twelve satellites longi- GPS receiversontheEarthacquiresignalsfromthreeto numberofapplications. forany information highly accurate, worldwidepositioningandnavigation ting theirprecisepositionandtime. The systemprovides areconstantlytransmit- orbitingtheEarththat satellites The GlobalPositioning System(GPS)iscomprisedof24 The GlobalPositioning System Detecting True Level Finding True North See page33formore Position. If you are using the Home Position, select “Use Default.” “Use select Position, youareusing Home the If Position. “Use Current” if your key choices.Select the arrow position toscroll down through use the is anything Telescope displays, Setup: otherthe Position” “Park menu.When than the Home from Position” “Park Choose it. tostore youwant position to the withatopthat slides just back, moveobservatory your telescope cannot be stored in the home position,However, it where in alocation yourtelescope youarestoring if for example, such as an pole. celestial the toward forward plane andOTA ground armsparallel tothe fork pointing position; home tothe isidentical position park default The LX600. their parking when position park default usethe can users Most andfifunction andimprovesne tunes telescope’s the alignment. toSync Enter the activates seconds.This two for morethan down keys using holdENTER arrow center andthen the tothe star the eyepiece, ofthe isnotin exact center the move star. star the If aGoTo menuandperform Objects the from onthat star a bright select users some telescope, their waking alignment. Tip: When remembers your it onAutostar; time youturn next the telescope youdonotneedtoalign isthat the ofparking advantage The power. off toturn prompts screen parked, the Once telescope. the park to onetime, function usethis telescope then the Align sessions. observing isnotmoved that between Designed foratelescope Scope the Parking toaidin aprecisealignment. positions usesthese system the alignments, future accurately. youperform very When axis RA zero hourangle andthe ofthe degreedeclination position 90 the sets procedure This onyourmount. Sensors Home the calibrate alignment) youmay to want alignment aprecisepolar (drift After Calibrate Home StarLock Menu: ontoafilocks begins guiding. andautomatically eld star fiangle automatically lensthat high precision, with nds yourtarget fi anarrow incorporates andasuperwide- optic f/5 eld 80mm system StarLock The completely automatic. during exposures autoguiding accurate and acquisition target makes that system Telescope advancedStarLock™ the incorporates Your LX600 StarLock Operation

off and then back on. backon. andthen off turning power the without tooperation returned telescope’sthe isunabletobe power, II Autostar off display youtoturn andthe prompts is chosen Note: Important When the “Park Scope” option Scope” option “Park the When Press RET/GUIDE (Number key “7”) to select this menu directly GoTo Saturn from Autostar II’s keypad. This “Hot Key” provides the ability to This exercise demonstrates how to select a celestial object, the control the StarLock system easily and directly from any place planet Saturn, for viewing from AutoStar II’s Solar System library. within the Autostar menus. From this key, you can: Objects in the eyepiece should maintain their position even • Turn StarLock guiding on and off. Enable and disable though the Earth is rotating beneath the stars. In other words, StarLock High Precision Pointing the telescope tracks the chosen objects. Note: Saturn is not visible the entire year; you may need to choose • Monitor StarLock corrections another object from any of AutoStar II’s many object libraries; • Set Different Guide Speeds however, the procedure, as described below, remains the same. Key to StarLock Indicator Lamps 1 After the telescope is aligned, press Number key On the back surface of the StarLock assembly, between the two “5/SS”. (2) receptacles is a single red LED indicator lamp. Below is a 2. “Solar System: Mercury” displays. Keep pressing guide showing what the lamp blink patterns are indicating: AutoStar II Handbox the Scroll Down key until “Solar System: Saturn” • No illumination: StarLock is turned off, does not displays. have power or is idle awaiting commands. 3. Press ENTER. “Calculating” displays. Then • Blinking: StarLock is searching for a suitable guide star “Saturn” and a set of coordinates displays. Note (either for guiding or HPP centering). that Saturn’s (and other planets’) coordinates • Solid: StarLock has located and locked onto a change throughout the year. guide star. 4. Press GO TO. “Saturn: Slewing...” displays and the telescope slews until it fi nds Saturn. Focusers You may need to use the Arrow keys to center If you are using a secondary focuser, be sure that the focus lock is Saturn precisely in the eyepiece. AutoStar II tightened once you have achieved focus. Crayford-style focusers then automatically moves the telescope so that are secured via pressure on a rolling pin. Too much force and the it “tracks” Saturn (or whatever other object you scope will not focus, to little and the focuser tube can shift as may have chosen); i.e., Saturn remains centered you scope tracks around the sky, especially with a heavy camera in the eyepiece. hanging off the end. Cameras Using the Guided Tour Be sure your camera is securely attached to the telescope. The Guided Tour feature is an easy and fun method of exploring AutoStar II’s GoTo capabilities. This example demonstrates using Inserting the camera in a draw tube and tightening a single “Tonight’s Best” Guided Tour. captive screw is a recipe for image shift. Draw tubes should have 1. After observing Saturn, keep pressing mode until at least two and preferably three captive screws so the camera “Select Item: Object” displays again. cannot shift when the scope moves about the sky. 2. Press the Scroll Down key twice. “Select Item: Guided Tour” displays. 3. Press ENTER. “Guided Tour: Tonight’s Best” displays. Press ENTER. Note: If you wish to try out other Guided Tours, press the Scroll Down key to scroll through other tour choices. When the tour you wish to select displays, press ENTER. 4. “Tonight’s Best: Searching...” displays. After calculating, “Tonight’s Best: Jupiter” displays. Note: Different objects may be displayed on a tour list on any given night.

25 26 AutoStarAutoStar #497 II HANDBOX Handbox “A Life”. Star’s Other Guided Tours are available, such as “How Far is Far” and 6. Press and hold down MODE for two seconds to seconds to fortwo MODE andholddown Press 6. Tour tothe toreturn the MODE Press list. Press 5. todisplay the about information ENTER Press leave the Guided Tourleave Guided the menu. to observe. youfiwhen youwish object next ndthe ENTER Press keys list. the Scroll toscroll through object. tothe TOtomove telescope the GO Press object. AUTOSTAR II OPERATION 1! B Two-line LCD display

C ENTER key B

D MODE key C E GO TO key E

F Arrow keys D

G Number keys F AutoStar II Operation H Scroll keys I ? key G I J Coil cord port

1) Coil cord 1! Utility light h J 1! Figure 7: The AutoStar II handbox through the options in the opposite order. Note that this capability is a quick way to get to an option that is near the bottom of the list. The following example demonstrates this capability. Example: To navigate to the “Select Item: Setup” menu option when the “Select Item: Object” menu is displayed: 1. Press the Scroll Down key four times or the Scroll Up key once. The screen (Fig. 7, 1) displays two lines of information. The top line shows the current menu level. The second line displays an option which may be selected within that menu level.

Fig. 8: The AutoStar Universe: The six primary categories listed in the Select Item menu of AutoStar.

For proper operation of the AutoStar II it is important to Figure 9: AutoStar levels understand that menu selections are set in a loop (Fig. 10). This means that pressing the Scroll Down key (Fig. 7, 7) cycles down through all the available options within a given category, then returns to the fi rst option. The Scroll Up key (Fig. 7, 7) cycles up Figure 10: Menus set in loop. 27 28 AutoStarAutoStar #497 II HANDBOXOperation “Select Item: Object”. Item: “Select Select Item level, press MODE to return to the topmost level, the in Item”, Once “Select level, reached. is top the until alevel, key up MODE moves ofthe press each traveled, are AutoStar into howmany levels matter No Note: Important is chosen. key toleave alevel; MODE the e.g., Press menuoption wrong the Deep Sky, etc. menu: Constellations, available options other Objects the forthe following exercise calculates Sunset time so an evening observing observing time: To Sunset Calculate evening an so time Sunset beplanned. can session calculates exercise following the works, menustructure To AutoStar howthe demonstrate AutoStar Navigation Exercise ( System.”Solar You menulevel have Object tothe moved down display example, andthe the nowreads“Object: In Enter press andmove onemenulevel. option down that key tochoose ENTER desired isdisplayed the option When secondline, onthe the press (>). arrow by pointing aright highlighted fi displayed usually is option current the option, amenu are available within Tip: choices multiple When showingoptions, atatime. oneoption The Scroll keys menulevel next down. the select arechoicesthat options Some move up and down within the list of available Fig. 9 7. Press MODE once to start moving back up moving backup oncetostart MODE Press 7. onthe time calculates Sunset based the AutoStar 6. “Sunset” the key tochoose ENTER the Press 5. key Down oncetodisplay Scroll the the Press 4. “Event” the key tochoose ENTER the Press 3. key Down oncetodisplay Scroll the the Press 2. key several times, “Select until MODE the Press 1. ). You keys upanddown nowusethe through toscroll can through the AutoStar levels. fi The AutoStar the through level upis rst calculation. ofthe displays results the then date, AutoStar time,current and location. option andmove level. downanother inEvent menu. option the “Sunset” is displayed. andmove alevel.option down Sunrise” “Event: Item” menu. “Select in option the “Event” isdisplayed. Item: Object” rst and and rst keys usedin example. this reference In this example, we will point. alignment the will this procedure; beourstarting after completed locate just have the you “Owner assume will aligning Info” example option. this Please your telescope, your scope. AutoStar youinitialize will beusing andalign menusafter youtypically As II displays “SelectExample ofLocatingamenu Item: Object” 9. Press MODE again to return to the starting point point starting tothe again toreturn MODE Press 9. again tomove level. upanother This MODE Press 8. 8. Press ENTER. “Owner Info: Name” Info: displays. “Owner ENTER. Press 8. key Down until Scroll the topress Continue 7. Item: key Down again. “Select Scroll the Press 6. Align” displays. 5. “Setup: displayed, Item: Setup” press “Select With 4. key. Down Scroll the Keeppressing that Notice 3. menu, Setup isin option the Info Owner the As 2. displays. Item: Object” “Select 1. of “Select Item: Object”.of “Select Item”. toplevel,is the “Select Event menu. the memory. yourfienter II’s nameinto Autostar andlast rst line this On secondline youmay the blank. again. “Name” displays, with ENTER Press Info” displays. Owner “Setup: Telescope the with menu. will nowdisplay areavailable all choicesthat the II Autostar Telescope” ENTER. displays. Press option currently displayed. menuor the selects ENTER Pressing ENTER. Scroll keys. over oneofthe andover again youpress when eachchoice cyclesof menusoroptions through will display list the Object” isbecause again. This Item: key onemoretime, Down Scroll “Select the Item: displays. youpress Setup” If “Select Tour,Guided when Stop Setup. Utilities, Glossary, key: the all menusdisplay the youpress as Key. Down displays Item:Scroll Event” “Select the ofmenus.Press list the navigate through you will have keys Scroll touseoneofthe to page 25, fi 25, page gure 7 gure for the location of the Autostar II II Autostar ofthe location forthe AUTOSTAR II MENU TREE Align Star Easy Star One Home Two Align Align Drift Automatic Telescope Mount AltAz Model Polar Length Limit Telescope Limit Focal Upper Lower Mnt. Position Max Slew Rate Mnt. Current Park Default Use Home Use Calbrate Percent Anti-backlash Percent RA/Az. Drive DEC/El. Train Train Train RA Sensors” DEC Rates “Cal Tracking Sidereal Lunar Rate Solar Rates Custom RA Guide Set Guiding L/R DEC Up/Down Set DEC Rate Reverse Sensors Auto Rate Cal. Reverse Alignment Home GPS Delay On Startup Off Dome At PEC HPP RA Training On/Off Erase Train PEC Update DEC Training On/Off Erase Train Derotater Update Precision Field High Select Item: Setup AutoStar II Operation Park Scope Ambient Temp. StarLock Status Auto Rate Cal. Delay Rate Set RA Precision On/Off Set DEC Rate Dome High HPP Reticle Timer Set Start/Stop Alarm Set On/Off Eyepiece Calc. Magnification Field of View Suggest Brightest Star Brightness Adjust Contrast Panel Light 12v Port Power Beep Battery Alarm Landmark Survey Select Item: Utilities Accretion Disk Etc. A... B... C... Etc. Select Item: Glossary Date Time Daylight Savings GPS-UTC Offset Site Select Add Delete Edit Name Latitude Zone Time Longitude Owner Info Name Address Street City Code State Zip Clone Catalogs Software All Download Statistics Reset Targets Terrestrial Astronomical Tonight's Best Tonight's A Star’s Life is Far Far How Tour Objects Tour Select Item: Guided Tour Guided Quadrantids Lyrids Etc. Next Full Moon Next Moon New Next 1st Qtr Next 3rd Qtr Next Apollo 11 Etc. Etc. Abbot Etc. Lacus Aestatis Etc. Rima Agatharchid Mons Bradley Etc. Moon Phases Solar Eclipses Lunar Eclipses of Algol Min. Equinox Autumn Winter Solstice Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moon Transit Vernal Equinox Vernal Summer Solstice Sun Transit Moonset Meteor Showers Select Item: Event Craters Rills Valley, Overview Mountains Moon Landing Sites Mare, Lakes Mare, Select Add Select Add Add Delete Planetary Neb. Etc. Named Etc. Hipparcos Catalog Start Search SAO Catalog SAO Etc. Andromeda Named Object Delete Edit Edit Parameters Delete Edit Select Galaxies Nebulae Mercury Etc. Moon Asteroids Comets Landmarks Deep Sky Satellite Identify Browse User Objects Star Constellations Solar System Select Item: Object

Figure 11: The AutoStar II Menu Tree 29 30 AutoStarAutoStar #497 II HANDBOXOperation objects is selected from a library, Autostar II moves your telescope moves yourtelescope II alibrary, from Autostar isselected objects oneofthese When nebulae forth. andso comets, planets, stars, Autostar II contains many libraries of viewable Survey.)and Landmark objects, such as Tour Guided include Exceptions (Note: menucategory. Object using the isperformed II Autostar with all observing Almost Object Menu II’s menusareorganized navigation: forquick andeasy Autostar II Navigating Autostar • Press the Help (?) key on-line Help toaccess (?) the help. Press • across keys tomove cursor the Arrow the Press • keys the Scroll tomove the through upanddown Press • menu. Number StarLock key the “7”toaccess Press • Number key “4” Press menus. Focus the toaccess • Number key “1” Press mode, Speed and toengagethe • topmenulevel. tomove the backtoward MODE Press • II’s menulevels. togodeeperinto Autostar ENTER Press • Info” displays. Owner and“Setup: 13. MODE Press 12. Name” Info: displays youwish, “Owner again (if 11. youarefi when ENTER Press nished. Your name 10. key tomove next tothe Arrow Right the Use key. a Arrow that orDown Up the Notice Press 9. the display. options orlists. Number keys 9tochange speeds. press then 1through menustructure. the through allows youtobackupandexit displays. MODE Item: Setup” again. “Select MODE Press youwish). if address will Address” Info: display your enter andyoucan key Down —“Owner Scroll the press you can II’s memory. into AutoStar is nowentered yourfull name. enter keys to Arrow tousethe your name. Continue of secondletter the choose youcan so position name displays. keys fi the until Arrow one ofthe ofyour letter rst topress alphabet displays. ofthe Continue letter satellites. orbit satellites, andgeosynchronous (GPS) System Positioning Telescope, Space Hubble the Station, Space Global International Satellite: by directly Number pressing keybe accessed “6.” may also catalog Star The catalogs. HD, andHR SAO, Hipparcos, named,double, variable,as ornearby. included arethe Also Star: andquasars. galaxies, clusters, nebulae, star Deep Sky: constellation. in the forth will it andso displayThen deepspaceobjects signifi most ofthe list the through in constellation. the stars cant and will keys Scroll display usethe tocycle coordinates. Then, constellation ofthe center goestothe telescope TOandthe GO fi onthe nameappears a constellation line press screen, ofthe rst and ischosen menuoption this When Hemisphere constellations. Constellation: key “5”). (Number comets and asteroids, Sun,followed the by Moon, from the in out order System: Solar include: options Menu Object The hot buttons. using directly the beaccessed libraries can popular most the Sixof object. selected atthe it andpoints aligned) properly (if deep-sky objects ofspecifi objects deep-sky in the arenotcurrently that c interest User Objects: repeatedly toreturn toprevious MODE menu Press object. levels. Press GO TO. The telescope, if aligned, will slew toavailable, displays it scrolling that as text. chosen classifi is information isastar. further object the if If cation, within, magnitude, size, islocated it andstar-type distance, coordinates, constellation nebula, etc.), andRA (galaxy, DEC Typeall following object: ofthe that about information ofobject keys Scroll available. todisplay oneofthe if or some object, Press displays common II namesofthe the nameandalternate Autostar “6-7-2-0.”digits ENTER. press Then Number Keypress “9,” using Number then the keys, the enter example: For To 6720, slewtoNGC ENTER. keys press andthen using Number number the object ofthe catalog the Enter objects: catalog to To telescope the slew (“9”). (“5”), (“8”), andNGC IC System (“3”),keys”: Solar catalog Messier “2”), Caldwell (key “hot II directly using Autostar the areaccessed Catalogs Other A catalog of stars listed in different categories such categories listed in different ofstars A catalog To learn more about observing satellites, see page 36. page see satellites, observing To about more learn A library of objects outside our Solar System such as suchas System ourSolar outside ofobjects Alibrary A library of Earth-orbiting objects such as the the suchas objects ofEarth-orbiting A library Allows the usertodefi the Allows in memory ne andstore A library of all 88 Northern and Southern andSouthern Northern ofall 88 Alibrary A library of the eight planets (Earth is not included) isnotincluded) (Earth planets eight ofthe A library Autostar II libraries. See CREATING USER OBJECTS, page 38, showers, such as the Perseids, the Leonids, etc. Also lists the for more information. dates of the showers and when they reach maximum. Identify: An exciting feature for an observer who wants to scan Note: Meteors are fast moving objects that cover large areas the night sky and start exploring. After the telescope has been of the sky and are usually best observed with the naked eye. properly aligned, use the Autostar II Arrow keys to move about in Solar Eclipse: Lists upcoming Solar Eclipses, including the date the sky. Then follow this procedure: and type (total, annular, or partial) of eclipse. Use the Scroll Important Note: Only use the Arrow keys to move the Up and Down keys to display the available data. This option is telescope during the Identify procedure. Do not loosen the dependent on your location. WARNING: NEVER USE A MEADE telescope locks or move the base or alignment is lost. LX600 TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN! Looking at or near the sun will cause instant and irreversible eye damage. 1. When a desired object is visible in the eyepiece, keep pressing MODE until the “Select Item: Lunar Eclipse: Lists upcoming Lunar Eclipses, including the date Object” menu is displayed. Press ENTER to select and type (total, partial, penumbral) of eclipse. Use the Scroll Up

