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LX90 "Classic" Manual - Jan`s Meade LX90 Pages

Contents

1. eeeeeeeeeeeeneeerne nnne 25 Setup Men eddie neci eaten 26 Advanced Autostar Features sseeesess 29 Adding Observing Sites sss 29 Finding Objects Not in the Database 30 Observing Satellites esses 31 How to Create Your Own Guided Tour 32 L ndmarkS si needed 35 Identity ed n Ale dene tied 36 Advanced Alt Az Alignment esseees 37 BIOWSG nga erit ate pm eese oca 37 Photography with the LX90 eeens 38 Optional Accessories essssseeee 39 Maintenance intere aad eoe 41 Gollimation 5 etui nte 41 Inspecting the Optics seseseseess 43 Gauging the Movement of the Telescope 43 Meade Customer Service ssssse 43 Specifications naasian nn eie arraia 44 Appendix A Equatorial Polar Alignment 45 Appendix B Helpful Charts sees 48 Appendix C Training the Drive sssessse 49 Basic ASITOBOITy 3 c eria Ee te dere pee 50 A Roadmap to the Stars sssesenee 52 QUICK START GUIDE It is recommended that you attach the supplied tripod to the LX90 for observing Perform the telescope and Autostar setup indoors in the light so that you become familiar with the parts and operation before moving the telescope out side in
2. 62 T Adapter The T Adapter is the basic means of prime focus photography through all Meade Schmidt Cassegrain models Thread the T Adapter on to the rear cell of your telescope followed by a T Mount for your 35mm camera and the camera body is rigidly coupled to the telescope Variable Tele Extender For eyepiece projection photography of the Moon and the planets a Tele Extender is required The variable Tele Extender threads onto the telescope s eyepiece holder into which is inserted an eyepiece of typically about 26mm focal length the 35mm cam era body couples to the tele extender by means of a T Mount The Meade Variable Tele Extender permits a range of projection images Off Axis Guider The Off Axis Guider provides a means during long exposure astrophoto graphy for the photographer to monitor the tracking of the telescope to assure that the tele scope remains precisely positioned on the object being photographed Like the T Adapter the Off Axis Guider couples the camera body to the telescope but it also causes a small amount of the guidestar s incoming light to be diverted at a right angle where the star s position can be examined for tracking errors with an illuminated reticle eyepiece position corrections can then be effected using Autostar Electric Focusers Meade electric focusers are uniquely designed to yield smooth precise microfocusing of the image without disabling the manual focus knob which may be used for
3. Set Date Next Full Moon D On amp Off Time Next New Moon EX Eyepiece Calc Daylight Saving Next 1st Qtr A Field of View Telescope Next 3rd Qtr G Magnification Model Meteor Showers H Suggest Focal Length Quadrantids bS Display Options Az Alt Ratio Lyrids J Sun Warning Mount Eta Aquarids K Getting Started Alt Percent Delta Aquarids E Brightness Adj Az Percent Perseids M Contrast Adj Train Drive Orionids N Battery Alarm Tracking Rate Taurids O Landmark Survey Reverse L R Leonids p Sleep Scope Reverse Up Dn Geminids Q Park Scope Calibrate Motor Ursids Res Cord Wrap High Precision Solar Eclipses S Targets Lunar Eclipses T Astronomical Min of Algol U Terrestrial Autumn Equinox Ms Site Vernal Equinox W Select Winter Solstice X Add Summer Solstice Y Delete Zi Edit Owner Info Clone Download Statistics Reset Figure 12 The Complete Autostar Menu Structure 23 NS WARNING UN Never use a Meade LX90 Telescope to look at the Sun Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irre versible damage to your eye Eye dam age is often painless So there is no warn ing to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late Do not point the telescope or its viewfinder at or near the Sun Do not look through the tele scope or its viewfind er as it is moving Children should always have adult supervision while observing Landmark
4. Because of its much wider field the viewfinder may be of significant assistance in locating and center ing objects after the setting circles have been used to locate the approximate position of the object Pinpoint application of the setting circles requires that the telescope be precisely aligned with the pole See LOCATING THE CELESTIAL POLE page 46 EQUATORIAL WEDGE An optional equatorial wedge allows a more precise Polar alignment Polar alignment allows you to take longer exposure photographs with your LX90 The LX90 requires an adapter to attach the equatorial wedge to the tripod See the instruction sheet supplied with the wedge for installation Equatorial Wedge The equatorial wedge permits use in an astronomical or equatorial mode The wedge fits onto the field tripod NOTE The Meade equatorial wedge is designed solely for use in conjunction with the Meade field tripod The wedge should never be used without the field tripod e g by placing the wedge alone on a table top and then mounting the telescope on the wedge the wedge may become seriously imbalanced to the point where the telescope may actually tip over Included features Attachment of the wedge to the field tripod by means of only one manual knob e Quick azimuth adjustment by loosening the manual knob as described above Bubble level for rapid tripod wedge leveling Etched latitude scale for fast adjustment of the latitude angle 47
5. ner W Delete Deletes a stored site from the database 27 WP Doors 4 7 Surf the Web One of the most exciting resources for astron omy is the internet The internet is full of web sites with new images discoveries and the latest astronomical information For example when comet Hale Bopp made its approach to our Sun in 1998 astronomers around the world posted new photos daily You can find websites for almost any topic relating to astronomy on the internet Try the following key word searches NASA Hubble HST astronomy Messier satellite nebula black hole variable stars etc Check out Meade s website for the latest product and technical information You can download the latest software revisions links to other astronomical sites coordinates of celestial objects and the latest satellite track ing information for your Autostar handset See page 28 for more information You ll find our website at http www meade com Here are some other sites you might find interest ing Sky amp Telescope http Awww skypub com Astronomy http Awww2 astronomy com astro The Starfield http users nac net gburke Astronomy Picture of the Day http antwrp gsfc nasa goc apod Heaven s Above satellite observing information http www heavens above com Time Zone Shift Atlantic 4 Hours Eastern 5 Hours Central 6 Hours Mountain 7 Hours Pacific 8 Hours Hawaii 10 Hours Table
6. Declination Dec Setting Circle on left fork arm See APPENDIX A page 45 for detailed information 12 Declination Pointer Line up the desired Declination setting with this pointer Qo Computer Control Panel A Handbox HBX Port Plug the Autostar coil cord 10 Fig 2 into this port B LED The red power indicator light illuminates when power is supplied to the Autostar handbox and to the telescope s motor drive C ON OFF Switch Turns the Computer Control Panel and Autostar ON or OFF D Auxiliary AUX Port 2 Provides connection for current and future Meade accessories such as the Meade Accessory Port Module See OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES page 39 E 12v Power Connector provides connection so that the telescope assembly may be powered from either a 12v DC auto cigarette light plug or from a stan dard 115v AC home outlet using optionally available 25 power cords Autostar with coil cord See page 9 for a description of Autostar s features 15 Dust Cover Gently pry the dust cover from the front lens of the telescope NOTE The dust cover should be replaced after each observing session and the power turned off to the telescope Verify that any dew that might have collected during the observing session has evaporated prior to replacing the dust cover B Battery Compartments Insert four user supplied C cell batteries in each compart ment eight batteries total Q9 Viewfinder A low power wide
7. If no meteor shower is visible this option is skipped and the tour proceeds on to the the next object DEEP SKY name Enter DEEP SKY followed by the name of the desired object in quotes For example DEEP SKY Small Magellanic Cloud CONSTELLATION name Enter CONSTELLATION followed by the name of the desired constellation in quotes For exam ple CONSTELLATION Leo Major STAR name Enter STAR followed by the name of the desired star in quotes For example STAR Vega LANDMARK az alt title description Enter the azimuth az for the desired object in the following format xxxdxxmxxs For example 123d27m00s Then enter the altitude of the desired object in the following format xxdxxmxxs Then enter the title string and description string in quotes For example LANDMARK 123d27m00s 57d20m20s Landmark 1 North corner of apartment building PICK ONE PICK END These two statements are used to surround a list of items that Autostar can choose from dur ing a tour Autostar begins at the top of the PICK ONE list and displays the first object from the list that is above the horizon and ignores the rest This statement is useful for developing tours that can be presented year round For each object type you wish to use to illustrate in your tour pick 10 to 12 examples spaced across the range of right ascension Bracket them by the PICK ONE PICK END statements One current exam ple displays for the user For example AUTO SELE
8. These field stops effectively block off axis stray light rays The name Meade and the Meade logo are trademarks registered with the U S Patent Office and in prin cipal countries throughout the world LX90 is a trademark of Meade Instruments Corporation 2000 Meade Instruments Corporation NS WARNING Never use a Meade LX90 Telescope to look at the Sun Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye Eye damage is often painless so there is no warning to the observer that dam age has occurred until it is too late Do not point the telescope or its viewfinder at or near the Sun Do not look through the tele scope or its viewfinder as it is moving Children should always have adult supervi sion while observing CAUTION Use care to install batteries in the orientation indicated by illustration in the battery slots of the battery holder Follow battery manufacturer s precautions Do not install batteries backwards or mix new and used batteries Do not mix battery types If these precautions are not followed batteries may explode catch fire or leak Improperly installed batteries void your Meade warranty If you are anxious to use your telescope for the first time read the QUICK START GUIDE on pages 4 and 5 CONTENTS Quick Start Guide sse 4 Telescope Features eeseeeeeeeee 6 Autostar Features esse
9. and Altair By drawing an imaginary line outward from the handle of the Big Dipper you reach the south ern constellation Scorpius Scorpius curves to the left like the tail of a scorpion in the sky or like letter J Amateur astronomers commonly use the phrase arc to Arcturus and spike to Spica to refer to the area directly off the arc in the handle of the Big Dipper Follow the arc to Arcturus the sec ond brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere then spike down to Spica the 16th brightest star in the sky Star Locator The chart below lists bright stars with their R A and Dec coordinates along with the Northern Hemisphere season when these stars are prominent in the night sky This list aids the observ er to find alignment stars at various times of the year For example if it is a midsummer evening in the Northern Hemisphere Deneb in the constellation Cygnus would be an excellent align ment star while Betelgeuse could not be used because it is in the winter constellation Orion and thus below the horizon Season Star Name Constellation R A Dec Spring Arcturus Bootes 14h16m 19 11 Spring Regulus Leo 10h09m 11 58 Spring Spica Virgo 13h25m 11 10 Summer Vega Lyra 18h37m 38 47 Summer Deneb Cygnus 20h41m 45 17 Summer Altair Aquila 19h51m 08 52 Summer Antares Scorpius 16h30m 26 26 Fall Markab Pegasus 23h05m 15 12 Fall Fomalhaut Pisces Austrinus s22h58m 29 38 Fall Mira Cetus 02h19m 02 58
10. observed during its crescent or half phase when Sunlight strikes the Moon s surface at an angle It casts shadows and adds a sense of depth to the view Fig 32 No shadows are seen during a full Moon causing the overly bright Moon to appear flat and rather uninteresting through the telescope Be sure to use a neutral Moon filter when observing the Moon Not only does it protect your eyes from the bright glare of the Moon but it also helps enhance contrast providing a more dramatic image Using the LX90 brilliant detail can be observed on the Moon including hundreds of lunar craters and maria described below Craters are round meteor impact sites covering most of the Moon s surface With no atmos phere on the Moon no weather conditions exist so the only erosive force is meteor strikes Under these conditions lunar craters can last for millions of years Maria plural for mare are smooth dark areas scattered across the lunar surface These dark areas are large ancient impact basins that were filled with lava from the interior of the Moon by the depth and force of a meteor or comet impact Twelve Apollo astronauts left their bootprints on the Moon in the late 1960 s and early 1970 s However no telescope on Earth is able to see these footprints or any other artifacts In fact the smallest lunar features that may be seen with the largest telescope on Earth are about one half mile across 50 Fig 33 Jupiter and its four l
11. or less to produce the desired result b While looking at the defocused star image notice which direction the darker shadow is off set in the ring of light or notice which part of the ring is the thinnest 1 Fig 21 Place your index finger in front of the telescope so that it touches one of the collimation set screws You will see the shadow of your finger in the ring of light Move your finger around the edge of the black plastic secondary mirror support until you see the shadow of the finger cross ing the thinnest part of the ring of light At this point look at the front of the telescope where your finger is aiming It will either be pointing directly at a set screw or it will be between two set screws aiming at the set screw on the far side of the black plastic secondary mir ror support This is the set screw that you will adjust c Using the Arrow keys at the slowest slew speed move the defocused image to the edge of the eyepiece field of view 2 Fig 21 in the same direction as the darker shadow is off set in the ring of light d Turn the set screw that you found with the pointing exercise while looking in the eyepiece You will notice that the star image will move across the field If while turning the defocused star image flies out of the eyepiece field then you are turning the screw the wrong way Turn the opposite direction and bring the image back to the center of the field e If the screw you are turning becomes very l
12. rapid coarse focusing Two focuser models are available the 1205 which includes pushbut ton hand controller with self contained user provided battery and the 1206 which plugs directly into the Accessory Port Module see previous page with actuation from the hand con troller Piggyback Brackets Piggyback photography is one of the most popular and easiest ways to get started in astrophotography Attach your 35mm camera with its own 35mm to 250mm lens atop your LX90 in equatorial mode and guiding the camera through the main telescope wide field photos of the Milky Way of remarkable detail and clarity can be taken Dew Shield 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 significant extent by the addition of a dew shield essentially an extension tube attaching to the front cell of the telescope 541 AC Adapter The optional 541 AC Adapter permits powering of the telescope via a stan dard household 115v AC electrical outlet Requires 607 Power Cord 607 Power Cord Powering the LX90 telescope by means of an automobile cigarette lighter plug requires the 607 Power Cord With this 25 ft cord the LX90 may be powered for a full night s observing without risk of car battery drain 40 MAINTENANCE The LX90 is a precision optical instrument designed to yield a lifetime of rewarding applica tion