this menu. and Down keys to display the available data. AutoStar II Operation 2. Scroll through the Object menu options until the Min. (Minimum) of Algol: Displays the minimum brightness of “Object: Identify” screen appears. the dramatic eclipsing binary star system, Algol. It is relatively close at a distance of 100 light years. Every 2.8 days during a 3. Press ENTER. Autostar II searches the libraries 10-hour period, Algol undergoes a major change in apparent for the identity of the object being observed. magnitude as one of the two stars passes behind the other. The 4. If the telescope is not directly on an Autostar II combined magnitude of the two stars thus dips from +2.1 to a library object, the nearest library object is located minimum of +3.4 halfway through the eclipse as the second star and displayed on the screen. Press GO TO and is hidden. Autostar II calculates minimum magnitude time at mid- the telescope slews to that object. eclipse. Browse: Allows you to search the library for objects with certain Autumn and Vernal Equinox: Calculate the time and date of the parameters, much like a search engine. “Edit Parameters” lets fall or spring equinox of the current year. you set various parameters for the search, such as: Object Winter and Summer Solstice: Calculate the time and date of Type, Minimum Elevation, Largest, etc. Once you have set the the winter or summer solstice of the current year. parameters of the search, select “Start Search” and press ENTER. Autostar II will display the results of the search. To learn more about the browse menu, see page 41. Glossary Menu The Glossary menu provides an alphabetical listing of defi nitions Event Menu and descriptions for common astronomical terms and Autostar II functions. Access directly through the Glossary menu or through The Event menu provides access to dates and times of hypertext words embedded in Autostar II. A hypertext word is astronomical events. The Event database includes: any word in [brackets], usually found when using the Autostar II Sunrise, Sun Transit, and Sunset: Calculate the time of Sun rise, Help function or when reading a scrolling message such as a Sun transit, or Sun set on the current date. Find rise and set description of a planet or star. Press ENTER whenever a hypertext times for other dates by entering a new date into the “Setup: word is on screen and Autostar II goes to the glossary entry for Date” menu. that word. Moonrise, Moon Transit, and Moonset: Calculate the time of To access directly from within the Glossary menu, use the Scroll Moon rise, Moon transit, or Moon set on the current date. Find keys to scroll through the alphabet. Press ENTER on the desired rise and set times for other dates by entering a new date into the letter. Scroll to the desired entry and then press ENTER to read “Setup: Date” menu. the description. Moon Phases: Displays the date and time of the next Full, New, 1st Quarter, and 3rd Quarter Moon. Meteor Showers: Provides information on upcoming meteor 31 32 AutoStarAutoStar #497 II HANDBOXOperation specifi isconnected. II towhich Autostar ctelescope Calc: Eyepiece Stop.” or“Start/ “Set” choose then To ENTER, press Alarm, usethe Alarm: or“Start/Stop.” “Set” choose then Timer,use the ENTER, press functions suchTimer: as astrophotographyRA PEC: and tracking satellites. To StarLock: include: functions Utilities The including timer II, andanalarm. acountdown within Autostar UtilitiesThe menu provides features toseveral access extra Utilities Menu Magnifi ofavailable alist through Scroll cation: • ofavailable alist through Scroll ofView: Field • previously. alarmset the Activates Start/Stop: • time ofday the alarmtosound, forthe Enter Set: • timer previously. the set Activates Start/Stop: • in down, time hours, tobecounted the Enter Set: • StarLock Train with SmartDrive • Aggresiveness Guide Set • guiding corrections StarLock Monitor • guiding and Enable Turn onandoff. StarLock • Selects a time for an alarm signal to sound as areminder. as atime foranalarmsignaltosound Selects Selects a countdown timer. acountdown for isuseful Selects feature This Allows you to turn on or off RA Periodic Error Correction. Correction. Error Periodic RA off or on turn to you Allows magnifi cation is calculated. the aneyepiece isselected, eyepieces. When fi eldofviewiscalculated. the aneyepiece isselected, eyepieces. When alarm. the todeactivate ENTER beeps.Press II Autostar alarmtime the arrives, alarm. the When activate to OFF. isdisplayed, ENTER ON press When and ON keys Scroll the totoggle between Use ENTER. minutes, press in andseconds,then hours, timer isdeactivated. andthe beeps sound timer. the four activate out, timer runs the When to OFF. isdisplayed, ENTER ON press When and ON keys Scroll the totoggle between Use ENTER. minutes, press andseconds,then Pointing HighPrecision StarLock disable Provides the ability to control the StarLock system StarLock the tocontrol ability the Provides Calculates information about aneyepiece about information forthe Calculates turning the power off and then back on. on. back then offand power the turning Autostar II is unable to be returned to operation without power, telescope’s offthe turn to you prompts display the p off turn to prompts screen the parked, Once position. predetermined Park tomove to its telescope the causes powered up, ENTER pressing then use this function to park onetime, telescope the Align sessions. observing thebetween telescope. The next time it Park Scope: is Beep: power port. Power: Port Aux Light: Panel complete,keys. ENTER. When press Contrast Adj: orBright identifying Star” by the star name during alignment. Star: Brightest Telescope: Alignment. PolarDrift 43, Align: Drift information. more for 33, page procedure. Home Calibrate the during memory II’s Autostar in stored were that setting the to according isfully aligned telescope the words, other In home position. previously calibrated the menutoreturn this andselect telescope used,power upyour notbeenmoved since has last telescope Home: on Align Align: menu, including: available features arenumerous other Setup within the There Setup Menu • Suggest: Autostar II calculates and suggests calculates II andsuggests Autostar Suggest: • • • • • Turns onoroff. beepalerts the Lets you choose a method ofalignment. amethod youchoose Lets telescope and the object being viewed. object andthe telescope eyepiece best forviewing, onthe the based Max Slew Rate: Rate: Slew Max telescope. selected Focal Length: of OTA onLX600. mounted Telescope Model: of operation. Mount: Note: When the “Park Scope” option is chosen and and chosen is “Park option Scope” the When Note: Accesses several including: options, Accesses Use this tofi this Use alignment. See yourpolar ne tune Allows you to turn off LED panellight. LED off youtoturn Allows Adjusts the contrast of the display ofthe using Scroll the contrast the Adjusts Designed for a telescope that isnotmoved that Designed foratelescope Gives you a choice of Autostar displaying “CTR displaying “CTR youachoiceofAutostar Gives Choose between alt-az and polar modes modes andpolar alt-az between Choose If Calibrate Home has been performed and the andthe beenperformed has Home Calibrate If Allows you turn off and on the 12v DC OUT 12v andonthe OUT DC off youturn Allows Displays the focal length of the ofthe length Displays focal the Sets the upperlimit the slew forthe Sets Allows you to select the type type the youtoselect Allows See Calibrate Home, Home, Calibrate See page rate. 8° degrees per second is the fastest setting. alignment stars. It calibrates to correct slight mechanical misalignment due to transport, • Park Position: After aligning your telescope, vibration, or aging. It is recommended that select this menu and power down the telescope. calibration be performed once on a new The alignment settings—North, time, alignment telescope after the user initially assembles it. stars—are stored in Autostar II’s memory and are remembered after you power off the When this menu is selected, the telescope slews telescope. When you power on the telescope, to Polaris. AutoStar II then prompts you to center “Automatic Alignment” displays after the start up Polaris and to press ENTER. AutoStar II uses the routine. Press MODE (do not press ENTER). The position of Polaris to fi ne tune the position of telescope remembers its alignment and you can North and also detects level for the base of the continue viewing or performing other operations telescope. without aligning the telescope again. • Tracking Rate: Changes the speed at which the

Park Position provides two options. Use Current telescope tracks targets in the sky. AutoStar II Operation Position uses the last position set by the user. a. Sidereal: The default setting for Autostar II; Default Position places scope in the home sidereal rate is the standard rate at which stars position. move from East to West across the sky due to • Calibrate Home: For permanently mounted the rotation of the Earth. telescopes only. After aligning your telescope, b. Lunar: Choose this option to properly track the select this menu and the alignment settings— Moon over long observing sessions. North, time, alignment stars—are stored in Autostar II’s memory and are remembered after c. Solar: Choose this option when observing the you power off the telescope. You can enable Sun. WARNING: NEVER USE A MEADE LX600 Autostar II to retrieve and automatically align TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN unless your telescope using these settings the next time it is equipped with a properly installed, you power up by choosing the Align on Home safe solar fi lter! Looking at or near the sun menu. This menu helps improve auto alignment. without appropriate fi lters will cause instant and irreversible eye damage. Damage to the StarLock • Anti-Backlash: This option allows you to change optical/sensor systems and viewfi nder optics will the backlash along either the RA and the DEC occur if pointed at the Sun. axes by entering a number from 0% to 199%. This sets the backlash in the way the Arrow keys d. Custom: Allows entry of user-defi ned tracking move the telescope along an axis. If you enter rates. a value near 199%, telescope responds more Note: Custom Tracking Rate allows you to enter quickly as you hold down an Arrow key. If you values from -999.999 to 999.999. The lower enter a value near 0%, it takes longer for the the number, the slower the rate; the higher the tube to respond as you hold down an Arrow key. number the faster the rate. If you enter -999, the Experiment with this option: Try changing the telescope will move so slow as to appear to be values until the motion of the telescope (while stopped. If you enter 999, the telescope will be holding down an Arrow key) feels comfortable to moving at approximately twice the tracking rate. you. • Guiding Rate: Allows you to change the base • Train Drive: All telescopes have a certain slew speed, 1x. Enter a percentage of the speed amount of “backlash” (looseness in the interplay (less than 100%) and press ENTER. This function of gears). This menu allows you to compensate may be useful in guiding the telescope during for the backlash in the RA and DEC motors— CCD and long-exposure photography. See SLEW which helps locate objects with more precision. SPEEDS, page 20, for more information. • Calibrate Sensors: This menu allows you to • DEC Guiding: Allows a user using an autoguider improve your telescope’s pointing accuracy to to disengage autoguider inputs. Allows you to 33 34 AutoStarAutoStar #497 II HANDBOXOperation • • • • • • • Protocol Specifi isready. it when isconfisystem telescope the guredtonotify dome the if holdearly this release can programs inentered secondsofdelay. software Advanced time time is ofyourdome. The rotation case “0.” worst- value onthe should based The beset value this is default, By sighting. precision star ahigh- takes StarLock before telescope the with up tocatch telescope an observatory-mounted HPP Dome Delay: ispowered up. telescope the fi aGPS toget telescope the youwant if xwhen Up” “At alignment.is neededduring Select Start fi GPS the toget telescope the and want it xwhen align yourtelescope you wishtoautomatically “On” if Select (default setting) GPS). off (turns manually youwishto align telescope if the “Off” GPS Alignment: is “On.” menu forthis setting default alignment. The Star sensor, forEasy, preferred, if andTwo- One-Star, Home Sensor: telescope down). telescope’s (i.e., motion key Up moves the the keys forcontrolling the Arrow andDown Up U/D: Reverse left). tothe telescope telescope’s (i.e., key motion moves Right the the keys forcontrolling the Arrow andRight Left L/R: Reverse only, only, South North N&S, select andoff. accuracy. objecttarget providing ultra-precision pointing slewtothe tothe and applies correction the center from error the measures then StarLock fi object. target nearthe star slewstoabright rst aGoTowhen telescope command the isissued, menu, StarLock onin the isturned Precision StarLock: With Pointing High Precision details. “On.” by selecting setting See default You factory the may restore or StarLock. (eg., ahigh-power reticle with 9mm) performed drive wormgear. be RA onthe Must correction RA PEC: Allows you to perform periodic error periodic error youtoperform Allows Reverses the functions of the ofthe functions Reverses the Reverses the functions of the ofthe Reverses functions the Turns True oronthe off North cations for details for cations See the Meade Telescope Telescope Meade the See Allows three options. Select Select options. three Allows Allows time for the dome of time domeof forthe Allows Page 54 Page 54 . for more for more If High EVENT MENU, page 31. page MENU, EVENT date. time Sunset onthat menuforthe Item: Event” “Select checkthe Then in future. the Date menuforaday months three example: the For orfuture. Set in past tocheckevents the useful Date: off. motoristurned tracking remain in eyepiece. the centered “Terrestrial” the If isselected, will in sky the youobserve andany object motor isactivated tracking telescope the “Astronomical” isselected, If targets. Targets: is displayed). displays “blank”option (i.e., “AM” the nor“PM” when neither time).mode (military To 24-hour ENTER mode, the press select may Time to“AM,” beset andevents. locations “PM,” or24-hour calculate to properly II forAutostar time iscritical correct Time: astronomical session. observing begin todetermine option youcan Sunset your when Event menuistocheckthe useofthe practical very One Algol. of minimums years), equinoxes showers, andthe meteor andsolstices, 100 Eclipses next the andLunar (for Solar Moonphases, Moonsets, Moonrises, and times Sunsets, forSunrises, calculate using dates Event menu,can the II, AutoStar Event in menu. an option the menuorselect desired the datein Setup feature, enter the 2043 A.D. or the Vernal Equinox in 1776 A.D. To use this system). 6, calendar E.g., onMarch current aSunrise except for and, events dateandtimes calculate the offuture can II eclipses, AutoStar events. past about orlearn future into the far look past events oftoday’s anentry youcan date; just it more than with as well (basedThe AutoStar on II the Date option in the Setup menu is much When StarLock is turned off andmanualhigh- off isturned StarLock When Changes the date used by Autostar II. This function is function This II. dateusedby the Changes Autostar Changes the time entered into Autostar II. Setting the the Setting II. time into Autostar the entered Changes the target object with high precision. with object target the slewsto then telescope andthe push “ENTER” handcontroller. II centered, Once AutoStar the using slew keys the on star the center user must The object. target nearthe star slews toabright fi telescope on,the isturned precision pointing rst Switches between astronomical targets andTerrestrial targets astronomical between Switches Look Into TheFuture

See Timing is Everything For the United States, look up the time zone shift in Table 1. Your telescope receives the precise time when it syncs Note: Autostar II compensates for daylight with the GPS. Precise time is important in aligning your savings time, if selected. See Setup Menu: telescope so that it can accurately locate celestial objects. Daylight Saving, left. AutoStar II receives time data in the Universal Time Owner Info: Accesses the owner information menu, including: format. However, if you wish to display the correct time in your local time zone, use the Daylight Saving menu (see • Name: Users may enter both their fi rst and last above) to turn the Daylight Saving option on or off. Keep names using the Up and Down Arrow keys to in mind that the telescope is receiving the correct time cycle through the alphabet. Use the Right and whether or not you set this option to display your local Left Arrow keys to move through the text. Press time. ENTER when the entry is complete.

• Address: Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to AutoStar II Operation Daylight Saving: Enables or disables the Daylight Savings time enter your street address, city, state, and zip setting. code. Press ENTER when the entry is complete. Note: Daylight Savings Time may be referred to by different Clone: Uploads information from one Autostar II handbox to names in various areas of the world. Check local time to another. Three options are available: verify. • Catalogs: Sends only user-defi ned object information, GPS-UTC Offset: Universal Time (UTC) allows you to add leap such as new satellite orbits or comet data to another seconds to its time calculations, GPS does not. The offset is the Autostar II handbox. number of leap seconds added since the establishment of GPS. • Software: Sends only the basic Autostar II software. Site: Site provides access to several options including: This is useful if one user has downloaded a new version of Autostar II software from the Meade website (www. • Select: Displays the currently selected observing meade.com) and wants to pass this software along to site. Use the Scroll keys to cycle through all friends. available sites (see Add below). Press ENTER when the site you wish to select displays. • All: Everything—user-defi ned information and Autostar Use this option when you move to a different II software—is sent to another Autostar II. geographic location. Download: Transfers information from another Autostar II. • Add: Allows you to add new observing sites to During the operation, the warning “Downloading Do Not Turn the database. Scroll through the list of Countries/ Off” appears. States. Press ENTER when the site you wish to Note: The Download function requires the usage of the add displays. Then choose the desired city in the included #507 Cable Connector Kit (product# 07047). See same manner. the instruction sheet included with the cable for more However, when the GPS signal is received, the information on how to download. site is normally selected automatically and the • Catalogs: Receives only user-defi ned object site list is updated automatically. Use of this information, such as new satellite orbits or comet option is not necessary and is included for the data to another Autostar II handbox. convenience of those users who may wish to • Software: Receives only the basic Autostar enter a site manually. You may edit the name of a II software. This is useful if one user has site using the Edit option (see below). downloaded a new version of Autostar II software • Edit: Edits a selected site, including: the name, from the Meade website (www.meade.com) and latitude, longitude, and time zone. Time Zone wants to pass this software along to friends. refers to the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) time • All: Everything—user-defi ned information and zone shift. Users West of Greenwich, England Autostar II software—is received by another use “-” hours, East of Greenwich use “+” hours. Autostar II handbox. 35 36 AutoStarAutoStar #497 II HANDBOXOperation Press the number the menu. key this “7”toaccess Press Menu: Control StarLock keys toachieve fi object. ofthe ne focus Arrow displays, orDown Position” Up usethe “Focuser: When medium, sloworfi speed(fast, keys afocus Scroll toselect ne). orDown displays, Up the press Fast” “Focuser: menus. When speed focus/focus key the toggles between Focus, you press II’s time keypad. Each Autostar from menusdirectly these select Focuser, Micro Number key “4/Focus” to Press Image Shift Menus: Control Focus light earlier aredescribed in manual. the Utility modeandthe Speed the functions, two The “hot buttons”). as using directly Number the keysaccessed (commonly to referred be can Two functions andtwo libraries menus,sixobject “Hot Button” Menus observations. proceeding with before aReset again after requires II initialization Autostar defaults. menus tofactory revert Reset: including: Statistics: download again. “999”. the Then press up, attempt lights display II AutoStar the assoon and on back Turn telescope the telescope. (e.g., attempt PC your crashes), download offthe the turn of middle the in fails download Ifyour Note: Important r9Fast Medium Slow Fine Speed 8 or9 6 or7 3, 4,or5 1 or2 Key # Speeds: Focus • • • • Completely resets Autostar II. Most values enteredinto the Most II. Autostar resets Completely disable StarLock if you're if imaging or aplanet, StarLock disable You on oroff. may wishto StarLock you toturn StarLock On/Off: number. Serial Number: Autostar II software. Version: available in user-defi memory. nedobject Free: Characters Provides basic statistical data about Autostar II, II, Autostar about data statistical basic Provides Displays the current version of the ofthe version Displays current the Displays the unit’s serial Displays unit’s the serial If you have installed the Meade Zero Zero Meade the youhave installed If Displays how much room is is Displays howmuch room Selecting this entry allows allows entry this Selecting until you overwrite it by performing additional training cycles. Periodic Error Correction photography.exposure is retained within long suchas applications forcritical levelThe oftraining isnecessary AutoStar's Correction. updatesformaximum Periodic Error memory two follow-up with immediately onetraining andthen youperform isadvisedthat It onecycle.minutes totrain 7 about takes It Tomount. feature, usethis simply ENTER. press onyour feature PEC the will perform automatically StarLock Correction Error Periodic Permanent StarLock • • • StarLock high onandoff. precisionpointing StarLock StarLock HPP: tracking. does not“chase seeing” resulting in poor number youscope that should bereducedso seeing this poor In results. values best produce higher seeing isgood When to75%. 66 about value istypically This errors. remove tracking to attempts StarLock how aggressively the Rate: Guide menus. regular will youtothe return MODE Pressing areexpressed in arcseconds. corrections The being madeby StarLock. the corrections handbox willthe display real-time the guide StarLock Status: using autoguiding analternative system. This option allows you to control allows option youtocontrol This This option allows you to turn allows option youtoturn This When you select this option, option, this youselect When ADVANCED AUTOSTAR II FEATURES

Before trying out the examples in this section, familiarize yourself will edit the location’s name, latitude, longitude, and the time with the basic operations of AutoStar II described earlier in this zone shift. You will then select the site to enable it. manual. The following examples assume that you have a basic You will need to know the latitude and longitude of your location knowledge of AutoStar II and understand how to scroll to a to perform this procedure. desired menu or menu option, and how to enter numbers and text. It also assumes that you have initialized and aligned your 1. Using the Add option, choose a site on the list telescope. that is closest to your observing site and press ENTER so that the site is added to your observing sites list. Choosing a site already on the list (as Adding Observing Sites opposed to using the “Custom” feature) makes it easier to edit, as the “Time Zone” value may not If you plan to observe using AutoStar II at different geographic need to be changed. locations, you can store observation sites in AutoStar II’s memory to help simplify your telescope setup. Perform these procedures 2. Scroll to “Site: Edit” and press ENTER. “Edit: using the Site options (Add, Select, Delete, Edit) of the Setup Name” displays. Press ENTER. menu. 3. The name of the site you have just entered to To Add a Site to the user-defi ned site list: your list displays; if it does not, scroll to the site. In this example, you will choose a city and add it to the database 4. Using the Arrow keys, change the name of list. You will then select the site to enable it. the site so that it now reads the name of your observing location. Press Enter. “Edit: Name” 1. Navigate to the “Setup: Site” menu. Press AutoStar II Features Advanced displays again. ENTER, 5. Press the Scroll Down key and “Edit: Latitude” 2. Scroll through the options until “Site: Add” displays. Press ENTER. displays. Press ENTER. 6. Using the Number Keys, enter the latitude of 3. Scroll through the list of countries/states. Press your observing site and then press ENTER. “Edit: ENTER when the country/state you wish to add Latitude” displays again. displays. 7. Press the Scroll Down key and “Edit: Longitude” 4. Scroll through the list of cities. Press ENTER displays. Press ENTER. when the city you wish to add displays. The Site is now added to the database. You may add sites 8. Using the Number Keys, enter the longitude of using this method. your observing site and then press ENTER. “Edit: Longitude” displays again. 5. To choose a site, navigate to “Setup: Select”. Press ENTER. Scroll through the list of sites. 9. Press the Scroll Down key and “Edit: Time Zone” When the desired site displays, press ENTER. displays. Press ENTER. (If the site you chose from the list in step 1 has the same Time Zone Tip: Using AutoStar II to fi nd objects not in the libraries: as the site you are editing, just press ENTER If you do not wish to navigate through the menus, a more direct again to go on to the next step.) “Time Zone” way to enter coordinates is to press and hold MODE for two refers to the Greenwich Time Zone shift. Users seconds or more. R.A. and Dec. coordinates display. Press GO West of Greenwich, use “-” hours (one hour per TO. “Object Position” and a set of coordinates displays. Enter the time zone) and users East of Greenwich use “+” R.A. and Dec. coordinates of any celestial object using Number hours. keys, overwriting the coordinates currently displayed. As soon as the coordinates are entered, AutoStar II slews the telescope Time Zone Shift to the coordinates. Note that the telescope must be aligned (see Atlantic -4 Hours page 21). Eastern -5 Hours Central -6 Hours To Edit a Site: Mountain -7 Hours In this procedure, you will enter a location that is not available Pacifi c -8 Hours in the AutoStar II database by editing data of a nearby site. You 37 38 AdvancedAutoStar AutoStar #497 II HANDBOX Features option of the Object menu: Object the of option Objects” “User: the into anobject of To coordinates enter Objects”. called “User database, become coordinates youenter tofiAstronomy) objects/ The nd coordinates objects. ofcelestial &Telescope (such ormagazines Sky Roms, as CD or books, forastronomy orbookstore library yourlocal internet, the Check youwishtoobserve. orobjects object coordinates ofthe and DEC youfi menuoption, tousethis order In RA upthe needtolook rst user-entered the coordinates. to slewing telescope menuandallows ofthe automatic Object ofthe option Objects” coordinates in “User: the andDEC RA provides II afeature that allows you toenter anobject’s AutoStar ofalibrary. arenotpart that may eventually toviewobjects want you observe, etc.) youcan nebulae, that planets, (stars, objects Although AutoStar II contains an extensive database of celestial (optional information). information). You andsize magnitude object’s the enter may also coordinates (required andDEC object’s nameandRA the enter libraries. II You willthat donotappearin any oftheAutoStar In this procedure, you will ente Creating UserObjects 4. “User Object: Select” displays. Press the Scroll Scroll the displays. Press Select” Object: “User 4. displays. System” Keeppressing Solar “Object: 3. Item: isaligned, “Select telescope the After 2. beeninitialized has II andthe sureAutoStar Make 1. keys,12. Select”. scroll to“Site: Arrow Using the 11. displays. “Site: Edit” MODE. Press “Edit Time ENTER. press shift, the entering 10.After Press ENTER. displays. Add” key Object: Down once. “User displays ENTER. andpress Object” User key “Object: Up until Scroll the described, tofi ndthis option). ENTER. Press previously menus,as keys the through toscroll Scroll usethe necessary, displays. (If Object” beenaligned. has telescope site. the toselect ENTER youhave site displays. edited just The Press -10 Hours. Zone” displays. -9 Hours Hawaii Alaska r coordinates of celestial objects objects r coordinates ofcelestial part ofyour ownpermanent part list and GO TO the object. TOthe andGO list In this procedure, you will choose an object from the User Object object: To auser-entered TO GO satellite pass. In this procedure, you will prep Satellites Observing 4. Press GO TO and the telescope slews to the slewstothe telescope TOandthe GO Press 4. Ascension Right andthe object name of the The 3. toscroll tothe necessary) keys Scroll the (if Use 2. displayed, Add” the press Object: “User With 1. the youtoenter prompts then II AutoStar 9. size the youtoenter prompts then II AutoStar 8. “Declination: displays. the +00°.00'” Use 7. Number the displays. Use 00.00.0” Asc.: “Right 6. “Name” displays topline onthe andablinking 5. 1. Satellite” menu option “Object: tothe Navigate object. display. and Declination coordinates ENTER. Press desired object. ENTER. displays. Press Select” key Object: Up once.Scroll “User again. display. displays Add” next to the Object: “User togo ENTER desired, so andpress if information, Number the keys this optional. Use toenter isalso step This object. ofthe magnitude information, simply ENTER. press display.next this youdonotwishtoenter If togo tothe ENTER desired, so andpress if Number keys size the arc-minutes), toenter (in the isoptional. Use step This object. of the “-”. youarefi When ENTER. nished, press Keys Scroll tochange“+” usethe necessary, to If Declination coordinate ofyourobject. Number forthe keys digits the toenter press ENTER. youarefi When coordinate ofyourobject. nished, Ascension Right forthe keys digits the toenter you arefi ENTER. nished, press When database. youwishtoaddthe object nameofthe the previously toenter described, as keys, secondline. onthe Arrow the Use cursor are your telescope to observe a toobserve are yourtelescope and press ENTER. parameters are more than one month old, the satellite pass may not happen at the time predicted by AutoStar II. Downloading 2. Use the Scroll keys to scroll through the list of requires usage of the included #507 Interface Cable. satellites. Note: Satellite observing is an exciting challenge. Most satellites 3. Select a satellite from the list and press ENTER. are in low orbit, travelling at approximately 17,500 mph. When 4. “Calculating...” and then “Tracking...” displays. If visible, they move quickly across the sky and are only in the the satellite is going to make a pass, “Located” fi eld of view for a few minutes, requiring AutoStar II to slew the displays. telescope rapidly. Best viewing is near Sunrise or Sunset when 5. Use the Scroll keys to display data about the the sky is still dark. Viewing in the middle of the night can be pass: aos — acquisition of signal and los — loss problematic because a satellite may pass overhead, but not be of signal. If you subtract the aos from the los, visible as it is in the Earth’s shadow. you can calculate how long the satellite will be visible. Location information also displays. Landmarks 6. “Alarm” displays after the location information. Press ENTER and AutoStar II automatically sets This menu option allows you to defi ne and store terrestrial the alarm to sound a minute before the satellite’s objects in the Landmark database. First, a landmark needs to scheduled appearance. You may return to regular be stored in memory using the “Landmark: Add” option. To view observations until the alarm goes off. a landmark, use the “Landmark: Select” option. Landmarks may also be viewed using the “Landmark Survey” option in the 7. When the alarm goes off, return to the Satellite AutoStar II Features Advanced Utilities menu. menu and press a Scroll key until the desired satellite is on the top line of the display. Tip: To use the Landmark function, the telescope must be located and aligned exactlhy as when the landmark was addded to the 8. Press GO TO. AutoStar II slews the telescope database. to where the satellite should appear. The motor drive stops and a countdown is displayed. To add objects to the Landmark database, the telescope must be located and aligned exactlh as when the orignal objects were Note: If the scheduled appearance position of the added to the database. satellite is obstructed (i.e., by a building, tree, or hill), press ENTER and AutoStar II starts to To Add a landmark to the database: move the telescope along the expected satellite In this procedure, you will store the location of terrestrial track. When the track clears the obstruction, landmarks in AutoStar II’s memory. press ENTER again to pause the telescope, then 1. Note for future reference where the telescope continue with this procedure. is located and if you have aligned the telescope, 9. With about 20 seconds left on the countdown which alignment method is used. timer, start watching through the telescope 2. Display the “Setup: Targets” menu option. Chose viewfi nder for the satellite to enter the fi eld of “Terrestrial” and press ENTER. “Setup: Targets” view. displays again. Choosing this option turns off 10. When the satellite enters the viewfi nder fi eld of tracking for astronomical objects which is not view, press ENTER. The telescope starts to track useful for the viewing of terrestrial objects such with the satellite. as those in the Landmark database. Be sure to 11. Use the AutoStar II Arrow keys to center the change this option back to “Astronomical” when object in the viewfi nder, then look through the you wish to view celestial objects again. eyepiece to view the object. 3. Press MODE once. “Select Item: Setup” displays. Satellite orbits change and new satellites (including the Space 4. Press the Scroll Down key once and “Select Item: Shuttle) are launched. Visit the Meade website (www.meade. Object” displays. Press Enter. “Object: Solar com) approximately once a month to get updated information and System” displays. instructions on how to download this data to AutoStar II. If orbital 39 40 AdvancedAutoStar AutoStar #497 II HANDBOX Features To check on the available amount of memory in AutoStar II: inAutoStar memory of amount To available the on check entered previously have you if menu. Landmark in the objects only function will Survey Landmark the that menuoption—note Landmark” in “Object: entered the objects atourofthe allows youtoperform procedure This Survey: aLandmark To perform database: the To from alandmark Select 3. Press MODE to stop the Survey. Press Enter to to Survey. the Enter tostop Press MODE Press 3. Slewing...” Survey: “Landmark displays. The 2. menu Survey” Landmark to“Utilities: Navigate 1. toexit. MODE Press 4. keys location Scroll the toscroll through Use keys list of Scroll the the toscroll through Use 3. menuoption. Select” Display “Landmark: the 2. andaligned islocated telescope surethe Make 1. displays. youwishtoadd Add” If “Landmark: 9. displays. Using Enter” Press Landmark. “Center 8. keys, Name” displays. “Landmark Using Arrow 7. key Down Scroll the once. “Landmark: Press 6. and“Object: key Up twice Scroll the Press 5. restart the survey at the fi atthe survey the restart survey. ofthe object rst anddisplays object. list nameofthe the fi moves tothe telescope Survey onthe object rst ENTER. and press landmark. tothe telescope TO toslewthe GO desired. if Press object, the about information the object. toselect displays,desired ENTER object press the youhave When previously entered. objects Press ENTER. into memory.entered desired was landmark the when as exactly 8. 5through repeatsteps more landmarks, in Enter. memory. isnowstored Press object The eyepiece. in the object the and center landmark telescope), desired tothe move telescope the keys (do notmanually only Arrow move the the fi When database. the ENTER. nished, press youwishtoadd landmark anameforthe enter ENTER. displays.Add” Press Select” displays. “Landmark: ENTER. displays.Landmarks” Press allows you to check on how much memory is still available. isstill allows youtocheckonhowmuch memory youwill begin II, touseupmemory. procedure This AutoStar in ofinformation bits andother userobjects Landmarks, store alimited has ofmemory. amount II youbegin Once to AutoStar Constellation Virgo, Orion, etc. Orion, Virgo, Cluster, Globular Nebula, Constellation Declination 13°03' Right Example: Type ofobject Ascension 107, Messier NGC6171, Black orcommon nameofobject Catalog 16:32:4 Displayed information: Orion Hole, Nebula, etc. etc database. II in toit AutoStar the object nearest menu“Identify” to fi nd out information about the object or the identifi eyepiece in telescope andusethe the II ed by AutoStar In this procedure,to operate properly. you will fail will function this initialization, after telescope the move center anmust fi object you properly, you operate to function this For Note: wishImportant to have about. queried oneyou tothe isclosest that database in its anobject about is not in AutoStar II’s database, AutoStar object the keys. If using Arrow you have the night foundin sky the II displays information This procedure objects to identify II allows you to use AutoStar Identify 2. “Statistics: 37.2K Char. “Statistics: Free” displays. is This 2. menuoption Statistics” “Setup: tothe Navigate 1. 4. Press a Scroll key aScroll todisplay Press about information 4. fi “Searching...” II displays. AutoStar When 3. nishes Navigate to the “Object: option Identify” and 2. you wishtohave object identifi the Center 1. edin rst initialize and align AutoStar II. If you physically Ifyouphysically II. AutoStar align and rst initialize user. isstill available that tothe ofmemory amount the ENTER. and press press of a Scroll key: ofaScroll press each with following object the about information displays orall II some ofthe AutoStar object. this displays. object closest nameofthe calculating, the press ENTER. telescope’sthe eyepiece. Magnitude 3 that matches the search parameters you Size 2' have entered. Use the scroll keys to display Scrolling message “This Globular Cluster is information about the object. Press MODE 10,000 light years and “Start Search: Next” displays again. away...” Press ENTER and the next item matching the parameters displays. Repeat this procedure to display all the objects. Press GO TO to slew Browse telescope to a displayed object. This menu allows you to search the libraries for objects 8. Press MODE repeatedly to leave this menu. with certain parameters, much like a search engine. “Edit Parameters” lets you set various parameters for the search, and “Start Search” activates the search. A typical search might be Alternate Alt-az Alignments performed as follows: If you would rather set up your telescope without using automatic 1. Select “Browse” from the Object menu. Press alignment, AutoStar II offers alternative alignment methods for ENTER. “Browse: Start Search” displays. both alt-az and equatorial mounting. During the One-Star and Two-Star alt-az alignment procedures, you will (unlike the 2. Press one of the Scroll Keys and “Browse: Edit Automatic alignment procedures) manually place the telescope Parameters” displays. Press Enter. in the home position. 3. “Edit Parameters: Largest (mins)” displays.