13. 1 Time Zone Shift W Edit Edits a selected site including the name latitude longitude and time zone Time Zone refers to the Greenwich Mean Time GMT time zone shift Users West of Greenwich England use hours East of Greenwich use hours For the United States look up the time zone shift in table above NOTE Autostar compensates for daylight savings time if selected See Setup Menu Daylight Saving page 26 Owner Info accesses the owner information menu including m Name Users may enter both their first and last names using the Up and Down Arrow keys to cycle through the alphabet Use the Right and Left Arrow keys to move through the text Press ENTER when the entry is complete W Address Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to enter your street address city state and zip code Press ENTER when the entry is complete Download transfers information from a personal computer or another Autostar During the operation the warning Downloading Do Not Turn Off appears NOTE The Download function requires the optional 505 Astrofinder Software and Cable Connector Kit See the instruction sheet included with the kit for more infor mation on how to download Also see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES page 39 Clone uploads information from one Autostar handbox to another Three options are available WB Catalogs Sends only user defined object information such as new satellite orbits or comet data to another A
14. 5 for the proper orientation of the holder Do not force the holder into the battery compartment If a holder does not slip easily into the compartment you may have insert ed the holder incorrectly Replace the compartment covers when you are done CAUTION Use care to install batteries as indicated by the battery compartment Follow battery manufacturer s precautions Do not install batteries backwards or mix new and used batteries Do not mix battery types If these precautions are not followed batteries may explode catch fire or leak Improperly installed batteries void your Meade warranty Always remove the batteries if they are not to be used for a long period of time 3 Becertain that the power switch on the computer control panel 13C Fig 1 is in the OFF position Plug the coil cord of the Autostar Controller into the HBX port 13A Fig 1 NOTE Autostar does not require batteries the telescope s batteries supply power to Autostar 4 Remove the dust cap from the rear cell of the telescope Thread the eyepiece holder into the rear cell thread Slide the diagonal prism into the eyepiece holder and lock in place by turning the thumbscrew to a firm feel 5 Remove the Super Pl ssl 26mm eyepiece 1 Fig 1 from its container and place it in the diagonal prism 3 Fig 1 Tighten the thumbscrew 2 Fig 1 to a firm feel only 6 Remove the dust cover 15 Fig 1 from the optical tube assembly 5 Fig 1 by gently pry ing it
15. APPENDIX B HELPFUL CHARTS Latitude Chart for Major Cities of the World To aid in the Polar Alignment procedure see page 45 latitudes of major cities around the world are listed below To determine the latitude of an observing site not listed on the chart locate the city closest to your site Then follow the procedure below Northern Hemisphere observers N If the site is over 70 miles 110 km North of the listed city add one degree for every 70 miles If the site is over 70 miles South of the listed city subtract one degree per 70 miles Southern Hemisphere observers S If the site is over 70 miles North of the listed city subtract one degree for every 70 miles If the site is over 70 miles South of the listed city add one degree per 70 miles UNITED STATES SOUTH AMERICA City State Latitude City Country Latitude Albuquerque New Mexico 35 N Asuncion Paraguay 25 S Anchorage Alaska 61 N Brasilia Brazil 24 S Atlanta Georgia 34 N Buenos Aires Argentina 35 S Boston Massachusetts 42 N Montevideo Uruguay 35 S Chicago Illinois 42 N Santiago Chile 34 S Cleveland Ohio 41 N Dallas Texas 33 N ASIA Denver Colorado 40 N City Country Latitude Detroit Michigan 42 N Beijing China 40 N Honolulu Hawaii 21 N Seoul South Korea 37 N Jackson Mississippi 32 N Taipei Taiwan 25 N Kansas City Missouri 39 N Tokyo Japan 36 N Las Vegas Nevada 36 N Victoria Hong Kong 23 N Little Rock Arkansas 35 N Los Angeles Cali
16. Setup displays 4 Pressthe Scroll Down key once and Select Item Object displays Press ENTER Object Solar System displays 5 Press the Scroll Up key twice and Object Landmarks displays Press ENTER Landmark Select displays 6 Press the Scroll Down key once Landmark Add displays Press ENTER 7 Landmark Name displays Using Arrow keys enter a name for the landmark you wish to add to the database When finished press ENTER 8 Center Landmark Press Enter displays Using only the Arrow keys do not manually move the telescope move the telescope to the desired landmark and center the object in the eyepiece Press ENTER The object is now stored in memory 9 Landmark Add displays If you wish to add more landmarks repeat steps 5 through 7 35 To Select a landmark from the database 1 Make sure the telescope is located and aligned exactly as when the desired landmark was entered into memory 2 Display the Landmark Select menu option Press ENTER 3 Use the Scroll keys to scroll through the list of objects you have previously entered When the desired object displays press ENTER to select the object Use the Scroll keys to scroll through location information about the object if desired Press GO TO to slew the tele scope to the landmark 4 Press MODE to exit To perform a Landmark Survey This procedure allows you to perform a tour of the objects entered in the Object Landmark menu opt
17. Threaded Rod 3 Tension Knob Note the orientation of the spreader bar 4 Spreader Bar 5 Lock Knobs 12 Battery Compartment Rib Battery Holder Fig 5 Four C cell batteries mounted inside one of the battery holders Note position of rib in the battery compartment 5 Position the spreader bar so that the 3 arms of the spreader bar line up with the 3 tripod legs 6 Place the entire telescope onto the top of the tripod head and insert the threaded rod into the central hole in the bottom of the drive base of the telescope Tighten the tension knob 3 Fig 3 firm tightening of the tension knob is sufficient to result in rigid positioning of the tripod legs 7 To vary the tripod height loosen the 6 lock knobs slide the 3 inner tripod leg sections out to the desired height and firmly re tighten but do not overtighten the 6 lock knobs To collapse the tripod after removing the telescope and equatorial wedge if applicable for storage follow these steps 1 Rotate the spreader bar 60 from its assembled position so that one spreader bar arm is located between each adjacent pair of tripod legs 2 Atthe base of the tripod is a 3 vane extension strut system with a circular hub at its cen ter 6 Fig 3 Grasp the tripod head 1 Fig 3 with one hand and with the other hand pull directly up on the central hub of the extension strut system This operation will cause the tri
18. To check the collimation of your LX90 center a bright star that is overhead or use a hot spot of reflected Sunlight from a chrome car bumper with the supplied 26mm eyepiece Allow the telescope to adjust to the temperature of your observation site before proceeding temperature differences between the optics and the outside air can cause distortion in the images With the star or hot spot centered de focus the image You will notice that the out of focus star image looks 1 2 like a ring of light surrounding a dark central spot the dark central spot is in fact the shadow of the secondary mirror Turn the focus knob until the 3 Fig 21 Defocused star images 41 ring of light fills about 10 of the eyepiece field diameter If the dark central spot is offset in i e not concentric with the ring of light your telescope s optical system is misaligned and requires collimation Follow these steps for collimation of the optical system a The only adjustments possible or necessary on the LX90 are from the three screws Fig 21 located at the edge of the outer surface of the secondary mirror housing CAUTION Do not force the three collimation screws past their normal travel and do not loosen them more than two full turns in a counterclockwise direc tion or the secondary mirror may come loose from its support You will find that the adjustments are very sensitive usually requiring only one half turn
19. a telephone pole or street sign Center the object in the telescope eyepiece Re tighten the R A and Dec locks 5 Look through the viewfinder eyepiece Fig 6b and loosen or tighten as appropriate one or more of the viewfinder collimation screws Fig 6b until the viewfinder crosshairs are precisely centered on the object you previously centered in the telescope eyepiece 6 Check this alignment on a celestial object such as the Moon or a bright star and make any necessary refinements using the method outlined in steps 3 and 4 Collimation Screws Mounting Viewfinder Eyepiece 4 Fig 6a Viewfinder Assembly 14 IMPORTANT NOTE Objects appear upside down and reversed left for right when observed in the viewfinder and also in the eyepiece when inserted directly into the straight through eyepiece holder with the diagonal prism in place images will be right side up but reversed left for right This image inversion is of no consequence when observing astro nomical objects and in fact all astronomi cal telescopes yield inverted images During terrestrial observing where a fully correctly oriented image right side up and correct left for right is desirable an optional 928 45 Erecting Prism is available See OPTIONAL ACCES SORIES page 39 OBSERVING Observing By Moving the Telescope Manually If you wish to observe a distant land object s
20. and displays them in a pop up window on your computer screen Make the necessary corrections and try to download again See the instruction sheet with your 505 Cable Connector Kit for more information about downloading data to and interfacing with Autostar Landmarks This menu option allows you to define and store terrestrial objects in the Landmark database First a landmark needs to be stored in memory using the Landmark Add option To view a landmark use the Landmark Select option Landmarks may also be viewed using the Landmark Survey option in the Utilities menu To Add a landmark to the database In this procedure you will store the location of terrestrial landmarks in Autostar s memory 1 Set the telescope in the home position if necessary Note for future reference where the tel escope is located and if you have aligned the telescope which alignment method is used IMPORTANT NOTE To use the Landmark function the telescope must be located and aligned exactly as when the landmark s was added to the database 2 Display the Setup Targets menu option Chose Terrestrial and press ENTER Setup Targets displays again Choosing this option turns off tracking for astronomical objects and is not useful for the viewing of terrestrial objects such as those in the Landmark data base Be sure to change this option back to Astronomical when you wish to view celes tial objects again 3 Press MODE once Select Item
21. between the large W of Cassiopeia and the great square of Pegasus 51 A Roadmap to the Stars The night sky is filled with wonder and intrigue You too can enjoy exploring the universe simply by following a few pointers on a roadmap to the stars First find the Big Dipper which is part of the constellation Ursa Major The Big Dipper is usually easy to locate year round in North America Extending directly out from the far side of the Big Dipper s cup is the constellation Orion One of the most exquisite areas of the winter sky Orion is distinguished by Orion s belt which is marked by three stars in a row The Orion Nebula is located South of the belt and is one of the most observed Rigel e _ Orion i3 Betelgeuse Andromeda PS t Gemini Pi Pollux dl Castor Pegasus ier Polaris Sickle Yo ceu Deneb I pres Summer Canad Le Leo Triangle wa Big Dipper 7 Vega B t Altair Lyra bh 2 Aquila Virgo Spica Antares e deep sky objects by amateur astronomers and Extending from the pointer stars of the Big corpus Dippers cup is Polaris the North Star Extending from Polaris is the Great Square shared by the constellations Pegasus and Fig 36 Road Map to the Stars Andromeda The Summer Triangle is a notable region in the sky to the left of the handle of the Big Dipper The triangle is made up of three very bright stars Vega Deneb
22. 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 telescope pointing accuracy Verify that AUTOSTAR INITIALIZATION is complete Press MODE until Select Item is displayed Select Item 8 Object Press the scroll up key once Select Item Setup 4 Access the Setup N menu Setup Align Multiple presses Setup Telescope Access the Telescope menu Multiple presses Telescope Train Drive 8 Choose the Train SE Drive option Train Drive Az Train Azimuth horizontal training Drive Setup For this op Reminder to isi use terrestrial target Center reference object Center target Aiia using Arrow keys Press until it is centered Scope slews left Bring target back to center using 2 40 13 the Right Arrow key Press until it Scope slews right el Bring target back to center using Nye the Left Arrow key Train Drive 14 Az Train 4 Menu returns to Az training b d x Train Drive Alt Train Altitude vertical training Drive Setup For this op Reminder to Hz use terrestrial target Center reference object Center target using Arrow keys Press until it is centered A Scope slew
23. figure to a firm feel only firm tightening of the tension knob is sufficient to result in rigid positioning of the tripod legs Battery Compartment Rib Battery Holder 6 Remove the covers from both battery compart ments located on top of the drive base and careful ly lift the battery holders from their compartments being mindful of the connector wires Insert four user supplied C cell batteries into each battery holder eight batteries total oriented as shown on the diagram on the battery holder Return the battery holders to the battery compart ment See the diagram above Replace the covers when you are done COMPUTER CONTROL HBX Port ON OFF Autostar Coil Cable Port Slew Speeds Speed 9 Fast Arrow K Speed 5 Medium me Speed 1 Slow Number Keys 9 Press the key prompted by Autostar to accept the Sun warning You can now use the Arrow keys to slew move the telescope up down right or left To change the telescope s slew speed press the Number keys 9 is the fastest speed and 1 is slowest speed See page 16 for more details 10 Tighten to a firm feel only the Dec and R A locks 6 and 9 Fig 1 See page 7 for more informa tion Remove the dust cover from the end of the telescope tube 7 Slide the computer control panel power switch to OFF if necessary Remove the Autostar handbox and the Autostar interface cable fr
24. for more information 7 Use the viewfinder 17 Fig 1 to locate an object and practice using the Autostar s Arrow keys to center the object in the telescope s field of view 8 Use the telescope s focus knob 8 Fig 1 to bring the object into focus Slew Speeds Autostar has nine slew speeds that are directly proportional to the sidereal rate and have been calculated to accomplish specific functions Pressing a Number key changes the slew speed which is shown for about two seconds on Autostar s display The nine available speeds are Number Key 1 1x 1 x sidereal 0 25 arc min sec or 0 004 sec Number Key 2 2x 2 x sidereal 0 5 arc min sec or 0 008 sec Number Key 8 8x 8 x sidereal 2 arc min sec or 0 033 sec Number Key 4 16x 16 x sidereal 4 arc min sec or 0 067 sec Number Key 5 64x 64 x sidereal 16 arc min sec or 0 27 sec Number Key 6 128x 32 arc min sec or 0 5 sec Number Key 7 1 5 90 arc min sec or 1 5 sec Number Key 8 3 180 arc min sec or 3 sec Number Key 9 Max 390 arc min sec or 6 5 sec Speeds 1 2 or 3 Best used for fine centering of an object in the field of view of a higher power eyepiece such as a 12mm or a 9mm eyepiece Speeds 4 5 or 6 Enables centering an object in the field of a low to moderate power eye piece such as the standard Super Pl ssl 26mm Speeds 7 or 8 Best used for rough centering of an object in the eyepiece Speed 9 Moves the telescop