The procedures for equatorial (polar) alignment are discussed AutoStar II Features Advanced “Mins” stands for arc-minutes. Press ENTER. in Appendix C, page 57; the three alternative alt-az alignment 4. “Largest (mins)” and a value displays. Using methods are discussed below. the Number keys, enter a size in arc-minutes. AutoStar II will search for objects up to this size and no larger. Press Enter. Easy Alignment 5. “Edit Parameters: Largest (mins)” displays again. In this method, the AutoStar II sets the home position, and also Press the Scroll Down key. “Edit Parameters: automatically picks two stars from its libraries for alignment. Smallest (mins)” displays. Enter the value for During the procedure, AutoStar slews the telescope to a fi rst the smallest size of an object that AutoStar alignment star. The user is asked to center the star in the II will search for in the database. Continue eyepiece. The process is repeated with a second star to complete with “Brightest”, “Faintest”, and “Minimum the alignment. Elevation”, using the procedure described in How to perform the Easy Align Procedure steps 3 and 4. 1. Select Alignment. Select “Align: Easy” from the 6. After “Minimum Elevation”, “Object Type” Setup menu. Press ENTER. displays. Press “ENTER”. “+Black Hole” displays. If you do not wish to have “Black Holes” in your 2. Home Position. The telescope automatically sets search, press ENTER and the “+” changes to a the following positions: home, level and North. “–”. Press the Scroll Down key to scroll to the If so desired, you may turn off the sensors and next item. “+Diffuse Nebula” displays. Continue manually set these positions. See CALIBRATE to scroll through the list and press ENTER if you Sensors, page 33 for more information. wish to change the “+” to a “–” or vice-versa. 3 . Star Alignment. AutoStar II chooses two stars 7. After you have scrolled to the last item on the to align upon. The telescope slews to the fi rst “Object Type” list, press MODE twice and the star for alignment. Should the alignment star Scroll Down key once. “Browse: Start Search” not appear in the fi eld of view in the eyepiece, displays. Press ENTER. “Start Search: Next” it should be easily recognized: It will be the displays. Press Enter. AutoStar II searches brightest star in the area of the sky where the the database and displays the fi rst object telescope is pointing. Use the Arrow keys to

41 42 AdvancedAutoStar AutoStar #497 II HANDBOX Features Fig. 12. level, or North. procedure, are this library from stars andtwo stars ofbright alibrary provides II AutoStar night sky. ofthe requires knowledge Alignment some Two-Star Two-Star Alt-azAlignment viewfi your using stars and alignments concerning tips important some THE ONE’S ALIGNMENT WHICH See STAR,Note: for 23, page NOTE: OTA shouldbelevel. circle DEC setting d. Move the base of the telescope so that the computer computer the that so telescope of the base d.Move the base. c.Level tripod the ( lock DEC the b. Tighten a. See 3. 2. 1. correctly, isperformed procedure the When Alt-az homeposition control panel( control circle ( setting ( Manually: Position To Home the Set home position. Position. Home Set ENTER. menu.Press Setup the Select Alignment. “Align: displays procedure.) andrepeatthe Easy” until MODE pressing again. (Keep procedure this does notdisplay perform message, this “Alignment displays. AutoStar Successful” If secondalignment forthe star. procedure the Repeat in eyepiece.centered ENTER. the Press isvisible and star the until move telescope the Pg. 10, 1, Fig. 17 nder. AutoStar II does not automatically fi automatically not IIdoes AutoStar Figs. 12Figs. 13 and North chosen by the observer Fig. 1, 20 Fig. 1, 13 ). Set the optical tube to 0° on the DEC DEC onthe to0° tube optical the ). Set Select “Align:Select Two from Star” Place the telescope in the in the telescope the Place . Loosen the telescope’s DEC lock telescope’s the lock DEC . Loosen ). ). ) approximately faces South. ) approximately South. faces Fig. 1, 17 ) toafi rmfeelonly. for alignment. In this this for alignment. In n home, nd base Level Fig. 13. star from the database is chosen by the observer foralignment. by observer the ischosen database the from star (above), Alignment Alt-az: toTwo-Star exceptis identical only one Alignment One-Star provides ofbright II alibrary stars. AutoStar night sky. ofthe requires knowledge Alignment some One-Star One-Star Alt-azAlignment f. Re-lock the RA lock ( lock f. RA the Re-lock ( lock RA the e. Unlock 6. Center Star. Repeat procedure for a second Star. forasecond Center Repeatprocedure 6. star. slewstothe Star. telescope Use The Center 5. displays. AutoStar Star” “Select Alignment. Star 4 . ENTER. g.Press DECcircle 0° at telescope’s optical tube horizontally until it points North. observing. TOcapabilities GO foranight of II use AutoStar’s isaligned andyouarenowreadyto telescope the ispressed, alignment star. ENTER Once in eyepiece. ENTER. iscentered the Press star keys the until tomove telescope the Arrow the night ENTER. sky. Press in the easily locate youcan that astar select youwishtoalign — that list upon onthe a star keys Scroll the toscroll to Use from. to choose observer forthe ofstars displays then alibrary II Fig. 1, 12 Fig. 1, 12 ) and turn the the ) andturn ). Press ENTER. ). Press Polar Drift Alignment (Northern of a telescope. Follow the steps below to perform this procedure Hemisphere) using StarLock: 1. Point the telescope’s OTA at a moderately bright star near The LX600 with StarLock is specially equipped to perform an 0 declination (celestial equator). Automatic Drift Alignment. In the Autostar Setup menu, select “Drift Align” and the LX600 will guide you through a quick 2. Wait for the StarLock indicator lamp to stop blinking and Automatic drift alignment procedure. This method is substantially become solid red, which indicates that it has located and quicker than the manual drift alignment method. locked onto the guide star. During the Automatic Drift Alignment Procedure, LX600 will slew 3. Using your AutoStar handbox, navigate to the “Setup: to a Southern star and Starlock will begin monitoring the stars’ Telescope” menu. Press ENTER. drift on its CCD chip. Autostar will then let the user know how 4. Scroll through the options until “Telescope: RA PEC” many turns of the mounts’ Azimuth Adjustment knob to make to displays. Press ENTER. improve the mounts’ polar alignment. 5. Scroll through the options until “RA PEC: Train” displays. Next, the LX600 will slew to an Eastern star and StarLock will Press ENTER. Training begins. monitor its drift on its CCD chip. Again, the StarLock will suggest 6. Scroll through the options until “RA PEC: Update” displays. to the user the appropriate number of turns, this time using Press ENTER. Update training begins. the mounts Latitude Adjustment knob, to achieve the optimal polar alignment. 7. Repeat step 6 one more time to improve the PEC training.

However, if you prefer to drift align the mount using the manual Update Menu Option AutoStar II Features Advanced drift alignment procedure, see Appendix H. Use the Update option to further refi ne your training; it is StarLock Automatic Rate Calibration recommended that you update your original training two or (ARC) three times when fi rst using your telescope. Update does not overwrite the data, but updates the training using information Obtaining best performance from StarLocked telescopes requires gathered from both the last and the current training sessions. that the guiding aggressiveness be optimally set for current Press the MODE key to exit from this option. If you wish to viewing/imaging conditions. This is an essential procedure to further refi ne your training, select this menu again and repeat obtain peak tracking accuracy Please refer to Appendix C, page the procedure. 54 for details. Erase Menu Option Periodic Error Correction (PEC Training) Select this option to erase all PEC training data. Training the mount using AutoStar's built-in Periodic Error Correction is necessary to achieve peak performance of the LX600 On and Off Menu Options Telescope System. This is especially true when you are taking long Select “On” when you want the telescope to use the training exposure photography. information. Select “Off” when you do not want for the telescope Periodic Error Correction should be done after you have fully to use the training information. Select “On” to enable the Smart assembled your mount, balanced with all the auxiliary equipment Drive. you plan on using and you have successfully aligned the telescope. It is also important that this performed under reasonably dark skies with good seeing conditions. If atmospheric conditions are poor you will not obtain accurate error correction. See page below for directions on how to perform the Periodic Error Correction routine. Starlock Assisted PEC Training Periodic Error Correction (PEC) helps to remove the slight perturbations in tracking that occur due to the mechanical nature

43 44 AutoStarOptional #497 Accessories HANDBOX OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES Series 5000Ultra-wideeyepieces sharp imagessharp all way edge: the tothe widefi optics, Coated Fully-Multi with provide can eldsandrazor systems optical andAPO ACF the that performance amazing Eyepieces: Premium 5000 Series Meade sized eyepieces.for using standard fi a1.25" 2"diagonal comeswith adapter 5000 Series elds. The forwider, sharper andHD-60s XWA UWA, Meade’s 5000 Series diagonalThis allows advanced2"eyepieces youtousethe like light ofthe refl 99% with performance eyepiece. tothe ected Coatings: Series 5000(115/240v outlet. AC) 2" Diagonal home astandard poweringpower from adapterwhich permits with (07584): Cable with Adapter Power Universal Enhanced Meade’s visit accessories websiteMeade at 99% Refl To fi exciting andother these about moreinformation nd out itself. instrument ofthe iswell-suited quality tothe accessories premium ofthese models.The telescope quality LX600 for the isavailable accessories Meade ofprofessional A wideassortment Series 5000Xtreme-wide angleeyepieces • diameter format. diameter 5.5mm 1.25" tohuge-fi 2" eld-of-view 30mm from lengths eyecups. Focal adjustable rotating blackened edges, lenseswith Fully-Multi-Coated ofView, Field 6&7element Super Apparent Eyepiece have large82degree anextremely Angle: Wide Ultra The Series 5000 2" diagonal delivers premium Ultra Premium Series 5000 Premium 5000 Series Ultra www.meade.com deliver all the A regulated ecting . atop your LX600 in mode, equatorial telescope andguide the atop yourLX600 lens, 35mm-to-250mm own its with camera, your35mm Attach in astrophotography. ways started toget popular andeasiest Brackets: Piggyback using isnotneededif (this StarLock). II using Autostar effected illuminated reticle eyepiece; position corrections can then be star’s angle, incomingguidestar’s ataright where light tobediverted position asmall of the causes amount also it but telescope tothe body can be camera couplesthe Guider T-Adapter, the Like Off-Axis the examinedremains precisely positioned on for telescope the that toassure telescope ofthe tracking monitor the tracking astrophotogr long-exposure during errors#777 Off-Axis Guider: with an isrigidly telescope. coupledtothe body camera andthe camera, 35mm your for T-Mount a by followed telescope, your of cell rear T-Adapter the models.Thread ontothe Coma-Free Advanced and Schmidt-Cassegrain all Meade through photography 35mm T-Adapter:#62 Series 5000HD-60eyepieces • • eyecups. Focal lengths from 4.5mm to 25mm. 4.5mm to from lengths eyecups. Focal adjustable blackened edgesandrotating with lenses SuperFully-observing, Multi-Coated 17mm ormoreofeye relief comfortable foreasy fi isfl eldofviewthat edge, tothe atandsharp Eyepieces degreeapparent have alarge60 HD-60: 14mm areall and20mm parfocal. 9mm, lengths, focal in Three 2"diameter format. blackened edges with Super Fully Multi-Coated 100 fi degreeapparent eldofview. lensesare The all huge way edgeofthe the tothe correction sharp image razor achieve with ahigh contrast to elements Eyepieces use9optical 5000 Angle: Xtreme-Wide The all new Series 5000 HD-60 HD-60 5000 all newSeries The The T-AdapterThe meansofprime-focus basic isthe Piggyback photography is one of the most most isoneofthe photography Piggyback The Off-Axis Guider provides ameans provides Guider Off-Axis The Xtreme-Wide Angle Series Series Angle Xtreme-Wide the object being photographed. being photographed. object the aphy for the photographer to aphy photographer forthe using StarLock’s narrow-fi eld camera. Wide-fi eld photos of the Milky Way showing remarkable detail and clarity can be taken. Dew Shields: In moist climates, water particles suspended in the atmosphere may condense on the front surface of the telescope’s correcting plate. This dew formation may be inhibited to a signifi cant extent by the addition of a dew shield, essentially an extension tube attaching to the front-cell of the telescope. #905 Variable Polarizer (1.25"): The #905 system includes two polarizer fi lters mounted in a specially-machined cell, for glare-reduction in observing the Moon. Rotate the thumbscrew at the side of the unit to achieve light transmission between 5% and 25% of its original value. The #905 inserts into the diagonal

mirror of the telescope, followed by an eyepiece. Optional Accessories Cigarette Lighter Adapter: Powering the LX600 telescope by means of an automobile cigarette lighter plug. Astrometric Eyepiece: A high-precision 3-element achromatic eyepiece for a wide range of astronomical measurements. Measure double star separations, position angles, planetary diameters, lunar crater diameters and so forth. Includes variable LED illumination control and batteries. More accessories will soon be available for your LX600 model. To fi nd out more about these and other accessories available for your telescope, check out the Meade website at www.meade. com or contact your local Meade dealer.

10" f/8 12" f/8 14"/f8 Eyepiece Power/ Actual Field Power/ Actual Field Power/ Actual Field Series 5000 Ultra Wide Angle Eyepieces - 82° AFOV (6 or 7-elements; 1.25" O.D., except as noted) 5.5mm (Waterproof) 369/13' 443/11' 517/10' 8.8mm (Waterproof) 231/21' 277/18' 323/15' 14mm (Waterproof) 145/34' 174/28' 203/24' 20mm (2" O.D.) 102/48' 122/40' 142/35' (Waterproof) 24mm (2" O.D.) 85/58' 102/48' 119/42' 30mm (2" O.D.) 68/1°13' 81/1°1' 95/52' Series 5000 HD-60 Long Eyerelief Eyepieces - 60° AFOV (Fully Multi-Coated; 1.25" O.D.) 4.5mm 452/8' 542/7' 632/6' 6.5mm 313/12' 375/10' 435/8' 9mm 226/16' 271/13' 316/11' 12mm 169/21' 203/18' 237/15' 18mm 113/32' 135/27' 158/23' 25mm 81/44' 98/37' 114/32'

45 46 AutoStar #497Maintenance HANDBOX if ever, require factory servicing. Maintenance guidelines Maintenance include ever,if servicing. require factory will rarely, ACF yourLX600 dueany precisioninstrument, respect and to yieldalifetime ofrewarding care Given the applications. designed instruments areprecisionoptical telescopes ACF LX600 MAINTENANCE f. If your LX600 ACF is not to be used for an isnottobeusedforan ACF yourLX600 If f. on isusedoutdoors ACF LX600 the If e. remove forany correcting not, reason, the Do d. (e.g., materials Organic fic. onthe ngerprints) front onthe dust necessary, absolutely When b. Avoid dust cleaning telescope’s the Alittle optics: a. telescope. Batteries left in the telescope for for intelescope the left Batteries telescope. the from toremove batteries isadvisable the it ormore, foronemonth perhaps period, extended unattended. dry can surfaces optical time in warmindoor air, the wet the that so Rather, simply forsome tosit allow telescope the however,not, wipe surfaces. any optical ofthe ispacked away. telescope the before cloth Do adry bewiped with down telescope entire the isrecommended it telescope, damage tothe that doesnotnormally any cause such condensation will While result. probably surfaces telescope onthe a humid watercondensation night, in way. this telescope tothe incurred fordamage noliability assumes Instruments will Meade result. performance of optical degradation andserious orientation rotational proper in its corrector be abletoreplacethe You not purposes. or other will certainly almost machined housing forcleaning its plate from optics the to result could damage or tissues lotioned or scented Donotuse Caution: strokes. Change tissues often. gentle and make short, tissues facial white soft, Use dishwashing perpint ofsolution. soap You ofbiodegradable add1drop may also alcohol. isopropyl distilled waterto1part parts of3 lensmay beremoved asolution front with lenscleaner.commercial photographic (available usea atany pharmacy). NOT DO anearsyringe with off orblown haircamel brush ofa lens should strokes beremoved gentle with lens. clean the to andshould notbeconsideredreason quality ofimage nodegradation virtually lens causes telescope’s ofthe correcting surface front on the . Fig. 15. Follow these steps forcollimation steps these system:Follow optical ofthe collimation. yourtelescope’slight, ismisaligned system andrequires optical in (i.e., with) ring of the notconcentric isoffset spot central dark ring oflight fi 10%lls about eyepiece ofthe fi eld-diameter. the If mirror. secondary shadowofthe the Turn until the knob focus the isin spot fact central dark the spot; central surrounding adark image like looks star aring oflight offocus out the that notice image. the de-focus centered, orhotspot You star the willWith in images. the distortion cause air can outside and the optics the between proceeding;before differences temperature site ofyourobservation temperature tothe toadjust telescope bumper, car a chrome supplied the eyepiece. the with Allow ofrefl isoverhead, orusea“hotthat spot” Sunlightected from ACF, To star abright center collimation checkthe ofyourLX600 process. however, astraightforward tobecomemisaligned. system optical Re-aligning is, optics the shipment.before However, in shipping vibrations the cause can ispreciselycollimatedFree telescope factory Meade atthe offi part As Coma- Advanced Meade every testing, nal optical will performance. optical give ACF best youthe yourLX600 that wellTake section this so toreadandunderstand specialcare such collimation de telescope Coma-Free Advanced is absolutely ofthe in case but the isimportant, purposes used forserious essential collimation optical The telescope (alignment) ofany astronomical for good performance.Collimation g. Do not leave your LX600 ACF inside a sealed inside asealed ACF notleave Do yourLX600 g. Collimation screws Collimation internal lubrication and electronic circuitry. andelectronic lubrication internal telescope’s damagethe can temperatures onawarmsummercar day; excessive ambient the telescope’s electronic circuitry. causing damageto may periods leak, prolonged sign of the LX600 ACF models, ACF LX600 sign ofthe a. The only adjustments possible, or necessary, on star image fl ies out of the eyepiece fi eld, then the Advanced Coma-Free Telescopes LX600 ACF you are turning the screw the wrong way. Turn models are from the three screws (as shown in the opposite direction and bring the image back Fig 15.) to the center of the fi eld. Caution: Do not force the three collimation e. If the screw you are turning becomes very loose, screws past their normal travel and do not tighten the other two screws by even amounts. If loosen them more than two full turns in a the screw you are turning gets too tight, unthread

counterclockwise direction or the secondary the other two by even amounts. Maintenance mirror may come loose from its support. f. When you bring the image to center (Fig. 16, You will fi nd that the adjustments are very 3), carefully examine the evenness of the ring sensitive, usually requiring only one-half turn of light (concentricity). If you fi nd that the dark or less to produce the desired result. center is still off in the same direction, continue b. While looking at the defocused star image, notice to make the adjustment in the original turning which direction the darker shadow is offset in direction. If it is now off in the opposite direction, the ring of light or notice which part of the ring is you have turned too far and you need to turn in the thinnest (Fig. 16,1). Place your index fi nger the opposite direction. Always double check the in front of the telescope so that it touches one image in the center of the fi eld of the eyepiece. of the collimation set screws. You will see the g. You may fi nd after your initial adjustment that the shadow of your fi nger in the ring of light. Move dark center is off in a new direction (e.g., instead your fi nger around the edge of the black plastic of being off side-to-side it is now off in an up- secondary mirror support until you see the and-down direction). In this case repeat steps b shadow of the fi nger crossing the thinnest part through f to fi nd the new adjustment screw. of the ring of light. At this point, look at the front of the telescope where your fi nger is aiming. It h. Now try a higher power eyepiece (e.g., 9mm will either be pointing directly at a set screw, or or less) and repeat the above tests. Any lack of it will be between two set screws aiming at the collimation at this point will require only very set screw on the far side of the black secondary slight adjustments of the three set screws. You mirror support. This is the set screw that you will now have good collimation of the optics. adjust. i. As a fi nal check of alignment, examine the star c. Using the AutoStar II’s Arrow keys at the slowest image in focus with the higher power eyepiece slew speed, move the defocused image to the as suggested (h), under good viewing conditions. edge of the eyepiece fi eld of view (Fig. 16, 2), in The star point should appear as a small central dot (commonly referred to as an “Airy disc”) with a diffraction ring surrounding it. To give a fi nal precision collimation, make extremely slight adjustments of the three set screws, if necessary, to center the Airy disc in the 123 diffraction ring. You now have the best alignment Fig. 16. Defocused star images. Misaligned (1, 2), aligned (3) of the optics possible with this telescope.

the same direction as the darker shadow is offset Inspecting the Optics in the ring of light. A Note about the “Flashlight Test”: If a fl ashlight or other d. Turn the set screw that you found with the high-intensity light source is pointed down the main telescope pointing exercise while looking in the eyepiece. tube, the view (depending upon the observer’s line of sight and You will notice that the star image will move the angle of the light) may reveal what appear to be scratches, across the fi eld. If while turning the defocused dark or bright spots, or just generally uneven coatings, giving 47 48 AutoStar #497Maintenance HANDBOX Fig. 17. panel ison. control onthe power switch the andthat aligned night sky onthe is telescope the lock, youhaveto ensurethat RA engagedthe fi eld of view, properly. check isoperating not, yourtelescope If astronomical in the remains object stationary the motordrive on.If the and with an at look telescope, telescope’s the through eyepobject your of movement the check To visually.to discern movement isdiffi such,the as hour handofa24-hour clock; cult is moving. However, the speedas same movement isatthe the the power is on and the RA lock ( lock RA power isonandthe the fact, motor drive isengaged.If “move” telescope seethe cannot they the isthat when owners A common complaint ofmany fi rst-time motorized telescope Telescope Gauging theMovement ofthe testing. star careful through conducted “fl only be can quality ofoptical test ashlight test;" true the bejudged by cannot the ofatelescope quality optical The system, includingoptical giant telescopes. research or refl beseenonany andcan high mirrors, quality the off ected lenses through light istransmitted ahighseen when intensity areonly effects These optics. quality of poor appearance the RAlock when the batteries are installed, areinstalled, batteries the when Fig. 17 iece with the telescope aligned telescope the iece with ) engaged, the telescope telescope ) engaged,the Return Goods Authorization (RGA) number toreturn. prior (RGA) Authorization Goods Return isrequired, a youwill beassigned service factory If factory. the be resolved by telephone, avoiding to telescope ofthe return can issues telephone number. ofservicing greatmajority The well anddaytime problem, yourname, as of the as address, nature tothe as giving factory, tothe fulltelescope particulars fi Department Service Customer Meade the returning before rst, orcall the write orrepairs, servicing requires factory ACF LX600 Friday. through Monday Time, Pacifi PM, 5:00 to AM 7:00 are hours Service Customer 626-3233 Telephone: (800) at: Department Service Customer Instruments Meade ACF, the contact concerning youhave yourLX600 If aquestion Meade CustomerService In the unlikely the In your event that c SPECIFICATIONS

AutoStar II System Specifi cations Processors ...... 10 processors arranged in a Distributed Intelligent Network Architecture to facilitate parallel task management (U.S. Patent 6,304,376) Flash Memory ...... 3.5MB, reloadable Database ...... 145,000 objects cations

AutoStar II Handbox Specifi cations Keypad ...... 20 key alphanumeric Display ...... 2 line, 16 character LCD Specifi Backlight ...... Red LED Utility Light ...... Yes Coil Cord ...... 24" Length ...... 6.56" (16.6cm) Width (LCD end) ...... 3.19" (80cm) Width (Connector end) ...... 2.25" (57cm) Depth ...... 0.81" (21cm) AutoStar II net weight ...... 1.12 lbs (0.51kg)

StarLock Specifi cations Wide-fi eld camera ...... 25mm x 26mm f/1.04 optic with 1/2 inch format CMOS sensor gives fi eld of 14.72 x 11.78 degrees. Narrow-fi eld camera ...... 80mm x 400mm f/5 optic with 1/2 inch format CMOS sensor gives fi eld of 57.2 x 45.8 arcminutes (2.68 arcseconds/pixel) High-precision pointing ...... +/- 1 arc minute High-precision guiding ...... +/- 1 arc second RMS (with good seeing. 1-4 second correction update rate depending on star magnitude. Faintest guide star 11th mag.) High-precision alignment ...... Semi-automatic drift align procedure for ultra-precise polar alignment Weight ...... 2.7 pounds

10" f/8 LX600 ACF Specifi cations Optical design ...... Advanced Coma-Free Clear aperture ...... 254mm (10") Focal length ...... 2032mm Focal ratio (photographic speed) ...... f/8 Resolving power ...... 0.46 arc sec Coatings ...... Meade Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) Mounting ...... Cast-aluminum, double-tine forks Gears ...... 5.75"-dia. worm gears, both axes Periodic Error Correction ...... Both axes Alignment ...... Altazimuth or equatorial wtih optional wedge Slew Speeds ...... 1x sidereal to 8°/sec in 9 increments Power ...... 8 C-cell (user-supplied) batteries or optional 12v power supply Tripod ...... Variable-height giant fi eld tripod Accessories ...... 8 x 50mm viewfi nder 1.25" diagonal prism Series 4000 26mm Super Plössl eyepiece Anti-Vibration Pads #507 Connection Cable USB to RS232 Adapter Software DVD 16-channel GPS receiver Net telescope weight ...... 62 lbs. Net tripod weight ...... 50 lbs.

49 50 AutoStar #497Specifi HANDBOX cations USB to USB RS232 Adapter Cable #507 Connection eyepiece Plössl Super 26mm 4000 Series 1.25" prism diagonal 110 lbs. 12v optional or power supply lbs. weight tripod Net ...... 50 weight telescope Net Software Anti-Vibration viewfi x50mm ...... 8 Accessories Tripod fi giant ...... Variable-height Power batteries (user-supplied) C-cell ...... 8 to USB RS232 Adapter Speeds Slew to 8°/sec sidereal ...... 1x in9increments Cable #507 Connection Alignment ...... Correction Error Periodic axes ...... Both eyepiece Plössl Super 26mm 4000 Series axes both ...... 5.75"-dia.Gears gears, worm 1.25" prism diagonal ...... Cast Mounting Coatings Ul ...... Meade sec power arc Resolving ...... 0.325 73 lbs. 12v optional or power supply ...... f/8 speed) (photographic ratio Focal length Focal ...... 2845mm (14") aperture Clear ...... 356mm design Optical Coma-Free ...... Advanced ACFSpecifi 14" f/8LX600 DVD Pads lbs. weight tripod Net ...... 50 weight telescope Net Software Anti-Vibration viewfi x50mm ...... 8 Accessories Tripod fi giant ...... Variable-height Power batteries (user-supplied) C-cell ...... 8 Speeds Slew to 8°/sec sidereal ...... 1x in9increments Alignment ...... Altazi Correction Error Periodic axes ...... Both axes both ...... 5.75"-dia.Gears gears, worm ...... Cast Mounting Coatings Ul ...... Meade sec arc power Resolving ...... 0.38 ...... f/8 speed) (photographic ratio Focal length Focal ...... 2438mm (12") aperture Clear ...... 305mm design Optical Coma-Free ...... Advanced ACFSpecifi DVD12" f/8LX600 Pads cations cations Altazimuth Altazimuth -aluminum, double-tine forks double-tine -aluminum, forks double-tine -aluminum, muth or equatorial w/optional equatorial or muth wedge tra-High Transmissiontra-High (UHTC) Coatings Transmissiontra-High (UHTC) Coatings nder nder eld tripod eld tripod eld APPENDIX A: TRAINING THE DRIVE

Train the telescope motors using AutoStar II. Perform this procedure if you are experiencing any pointing accuracy problems. Fig. 18 depicts the complete Drive Training procedure. Note: Use a terrestrial object, such as a telephone pole or lamp post, to train the drive. Complete this exercise once every 3 to 6 months to maintain the highest level of Appendix A telescope pointing accuracy.

•

Fig. 18. Training the drive procedure.