25. minutes and arc seconds e g 15 27 33 Declination shown as North of the celestial equator is indicated with a sign in front of the measurement e g the Declination of the North Celestial Pole is 90 with Declination South of the celestial equator indicated with a sign e g the Declination of the South Celestial Pole is 90 Any point on the celes tial equator itself which for example passes through the constellations Orion Virgo and Aquarius is specified as having a Declination of zero shown as 0 0 0 All celestial objects are specified in position by their celestial coordinates of Right Ascension and Declination 45 Using setting circles requires a developed technique When using the circles for the first time try hopping from one bright star the calibration star to another bright star of known coordi nates Practice moving the telescope from one easy to find object to another In this way the precision required for accurate object location becomes evident NOTE You may also enter an object s R A and Dec coordinates using the User Objects option of Autostar s Object menu Autostar then automatically slews the telescope to the entered coordinates Locating the Celestial Pole To get basic bearings at an observing location take note of where the Sun rises East and sets West each day After the site is dark face North by pointing your left shoulder toward where the Sun set To precisely point at
26. off 13 NEVER point the telescope directly at or near the Sun at any time Observing the Sun even for the smallest fraction of a second will result in instant and irreversible eye damage as well as physical damage to the telescope itself NOTE For a list of mag nification ratings of the eyepieces available for the LX90 telescope see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES page 39 Choosing an Eyepiece A telescope s eyepiece magnifies the image formed by the telescope s main optics Each eye piece has a focal length expressed in millimeters or mm The smaller the focal length the higher the magnification For example an eyepiece with a focal length of 9mm has a higher magnification than an eyepiece with a focal length of 26mm Your telescope comes supplied with a Super Pl ss 26mm eyepiece which gives a wide com fortable field of view with high image resolution Low power eyepieces offer a wide field of view bright high contrast images and eye relief dur ing long observing sessions To find an object with a telescope always start with a lower power eyepiece such as the Super Pl ssl 26mm When the object is located and centered in the eye piece you may wish to switch to a higher power eyepiece to enlarge the image as much as practical for prevailing seeing conditions For information about optional eyepieces for the LX90 see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES page 39 NOTE Seeing conditions vary wi
27. optional Use the Number keys to enter the size in arc minutes if so desired and press ENTER to go to the next display If you do not wish to enter this information simply press ENTER 30 9 Autostar then prompts you to enter the magnitude of the object This step is also optional Use the Number keys to enter this information if so desired and press ENTER to go to the next display User Object Add displays again To GOTO a user entered object In this procedure you will choose an object from the User Object list and GO TO the object 1 With User Object Add displayed press the Scroll Up key once User Object Select dis plays Press ENTER Use the Scroll keys if necessary to scroll to the desired object Press ENTER The name of the object and the Right Ascension and Declination coordinates display Press GO TO and the telescope slews to the object Observing Satellites In this procedure you will prepare your telescope to observe a satellite pass Bog m 10 11 Navigate to the Object Satellite menu option and press ENTER Use the Scroll keys to scroll through the list of satellites Select a satellite from list and press ENTER Calculating and then Tracking displays If the satellite is going to make a pass Located displays Use the Scroll keys to display data about the pass aos acquisition of signal and los loss of signal If you subtract the aos from the los you can c
28. or magazines such as Sky amp Telescope or Astronomy to find coordinates of celestial objects The objects coordinates you enter become part of your own permanent database called User Objects To enter coordinates of an object into the User Objects option of the Object menu Make sure Autostar has been initialized and the telescope has been aligned 2 After the telescope is aligned Select Item Object displays If necessary use the Scroll keys to scroll through the menus as previously described to find this option Press ENTER 3 Object Solar System displays Keep pressing the Scroll Up key until Object User Object displays and press ENTER 4 User Object Select displays Press the Scroll Down key once User Object Add dis plays Press ENTER 5 Name displays on the top line and a blinking cursor on the second line Use the Arrow keys as previously described to enter the name of the object you wish to add to the data base When you are finished press ENTER 6 Right Asc 00 00 0 displays Use the Number keys to enter the digits for the Right Ascension coordinate of your object When you are finished press ENTER 7 Declination 00 00 displays Use the Number keys to enter the digits for the Declination coordinate of your object If necessary use the Scroll Keys to change to When you are finished press ENTER 8 Autostar then prompts you to enter the size of the object This step is
29. planet s Polar ice caps Approximately every two years when Mars is closest to Earth in its orbit additional detail and coloring on the planet s surface may be visible Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and is 11 times the diameter of Earth The plan et appears as a disk with dark lines stretching across the surface These lines are cloud bands in the atmosphere Four of Jupiter s 16 moons lo Europa Ganymede and Callisto can be seen as star like points of light when using even the lowest magnification Fig 33 These moons orbit Jupiter so that the number of moons visible on any given night changes as they circle around the giant planet Saturn is nine times the diameter of Earth and appears as a small round disk with rings extending out from either side Fig 34 In 1610 Galileo the first person to observe Saturn through a telescope did not understand that what he was seeing were rings Instead he believed that Saturn had ears Saturn s rings are composed of billions of ice particles rang ing in size from a speck of dust to the size of a house The major division in Saturn s rings called the Cassini Division is occasionally visible through the LX90 Titan the largest of Saturn s 18 moons can also be seen as a bright star like object near the planet Deep Sky Objects Star charts can be used to locate constellations individual stars and deep sky objects Examples of various deep sky objects are g
30. supply power to Autostar D 2 Line LCD Display Provides an interface between Autostar and the telescope Top line Lists the primary category or menu item Bottom line Contains a menu option or information about an object or subject depending on which function is being performed o9 ENTER Key Accesses in a sequential manner the next menu or data level in the Autostar database See MOVING THROUGH AUTOSTAR S MENUS page 17 and AUTOSTAR S MENU AND MENU OPTION DESCRIPTIONS page 23 NOTE If ENTER is pressed for two seconds or more and then released Autostar emits a beep and ENTER to Sync is displayed ENTER to Sync is relevant only after the telescope has been aligned and is pointing at an object If the ENTER to Sync feature is accessed by mistake press MODE to return to the previous screen See HIGH PRECISION page 27 for more details about this feature MODE Key Returns to the previous menu or data level in the Autostar database until the top level Select Item is reached The MODE key is similar to the ESCAPE key on a com puter NOTE Pressing MODE while in the Select Item level moves Autostar to the top most screen Select Item Object NOTE If MODE is pressed and held for two seconds or more information about the telescope s status is then available using the Scroll keys 7 Fig 2 such as Right Ascension and Declination astronomical coordinates see page 45 e Altitud
31. CT TEXT Globular Cluster Globular clusters are huge balls of stars They contain 50 000 to 100 000 stars and are located on the fringes of our galaxy PICK ONE AUTO SELECT MESSIER 13 AUTO SELECT MESSIER 15 AUTO SELECT MESSIER 92 AUTO SELECT MESSIER 4 AUTO SELECT MESSIER 68 AUTO SELECT NGC 1234 AUTO SELECT TEXT None Available I m sorry There are no bright globular clusters visible at this time PICK END 34 AUTO SLEW ON AUTO SLEW OFF With AUTO SLEW ON enabled in the tour Autostar automatically slews the telescope to objects first before displaying the text description This feature is useful when designing tours in which observing certain objects is required For example an astronomy professor may require his students to observe six objects four of which Autostar automatically slews to in a tour The stu dents would have to manually slew to the last two objects He would then place AUTO SLEW ON before his first required object and AUTO SLEW OFF after the fourth object END To end a tour type the command END on a separate line at the very end of the tour Downloading Tours Once a tour is written and stored as an ASCII file saved either as a text only or MS DOS text file load it into Autostar using the Autostar Update Utility on your PC As tours are down loaded into the handbox Autostar examines the programming If it doesn t understand the ter minology used within a tour it flags questionable areas
32. Instruction Manual 8 LX90 Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with Autostar Hand Controller Meade Instruments Corporation The Meade Schmidt Cassegrain Optical System 2 1 Secondary 7 Mirror Focal Plane secondary Baffle Noua Baffle Tube Field Stops Correcting 4 Primary Mirror Plate In the Schmidt Cassegrain design of the Meade LX90 light enters from the right passes through a thin lens with 2 sided aspheric correction correcting plate proceeds to a spherical primary mirror and then to a convex secondary mirror The convex secondary mirror multiplies the effective focal length of the primary mirror and results in a focus at the focal plane with light passing through a central perforation in the primary mirror The Meade 8 LX90 Schmidt Cassegrain includes an oversize primary mirror of an 8 25 diameter yielding a fully illumi nated field of view significantly wider than is possible with a standard size primary mirror Note that light ray 2 in the fig ure would be lost entirely except for the oversize primary It is this phenomenon which results in Meade Schmidt Cassegrains having off axis field illuminations about 1096 greater aperture for aperture than other Schmidt Cassegrains utilizing standard size primary mirrors Field stops machined into the inside diameter surface of the primary mirror baffle tube significantly increase lunar planetary and deep space image contrast
33. LA Eon e istae Ll e cA A hey 4 9 dia worm gears both axes Alignment 5 et ent ete Altazimuth or equatorial w optional wedge Pointing Precision eee 5 arc minutes in GO TO mode Slew Speeds seen 1x sidereal to 6 5 sec in 9 increments TTIDOQ iita Ete erm fs Variable height field tripod ACCOSSOLIOS 1i e dra asd e t tr red ced 8 x 50mm finder 1 25 diagonal prism Super Pl ssl 26mm eyepiece Net telescope weight ees 31 Ibs Net tripod weight eese 20 Ibs Autostar Specifications PrOGESSOP cs ne deo ro E ERN end 68HC11 8MHz Flash M moty 5 3 in Ap etes 1MB reloadable Keypad ep ANGES I ERI ES 20 key alphanumeric Display ee AAR ee ESSE 2 line 16 character LCD Backlidhit iin Baia ee Re ee Red LED Utility Iight s eared Aa ie Yes BS 232 NERA pu itin ee Yes Coil COM 5 hu BAS a RA ake 24 Database lt i cte a net eee eid 30 223 objects Autostar Dimensions Length ipe E HRS 6 56 16 6cm Width EGBD endy eissii tet s 3 19 80cm Width Connector end seeeeeeeene 2 25 57cm Depth ii eie pei ae i a 0 81 21cm Autostar net weight ssse 1 12 lbs 0 51kg 44 Fig 24 Tripod set in Polar configuration with an optional wedge APPENDIX A EQUATORIAL POLAR ALIGNMENT Polar Alignment In Polar Alignment the telescope is oriented so that the horizontal and ver
34. Navigating Autostar Autostar s menus are organized for quick and easy navigation Press ENTER to go deeper into Autostar s menu levels Press MODE 3 Fig 2 to move back toward the top menu level Press the Scroll keys to move up and down through the options or lists Press the Arrow keys to move the cursor across the display Press the Help key to access on line help TIP When multiple choices are available within a menu option the option that is currently selected is usually displayed first and highlighted by a right pointing arrow gt 22 MENUS AND MENU OPTIONS Object Menu Almost all observing with Autostar is performed using the Object menu category NOTE Exceptions include Guided Tour and Landmark Survey See GO TO SATURN page 20 for an example of observing using the Object menu Also see USING THE GUIDED TOUR page 20 Many Autostar menu categories contain databases An Autostar database is a list of viewable objects such as stars planets comets nebulae and so forth When one of these objects is selected from a database Autostar moves your telescope if properly aligned and points it at the selected object The Object Menu options include Solar System is a database of the eight planets Earth is not included in order out from the Sun followed by the Moon asteroids and comets Constellation is a database of all 88 Northern and Southern Hemisphere constellations When this menu option is cho
35. See LOCATING POLARIS page 46 for more information 5 Re lock the R A lock 9 Fig 1 Press ENTER Moving Through Autostar s Menus The Autostar database is organized in levels for quick and easy navigation Press ENTER to go deeper into Autostar s menu levels Press MODE to move back toward the top menu level Press the Scroll keys to move up and down through the options available for each level Press the Arrow keys to enter characters and digits The Arrow keys are also used to move the telescope Initializing Autostar This section describes how to initialize Autostar Perform this procedure the first time you use Autostar or after performing a RESET see RESET page 28 1 Make sure that the Dec and R A locks 6 and 9 Fig 1 are secured as described on page 7 2 Verify that Autostar is properly connected to your telescope See HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR TELESCOPE page 13 3 Flip the telescope power switch to the ON position The Autostar screen is activated and a copyright message displays briefly followed by a short beep Then Autostar takes a few moments to start up the system 4 Amessage displays that warns not to look at the Sun At the end of this message press the key prompted by Autostar to signify that the message has been read and understood 5 The Getting Started menu displays a scrolling message Press ENTER 2 Fig 2 to bypass the Help tutorial and continue with initialization 6 Autostar
36. Winter Rigel Orion 05h15m 08 12 Winter Betelgeuse Orion 05h55m 07 25 Winter Sirius Canis Major 06h45m 16 43 Winter Aldebaran Taurus 04h35m 16 31 52 RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRG MEADE LIMITED WARRANTY Every Meade telescope spotting scope and telescope accessory is warranted by Meade Instruments Corporation 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 949 451 1450 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 specif
37. a Reset This option is also used if an Autostar unit is moved between telescopes to match Autostar to the new telescope To calibrate the motors select this option and press ENTER W High Precision If High Precision is turned on when looking for a faint celes tial object ie a nebula or galaxy Autostar first slews to a nearby bright star and displays ENTER to Sync Center the star in the eyepiece then press ENTER At that point the telescope has a high precision alignment to that part of the sky and it then slews to the object that was originally requested Targets switches between Astronomical tar gets and Terrestrial targets If Astronomical is selected the telescope tracking motor is activated and any object you observe will remain centered in the eyepiece f Terrestrial is selected the tracking motor is turned off To learn how to track an object automatically see page 18 Site provides access to several options including W Select Displays the currently selected observing site Use the Scroll keys to cycle through all available sites see Add below Press ENTER when the site you wish to select displays Use this option when you move to a different geo graphic location W Add Allows you to add new observing sites to the database up to six sites may be stored Scroll through the list of Countries States Press ENTER when the site you wish to add displays Then choose the desired city in the same man
38. abase objects and press GO TO to move the telescope automatically to the object and place it in the telescopic field of view Select Item Object SETUP Quick easy alignment permits all telescope operations with only a 2 minute setup Select Item Select Item EVENT Access the time of an astronomical event such as the rising or setting times of the Moon Guided Tour GUIDED TOUR Journey through the universe as Autostar escorts you to the best celestial objects at your location UTILITIES Calculate eyepiece magnifications set the timer for an observing session or change the display brightnes The Universe of Autostar Ss Select Item Utilities GLOSSARY Discover the world of astronomy by alphabetically accessing astronomical terms Select Item Glossar Fig 9 The Autostar Universe The six primary categories listed in the Select Item menu of Autostar see gt Select Item Object H NEL sem NU E Fig 11 Autostar levels It is important to understand that menu selections are set in a loop Fig 9 This means that pressing the Scroll Down key 7 Fig 2 cycles down through all the available options within a given category then returns to the first option The Scroll Up key 7 Fig 2 cycles up through the options in the opposite order Note that this capability is a quick way to get to an option that is near the bo
39. abilities see GO TO SAT URN page 20 Terrestrial Observing The LX90 ia an excellent high resolution ter restrial land telescopes Viewing terrestrial objects requires looking along the Earth s sur face through heat waves These heat waves often cause degradation of image quality Lower power eyepieces like the Super Pl ss 26mm eyepiece magnify these heat waves less than higher power eyepieces Therefore lower power eyepieces provide a steadier higher quality image If the image is fuzzy or ill defined reduce to a lower power eyepiece where the heat waves do not have such an effect on image quality Observing in early morning hours before the ground has built up internal heat produces better viewing conditions than during late afternoon hours Observing Using Autostar s Arrow Keys You may observe land and astronomical objects using Autostar s Arrow keys to move the telescope 1 Make sure that the Dec and R A locks 6 and 9 Fig 1 are secured as described on page 5 2 Verify that Autostar is properly connected to your telescope See HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR TELESCOPE page 13 15 s SP Doors LX90 TIPS qm gt Too Much Power Can you ever have too much power If the type of power you re referring to is eyepiece magnification yes you can The most com mon mistake of the beginning observer is to overpower a telescope by using high magni fications which the telescope s aperture
40. able 1 Time Zone Shift TIP Entering R A and Dec Coordinates of an object without using the menus If you do not wish to navigate through the menus a more direct way to enter coordi nates is to press and hold MODE for two seconds or more R A and Dec coordinates display Press GO TO Object Position and a set of coordinates displays Enter the R A and Dec coordi nates of any celestial object using Number keys overwriting the coordinates currently displayed As soon as the coordinates are entered Autostar slews the telescope to the coordinates Note that the telescope must be initialized see page 17 and placed in the Home position see page 17 for this procedure to operate properly However if you wish to store the coordi nates of an object in memory use the method described at the right a Press the Scroll Down key and Edit Latitude displays Press ENTER Using the Number Keys enter the latitude of your observing site and then press ENTER Edit Latitude displays again 7 Press the Scroll Down key and Edit Longitude displays Press ENTER o 8 Using the Number Keys enter the longitude of your observing site and then press ENTER Edit Longitude displays again 9 Press the Scroll Down key and Edit Time Zone displays Press ENTER If the site you chose from the list in step 1 has the same Time Zone as the site you are editing just press ENTER again to g
41. alculate how long the satellite will be visible Location information also displays Alarm displays after the location information Press ENTER and Autostar automatically sets the alarm to sound a minute before the satellite s scheduled appearance You may return to regular observations until the alarm goes off When the alarm goes off return to the Satellite menu and press a Scroll key until the desired satellite is on the top line of the display Press GO TO Autostar slews the telescope to where the satellite should appear The motor drive stops and a countdown is displayed NOTE If the scheduled appearance position of the satellite is obstructed i e by a building tree or hill press ENTER and Autostar starts to move the telescope along the expected satellite track When the track clears the obstruction press ENTER again to pause the telescope then continue with this procedure With about 20 seconds left on the countdown timer start watching through the telescope viewfinder for the satellite to enter the field of view When the satellite enters the viewfinder field of view press ENTER The telescope starts to track with the satellite Use the Autostar Arrow keys to center the object in the viewfinder then look through the eyepiece to view the object Satellite orbits change and new satellites including the Space Shuttle are launched Visit the Meade web site Www meade com approximately once a month to get updated infor
42. an Arrow key and also slews the tube more slowly Experiment with this option Try changing the percent value until you get a feel for the Arrow keys that is comfortable for you 26 Alt Percent The Alt Altitude Percent operates identical to the AZ Percent option see above but allows you to change the altitude backlash i e the way the Arrow keys move the tel escope when moving along the altitude vertical axis W Train Drive Trains the Altitude and Azimuth motors to locate objects with more precision If you are experiencing any problems with pointing accuracy follow the procedure described in APPENDIX C TRAINING THE DRIVE page 49 to insure accurate pointing and tracking W Tracking Rate Changes the speed at which the telescope tracks targets in the sky a Sidereal The default setting for Autostar sidereal rate is the standard rate at which stars move from East to West across the sky due to the rotation of the Earth b Lunar Choose this option to properly track the Moon over long observing sessions c Custom Allows entry of user defined tracking rates m Reverse L R Reverses the functions of the Left and Right Arrow keys e the Right key moves the telescope to the left W Reverse UP DOWN Reverses the functions of the Up and Down Arrow keys i e the Up key moves the telescope down W Calibrate Motor If the telescope motors appear to have a problem use this option to retest the motors before performing
43. and atmospheric conditions can not reasonably support Keep in mind that a smaller but bright and well resolved image is far superior to one that is larger but dim and poorly resolved see below Powers above 400X should be employed only under the steadiest atmospheric conditions Autostar can calculate the best eyepiece for you to use Try out the Eyepiece Calc fea ture in the Utilities menu Most observers should have three or four additional eyepieces to achieve the full range of reasonable magnifications possible with the LX90 telescopes See OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES page 39 Fig 7a amp b Jupiter example of too much magnification NOTE Do not look through the telescope s eye piece or viewfinder while it is rapidly mov ing Children should always have adult supervision while observing 3 Flip the telescope power switch to the ON position The Autostar screen is activated and a copyright message displays briefly followed by a short beep Then Autostar takes a few moments to start up the system 4 Amessage displays that warns not to look at the Sun At the end of this message press the key prompted by Autostar to signify that the message has been read and understood 5 The Arrow keys are now activated Press the Arrow keys 5 Fig 2 to slew move the tel escope up down right or left 6 Press a Number key 8 Fig 2 to change the telescope s slew speed See SLEW SPEEDS below
44. argest moons The moons can be observed in a different position every night Fig 34 Saturn has the most extensive ring structure in our Solar System Fig 35 The Pleiades is one of the most beautiful open clusters Planets Planets change positions in the sky as they orbit around the Sun To locate the planets on a given day or month consult a monthly astronomy magazine such as Sky and Telescope or Astronomy You can also consult Autostar for information about planets Scroll to the Object Solar System menu and scroll through the lists of planets When a planet you are interested in displays press ENTER Use the Scroll keys to display information about the planet such as the planet s coordinates and the rise and set times Tip enter a date in the Date menu and you can determine if a planet s will be visible during the night of the entered date by checking its rise and set times Listed below are the best planets for viewing through the LX90 Venus is about nine tenths the diameter of Earth As Venus orbits the Sun observers can see it go through phases crescent half and full much like those of the Moon The disk of Venus appears white as Sunlight is reflected off the thick cloud cover that completely obscures any surface detail Mars is about half the diameter of Earth and appears through the telescope as a tiny reddish orange disk It may be possible to see a hint of white at one of the
45. atabase For example M 101 CALDWELL xxx Enter CALDWELL followed by the Caldwell number and Autostar provides the user with a description of the object from its database For example CALDWELL 17 PLANET name Enter PLANET and then the name of the desired planet in quotes Autostar provides the user with a description of the selected planet from its database For example PLANET Pluto MOON This command accesses information about the Moon from the Autostar database SATELLITE name Enter SATELLITE and then the name of the desired satellite in quotes Autostar displays infor mation about the satellite from its database For example SATELLITE Intl Space Stn 33 ASTEROID name Enter ASTEROID and then the name of the desired asteroid in quotes Autostar displays infor mation about the asteroid from its database For example ASTEROID Ceres COMET name Enter COMET and then the name of the desired comet in quotes Autostar displays information about the comet from its database For example COMET Halley LUNAR ECLIPSE If LUNAR ECLIPSE is part of the tour Autostar checks its database every time the tour is acti vated to see if a lunar eclipse is visible that evening If no eclipse is visible this option is skipped and the tour proceeds on the the next object METEOR SHOWER If METEOR SHOWER is part of the tour Autostar checks its database every time the tour is activated to see if a meteor shower is visible that evening
46. ate the camera body to achieve proper orientation of the object then re tighten the adjust ment screws The 62 T Adapter permits close coupling of a camera body to the telescope In this format vignetting occurs the photographic image appears on film with a slight darkening vignetting at the corners of the 35mm frame Fig 14 Photography through a long lens such as the LX90 requires special technique for good results and the photographer should probably expect to waste a roll or two of film in acquiring this tech nique Long lens photography has its own rewards however rewards that short focus lenses cannot duplicate A few tips on photography with the LX90 1 Use the Field Tripod for the telescope At an effective focal length of 2000mm even small external vibrations can easily ruin an otherwise good photo CAUTION With the 62 T Adapter and a camera body mounted to the LX90 photo port the telescope can only be rotated vertically about 45 Moving past this point may damage the telescope and camera 2 Use acable operated shutter release Touching the camera body to initiate shutter opera tion almost certainly introduces undesirable vibrations 3 Focus the image with extreme care While observing the subject through the camera s reflex viewfinder turn the telescope s focus knob 8 Fig 1 to achieve the sharpest pos sible focus Note that some 35mm cameras may have an optional focusing screen avail able from the
47. bject you wish to have identified by Autostar in the tele Scope eyepiece and use the Identify menu to find out information about the object or the near est object to it in the Autostar database 1 Center the object you wish to have identified in the telescope s eyepiece 2 Navigate to the Object Identify option and press ENTER 3 Searching displays When Autostar finishes calculating the name of the closest object displays 4 Press a Scroll key to display information about this object Autostar displays some or all the following information about the object with each press of a Scroll key Displayed information Example Catalog or common name of object Messier 107 NGC6171 Orion Nebula etc Type of object Globular Cluster Nebula Black Hole etc Right Ascension 16 32 4 Declination 13 03 Constellation Virgo Orion etc Magnitude 3 Size 2 Scrolling message This Globular Cluster is 10 000 light years away 36 Advanced Alt Az Alignment If you would rather choose your own alignment stars from the Autostar database during the Alt Az alignment procedure Autostar offers two methods Information for Equatorial Polar alignment is discussed in Appendix A page 45 Two Star Alt Az Alignment Two Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky Autostar provides a database of bright stars and two stars from this database are chosen by the observer for alignment 1 Perform steps 1 through 7 as d
48. ble eyepieces When an eyepiece up close such as craters on the Moon or is selected the field of view is calculat the rings of Saturn ed Know your observing site If you re going to M Magnification Scroll through a list of try out an unfamiliar site check it out in the available eyepieces When an eyepiece is selected the magnification is calculated 25 daylight for possible obstructions and pit falls W Suggest Autostar calculates and suggests the best eyepiece for viewing based on the telescope and the object being viewed Display Options enables or disables Autostar s two initial displays If both displays are dis abled Autostar begins with the Date display m Sun Warning Turns the Sun Warning message on or off W Getting Started Turns the Getting Started message on or off Brightness Adj Adjusts the brightness of the display using the Scroll keys When complete press ENTER Contrast Adj Adjusts the contrast of the display using the Scroll keys When complete press ENTER NOTE This feature is usually only required in very cold weather Landmark Survey automatically slews the telescope to all user defined landmarks with a short pause at each location Press ENTER to start the survey While a slew is in progress press any key to skip that object and go to the next landmark on the list To observe a landmark for a longer period press MODE when paused on the object to stop the survey Press ENTER to