51 52 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX B When theprogramexecutes, willappear thedialogbelow StarLockUtility tostarttheprogram. . From yourStartMenu, click onPrograms, Meadeandthen Running TheSoftware serial portonthebackofyourPCorviaanUSB/Serialconnector. the rightsideofrearStarLock. toa This cableisattached AutoStar #507telescopeinterfacecabletothe “PC” connectoron totheStarLock.power astandardMeade Nextyouneedtoattach of theStarLock. The telescopewillneedtobeturnedonsupply the “StarLock Telescope Connector” ontheleftsideofback a MeadetelescopebytheStarLockinterfacecableconnectedto to In ordertoruntheUtilityprogramStarLockneedsattach Connection through thesetup. andexecutetheprogram.a workingdirectory Itwillwalkyou and sub-versionnumbers. To installtheprogram, itto download the formStarLockUtilSetup_Vx.y.zip, wherexandyareversion inaninstallfiUtility programispackaged le withafi le nameof theprogram fromMeade’s download have website, theStarLock the comeswithyourtelescope.Autostar SuiteDVDthat Ifyou The StarLockutilitywillnormallybeinstalledwhenyouinstall Installation tooptimizeperformance. going andhelpyoutunetheguiderate sessionis yourimage youtomonitorhow utility willalsoallow If youuseyourtelescopewithacomputerinthefield, theStarLock yourStarlockfiUtility toupdate rmware. improvements inthesoftwaretobedeveloped. UsetheStarLock orperformance the productanditiscommonfornewfeatures Meade isconstantlyworkingtoimprovetheperformanceof The StarLockUtilityprogramprovidestheabilityto: STARLOCK UTILITY APPENDIX B: MonitorStarLock Tracking Performance • InstallFirmware Updates • maximum of255. ifyour peakvaluesarehittinga adjust yourexposuredownward isrefreshed. eachtimetheimage and updated Itisimportantto theimage are displayedbelow intheimage brightest feature When viewingStarLockimages, andintensityof thelocation faint. may bevery It isprimarilyfortestingtheStarLockusingnighttimestarsthat onlyasubrangeofanimage. youtolookat This controlallows daylight viewingthecontrastshouldbeallwaytoleft. theright.contrast controlshouldbesetabout2/3rdstoward For and the “Contrast” control. For mostnighttimeviewingthe willbehelpfularethe Additional controlsthat “Exposure” control images. betweenthewidefipossible asyouswitch field andnarrow eld yourtargetbeaswellcentered It isthereforeimportantthat you onlythecenter320x240pixelsofresultingimage. zoomnumber,If youusealower iscropped, theimage showing a singlepixelofthefi sizebeing320x240.nal displayandimage For example, zooming4x4resultsin16pixelsbeingcombinedinto displayed image. arebinnedtogethertomakethe of theoriginalimage The “Zoom” pixels many youtoselecthow controlallows areamaximumof320x240pixels. images the downloaded are 1280x1024pixels. process, Inordertospeedtheupdate ofthedialog.the mainwindow The sensorsontheStarLock fromtheStarLockin At thispointyoushouldseeanimage onthebottomlineofdisplay. shouldappear message “Focus” button. After afewseconds “Downloading” progress on the “Wide Field” or Field”“Narrow button. click Now onthe button. Then, youwishtoviewbyclicking selectwhichImager To click view yourStarLockimages ontheResetConnection fisensor. eld the widefi eld sensor, youcanthenviewthestarinnarrow on theStarLock’s center, nottheeyepiece’s. viewed Onceyouhave sensor’s field ofview. For thisexerciseyouwanttocenteryourstar center oftheyouropticalfi the eldofviewmaynotexactlymatch move thestarprecisecenterofsensor’s field ofview. The sensor. You motioncontrolsofthetelescopeto canusetheslow or fi star. rstmagnitude Itisbesttostartbyviewingthewidefi eld To abright youshouldpointyourtelescopeat viewStarLockimages Viewing StarLockImages display. changed serialports, click ontheResetConnectionbutton onthe COMM portnumberisenteredinthedialogbox, andifyouhave Before beginningtousetheprogram, thecorrect checkthat Updating The Utility program also has the ability to load new fi rmware into the StarLock. The fi rmware release code must fi rst be downloaded from Meade’s website. It should be put in an easily located directory such as your desktop. The fi le will be named “StarLock_Vxy.Ldr”. To update the fi rmware, establish a serial

connection with the StarLock by getting images to download by Appendix B pressing the FOCUS button. Once you have a good connection, click the button again to stop focusing and then click the “Update” button. A fi le dialog similar to the one below will appear:

results with your seeing conditions. In general, if seeing is poor, you will need to reduce your guide rate so you do not chase seeing. Under better conditions you can increase guide rates until over correction starts to make the scope jump back and forth across the star making it too wide again. Histograms The other way to monitor tracking is with the histogram function. This plots how many corrections are made at each distance. The Navigate to the new fi rmware version and either double click on result is typically a Gaussian distribution function. The plot will it, or select it and click on “Open.” The status bar at the bottom tell you about seeing and your alignment quality. To make this of the screen will show you the fi rmware being download. After measurement click on the Histogram button. the fi rmware has been successfully downloaded and checked for correctness, it will be burned into the StarLock. DO NOT POWER The example above is pretty typical. You can see that both the OFF THE COMPUTER OR TELESCOPE DURING THIS PROCESS. RA and DEC corrections are plotted in the range of –8 to +8 Once the new fi rmware has been successfully burned into the arcseconds. The width of the distribution is an indication of seeing StarLock a message indicating the operation is complete will be posted on the bottom of the display. NOTE: Close the StarLock Utility program and cycle the telescope power off and then on again to complete the update. Monitoring StarLock Guiding There are two different methods of monitoring StarLock guide performance. The fi rst method is to look at the guiding history as a “Point Spread Function”. This presentation basically sums up the images of the guide star at each guide update cycle. It provides a good prediction of how well tracking is going and on the seeing conditions. To use this method, click on the PSF button. The fi eld of view of the display is approximately 20 arcseconds across. If your star is stretched horizontally, you are either not tracking aggressively enough, or you are tracking too aggressively. conditions. In this case seeing is about 1/5 to 2 arcminutes. Both Change the Guide Rate setting under the StarLock menu on the distributions are pretty symmetric and centered on zero. This telescope, reset the PSF or run the ARC as discussed in Appendix indicates a good telescope alignment. C and start a new measurement, if your star gets worse, change the Guide Rate in the other direction. Adjust your rate for best 53 54 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX C APPENDIX C: " the handbox, press II equator. celestial the Using yourAutoStar near star set-up slewtoabright andalign Now youscope. First (PEC) Correction Error Periodic running ARC. youmay to have godirectly yourmount’s already PEC trained you If routine. (ARC) Calibration Rate you will Automatic the run Then (PEC). Correction mount’sand updatethe Periodic Error youwill needtotrain First process. isatwo-step your guide rate onviewing based Calibrating conditions. determines rate best the has been included that automatically software in the StarLock routine calibration Aguide conditions. rate viewing/imaging guiding beoptimally the that forcurrent set aggressiveness requires telescopes StarLocked from performance Obtaining best Feature (ARC) Calibration Rate Automatic StarLock’s Using Mode Only) Calibration (ARC-Polar Automatic Rate guide rate. andneedtoreduceyour guiding tooaggressively If youseeanRAhistogramwithtwohumps, youare drift align, orrealignyourscope. targets nearthepoles. When youseethistypeofplotitistimeto time duetoscopemisalignmentandmaynotbeablepoint is succeedingintrackingthestar, youwillgetfi over eld rotation due tothescopebeingpoorlypolaraligned. While theStarLock zero. indeclinationThis isbecausetheobjectdriftingdown theDECguidecorrectionsarenotcenteredaround Notice that thescopeisnottoowellaligned.The plotabovetellsyouthat 7/Ret " key tobring upthe StarLock menu and menuand Set RA Rate Rate RA Set Train handbox menusandselect go the indicate that it light to tocomeoncontinuously StarLock Wait forthe MODE. has locked up on the to Rate Dec Set and star. At this point, simply imaging session. imaging have conditions signifienvironmental an changedduring cantly orif assembly youhave tube if optical session, changedthe ofanimaging should start calibration berepeatedatthe ARC (ARC) Calibration Rate Automatic use to When guide rate. the key. values will default will andthe stop process beusedas The mode the press just calibration, automatic youneedtoabort If continue. to button ENTER the display hand box. Press result onthe the Finally, will scope the beepindicating iscomplete and calibration will andevaluate display It then several 33% rates. rates. Test RA value will onceaminute while changeabout evaluates it different Cal. Rate handbox willThe initially display Auto Test percentage The Dec33%. to down scroll Then key. "7" the pressing by Menu StarLock tothe Go PEC. usedtotrain was that star same the use equatororyoucan celestial nearthe star Slew toabright (ARC) Calibration Rate Automatic will training notberequired.required, PEC but Realignment telescope. the andreassemble willdisassemble be or axis orDEC RA the reposition clutches, the youloosen if even isretained PEC menuin AutoStarII. “Utilities” the through beaccessed can routine “Park” turningbefore power The the off. routine not require “Park” providing retraining youusethe that training will in telescope’s the andwill beretained PEC database revolution, refi ning PEC. the Update Select or morecycle’s ofdata. worth addone training, PEC yourdrive’scalibrate even better For PEC. 6.4 minutes, foronewormrevolution, about andwatchit and star and press andpress and the scope will onemore6.4 scope run minute andthe then worm ENTER 33%. Exit the StarLock menu by pressing . The StarLock will lock onto the current will current the onto lock StarLock . The Setup/Telescope/RA PEC/ Setup/Telescope/RA PEC/ APPENDIX D: SPLIT FORK ARMS

With the removal of eight (8) boltss the OTA is easily separated cables. Loosen the DEC lock and rotate the OTA so that the from the telescope. This detachable OTA is a departure from the objective points down, towards the base, and relock the DEC to original design LX200 series design that preceded your LX600. prevent it from rotating during break-down. Locate and loosen This feature facilities easier assembly as the telescope can be the eight (8) screws using the supplied 5/16” hex head wrench. broken down into two, easier to lift units. This feature is most Note that there are four screws per side, with a fi fth screw which Appendix D useful when assembling the larger 12”/14” models and when is used as a “hanger pin” when mounting on a wedge. This fi fth mounting the LX600 onto the X-Wedge. screw has been permanently locked in place at the factory; do not attempt removal. Once you have removed all eight screws the OTA can be separated from the base by sliding slightly to disengage the hanger pins and lifting. Place on fl at and stable surface. Note that only the DEC lock fork arm will remain immobilized; the opposite arm will always swing freely. Reassembly: Altaz Mode Reassembly in this mode is straight forward. Attach the telescope base securely to the tripod or if you are reassembling OTA Base after observing, make sure that it is on a stable surface. Lift and The LX600 separated slide the OTA onto the mounting plates, making sure to engage The LX600 is shipped from the factory with the OTA fastened the hanger pins into their dedicated slots. Remember that one of to the base. Depending on the model and your situation, it may the arms will swing freely, so it may be helpful to enlist someone not be necessary to ever separate the OTA from the base. It is to help stabilize and locate that arm. Once you have determined possible for a single person to mount the 10”/12” models without that the OTA has been successfully located on the base, you can breaking them down. It is also possible for two people to mount begin to thread on the eight (8) screws. Tighten the screws to a the 10”/12” and 14” models as one unit. In the previous scenarios “fi rm”, consistent feel. it is not necessary to break the telescope down. In situations where the weight of the assembled OTA and base Reassembly: X-Wedge presents a physical challenge to safely mounting the telescope you should take the time to break the telescope into its two, Attach the X-Wedge to the tripod as detailed in Appendix F: easier to lift components. Below is the procedure to break-down X-Wedge Installation (page 62-66). You will mount the telescope and reassemble the LX600’s OTA and telescope base. base only, to the X-Wedge as described in the procedure starting on page 63. As the mounting plate is indexed to receive the Break-Down Altaz Mode hanger pin on the OTA, you will need to rotate the fork arms so If the telescope is not mounted on the tripod, place the telescope that the RA Lock is pointing away from the control panel. Lock assembly on a fl at and stable surface. Remove the two jumper the RA in this position. In this confi guration the receiving slots

Hex Head fasteners — four per side. Slots to receive Pin

HangingH Pin — NoteN position of RA lock two per side.

Loosening fasteners connecting the OTA to the Orient the fork arms to receive the OTA telescope base 55 56 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX D Rotate forkarmssothattheRAlockpointsupward or personal injury.or personal and/ result in telescope damagetothe can todisassembly prior areremoved.screws OTA the Failure toorient in position this hanger pins, andwill (8)retaining eight away notfall with when OTA the position onthe this will In rest safely RA. the lock then paneland control oraway the upward, isfacing from control slow-motion Lock/RA RA the that so telescope the rotate RA, youunlock the that isessential caveat. It followingthe important with process assembly reverse ofthe Removal the isbasically Removal fromX-Wedge feel. toa“fi screws the Tighten (8)screws. eight the rm”, consistent you have OTA placedthe begin on youcan tothread base onthe slide OTA the base’s armplatesonthe fork armplates.Once fork positioned so that OTA will hang from it when you place it and will “hanger” screw the it be OTA the youlift Orient when that so axis. youhaveslips DEC If notalready down. the doneso, lock will be pointing upward to easily accept the hanger screw as it Slide OTA todisengagehanger pin, leftand rightsides Position OTA andRotateforkarmstobeginremoval Note orientation of Note orientation hanger pins

57

Similarly, imaginary lines have been drawn to form a latitude and and latitude a form to drawn been have lines imaginary Similarly,

of zero, shown as 0° 0' 0". 0' 0° as shown zero, of

drawn in an East-West direction, parallel to the Earth’s equator. equator. Earth’s the to parallel direction, East-West an in drawn

Virgo, and Aquarius) is said to have a Declination Declination a have to said is Aquarius) and Virgo,

between the North and South Poles and lines of latitude are are latitude of lines and Poles South and North the between

equator (such as the the constellations of Orion, Orion, of constellations the the as (such equator

In mapping the surface of the Earth, lines of longitude are drawn drawn are longitude of lines Earth, the of surface the mapping In

celestial pole is –90°). Any point on the celestial celestial the on point Any –90°). is pole celestial

and longitude on Earth surface maps. surface Earth on longitude and a minus (–) sign (e.g., the DEC of the South South the of DEC the (e.g., sign (–) minus a

placed. This mapping system is similar to the system of latitude latitude of system the to similar is system mapping This placed. South of the celestial equator are indicated with with indicated are equator celestial the of South

sphere surrounding the Earth upon which all stars appear to be be to appear stars all which upon Earth the surrounding sphere the North celestial pole is +90°). DEC locations locations DEC +90°). is pole celestial North the

A celestial coordinate system was created that maps an imaginary imaginary an maps that created was system coordinate celestial A indicated with a plus (+) sign (e.g., the DEC of of DEC the (e.g., sign (+) plus a with indicated

Celestial Coordinates Celestial locations North of the celestial equator are are equator celestial the of North locations

and arc-seconds (e.g., 15° 27' 33"). DEC DEC 33"). 27' 15° (e.g., arc-seconds and

Fig. 19. Fig. Celestial Sphere. Celestial

latitude is measured in degrees, arc-minutes, arc-minutes, degrees, in measured is latitude

Declination (DEC): Declination This celestial version of of version celestial This ■

RA coordinates. RA

zero RA grid line (0hr 0min 0sec) carry higher higher carry 0sec) 0min (0hr line grid RA zero

Objects located further and further East of the the of East further and further located Objects

15-degree intervals along the celestial equator. equator. celestial the along intervals 15-degree

There are 24 primary lines of RA, located at at located RA, of lines primary 24 are There

from 0hr 0min 0sec to 23hr 59min 59sec. 59sec. 59min 23hr to 0sec 0min 0hr from

Greenwich meridian. RA coordinates range range coordinates RA meridian. Greenwich

the constellation Pegasus, a sort of cosmic cosmic of sort a Pegasus, constellation the

line was arbitrarily chosen to pass through through pass to chosen arbitrarily was line

determined by longitude lines). The “zero” “zero” The lines). longitude by determined

“clock” (similar to how Earth’s time zones are are zones time Earth’s how to (similar “clock”

minutes (min), and seconds (sec) on a 24-hour 24-hour a on (sec) seconds and (min), minutes

of longitude is measured in units of hours (hr), (hr), hours of units in measured is longitude of

Right Ascension (RA): Ascension Right This celestial version version celestial This Right Ascension Right . ■

Declination and and using sky night the in objects nding fi for

(M57) by its Right Ascension (18hr) and its Declination (+33°). Declination its and (18hr) Ascension Right its by (M57)

and includes instructions for fi nding the celestial pole and and pole celestial the nding fi for instructions includes and

and longitude (118°). Similarly, you could locate the Ring Nebula Nebula Ring the locate could you Similarly, (118°). longitude and

equatorial-aligned astronomy, astronomy, equatorial-aligned of terminology the to introduction

You could locate Los Angeles, California, by its latitude (+34°) (+34°) latitude its by California, Angeles, Los locate could You

as they move across the sky. This section provides a basic basic a provides section This sky. the across move they as

be located using Right Ascension and Declination. For example: example: For Declination. and Ascension Right using located be

an understanding of how and where to locate celestial objects objects celestial locate to where and how of understanding an

located by its latitude and longitude, celestial objects may also also may objects celestial longitude, and latitude its by located

In order to equatorial align your telescope, it is essential to have have to essential is it telescope, your align equatorial to order In

So just as an object’s position on the Earth’s surface can be be can surface Earth’s the on position object’s an as just So

“Polar” option from the AutoStar II “Telescope Mount” menu. Mount” “Telescope II AutoStar the from option “Polar”

celestial sphere. celestial

If the telescope is equatorially mounted, you must choose the the choose must you mounted, equatorially is telescope the If

Fig. 19, 2 19, Fig. ) is a projection of the Earth’s equator onto the the onto equator Earth’s the of projection a is ) ( equator

Fig. 19, 1 19, Fig. very near the North Celestial Pole ( Pole Celestial North the near very ). The celestial celestial The ). option does not need to be selected. selected. be to need not does option

intersects the celestial sphere. The North Star, Polaris, is located located is Polaris, Star, North The sphere. celestial the intersects with your telescope and therefore, the “Telescope: Mount” Mount” “Telescope: the therefore, and telescope your with

is that point in the sky where an extension of the North Pole Pole North the of extension an where sky the in point that is are performing an alignment procedure for the fi the for procedure alignment an performing are rst time time rst

Fig. 19, 1 19, Fig. the celestial sphere. Thus, the North Celestial Pole ( Pole Celestial North the Thus, sphere. celestial the ) ) The example presented in this section assumes that you you that assumes section this in presented example The

poles (i.e., the Earth’s axis), if extended to infi nity, would cross cross would nity, infi to extended if axis), Earth’s the (i.e., poles menu is set to “Alt-az” as the default mount by the factory. factory. the by mount default the as “Alt-az” to set is menu

defi ned as those two points where the Earth’s North and South South and North Earth’s the where points two those as ned defi Important Note: The “Telescope: Mount”option of the Setup Setup the of Mount”option “Telescope: The Note: Important