49. ce with the telescope polar aligned and with the motor drive on If the object remains stationary in the field of view your telescope is operating properly If not check to ensure that you have engaged the R A lock and that the power switch on the control panel is on Also check if Astronomical is selected in the Targets option of the setup menu Meade Customer Service If you have a question concerning your LX90 contact the Meade Instruments Customer Service Department at Telephone 949 451 1450 Fax 949 451 1460 Customer Service hours are 8 30 AM to 4 30 PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday In the unlikely event that the LX90 requires factory servicing or repairs write or call the Meade Customer Service Department first before returning the telescope to the factory giving full par ticulars as to the nature of the problem as well as your name address and daytime telephone number The great majority of servicing issues can be resolved by telephone avoiding return of the telescope to the factory 43 LX90 Specifications Optical design srno ei e SE Schmidt Cassegrain Clear aperture 5c este pod 8 Focal length y 2 ch ciate ats eet ee 2000mm Focal ratio photographic speed f 10 Resolving power eeeeeeeeeeeeeeneneeen tene 0 56 arc secs Coatings itio nhe Rp Meade EMC Super Multi Coatings Mounting 3 ere ee IER c rectus Cast aluminum double tine forks Gears s
50. cope slews until it finds Saturn You may need to use the Arrow keys to center Saturn precisely in the eyepiece Autostar then automatically moves the telescope so that it tracks Saturn or whatever other object you may have chosen i e Saturn remains centered in the eyepiece Using the Guided Tour This example demonstrates using Tonight s Best Guided Tour 1 After observing Saturn press MODE twice so that Select Item Object displays again 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 Press ENTER to display information about the object Press GO TO to move the telescope to the object 5 Press MODE to return to the Tour list Press the Scroll keys to scroll through the list Press ENTER when you find the next object you wish to observe 6 Press and hold down MODE for two seconds to leave the Guided Tour menu 20 Object Event Guided Tours Glossary Utilities Setup Fig 10 Menus set in a loop BASIC AUTOSTAR OPERATION OBJECT Select from over 30 220 dat
51. d off the red utility light on the top of the handbox 10 Q Scroll Keys Accesses database options within a selected menu The menu is displayed on the first line of the screen Options within the menu are displayed one at a time on the second line Press the Scroll keys to move through the options Press and hold a Scroll key to move quickly through the options The Scroll keys also scroll through the letters of the alphabet and numerical digits NOTE The Scroll Down key and the Down Arrow key move forward through the alphabet amp digits A to Z 0 to 9 The Scroll Up key and the Up Arrow key move backward Z to A 9 to 0 Common symbols are also available in the list o Key Accesses the Help file Help provides on screen information on how to accom plish whatever task is currently active Hold down the key and then follow the prompts on the display to access details of Autostar functions in the Help feature The Help system is essentially an on screen instruc tion manual If you have a question about an Autostar operation e g INITIALIZATION ALIGNMENT etc hold down the key and follow the directions that scroll on the second line of the LCD screen When a word appears in brackets press ENTER to access the Autostar Glossary A definition or more detailed information is displayed Press MODE to return to the scrolling Autostar Help display When satisfied with the Help provided press MODE to return to the orig
52. ded Tour is selected from the menus For example TITLE A Star s Life TEXT title string description string This command allows you to display a text title and description USER ra dec title string description string This command line allows you to access a specific object with your own description Enter USER then the RA and DEC of a desired object and its title and description Use the format described in the Command Line section The following commands specify objects that are already in the Autostar database If these commands follow the command AUTO SELECT the object s title displays on line 1 and its description scrolls across line 2 Do not add a description string after the following command lines these commands access objects with existing description in the Autostar database NGC xxxx Enter NGC followed by the desired New General Catalog number and Autostar provides the user with a description of the object from its database For example NGC 4256 IC xxxx Enter IC followed by the desired Index Catalog number and Autostar provides the user with a description of the object from its database For example IC 1217 SAO xxxxxx Enter SAO followed by the desired SAO number and Autostar provides the user with a descrip tion of the object from its database For example SAO 30200 Messier xxx Enter MESSIER followed by the desired Messier number and Autostar provides the user with a description of the object from its d
53. dely from night to night and site to site Turbulence in the air even on an apparently clear night can distort images If an image appears fuzzy and ill defined back off to a lower power eyepiece for a more well resolved image Fig 7a and 7b The power or magnification of a telescope is determined by the focal length of the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece being used To calculate eyepiece power divide the tele scope s focal length by the eyepiece s focal length For example a 26mm eyepiece is supplied with the LX90 The focal length of the LX90 is 2000mm see Specifications page 44 Telescope Focal Length _ 2000mm Eyepiece Power 77X Eyepiece Focal Length 26mm The eyepiece power or magnification is therefore 77X approximately Mounting and Adjusting the Viewfinder To align the viewfinder perform steps 1 through 5 during the daytime perform step 6 at night 1 Slide the track on the bottom of the viewfinder into the slot in the viewfinder mounting assembly See Fig 6a To secure the viewfinder to the mounting assembly tighten the two thumbscrews Fig 6a to a firm feel only 2 If you have not already done so insert the Super Pl ssl 26mm eyepiece into the diagonal prism 3 Unlock the R A 9 Fig 1 and Dec 6 Fig 1 locks so that the telescope moves freely on both axes 4 Point the telescope at some well defined and stationary land object at least 200 yards dis tant such as the top of
54. e 1 Using the Add option choose a site on the list 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 opposed to using the Custom feature makes it easier to edit as the Time Zone value may not need to be changed and times of future events and except for eclipses past events as well based on the current calendar system E g a Sunrise on March 6 2043 A D or the Vernal Equinox in 1776 A D To use this feature enter the desired date in the Setup menu and select an option in the Event menu Autostar can calculate dates and times 2 Scroll to Site Edit and press ENTER for Sunrises Sunsets Moonrises Edit Name displays Press ENTER Moonsets Moonphases Solar and 3 The name of the site you have just Lunar Eclipses for the next 100 years entered to your list displays if it does not meteor showers equinoxes and sol scroll to the site stices and the minimums of Algol 4 Using the Arrow keys change the name One very practical use of the date menu of the site so that it now reads the name of your observing location Press ENTER Edit Name displays again 29 is to check the Sunset option to deter mine when you can begin your astro nomical observing Time Zone Shift Atlantic 4 Hours Eastern 5 Hours Central 6 Hours Mountain 7 Hours Pacific 8 Hours Hawaii 10 Hours T
55. e the title string appears on line 2 until it is selected with the ENTER key In Automatic Mode or after Interactive Mode selection the title string appears on line 1 while the description scrolls across line 2 Keywords Action to be performed during a tour Autostar recognizes the following keywords TITLE TEXT USER NGC IC SAO MESSIER CALDWELL PLANET MOON SATELLITE ASTEROID COMET LUNAR ECLIPSE METEOR SHOWER DEEP SKY CONSTELLATION STAR LANDMARK DEFINE PICK ONE PICK END AUTO SLEW ON OFF SEND Description String Description of an object Must be surrounded by quotation marks If the description is longer than one line each line must end with a quotation mark and a hard return Begin the next description line with a quotation mark If quotation marks are to be displayed in the on screen description use two quote marks at the beginning and end of the desired phrase For example The Orion Nebula is considered awe some by many who view it 32 Writing a Tour Using the list of commands listed above a custom tour can be created Placing the word AUTO SELECT before any of the command lines activates Automatic Mode and when selected Autostar automatically searches and finds the designated object The following is a list of command lines complete with keywords and necessary strings TITLE Title must be the first keyword in your tour after any comment lines and must be 15 characters or less Autostar displays this title when Gui
56. e vertical and Azimuth horizontal coordinates Local Time and Local Sidereal Time LST e Timer and Alarm Status e Accessory Port Module APM status Information concerning these functions are described on the instruction sheets supplied with the APM Press MODE again to return to the previous menu o GO TO Key Slews moves the telescope to the coordinates of the currently selected object While the telescope is slewing the operation may be aborted at any time by press ing any key except GO TO Pressing GO TO again resumes the slew to the object O Arrow Keys Slew the telescope in a specific direction up down left and right at any one of nine different speeds Speed selection is explained in SLEW SPEEDS page 16 The following functions are also available with the Arrow keys Data Entry Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll through the letters of the alphabet and numerical digits The Down Arrow key starts with the letter A and the Up Arrow key starts with the digit 9 The Left and Right Arrow keys are used to move the blinking cursor left and right across the LCD display Alt Az Alignment Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move the telescope vertically up and down The Left Arrow key rotates the telescope horizontally counterclockwise while the Right Arrow key rotates it clockwise Q Number Keys Input digits 0 9 and changes the slew speeds see SLEW SPEEDS page 16 The 0 key also turns on an
57. e in a 24 hour military time format Then press ENTER to start the clock The next screen requests the status of Daylight Savings Time Pressing a Scroll key tog gles between the YES NO settings Select the desired setting by pressing ENTER NOTE Daylight Savings Time may be referred to by a different name in various areas of the world NOTE When multiple choices are available within a menu option the current option is usually displayed first and highlighted by a right pointing Arrow gt The next screen asks for the country or state listed alphabetically of the observing site Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the database of countries states and provinces Press ENTER when the correct location displays The next screen asks for the city listed alphabetically closest to the observing site Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the database of cities Press ENTER when the correct city appears on screen System initialization is complete and the screen reads Setup Align Observe a Star using the Automatic Tracking Feature In this example the Autostar Arrow keys are used to find a star and then Autostar s tracking capability automatically keeps the star centered in your telescope s eyepiece 1 2 Make sure that the Dec and R A locks 6 and 9 Fig 1 are secured as described above Verify that Autostar is properly connected to your telescope See HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR TELESCOPE page 13 Flip the telesco
58. e quickly from one point in the sky to another Observe the Moon Point your telescope at the Moon note that the Moon is not visible every night and practice using the Arrow keys and the slew speeds to view different features The Moon contains many interesting features including craters mountain ranges and fault lines The best time to view the Moon is during its crescent or half phase Sunlight strikes the Moon at an angle during these periods and adds a depth to the view No shadows are seen during a full Moon causing the overly bright surface to appear flat and rather uninteresting Consider the use of a neutral den sity Moon filter when observing the Moon Not only does it cut down the Moon s bright glare but it also enhances contrast providing a more dramatic image 16 Fig 8 Alt Az Home Position Initialization is a pro cedure that ensures that Autostar oper ates correctly When you first use Autostar it doesn t yet know where the observa tion location site is or the time or date of the observation ses sion During the procedure you will enter infor mation such as the current time and date and observation loca tion Autostar uses this information to precisely calculate the location of celes tial objects such as stars and planets and to move your tel escope correctly for various operations Astronomical Observing Used as an astronomical instrument your telescope has man
59. eads in increments of 5 46 Figure 27 Section of Right Ascension Setting Circle Figure 28 Section of Declination Setting Circle Fig 30 LX90 mounted on an equatorial wedge Note that the R A circle is double indexed i e there are two series of numbers running in opposite directions around the circumference of the R A circle The upper series of numbers increasing counterclockwise applies to observers located in the Earth s Northern Hemisphere the lower series of numbers increasing clockwise applies to observers located in the Earth s Southern Hemisphere To use the setting circles to locate an object not easily found by direct visual observa tion With the telescope aligned to the Celestial Pole first look up the celestial coordinates R A and Dec of the object in a star atlas Then loosen the R A lock and turn the telescope to read the correct R A of the desired object lock the R A lock onto the object Next turn the telescope in Declination to read the correct Declination of the object If the procedure has been followed carefully and if the telescope was well aligned with the pole the desired object should now be in the telescopic field of a low power eyepiece If you do not immediately see the object you are seeking try searching the adjacent sky area Keep in mind that with the 26mm eyepiece the field of view of the LX90 is about 0 5
60. eat procedure for the second alignment star When the procedure is performed cor rectly Alignment Successful displays If Autostar does not display this mes sage perform this procedure again NOTE Autostar locates alignment stars based on the date time and location entered The alignment stars may change from night to night All that is required is for the observer to center the selected stars in the eye piece when prompted 19 Which One s the Alignment Star If Autostar has chosen an alignment star with which you are unfamiliar how can you be sure if the star in your eyepiece is really the alignment star The rule of thumb is that an alignment star is usually the brightest star in that area of the Sky When you view an alignment star in an eyepiece it stands out dramatically from the rest of the stars in that portion of the sky If you have an obstruction such as a tree or a building blocking your view of the alignment star or if you have any doubts at all about the star that has been chosen no problem Just press the Scroll Down key and Autostar will find another star to align upon NOTE The GO TO key also allows you to perform a spiral search A spiral search is useful when the telescope slews to an object but that object is not visible in the eyepiece after the telescope finishes it search This sometimes occurs during an alignment procedure Press GO TO when the slew is finished and the telesco
61. eavitt determined how to meas ure the distance to stars Edwin Hubble proposed a glimpse into the origin of the universe Albert Einstein unraveled the relationship of time and light Almost daily using sophisticated successors to Galileo s crude telescope such as the Hubble Space Telescope more and more mysteries of the universe are being solved and understood We are living in a golden age of astronomy Unlike other sciences astronomy welcomes contributions from amateurs Much of the knowl edge we have on subjects such as comets meteor showers variable stars the Moon and our solar system comes from observations made by amateur astronomers So as you look through your Meade LX90 telescope keep in mind Galileo To him a telescope was not a mere machine of glass and metal but something far more a window through which the beating heart of the universe might be glimpsed a fuse to set fire to mind and imagination Autostar Glossary Be sure to make use of Autostar s Glossary feature The Glossary menu provides an alpha betical listing of definitions and descriptions of common astronomical terms Access directly through the Glossary menu or through hypertext words embedded in Autostar See GLOS SARY MENU page 25 for more information Objects in Space Listed below are some of the many astronomical objects that can be seen with the LX90 The Moon The Moon is on average a distance of 239 000 miles 380 000km from Earth and is best
62. ecise than One Star Alignment Browse This menu allows you to search the database for objects 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 performed as follows Select Browse from the Object menu Press ENTER Browse Start Search displays Press one of the Scroll Keys and Browse Edit Parameters displays Press ENTER Edit Parameters Largest mins displays Mins stands for arc minutes Press ENTER Largest mins and a value displays Using the Number keys enter a size in arc minutes Autostar will search for objects up to this size and no larger Press ENTER Edit Parameters Largest mins displays again Press the Scroll Down key Edit Parameters Smallest mins displays Enter the value for the smallest size of an object that Autostar will search for in the database Continue with Brightest Faintest and Minimum Elevation using the procedure described in steps 3 and 4 6 After Minimum Elevation Object Type displays Press ENTER Black Hole dis plays If you do not wish wish to have Black Holes in your search press ENTER and the changes to a Press the Scroll Down to scroll to the next item 4 Diffuse Nebula displays Continue to scroll through the list and press ENTER if you wish to change the to a or vice versa ONS a N After yo
63. elescope s Polar Axis with the Celestial Pole or North Star 1 After removing the field tripod from its shipping carton stand the tripod vertically with the tripod feet down and with the tripod still fully collapsed see Fig 3 Grasp two of the tri pod legs and with the full weight of the tripod on the third leg gently pull the legs apart to a fully open position 2 Thread in the 6 lock knobs 2 on each tripod leg near the foot of each tripod leg Fig 3 These lock knobs are used to fix the height of the inner extendible tripod leg sections NOTE Tightening to a firm feel is sufficient over tightening may result in stripping of the knob threads or damage to the tripod legs and results in no additional strength 3 The spreader bar 4 Fig 3 has been removed for shipment To install first remove the threaded rod 2 Fig 3 from the tripod head 1 Fig 3 a small piece of plastic holds the threaded rod in place Remove the small plastic bag that is stapled to the threaded rod This bag contains the C clip retainer and an extra clip 4 Slide the spreader bar onto the threaded rod note the correct orientation as shown in Fig 4 and position the threaded rod back through the tripod head Place the clip retainer a C clip into the slot in the threaded rod This clip holds the threaded rod in place See Fig 3 Fig 3 Field Tripod 1 Tripod Head Fig 4 Attaching the telescope to the tripod 2
64. er Date Enter the current date then press ENTER Enter Time Enter the current time Select AM PM or 24 hour clock blank Then press ENTER Daylight Savings Select Yes or No then press ENTER Alignment Option Screen Setup Align displays Press ENTER Select Alignment Align Easy displays Press ENTER Set Home Position Autostar then prompts you to set the telescope in the Alt Az Alignment home position if necessary To set your telescope in the Alt Az home posi tion see Fig 8 Pon ONO Loosen the telescope s Dec lock 6 Fig 1 Level the tripod head 1 Fig 3 Level the optical tube by lining up 0 on the Dec setting circle 11 Fig 1 with the Dec pointer 12 Fig 1 Tighten the Dec lock 6 Fig 1 to a firm feel only e Unlock the R A lock 9 Fig 1 and turn the telescope horizontally until it points North See LOCATING POLARIS page 46 for more information e Redock the R A lock 9 Fig 1 Press ENTER 9 Star Alignment The Autostar then chooses two stars to align upon When the telescope slews to the first star for alignment it x P inae me PA E v may not appear int e field of view in the P LX90 TIPS ES eyepiece The alignment star should be i easily recognized and be the brightest star in the area of the sky where the tel escope is pointing Use the Arrow keys to move the telescope until the star is visible and centered in the eyepiece Press ENTER Rep
65. es a data base of bright stars and one star from this database is chosen by the observer for alignment Polaris is chosen by Autostar First choose Polar from the Setup Telescope menu The rest of the procedure is almost identical to the Alt Az ONE STAR ALT AZ ALIGNMENT page 37 except that Autostar you to point the telescope at Polaris and center it in the telescope eye piece Two Star Polar Alignment Polar Two Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky Autostar provides a data base of bright stars and two stars from this database are chosen by the observer for alignment Polaris is chosen by Autostar The rest of the procedure is almost identical to the Alt Az TWO STAR ALT AZ ALIGNMENT page 37 except that Autostar prompts you to point the telescope at Polaris and center it in the telescope eyepiece Setting Circles Setting circles included with the LX90 permit the location of faint celestial objects not easily found by direct visual observation R A circle is located on the top surface of the telescope s drive base Declination circles 8 Fig 1 are located at the top of each fork tine With the tel escope pointed at the North Celestial Pole the Dec circle should read 90 understood to mean 90 Objects located below the 0 0 line of the Dec circle carry minus Declination coordinates Each division of the Dec circle represents a 1 increment The R A circle runs from 0 to but not including 24 and r
66. escribed in EASY ALIGN page 19 2 With Align Easy displayed use the Scroll keys to display Align Two Star Press ENTER 3 Place the telescope in the home position as described in the EASY ALIGN procedure When you have finished press ENTER 4 Select Star displays Autostar then displays a database of stars for the observer to choose from Use the Scroll keys to scroll to a star on the list that you wish to align upon Select a star that you can easily locate in the night sky Press ENTER 5 The telescope slews to the star Use the Arrow keys to move the telescope until the star is centered in the eyepiece Press ENTER 6 Repeat procedure for the second alignment star The telescope is aligned and you are now ready to use Autostar s GO TO capabilities for a night of observing One Star Alt Az Alignment One Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky Autostar provides a database of bright stars One Star Alignment is identical to Two Star Alt Az Alignment see TWO STAR ALT AZ ALIGNMENT above except only one star from this database is chosen by the observer for alignment IMPORTANT NOTE The accuracy of One Star Alt Az Alignment unlike the Two Star and Easy Alt Az Alignment procedures depends on how well the observer levels the telescope and how close to North the telescope is pointed when setting the Home Position Fig 8 Because the other methods use two stars to align upon they are more pr
67. ese procedures using the Site options Add Select Delete Edit of the Setup menu To Add a Site to the user defined site list In this example you will choose a city and add it to the database list You will then select the site to enable it 1 Navigate to the Setup Site menu Press ENTER 2 Scroll through the options until Site Add displays Press ENTER 3 Scroll through the list of countries states Press ENTER when the country state you wish to add displays 4 Scroll through the list of cities Press ENTER when the city you wish to add displays The Site is now add to the database You may add 5 sites using this method the sixth site is the site you added during the Initialization process 5 To choose a site navigate to Setup Select Press ENTER Scroll through the list of sites When the desired site displays press ENTER WP cones 4M 7 Look into the Future The Autostar Date option in the Setup menu is much more than just an entry of today s date with it you can look far into the future or learn about past events Autostar can calculate the date To Edit a Site In this procedure you will enter a location that is not available in the Autostar database by editing data of a nearby site You will edit the location s name latitude longitude and the time zone shift You will then select the site to enable it You will need to know the latitude and longi tude of your location to perform this proce dur
68. field sighting scope with crosshairs that enable easy centering of objects in the telescope eyepiece 18 Viewfinder Collimation Screws Use these screws to adjust the alignment of the viewfinder See Mounting and Adjusting the Viewfinder page 14 AUTOSTAR FEATURES Fig 2 The LX90 Autostar Handbox Tour the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of the LX90 is through the operation of the standard equipment Autostar Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a few pushes of Autostar s buttons Some of the major features of Autostar are Automatically move the telescope to any of over 30 000 objects stored in the database or manually enter the astronomical coordinates of any celestial object Take a guided tour of the best celestial objects to view on any given night of the year Download the latest satellite data and software revisions directly from the Meade website www meade com and share software with other Autostar enthusiasts Requires option al 505 AstroFinder Software and Cable Connector Kit See OPTIONAL ACCES SORIES page 39 Control your LX90 with your PC using an RS 232 interface Access a glossary of astronomical terms Calculate which eyepiece to use for optimum viewing of a celestial object Mount the telescope in the Alt Az mode Altitude Azimuth or vertical horizontal for fully automatic tracking of celestial objects Extensive long ex
69. fornia 34 N AFRICA Miami Florida 26 N City Country Latitude Milwaukee Wisconsin 46 N Cairo Egypt 30 N Nashville Tennessee 36 N Cape Town South Africa 34 S New Orleans Louisiana 30 N Rabat Morocco 834 N New York New York 41 N Tunis Tunisia 37 N Oklahoma City Oklahoma 35 N Windhoek Namibia 23 S Philadelphia Pennsylvania 40 N Phoenix Arizona 33 N AUSTRALIA Portland Oregon 46 N City State Latitude Richmond Virginia 37 N Adelaide South Australia 35 S Salt Lake City Utah 41 N Brisbane Queensland 27 S San Antonio Texas 29 N Canberra New South Wales 35 S San Diego California 33 N Alice Springs Northern Territory 24 S San Francisco California 38 N Hobart Tasmania 43 S Seattle Washington 47 N Perth Western Australia 32 S Washington District of Columbia 39 N Sydney New South Wales 34 S Wichita Kansas 38 N Melbourne Victoria 38 S EUROPE City Country Latitude Amsterdam Netherlands 52 N Athens Greece 38 N Bern Switzerland 47 N Copenhagen Denmark 56 N Dublin Ireland 53 N Frankfurt Germany 50 N Glasgow Scotland 56 N Helsinki Finland 60 N Lisbon Portugal 39 N London England 51 N Madrid Spain 40 N Oslo Norway 60 N Paris France 49 N Rome Italy 42 N Stockholm Sweden 59 N Vienna Austria 48 N Warsaw Poland 52 N 48 APPENDIX C TRAINING THE DRIVE Train the telescope motors using Autostar Perform this procedure if you are experiencing any pointing accuracy prob lems Fig 31
70. g in of such accessories as corded models of illuminated reticle eyepieces the 1206 Electric Focuser or a CCD autoguider 505 AstroFinder Software and Cable Connector Kit With Meade AstroFinder loaded into your PC Autostar equipped telescopes such as the L X90 may be remotely controlled from the PC display The 505 Connector Cable Set permitting connection of the LX90 Autostar and PC is included with each AstroFinder package 928 45 Erect Image Diagonal Prism Primarily used for terrestrial viewing this prism pres ents a correctly oriented image at a comfortable 45 viewing angle Illuminated Reticle Eyepieces Meade Illuminated Reticle Eyepieces are used for precise polar alignment of your telescope During long exposure astrophotography in conjunction with the optional Meade Off Axis Guider they are used for through the telescope monitoring of the object being photographed while the camera s shutter is open Two optical designs are avail able Series 4000 Pl ssl 9mm or Modified Achromatic 12mm Each model is available in a wire less or corded configuration The wireless models include a variable brightness control with self contained user provided batteries The corded models include variable brightness and blink rate functions and plug directly into the Accessory Port Module see above with actua tion from the hand controller 39 Fig 19 62 T Adapter Fig 20 Off Axis Guider
71. gage the tracking motors 18 IMPORTANT NOTE The Telescope Mount option of the Setup menu is set to Al Az as the default alignment by the factory The example presented in this section assumes that you are performing an alignment procedure for the first time with your telescope and therefore the Telescope Mount option does not need to be selected For infor mation on equatorial Polar alignment see APPENDIX A page 45 Easy Two Star Align The fastest and easiest way to locate objects with Autostar s GO TO capabilities is to use Easy Align Autostar automatically picks two stars from its database for the Easy Align procedure During this procedure Autostar slews the telescope to a first alignment star The user is asked to ver ify that the telescope is pointed at the chosen star and then prompted to center the star in the eyepiece The process is repeated with a second star to complete the alignment NOTE Before aligning the telescope first verify that INITIALIZING AUTOSTAR page 17 has been performed See MOVING THROUGH AUTOSTAR S MENUS page 17 for a description of how Autostar s keys operate How to perform the Easy Align Procedure If you have just applied power to Autostar perform steps 1 through 5 If you have just performed the initialization procedure go to step 6 1 Sun Warning Press the key prompted by Autostar to accept Getting Started Press ENTER to continue Ent
72. he Sky A User s Guide by David Levy Turn Left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno amp Dan Davis Astrophotography for the Amateur by Michael Covington Magazines 1 Sky amp Telescope Box 9111 Belmont MA 02178 2 Astronomy Box 1612 Waukesha WI 53187 Organizations 1 Astronomical League Executive Secretary 5675 Real del Norte Las Cruces NM 88012 The Astronomical Society of the Pacific 390 Ashton Ave San Francisco CA 94112 The Planetary Society 65 North Catalina Ave Pasadena CA 91106 g ae 2n Fig 32 The Moon Note the deep shad ows in the craters BASIC ASTRONOMY In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo using a crude telescope considerably smaller than the LX90 turned it to look towards the sky instead of distant trees and mountains What he saw and what he realized about what he saw forever changed the way mankind thought of the universe Imagine what it must have been like being the first human to see moons revolve around the planet Jupiter or to see the changing phases of Venus Because of his observations Galileo correctly realized Earth s movement and position around the Sun and in doing so gave birth to modern astronomy Yet Galileo s telescope was so crude he could not clearly make out the rings of Saturn Galileo s discoveries laid the foundation for understanding the motion and nature of the plan ets stars and galaxies Building on his foundation Henrietta L