Appendix E

like a map of the Earth. The poles of this coordinate system are are system coordinate this of poles The Earth. the of map a like

with the celestial coordinate system. system. coordinate celestial the with

The celestial map also contains two poles and an equator just just equator an and poles two contains also map celestial The

that the horizontal and vertical axes of the telescope are lined up up lined are telescope the of axes vertical and horizontal the that

Right Ascension and Declination. and Ascension Right In equatorial (or “polar”) alignmen “polar”) (or equatorial In t, the telescope is oriented so so oriented is telescope the t,

longitude grid for the celestial celestial the for grid longitude sphere. These lines are known as as known are lines These sphere. Equatorial Alignment Equatorial

(POLAR) ALIGNMENT (POLAR) APPENDIX E: EQUATORIAL E: APPENDIX 58 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX E Fig. 21. Fig. 20. location becomes evident. another. way, this In object precisionrequired the foraccurate oneeasy-to-fi from telescope moving the Practice coordinates. known to nd object of star bright toanother star) calibration fi circles forthe the (the star onebright hopping from time, try rst circles requires adeveloped technique. using setting Using When not including) 24hr, of5min. andreadsin increments represents a 1° increment. circleminus division DEC Declination ofthe coordinates. Each The RA circle runs circle carry line DEC ofthe from 0-0 belowthe located Objects +90°). 0hr to (but tomean (understood circle should read90° DEC the Pole, Celestial North atthe pointed telescope the tine. fork With the Declinationbase. The circle ( Fig. 20 visual noteasily foundby direct objects celestial offaint location the observation. modelspermit ACF LX600 circles the included with Setting Setting Circles The RA circle ( DECsettingcircle. SectionofRAsettingcircle. ) is located on the top surface of the telescope’s ofthe drive topsurface onthe ) islocated Fig. 21 ) is located at the topof atthe ) islocated Pg. 10, 1, Fig. 11 and approximate settings ofthetelescope’s latitude andpolar axis Note: information. and setup wedge supplied for installation the sheet with instruction the See ACF. yourLX600 with photographs longerexposure you totake “equatorial” wedge mode. fi The fi the onto ts allowingeld tripod or usein wedge equatorial anastronomical, permits The 14" models. Note: alignment. (polar) optionalequatorial X-WedgAn X-Wedge 60. page ALIGNMENT, POLAR pole. the bepreciselyaligned with telescope circles requires the that setting ofthe application Pinpoint object. of the circles approximate have the position beenusedtolocate setting signifi the after objects, andcentering in locating assistance cant 0.5°. much widerfi ofits Because viewfield, the nder may beof eyepiece,26mm fi the isabout ACF LX600 eld ofviewthe the with inmind Keep that, area. sky adjacent the searching youdonotimmediately try youareseeking, If object seethe eyepiece. low-power fi should telescopic nowbein desiredpole, the object the eld ofa followed carefully, well-aligned was telescope the the andif with been has procedure the If Declination object. ofthe correct in move Declination telescope the toreadthe coordinate. Next, the onto lock RA the lock desired of the object; RA correct the toread andmove telescope lock the RA the loosen Then atlas. in astar object ofthe andDEC) coordinates (RA celestial the Pole, fi aligned Celestial tothe telescope the With up look rst visualobservation: by direct found easily not anobject locate to circles To setting the use Hemisphere. clockwise) appliesto observers located intheEarth’s Southern Northern Hemisphere; thelower series ofnumbers (increasing counterclockwise) appliesto observers located intheEarth’s circle).of theRA The upperseries ofnumbers (increasing numbers running inopposite directions around the circumference Note: coordinates. entered tothe telescope slewsthe automatically then II AutoStar menu. Object II’s AutoStar of option Objects” “User: the using coordinates andDEC YouNote anobject’s RA may enter also For almostall astronomical observing requirements, The X-Wedge Meade isrecommended for the10" to The circle RA isdouble-indexed (i.e., there are twoseries of e isrequired forequatorial See PRECISE PRECISE See are acceptable. Do not allow undue attention to precise polar alignment of the telescope to interfere with your basic enjoyment of the instrument. Appendix E

Fig. 23. Locating Polaris

Polaris is simple. Most people recognize the “Big Dipper”. The Big Dipper has two stars that point the way to Polaris (Fig. 23). Once Polaris is found, it is a straightforward procedure to obtain a rough polar alignment. To line up with Polaris, follow the procedure described below. Fig. 22. Optional X-Wedge for equatorial mode. Refer to the instruction sheet included with your equatorial wedge for information about attaching the wedge to the telescope and Note: The Meade equatorial wedge is designed solely for use in also about using the azimuth and latitude controls. conjunction with your Meade tripod. The wedge should never be 1. Select “Setup: Telescope” from the AutoStar used without the tripod (e.g., by placing the wedge alone on a II menus. Press ENTER. Scroll to “Telescope: table top and then mounting the telescope on the wedge—the Mount” and press ENTER. Scroll to “Scope wedge may become seriously unbalanced, to the point where the Mounting: Polar” and press ENTER. The telescope may actually tip over. telescope mount is now set to the polar mode. Lining Up with the Celestial Pole 2. Press MODE until “Select Item: Setup” displays. Objects in the sky appear to revolve around the celestial pole. Press ENTER. “Setup: Align” displays. Press (Actually, celestial objects are essentially “fi xed”. Their apparent ENTER. “Align: Easy” displays. Scroll to “Align: motion is caused by the Earth’s rotation). During any 24 hour One-Star” and press ENTER. AutoStar II now period, stars make one complete revolution about the pole, prompts you to set the telescope in the polar making concentric circles with the pole at the center. By lining home position. up the telescope’s polar axis with the North Celestial Pole (or for observers located in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, with the a. Using the bubble level placed on the wedge South Celestial Pole), astronomical objects may be followed, or fl oor, adjust the tripod legs so that the bubble tracked, simply by moving the telescope about one axis, the polar is level. axis. This tracking may be accomplished automatically with the b. Set the wedge to your observing latitude. LX600 ACF electric motor drive. c. Using the Up and Down Arrow keys, rotate If the telescope is reasonably well aligned with the pole, very the telescope tube in Declination so that the little use of the telescope’s Declination slow motion control is telescope’s Declination reads 90°. See SETTING necessary. Virtually all of the required telescope tracking will be CIRCLES, page 58. in Right Ascension. (If the telescope were perfectly aligned with the pole, no Declination tracking of celestial objects would be Tip: You can check if the declination is set at true 90°. Look required.) For the purposes of casual telescopic observations, through the eyepiece and rapidly move the optical tube on the lining up the telescope’s polar axis to within a degree or two R.A. axis. If all the stars rotate around the center of the fi eld of of the pole is more than suffi cient: with this level of pointing view, the Declination is set at 90°. If the stars arc out of the fi eld accuracy, the telescope’s motor drive will track accurately and of view, move the optical tube on the Declination axis until you keep objects in the telescopic fi eld of view for perhaps 20 to 30 achieve the centering effect. minutes. d. Loosen the RA lock, and rotate the fork arms Begin polar aligning the telescope by locating Polaris. Finding to the 00 position H. A. : Move the forks arms 59 60 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX E Fig. 24. alignment procedure, center the star Polaris in the telescope telescope in the Polaris star alignment the center procedure, polar the performing circle. After Declinationof the setting fiThe calibration align checkthe time telescope, youpolar the rst on the tripod. replaced when setting latitude leveled, correct will the it retain fi andthe isnotaltered angle setting latitude the as is eld tripod fi the from wedge may bedetached The long and, as eld tripod observingSouth position is equivalent to 1° in latitude change.) 70 miles movement in North- (Approximately position. observing youroriginal from orSouth North distance move aconsiderable you isused,unless telescope eachtime the operation repeat this . s h p to in according isnotnecessary above it procedure, tothe a r g o t o beenfi angle wedge has ofthe latitude the Once h xed andlocked- p o r t s a e fi n making when have alignment,need to suchas polar precise aretimes, however, There observations. casual youwill when At this point, your polar alignment is good enough for

Align tickmarkstosettheforkarms00H.A. position. on this page, for more information. more for page, this on aligned. isnowpolar telescope The ENTER. press tis youhave Once done it. youtocenter and ask will slewtoanalignmenttelescope then star X-Wedge. onthe screws locking the The Lock ENTER. press iscentered, Polaris When process. handbox during this II AutoStar notusethe Do X-Wedge fi in the Polaris tocenter eldofview. f. e. base ( base ( armbase onfork mark tick center that so Fig. 24, A 24, Fig. Press ENTER. The telescope slewstoPolaris. telescope The ENTER. Press Use the azimuth and latitude controls on the onthe controls andlatitude azimuth the Use Ꭽ Ꭾ Fig. 24, B 24, Fig. See AUTOSTAR II POLAR ALIGNMENT, ALIGNMENT, IIPOLAR AUTOSTAR See ) aligns with the tick mark on the onthe mark tick the ) aligns with ). Lock the RA. the ). Lock Ꭿ Setup the telescope facing true with the north tripod level. Use (Default) PolarAlignment One-Star andTwo-Star.alignment: Easy, One-Star forpolar (manual) methods different three provides II AutoStar IIPolarAlignment AutoStar eyepiece. ormanually using acrosshair assistance Achieving Starlocks alignment precisepolar bedonewith can menu. Utilities in the Starlock the off turn procedure, this performing When assistance. Alignment on procedure the Follow magnifi well. lensas Barlow or3X useofa2X the through cation application,( but it Mead alignment, the precise polar is also alignment. aprecisepolar If obtain preferable to on using formoreinformation Starlock onpage43 Alignment to increase eyepiece. ormanually Drift using Polar acrosshair See assistance the Achieving Starlocks alignment precise polar bedonewith can effective alignment. precisionofpolar ofthe required isadirect function better.the particular, In number the ofDeclination corrections photograph, ofalong-exposure required course during the corrections fewer drive the system, tracking and sophisticated precise avery offers telescopes ACF LX600 Even the though essential. almost not only but advisable, different, arequite rules ground photography, long-exposure For telescope. of the however, the enjoyment yourbasic with lining tointerfere pole the upwith at Don’t allow isnotnecessary. atime-consumingpole effort precise alignment telescop ofthe should beemphasizedIt while that observing, doing casual PolarAlignment Precise ( telescope ofthe base onthe mark tick the up with ( using oneofknobs circle, telescope’s setting in the centered eyepiece, moveRA the star the aid.With orother chart in astar star forthe RA up the which you’re with hemisphere familiar. use.)astar Locate Look Northern hemisphere isfor use, while other the Southern is for inner the ofnumbers, set sets two circle has setting RA (The up. isset telescope time the every ofastar Ascension Right the circle ( setting circles, RA the manualsetting Should youwishtousethe knob. largesmooth in place, the tighten pointer. the degreeswith 89.2 aligns While it until holding with it circle setting the rotate loose knob the circle. With setting in the field. On the fork arm, left loosen the large smooth knob centered see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES, page 44 ACCESSORIES, see OPTIONAL to obtain a precise polar alignment without Starlocks Starlocks alignment aprecisepolar toobtain without Pg. 58, Fig. 20 Fig. Pg. 58, Fig. 24, C 24, Fig. page 68, Appendix G: Manual Drift ) must becalibrated manually) must on ), of so the that lines star the RA and precise polar alignment andprecisepolar is e Astrometric Reticle Eyepiece Reticle e Astrometric you wish to manually obtain a a obtain manually to wish you e’s polar axis to the celestial e’s celestial tothe axis polar ) iswell-suited in this Fig. 24, B 24, Fig. ). Telescope: Mount” menu. The rest of the procedure is identical to the (Alt-az) Easy (Two-Star) Align, page 41, except the telescope will be placed into the Polar home position before beginning the night sky alignment. Pointing at Polaris Two-Star Polar Alignment Polar Two-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night Appendix E sky. AutoStar II provides a library of bright stars and two stars from this library are chosen by the observer for alignment. First, choose “Polar” from the “Setup: Telescope: Mount” menu. The rest of the procedure is almost identical to the (Alt-az) Two Star Alt-az Alignment, page 42, except the telescope will be placed into the Polar home position before beginning the night sky alignment.

North

Fig. 25. LX600 in polar home position.

the altitude adjustment knob on the X-Wedge to set your latitude. Turn on the power to the telescope and when the AutoStar II handbox displays "0 to Align, Mode for Menu", press "0". The AutoStar II will ask you to place the telescope in the polar home position. Polar home position is where the DEC axis is at 90 degrees (telescope tube pointing directly away from the drive base and parallel to the fork arms) and the RA axis is at 0:00 hour angle (rotate the RA axis to put the viewfi nder on the underside of the telescope tube and the base of the fork arms is parallel to the ground with). Press "ENTER" and the telescope will get GPS time, date and location, and will then slew near to the star Polaris. Find Polaris in the viewfi nder (it is very important to have the viewfi nder aligned with the optics of your telescope. See page 18) and using the azimuth and altitude controls on the X-Wedge, center Polaris on the crosshairs of the viewfi nder. Now, look through a low power eyepiece like the 26mm Super Plössl and further adjust the X-Wedge controls until Polaris is accurately centered in the fi eld of view. Tighten the locking screws on the X-Wedge. Press "ENTER" to confi rm and the telescope will slew to a second star. Using the AutoStar II handbox slew keys, center the star in the viewfi nder and then accurately center it in the eyepiece. Press "ENTER" and the alignment is complete. Easy Polar Alignment Two alignment stars are chosen by AutoStar II based on the date, time, and location. First, choose “Polar” from the “Setup: 61 62 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX F Figure B Figure A 55 pounds each. pounds 55 about lift can peoplewho requires two procedure assembly Tripod. Field orGiant Field The Standard Meade the either forusewith X-Wedge arewritten The instructions over. tip could telescope the and overbalanced fi the without wedge the on placed is telescope Warning: Ifthe Tripod.Field X-Wedge Meade Giant Meade The the isdesignedforusewith APPENDIX F:X-WEDGEINSTALLATION bolt (1)andwasher C D C B eld tripod attached to it, the wedge will be seriously seriously be will wedge the it, to attached tripod eld Center mounting . Fully assembledtripod. . HardwarekitfortheX-Wedge. and threadedrodsleeveinsert(1) D E Tension Knob D C B E Threaded rod cap (1) Threaded rodcap Spreader T-handle Threaded Rod Tripod Head and washers(3) 3/8" hexscrews(3) F B Hex wrenches(3) H G I H G F (not visible) Tension Hub Extension Strut LegLockKnobs Rtiig clip Retaining washers (3) and screws (3) F screws (2) 8-32 hex connecting arm (1)and G 5/16" hex Tangent E I bolt hole. (10)Mountingslots;(11)Center (adjustment knobnotshown); (7) controlscrew centerhole;(9)Latitude Wedge (8)Plate Body; (4) Vernier Scale;(6) pointer;(5)Latitude Azimuth ControlKnob; lockscrew(oneoneachside); (3)Latitude topoftiltplate; at Figure C Figure D carton ( carton required isshipped wedgeThe hardware wedge within the X-Wedge Assembly 1) 1! H I J 2. Attach the tangent arm to the tripod using the using the tripod armtothe tangent the Attach 2. hex tangent 8-32 andthe screws two the Locate 1. Fig. A . Parts oftheX-Wedge. (1) Tilt-plate; (2) Mounting slot of the tangent arm should face upwards ( upwards armshould face tangent of the supplied fl hex the 8-32 Note: screws. atsurface arm ( . Attach thetangentarmwithfl surfacefacingup. at Fig. A, 6 Fig. A, ). ). Fig. D) . G F E D C B Azimuth thrust bar pin Appendix F

Figure E. The azimuth thrust bar pin positioned in the tangent arm. Figure G. X-Wedge with threaded rod cap and 5/16" hex screws secured. 3. Place the wedge on the tripod head, sliding the 65°, unthread the lock screw with the supplied azimuth thrust bar pin into the tangent arm slot hex key wrench and move the screw to the (Fig. E). optional mounting hole. 4. Push the tripod threaded rod (Fig. B, 2) up so that the rod extends through the X-Wedge plate center hole (Fig C, 8). 5. Screw the threaded rod insert onto the threaded rod until it is seated fi rmly on the X-Wedge base Latitude lock screw (in 25˚ to 57˚ position plate, fi tted in plate center hole (Fig. F). Latitude lock screw hole for 32˚ to 65˚

Figure H. Latitude screw with multiple lock screw positions.

Mounting the Telescope on the X-Wedge 1. Thread one of the provided 3/8" hex screws into the hole on the underside of the telescope drive Figure F. The Threaded rod insert properly positioned on the threaded rod and X-Wedge base plate.

6. Align the tripod spreader bar with the tripod legs as shown in Fig, B. Tighten the tripod t-handle tension knob to a snug fi t. Screw the threaded rod cap onto the end of the threaded rod. 7. Using the three 5/16" hex screws and washers (Fig. A, 5) pass the hex screws through the oval slots on the wedge fl oor and thread them into the tripod head (Fig. G). 8. The latitude lock screw (Fig. H) is installed at the factory to allow the tilt plate to be adjusted for any latitude greater than 25° and less than 57°. If viewing in a region with a latitude from 57° to Figure I. Attach one of the 3/8" hex screws to the curved part of the telescope drive base. 63 64 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX F Figure K. X-Wedge tiltplate. Figure J. precise pointing accuracy oftheX-Wedge. wedge-telescope assembly. The center mounting bolt insures the Note: 4. Insert the two remaining 3/8" hex remaining screws 3/8" two the Insert 4. the center Insert mounting bolt ( 3. fi telescope armsofthe fork two the Grasp rmly, 2. end curved atthe desired holeislocated base. The It is important to insert the center mounting bolt into the and into the underside of the drive base. Firmly ofthe underside and into the plate( tilt ofthe underside the through notovertighten. Do bolt. the tighten drive base. Firmly ofthe underside into the plate and tilt ofthe underside ofthe center the toptilt plate( slotatthe into the base sliding telescope onthe screw mounting the wedge plate( tilt the onto telescope fl the paneltoward control the with oor, placethe wedge plate. tilt ofthe allow forclearance to leave 3/4" approx, to exposed screw ofthe ( drive base telescope of the The telescopedrivebaseplacedonthe Attaching thecentermountingbolt. see Fig. I Fig. see Fig. J Fig. K Fig.C, 1 ). ). Be sure sure Be ). Fig. L ) through ) through ) by ) by ) hex screwsintothetelescopedrivebase. Figure L. orientation may be made with the telescope in place. telescope the may bemadewith orientation angle azimuth in and/or wedge latitude Adjustments tripod. wedge andfi the isnowfully onto mounted telescope The eld Ascension,” describes thecelestialcoordinate system. astronomical term “Declination” Note: should bepointed). telescope the (where north and true shows) compass (which the North Magnetic between difference Declination—the angle ofMagnetic local forthe adjusting degreeswhich will in beuseful 0to360 from angular scale an has face compass The dark. get or even skies the before isobstructed viewofPolaris the where aligned in locations bepolar can atelescope compass, magnetic aidofthe the With Aligning theMagneticCompass ( while scale reading latitude the ( screws lock latitude lines). the maps showlatitude loosen Then, (most road site desired ofthe observing latitude upthe Look Latitude Setting theObserving latitude, tighten the latitude locking screws. locking latitude the tighten latitude, towithin 0.25°. desiredset the plateisaligned tilt the with When ( is avernier scale Fig. C, 3 a. In order to obtain an accurate reading using the the using reading anaccurate obtain to Inorder a. Declination: Magnetic Setting 1. Magnetic Declination should not be confused with the not overtighten. not overtighten. hex time. atthis screws Do all 3/8" three tighten compass, youcompass, fi Usetheprovidedhexwrenchtosecurethree3/8" ) and rotate the fi the ) androtate ( knob control ne latitude Fig. C, 4 rst need to determine the the determine to need rst ) which will allow angle tilt the tobe which, when used with “Right with“Right used which, when Fig. C, 5 ). The latitude pointer pointer latitude ). The Fig. C, 9 ) Magnetic Declination of the observing area Follow these simple steps for a quick and by referring to the Magnetic Declination Map easy azimuth alignment. (Fig O). Locate this value on the compass a. Slightly loosen the three 5/16" hex screws face for future reference. in the wedge fl oor to allow for rotation of the X-Wedge. NOTE: East Magnetic Declination means Magnetic North b. Using the Azimuth Control Knob (Fig C, Appendix F is to the right (East) of the True North position and West 6), manually adjust the X-wedge around the Magnetic Declination means Magnetic North is left (West) threaded rod (without moving the compass) of the True North position. For example, Fig. N shows the until the red compass arrow points toward correct setting for 13.5° East Declination which covers the observing sites Magnetic Declination Irvine, CA. The compass scale markings range from 0 to 360 found in step 1. degrees azimuth so for East Magnetic Declinations add the c. Tighten the t-handle tension knob, locking East Magnetic Declination value from 0 to obtain the correct the X-Wedge into place. reference mark on the compass face. d. Retighten the 5/16" hex screws on the wedge fl oor. Do not over tighten. b. While holding the compass, rotate it so the red compass arrow points in the direction of The tripod and X-Wedge are now pointed directly toward Magnetic North. The arrow should be directly celestial north, without ever having seen the North Star. over the "N" marking on the compass face.

Figure M. Compass level placed on the X-Wedge.

c. Now place the compass onto the fl at base Figure N. Compass bearing adjusted for Irvine, CA's magnetic declination. of the X-Wedge as shown in Fig M. Verify the compass is still pointing toward Magnetic North and the bubble level is properly centered. If the bubble is not centered, adjust the tripod legs until centered.

2. Finding True North: The magnetic compass is now ready for use. 65 66 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX F Figure O. Magnetic declinationofNorth Magnetic map America. APPENDIX G: LATITUDE CHART (110 km) North of the listed city, add one degree for every 70 Latitude Chart for Major Cities of the World miles. If the site is over 70 miles South of the listed city, subtract To aid in the polar alignment procedure (see page 57), latitudes one degree per 70 miles. of major cities around the world are listed below. To determine Southern Hemisphere observers (S): If the site is over 70 miles the latitude of an observing site not listed on the chart, locate the (110 km) North of the listed city, subtract one degree for every 70 city closest to your site. Then follow the procedure below:

miles. If the site is over 70 miles South of the listed city, add one Appendix G Northern hemisphere observers (N): If the site is over 70 miles degree per 70 miles.

NORTH AMERICA EUROPE (continued) City State/Prov./Country Latitude City Country Latitude Albuquerque New Mexico 35° N Oslo Norway 60° N Anchorage Alaska 61° N Paris France 49° N Atlanta Georgia 34° N Rome Italy 42° N Boston Massachusetts 42° N Stockholm Sweden 59° N Calgary Alberta 51° N Vienna Austria 48° N Chicago Illinois 42° N Warsaw Poland 52° N Cleveland Ohio 41° N SOUTH AMERICA Dallas Texas 33° N City Country Latitude Denver Colorado 40° N Bogotá Colombia 4° N Detroit Michigan 42° N São Paulo Brazil 23° S Honolulu Hawaii 21° N Buenos Aires Argentina 35° S Jackson Mississippi 32° N Montevideo Uruguay 35° S Kansas City Missouri 39° N Santiago Chile 34° S Kenosha Wisconsin 45° N Caracas Venezuela 10° N Las Vegas Nevada 36° N Little Rock Arkansas 35° N ASIA Los Angeles California 34° N City Country Latitude Mexico City Mexico 19° N Beijing China 40° N Miami Florida 26° N Hong Kong China 23° N Minneapolis Minnesota 45° N Seoul South Korea 37° N Nashville Tennessee 36° N Taipei Taiwan 25° N New Orleans Louisiana 30° N Tokyo Japan 36° N New York New York 41° N Sapporo Japan 43° N Oklahoma City Oklahoma 35° N Bombay India 19° N Ottawa Ontario 45° N Calcutta India 22° N Philadelphia Pennsylvania 40° N Hanoi Vietnam 21° N Phoenix Arizona 33° N Jedda Saudi Arabia 21° N Portland Oregon 46° N Salt Lake City Utah 41° N AFRICA City Country Latitude San Antonio Texas 29° N Cairo Egypt 30° N San Diego California 33° N Cape Town South Africa 34° S San Francisco California 38° N Rabat Morocco 34° N Seattle Washington 47° N Tunis Tunisia 37° N Washington District of Columbia 39° N Windhoek Namibia 23° S EUROPE City Country Latitude AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA City State/Country Latitude Amsterdam Netherlands 52° N Adelaide South Australia 35° S Athens Greece 38° N Brisbane Queensland 27° S Bern Switzerland 47° N Canberra New South Wales 35° S Copenhagen Denmark 56° N Alice Springs Northern Territory 24° S Dublin Ireland 53° N Hobart Tasmania 43° S Frankfurt Germany 50° N Perth Western Australia 32° S Glasgow Scotland 56° N Sydney New South Wales 34° S Helsinki Finland 60° N Melbourne Victoria 38° S Lisbon Portugal 39° N Auckland New Zealand 37° S London England 51° N Madrid Spain 40° N

67 68 AppendixAssembly H procedure. Note: Important the Utilities menu. theStarlock to it disable isnecessary by turningLX600, it offin NOTE: below. alignment follow steps procedure, the drift usingmanual alignHowever, mount the the todrift youprefer if alignment method. manualdrift quicker the than substantially is method alignment This procedure. drift a quick Automatic will guide youthrough LX600 andthe Alignment” “Drift select menu, Setup/Align Autostar the In Alignment. Drift Automatic an isspecially equipped toperform StarLock with LX600 The Hemisphere). Telescope (Northern LX600 the Align tomanually Drift How MANUAL DRIFTALIGNMENT APPENDIX H: 6. Next, center on a bright, Southern star. Southern onabright, center Next, 6. keys upanddown tobring the Autostar’s Use 5. youhave If, over chosen. star bright the Observe 4. oneofthe until reticle the androtate Loosen 3. while reticle pressing the through Look 2. nearthe star onabright yourreticle Center 1. In orderIn to perform themanualdrift alignment with the celestial equator.celestial should bewithin 10° ofthe star This to20° few minutes. fora axis DEC onthe doesnotdrift it until 4repeatedly back tocenter. step star Perform quickly, useamuch ofcorrection. largeramount moves it if use only asmall ofcorrection; amount slowly, drifts star the If knob. to move latitude the center. will teachyouhowmuch past Experience X-Wedge onthe knob back adjustment tobring it latitude usethe axis, RA the off time, drifts it this procedure). of rest forthe place (do notmove crosshairs the in reticle securethe Carefully axis. DEC on the istherefore axis other The axis. RA now onthe is keys. crosshair This Arrow the youpress as star ofthe path right-left matches the crosshairs axis. RA in the backandforth mount slew the keys. will This Arrow andleft right Autostar’s equator.celestial horizon andwithin +/- the 5degreesfrom eastern degreesabove the or30 20 be about should star the results, best horizon. For Eastern You will needareticle eyepiece to perform this aligned. Your isnowdrift telescope 9. Go back and check the fi backandcheckthe Go is it 9. and seeif star rst again. keys star the arrow tocenter Autostar Use 8. usethe axis, RA above the drifts star the If 7. chosen forafewminutes. chosen youhave stars ofthe in either is nomoredrift there 4,7and8,until also. Keeprepeating steps secondstar recheckthe then again. And drifting forafew minutes. axis RA the off drifts nolonger star the 7and8until Repeat steps andup. left tothe move star the to knob adjustment Azimuth usethe axis, RA the fi ofthe out is almost below eldofview. drifts it If star the until anddown right tothe move star the X-Wedge onthe knob adjustment to Azimuth APPENDIX I: THE MOON MENU

The Moon option of the Object menu allows you to observe the 11.Press GO TO. The telescope slews to the Apollo moon in a way never possible before. You will be able locate 15 site. many specifi c features of the lunar surface, including hundreds 12. Press MODE to return to the previous menu of craters, mare, valleys, and mountains. One special feature option. Continue to press MODE to exit this allows you to view all six Apollo landing sites. While you won’t menu. Appendix I be able to see details such as any of the lunar landers or lunar excursion modules left behind by the astronauts (the best earth- Use this method to fi nd other lunar features and points of interest. based telescopes can only resolve features of about a half-mile When you have selected a feature, press the “?” key or use the across), you’ll be able pinpoint the landing sites and study the Scroll keys to display detailed information about the feature. terrain surrounding these sites. Press MODE to return to the menu options. When AutoStar II syncs to a lunar feature, the telescope switches to Selenographic coordinates, i.e., lunar latitude and longitude.

To observe the Apollo 15 landing site using the Kepler Moon option: Copernicus 1. Initialize and align the telescope system as previously described. 2. Press “5” on the AutoStar II keypad. “Solar System: Mercury” displays. 3. Press a Scroll key until “Solar System: Moon” displays. Press ENTER. 4. “Moon: Overview” displays. Press GO TO. The telescope slews to the Moon. 5. With “Moon: Overview” on AutoStar II’s display, use the Scroll keys to browse through the menus options. Five categories of features are available: Landing Sites, Craters, Mountains, Mare and Lakes, and Valleys and Rills. 6. Select a distinct lunar crater with which you are familiar, such as Copernicus or Kepler, from the Craters option and press ENTER.

7. Then press GO TO to slew to that feature. Tycho Center the feature in the eyepiece and hold down ENTER for more than two seconds to ENTER TO SYNC. The telescope is now synced to Fig. 26. Some easily recognized lunar craters. Selenographic coordinates. 8. Press MODE twice to return to the features list. Press a Scroll key until “Moon: Landing Sites” displays. 9. Press ENTER. “Landing Sites: Apollo 11” displays. 10. Press a Scroll key until “Landing Sites: Apollo 15” displays.

69 70 AutoStar #497Appendix HANDBOX J central perforation in the primary mirror. in primary the perforation central a through light plane, passing with focal in atthe afocus results mirror and primary ofthe length focal multiplies effective the mirror. mirror hyperbolic secondary hyperbolic secondary The mirror, primary plate”), toaspherical toa proceeds andthen (“correcting correction 2-sided aspheric athin lenswith through passes right, the from above, designshown light enters ACF the In amateurastronomer. tothe performance (coma-free)aplanatic level highest brings the system of optical fi edgeofthe images all way very the tothe eld ofview. This razor-sharp provides system pin-point optical star Free (ACF) Unlike Schmidt-Cassegrain systems, Meade’s Advanced Coma- ADVANCED COMA-FREEOPTICS APPENDIX J: (1) (2) Plane Focal Primary Mirror Primary BaffleTube Field Stops Ray (1) (1) stops effectively block off-axis stray light rays. stray off-axis block effectively stops filunar, These image anddeep-space contrast. planetary, eld mirror baffl primary ofthe surface signifie tube increase cantly machined inside-diameter into the stops Field mirrors. primary aperture-for-aperture, than othersystems utilizing standard-size fi having off-axis ACF eld illuminations 10% about greater, inMeade results phenomenonwhich oversize isthis primary. It light (2)in fi ray the entirely,gure would belost except forthe mirror. primary astandard-size that with ispossible Note than mirror, yielding afully illuminated field-of-view signifi wider cantly includes system anoversized primary optical ACF Meade The (2) Ray (2) Mirror Secondary Plate Correcting (2) (1) Baffle Secondary RECYCLING INFORMATION

(EU Countries only) Correct Disposal of this Product (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) This marking shown on the product or its literature indicates that it must not be disposed of in unsorted municipal waste at the end of its working life To prevent possible harm to the environment or human health from uncontrolled waste disposal, please separate this from other types of wastes and recycle it as required by law. Household users should contact either the retailer where they purchased this product, or their local government offi ce, for details of Information Recycling where and how they can take this item for environmentally safe recycling. Business users should contact their supplier and check the terms and conditions of the purchase contract This product should not be mixed with other commercial wastes for disposal.

71 MEADE LIMITED WARRANTY

Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is warranted by Meade Instruments Corp. (“Meade”) to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U.S.A. and Canada. Meade will repair or replace a product, or part thereof, found by Meade to be defective, provided the defective part is returned to Meade, freight- prepaid, with proof of purchase. This warranty applies to the original purchaser only and is non-transferable. Meade products purchased outside North America are not included in this warranty, but are covered under separate warranties issued by Meade international distributors. RGA Number Required: Prior to the return of any product or part, a Return Goods Authorization (RGA) number must be obtained from Meade by writing, or calling (800) 626-3233. Each returned part or product must include a written statement detailing the nature of the claimed defect, as well as the owner’s name, address, and phone number. This warranty is not valid in cases where the product has been abused or mishandled, where unauthorized repairs have been attempted or performed, or where depreciation of the product is due to normal wear-and-tear. Meade specifi cally disclaims special, indirect, or consequential damages or lost profi t which may result from a breach of this warranty. Any implied warranties which cannot be disclaimed are hereby limited to a term of one year from the date of original retail purchase. This warranty gives you specifi c rights. You may have other rights which vary from state to state. Meade reserves the right to change product specifi cations or to discontinue products without notice.

Meade Instruments Corp. 27 Hubble Irvine, CA 92618 14-9267-00 REV 002 031513 800-626-3233 55-12001 - 021012 www.meade.com Follow us on facebook and twitter for updates.