73. he tour must be saved as a text only or as a MS DOS text file The Meade 505 Cable Connector Kit to download tour information to the Autostar handbox Tour Modes The objects chosen for a tour list are selected from Autostar s database or by entering the object s RA and Dec coordinates The tour is presented in one of two modes Automatic Mode The title of an object appears on first line and descriptive text scrolls on line 2 Interactive Mode Tour name appears on the first line of the Autostar display and the name of the object displays on line 2 To display descriptive text in this mode the user must press ENTER Comment Line Information in the Tour program that is not displayed such as authorship revision history copy rights etc All comments begin with a character in column 1 of the line For example Extreme Objects c 2000 Meade Instruments Corporation Command Line This line contains programming commands including RA and DEC coordinates a title string a description string and a keyword RA Enter the Right Ascension of an object in the following format HH MM SS Eg 18 51 05 Dec Enter the Declination of an object in the following format DDdMMmSSs Eg 06d16m00s Title String Text within a title string is displayed as the title of the object A title string can con tain up to 16 characters and must be surrounded by quotation marks For example M64 or My Favorite Star In Interactive Mod
74. ically disclaims special indirect or consequential damages or lost profit 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 specific rights You may have other rights which vary from state to state Meade reserves the right to change product specifications or to discontinue products without notice RARAMARAR AP ARAB AR AR ARARARAR APR AP AP AP AP AP ARAB ALALAL ALAR AP AP 92 AR AR ARAB ARAL ALA PPPPPDPPPPPPIDPPDPPPPPPPDPPPPPPPDPPPPPPDPPIGIKR ADVANCED PRODUCTS DIVISION Meade Instruments Corporation World s Leading Manufacturer of Astronomical Telescopes for the Serious Amateur 6001 Oak Canyon Irvine California 92618 Ili 949 451 1450 FAX 949 451 1460 ll www meade com 2000 14 0670 00 10 00
75. ilable only with larger and more specialized imaging systems With pushbutton con trols automatic tracking of celestial objects and software downloading capability the LX90 tel escope may be all the telescope ever required by many terrestrial and astronomical observers Your LX90 telescope reveals nature in an ever expanding level of detail Observe the feather structure of an eagle from 50 yards or study the rings of the planet Saturn from a distance of 800 million miles Focus beyond the Solar System and observe majestic nebulae ancient star clusters remote galaxies and even stars recently discovered to have planets orbiting about them Meade LX90 telescopes are instruments fully capable of growing with your interest and are ideal for both the casual observer and serious astronomer alike D Eyepiece Place the Super Pl ssl 26mm eyepiece into the eyepiece holder or 90 diago nal prism 4 Fig 1 and tighten in place with the thumbscrews The eyepiece magnifies the image collected in the optical tube 2 Eyepiece Holder Thumbscrew Tightens the eyepiece in place Tighten to a firm feel only Eyepiece Holder Holds the eyepiece in place O Diagonal Prism provides a more comfortable right angle viewing position Slide the diag onal prism directly into the eyepiece holder 3 Fig 1 Optical Tube The main optical component that gathers the light from distant objects and brings this light to a focus for examination through the eye
76. inal screen and continue with the chosen procedure Q Coil Cord Port Plug one end of the Autostar coil cord into this port 11 Fig 2 located at the bottom of the Autostar handbox o db N x r LX90 TIPS ba D Coil Cord Plug one end of the Autostar coil cord into the HBX port 13A Fig 1 of the computer control panel of the tele scope RS 232 Port plug an RS 232 cable into Autostar for downloading functions such as Download or Clone See page 28 for more details Utility Light Use this built in red light to illuminate star charts and accessories without disturbing your eye s adaptation to darkness 11 Join an Astronomy Club Attend a Star Party One of the fun ways to learn about astrono my is to join an astronomy club Check your local newspaper school library or telescope dealer store to find out if there s a club in your area At club meetings you will meet other astron omy enthusiasts with whom you will be able to share your discoveries Clubs are an excel lent way to learn more about observing the sky to find out where the best observing sites are and to compare notes about telescopes eyepieces filters tripods and so forth Often club members are excellent astropho tographers Not only will you be able to see examples of their art but you may even be able to pick up some tricks of the trade to try out on your LX90 telescope See page 38 for more information about pho
77. ion note that the Landmark Survey will function only if you have previously entered objects in the Landmark menu 1 Navigate to Utilities Landmark Survey menu and press ENTER 2 Landmark Survey Slewing displays The telescope moves to the first object on the Survey list and displays the name of the object 3 Press MODE to pause the Survey Press ENTER to restart the survey at the first object of the survey To check on the available amount of memory in Autostar Autostar has a limited amount of memory Once you begin to store Landmarks User Objects and other bits of information in Autostar you will begin to use up memory This procedure allows you to check on how much memory is still available 1 Navigate to the Setup Statistics menu option and press ENTER 2 Statistics 37 2K Char Free displays This is the amount of memory that is still available to the user Identify This procedure allows you to use Autostar to identify objects you have found in the night sky using the Arrow keys If the object is not in Autostar s database Autostar displays information about an object in its database that is closest to the one you queried about IMPORTANT NOTE For this function to operate properly you must first set the tel escope in the home position and initialize Autostar If you physically move the tele scope after initialization this function will fail to operate properly In this procedure you will center an o
78. iven below Stars are large gaseous objects that are self illuminated by nuclear fusion in their core Because of their vast distances from our solar system all stars appear as pinpoints of light irrespective of the size of the telescope used Nebulae are vast interstellar clouds of gas and dust where stars are formed Most impressive of these is the Great Nebula in Orion M42 a diffuse nebula that appears as a faint wispy gray cloud M42 is 1600 light years from Earth Open Clusters are loose groupings of young stars all recently formed from the same diffuse nebula The Pleiades is an open cluster 410 light years away Fig 35 Through the LX90 numerous stars are visible Constellations are large imaginary patterns of stars believed by ancient civilizations to be the celestial equivalent of objects animals people or gods These patterns are too large to be seen through a telescope To learn the constellations start with an easy grouping of stars such as the Big Dipper in Ursa Major Then use a star chart to explore across the sky Galaxies are large assemblies of stars nebulae and star clusters that are bound by gravity The most common shape is spiral such as our own Milky Way but galaxies can also be ellip tical or even irregular blobs The Andromeda Galaxy M31 is the closest spiral type galaxy to our own This galaxy appears fuzzy and cigar shaped It is 2 2 million light years away in the constellation Andromeda located
79. manufacturer for use with a long telephoto lens This screen provides a brighter and clearer image to focus and is highly recommended 4 Correct shutter speeds vary widely depending on lighting conditions and film used Trial and error is the best way to determine proper shutter speed in any given application NOTE The camera used with your telescope may have an exposure meter that is still active when the standard lens is removed and the body is connected to the tel escope with the T Mount If used for terrestrial photography the camera meter should be acceptable If used for astrophotography the meter probably will not pro vide good results since camera meters are not made to compensate for a dark sky 5 Terrestrial photography through the LX90 is sensitive to heat waves rising from the Earth s surface Long distance photography is best accomplished in the early morning hours before the earth has had time to build up heat 6 Photography of the Moon and planets through the LX90 can be especially gratifying but points 1 through 4 should be particularly noted in this case Lunar or planetary photogra phy requires that the telescope be Polar aligned See APPENDIX A page 45 38 Ch murum CQ fico Fig 16 909 Accessory Port Module APM P Fig 17 928 45 Erect Image Diagonal Prism Fig 18 Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A
80. mation and instructions on how to download this data to Autostar If orbital parameters are more than one month old the satellite pass may not happen at the time predicted by Autostar Downloading requires the optional 4505 AstroFinder Software and Cable Connector Kit See OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES page 39 NOTE Satellite observing is an exciting challenge Most satellites are in low orbit travelling at approximately 17 500 mph When visible they move quickly across the sky and are only in the field of view for a few minutes requiring Autostar to slew the telescope rapidly Best viewing is near Sunrise or Sunset when the sky is still dark Viewing in the middle of the night can be problematic because the satellite may pass overhead but not be visible as it is in the Earth s shadow 31 How to Create Your Own Guided Tour When a Guided Tour is selected Autostar slews your telescope to a predetermined list of objects and displays information about each object such as type of object constellation location R A and Dec coordinates and so forth Autostar contains a few Guided Tours which are programmed at the factory But it is also possible for an observer to create a custom Guided Tour A tour is basically an ASCII text file that contains a list of directions and descriptions Each line of a tour is either a comment line a command line or a description What you will need APC with text editor or word processing software installed t
81. n using the Autostar Help function or when reading a scrolling message such as a description of a planet or star Press ENTER whenever a hypertext word is on screen and Autostar goes to the glossary entry for that word To access directly from the Glossary menu use the Scroll keys to scroll through the alphabet Press ENTER on the desired letter Scroll to the desired entry and then press ENTER to read the description Utilities Menu The Utilities menu provides access to several extra features within Autostar including a count down timer and an alarm The Utilities functions include Timer selects a countdown timer This feature is useful for functions such as astrophotography and tracking satellites See OBSERVING SATELLITES page 31 To use the Timer press ENTER then choose Set or Start Stop LL Doors uii W Set Enter the time to be counted down in hours minutes and seconds then press ENTER l Observing Considerations W Start Stop Activates the timer set previ ously Use the Scroll keys to toggle between ON and OFF When ON is dis played press ENTER to activate the timer When the timer runs out four beeps sound and the timer is deactivated Alarm selects a time for an alarm signal as a reminder To use the Alarm press ENTER then choose Set or Start Stop Try to pick an observing site away from street and house lights and car headlights While this is not always possible the dark er
82. nt 9 Getting Started ccc eedem 12 Parts Listing arri ee tat sitse 12 How to Attach the Tripod to the Telescope 12 How to Assemble Your Telescope 12 Choosing an Eyepiece ssssseeee 14 Mounting and Adjusting the Viewfinder 14 ODSEIVING E 15 Observing By Moving the Telescope Manually 15 Terrestrial Observing seeee 15 Observing Using Autostar s Arrow Keys 15 Slew Speeds sc e ctu he erii ie 16 Observe the Moon seseeeseeeeeenee 16 Astronomical Observing eee 17 To Track an Object Automatically 17 Alt Az Home Position eeseeeeees 17 Moving Through Autostar s Menus 17 Initializing Autostar saene 17 Observe a Star Using Automatic Tracking 18 Easy Two Star Align see 19 30 To Saturn t dedeseiep e 20 Using the Guided Tour 20 Basic Autostar Operation 21 Autostar Navigation Exercise ssseses 21 Entering Data into Autostar seeen 22 Navigating Autostar sseee 22 Menus and Menu Options eeeeeeene 23 Complete Autostar Menu Structure 23 Objects Menu nie see ilies 23 Event Menu uadit co aac 24 Glossary Menu eessseseeeeenemennenenns 25 Utilities Menu
83. o on to the next step Time Zone refers to the Greenwich Time Zone shift Users West of Greenwich use hours one hour per time zone and users East of Greenwich use hours For the United States look up the shift in Table 1 10 After entering the shift press ENTER Edit Time Zone displays 11 Press MODE Site Edit displays 12 Using the Arrow keys scroll to Site Select The site you have just edited displays Press ENTER to select the site or press MODE to exit Using Autostar to Find Objects Not in the Database In this procedure you will enter coordinates of celestial objects that do not appear in any of the Autostar database lists You will enter the object s name and RA and Dec coordinates required information You may also enter the object s magnitude and size optional information Although Autostar contains an extensive database of celestial objects stars nebulae planets etc that you can observe you may eventually want to view objects that are not part of the database Autostar provides a feature that allows you to enter an object s R A and Dec coordi nates in the User Objects option of the Object menu and allows automatic slewing of the tel escope to the user entered coordinates In order to use this menu option you first need to look up the R A and Dec coordinates of the object or objects you wish to observe Check out your local library computer store or book store for astronomy books CD Roms
84. obably result While such condensation does not normally cause any damage to the telescope it is recommended that the entire telescope be wiped down with a dry cloth before the telescope is packed away Do not however wipe any of the optical sur faces Rather simply allow the telescope to sit for some time in the warm indoor air so that the wet optical surfaces can dry unattended f If the LX90 is not to be used for an extended period perhaps for one month or more it is advisable to remove the batteries from the telescope Batteries left in the telescope for pro longed periods may leak causing damage to the telescope s electronic circuitry g Do not leave the LX90 inside a sealed car on a warm summer day excessive ambient temperatures can damage the telescope s internal lubrication and electronic circuitry Collimation The optical collimation alignment of any astronomical telescope used for serious purposes is important but in the case of the Schmidt Cassegrain design of the 8 LX90 such collimation is absolutely essential for good performance Take special care to read and understand this section well so that your LX90 will give you the best optical performance As part of final optical testing every Meade Schmidt Cassegrain is precisely collimated at the Meade factory before shipment However vibrations in shipping can cause the optical system to become misaligned Re aligning the optics is however a straightforward process
85. om the packing materials Plug one end into the HBX port of the computer control panel and plug the other end into the Coil Cable port on the Autostar handbox Q c 00 Meade 2 0 AUTOSTAR MEADE SM soo 3 Te 8 Flip the Power Switch on the computer control panel to the ON position The copyright message lights on Autostar s LCD display Thumbscrew gt 5 11 Remove the dust cap from the rear cell of the tel escope Thread the eyepiece holder into the rear cell thread Slide the diagonal prism into the eye piece holder and lock in place by turning the thumbscrew to a firm feel Place the Super Pl ssl 26mm eyepiece into the diagonal prism and tighten the attachment thumb Screw to a firm feel only Sight along the side of the telescope s main tube to locate an object Use the telescope s focus knob 8 Fig 1 to bring the object into focus Practice using the Autostar s Arrow keys to center an object in the telescope s field of view TELESCOPE FEATURES not shown 17 18 see below Ts LN Fig 1 The LX90 Telescope and Autostar Handbox CAUTION Using products other than standard Meade accessories may cause damage to the telescope s internal electronics and may void the Meade warranty LX90 Your Personal Window to the Universe The Meade LX90 is an extremely versatile high resolution telescopes with features similar to those ava
86. oose tighten the other two screws by even amounts If the screw you are turning gets too tight unthread the other two by even amounts f When you bring the image to center 3 Fig 21 carefully examine the evenness of the ring of light concentricity If you find that the dark center is still off in the same direction continue to make the adjustment in the original turning direction If it is now off in the oppo site direction you have turned too far and you need to turn in the opposite direction Always double check the image in the center of the field of the eyepiece g You may find after your initial adjustment that the dark center is off in a new direction e g instead of being off side to side it is now off in an up and down direction In this case repeat steps b through f to find the new adjustment screw h Now try a higher power eyepiece e g 9mm or less and repeat the above tests Any lack of collimation at this point will require only very slight adjustments of the three set screws You now have good collimation of the optics i As a final check on alignment examine the star image in focus with the higher power eye piece as suggested above under good viewing conditions The star point should appear as a small central dot commonly referred to as an Airy disc with a diffraction ring sur rounding it To give a final precision collimation make extremely slight adjustments of the three set screws if necessary to cente
87. ostar This function is useful to check events in the past or future For example set the Date menu for a day three months in the future Then check the Select Item Event menu for the Sunset time on that date See EVENT MENU page 24 Time changes the time entered into Autostar Setting the correct time is critical for Autostar to properly calculate locations and events Time may be set to 24 hour mode military time by selecting the blank option which follows the AM and PM options Daylight Saving is used to enable or disable Daylight Savings time NOTE Daylight Savings Time may be referred to by different names in various areas of the world Check local time to verify Telescope accesses the several options including W Model Allows you to select the telescope model connected to Autostar W Focal Length Displays the focal length of the selected telescope W AzRatio and Alt Ratio The Az Azimuth ratio and Alt Altitude ratio refers to the gears of the telescope s motors Do not alter these numbers W Az Percent The Az Azimuth Percent allows you to change the azimuth backlash i e the way the Arrow keys move the telescope along the azimuth horizontal axis If you enter a value near 100 the telescope tube responds more quickly it responds immediately at 10096 as you hold down an Arrow key and also slews moves the tube more quickly If you enter a value near 0 it takes longer for the tube to respond as you hold down
88. pe starts slewing in a spiral pattern at a very slow speed around the search area Look through the eyepiece and when the object does become visible press MODE to stop the spiral search Then use the Arrow keys to center the object Go To Saturn After performing the Easy Align procedure the motor drive begins operating and the telescope is aligned for a night of viewing Objects in the eyepiece should maintain their position even though the Earth is rotating beneath the stars IMPORTANT NOTE Once aligned only use the GO TO or Arrow keys to move the telescope Do not loosen the telescope locks 6 and 9 Fig 1 or move the base manually or alignment will be lost This exercise demonstrates how to select a celestial object the planet Saturn for viewing from Autostar s database NOTE Saturn is not visible the entire year and you may need to choose another object from Autostar s database however the procedure as described below remains the same After the telescope is aligned Select Item Object displays Press ENTER Object Solar System displays Press ENTER 3 Solar System Mercury displays Keep pressing the Scroll Down key until Solar System Saturn displays 4 Press ENTER Calculating displays Then Saturn and a set of coordinates displays Note that Saturn s and other planets coordinates change throughout the year 5 Press GO TO Saturn Slewing displays and the teles
89. pe power switch to the ON position The Autostar screen is activated and a copyright message displays briefly followed by a short beep Then Autostar takes a few moments to start up the system A message displays that warns not to look at the Sun At the end of this message press the key prompted by Autostar to signify that the message has been read and understood Press ENTER 2 Fig 2 repeatedly until Setup Align displays Press the Scroll Down key repeatedly until Setup Targets displays Press ENTER 2 Fig 12 Targets Terrestrial displays Press one of the Scroll keys once 7 Fig 2 Targets Astronomical now displays Use the Arrow keys 5 Fig 2 to locate a bright star in the night sky Use the viewfinder 15 Fig 1 to help line up on the star You may choose any unobstructed bright star for the purposes of this example Use Autostar s Arrow keys to center the star in the eyepiece Once the star is centered press ENTER to select Astronomical The telescope s track ing motors then engage It may take the tracking motors several seconds to begin track ing When they do it may be necessary to once again center the star in the eyepiece The tracking motors will then keep the star you have chosen in the center of the eyepiece Press and hold the ENTER key for a few seconds and then release to stop tracking You may repeat the procedure to locate another star or object using the Arrow keys Then press ENTER to re en
90. piece Dec Lock Controls the manual vertical movement of the telescope Turning the Dec lock counterclockwise unlocks the telescope enabling it to be freely rotated by hand about the vertical axis Turning the Dec lock clockwise to a firm feel only prevents the telescope from being moved manually but engages the vertical motor drive for Autostar operation NOTE The Dec lock knob is a knurled knob located on the fork arm to the right of the focus knob 8 Fig 1 CAUTION When loosening the Dec lock be sure to support the optical tube 5 Fig 1 The weight of the tube could cause the tube to swing through the fork arms suddenly Fork Arms Hold the optical tube in place Focus Knob Moves the telescope s primary mirror in a finely controlled motion to achieve precise image focus The LX90 telescope can be focused on objects from a distance of about 25 ft to infinity Rotate the focus knob counterclockwise to focus on distant objects and clockwise to focus on nearby objects 9 R A Lock Controls the manual horizontal rotation of the telescope Turning the R A lock counterclockwise unlocks the telescope enabling it to be freely rotated by hand about the horizontal axis Turning the R A lock clockwise prevents the telescope from being rotated manually and engages the horizontal motor drive for Autostar operation D Right Ascension R A Setting Circle See APPENDIX A page 45 for detailed infor mation 11
91. pod legs to move inward to a collapsed position Precautionary Notes Ifthe 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 strut system Do not overtighten the 6 lock knobs used to fix the inner tripod leg sections at various heights Tighten to a firm feel only Besure the spreader bar 4 Fig 3 is not upside down on the threaded rod How to Assemble Your Telescope Assembly of the LX90 telescope requires eight C cell user supplied batteries or optional power cords 25 to a standard 115v home outlet or to a 12v DC automobile cigarette lighter plug See the Instruction Sheets supplied with the optional power cords for installation infor mation To install batteries 1 Unlock the Dec lock 6 Fig 1 to move the optical tube 5 Fig 1 through the fork arms Move the optical tube to the position depicted in Fig 1 and relock the Dec lock 2 Remove the battery compartment covers 16 Fig 1 and carefully remove the battery hold er being mindful of the connector wires Insert four C cell batteries into each battery hold er oriented as shown on the diagram on the battery slots inside the battery holder Return the battery holders to their respective compartments and replace the covers See Fig
92. posure astrophotography and CCD imaging capability is available when the LX90 is mounted in the Equatorial Polar mode using an optional mounting wedge NOTE Throughout this man ual you will notice the term AIt Az AIU Az is frequently used to refer to Altitude vertical and Azimuth horizontal AIU Az is just one of many methods used by amateur astronomers to help locate stars in the night sky TIP To manually enter the R A and Dec coordinates of an object Press and hold MODE for two sec onds or more The R A and Dec coordi nates display Press GO TO Object Position and a set of coordinates displays Then enter the R A and Dec coordinates of any celestial object using Number keys As soon as the coor dinates are entered Autostar slews the telescope to the coor dinates Note that the telescope must be initialized see page 17 and placed in the Home position see page 17 for this pro cedure to operate properly The Autostar Computer Controller provides control of virtually every telescope function within a compact handbox Autostar has soft touch keys designed to have a positive feel The LCD Liquid Crystal Display is backlit with a red LED Light Emitting Diode for easy viewing in the dark The backlit display key arrangement and sequential database make Autostar extremely user friendly NOTE Autostar does not require batteries the telescope s batteries
93. r the Airy disc in the diffraction ring You now have the best alignment of the optics possible with this telescope 42 Fig 22 R A Lock Fig 23 Dec Lock Inspecting the Optics A Note About the Flashlight Test If a flashlight or other high intensity light source is point ed down the main telescope tube the view depending upon the observer s line of sight and the angle of the light may reveal what appears to be scratches dark or bright spots or just generally uneven coatings giving the appearance of poor quality optics These effects are only seen when a high intensity light is transmitted through lenses or reflected off the mirrors and can be seen on any high quality optical system including giant research telescopes The optical quality of a telescope cannot be judged by the flashlight test the true test of opti cal quality can only be conducted through careful star testing Gauging the Movement of the Telescope A common complaint of many first time telescope owners is that they cannot see the telescope move when the motor drive is engaged If fact when the batteries are installed the power is on and the R A lock engaged the telescope is moving However the movement is at the same speed as the hour hand of a 24 hour clock as such the movement is difficult to discern visu ally To check the movement of your telescope look at an astronomical object through the tele Scope s eyepie
94. restart the survey at the first object on the list See LANDMARKS page 35 Sleep Scope is a power saving option that shuts down Autostar and the telescope without for getting its alignment With Sleep Scope selected press ENTER to activate the Sleep func tion Autostar goes dark but the internal clock keeps running Press any key except ENTER to re activate Autostar and the telescope Park Scope is designed for a telescope that is not moved between observing sessions Align the telescope one time then use this function to park the telescope Next time it is powered up enter the correct date and time no alignment is required Pressing ENTER causes the tele scope to move to its pre determined Park position Once parked the screen prompts to turn off power IMPORTANT NOTE When the Park Scope option is chosen and the display prompts you to turn off the telescope s power Autostar is unable to be returned to operation without turning the power off and then back on Cord Wrap when set to On moves the telescope in such a way as to prevent the cords and cables attached to your telescope assembly from getting wound around the assembly and tan gled as the telescope slews to objects Off is the default setting Setup Menu The Setup menu s primary function is to align the telescope see EASY ALIGN page 19 However there are numerous other features available within the Setup menu including Date changes the date used by Aut
95. s Given the care and respect due any precision instrument the LX90 will rarely if ever require factory servicing Maintenance guidelines include a Avoid cleaning the telescope s optics a little dust on the front surface of the telescope s correcting lens causes virtually no degradation of image quality and should not be consid ered reason to clean the lens b When absolutely necessary dust on the front lens should be removed with gentle strokes of a camel hair brush or blown off with an ear syringe available at any pharmacy DO NOT use a commercial photographic lens cleaner c Organic materials e g fingerprints on the front lens may be removed with a solution of 3 parts distilled water to 1 part isopropyl alcohol You may also add 1 drop of biodegrad able dishwashing soap per pint of solution Use soft white facial tissues and make short gentle strokes Change tissues often CAUTION Do not use scented or lotioned tissues or damage could result to the optics d Do not for any reason remove the correcting plate from its machined housing for cleaning or other purposes You will almost certainly not be able to replace the cor rector in its proper rotational orientation and serious degradation of optical per formance will result Meade Instruments assumes no liability for damage incurred to the telescope in this way e If the LX90 is used outdoors on a humid night water condensation on the telescope sur faces will pr
96. s down Bring target back to center using the Up Arrow key Press v until it is centered Scope slews up 2 Bring target back to center using the Down Arrow key Train Drive Az Train Multiple presses Select Item Object Figure 31 Training the Drive Procedure 49 Doors uiis Further Study This manual gives only the briefest introduction to astron omy If you are interested in pursuing further studies in astronomy a few topics are suggested below that are worth reading up on Try looking up some of these topics in Autostar s glossary Also included below is a small sampling of books maga zines and organizations that you might find helpful Topics How is a star born How does a solar system form How is the distance to a star measured What is a light year What is red shift and blue shift How are the craters on our Moon formed How old are the Moon and Earth How old is the Sun What is a black hole A quasar A neutron star What are stars made of Why are stars different col ors What is a white dwarf A red giant What is a nova A supernova What are comets Asteroids Meteors Meteor showers Where do they come from What is a planetary nebula A globular cluster 10 What is the Big Bang Is the universe expanding or contracting or does it always remain the same Books 1 The Guide to Amateur Astronomy by Jack Newton and Philip Teece T
97. s stores the location of terrestrial points of interest in the permanent Autostar data base IMPORTANT NOTE To use the Landmark function the telescope must be located and aligned exactly as when the landmark was added to the database W Select To select a Landmark already in the database see Add below choose the Select option and scroll through the list Press ENTER to select a Landmark then press GO TO and the telescope slews to the object W Add To add a Landmark choose the Add option Enter a name for the Landmark Locate and center the Landmark in the eyepiece then press ENTER Identify is an exciting feature for an observer who wants to scan the night sky and start explor ing After the telescope has been properly aligned use the Autostar Arrow keys to move about in the sky Then follow this procedure IMPORTANT NOTE Only use the Arrow keys to move the telescope during the Identify procedure Do not loosen the telescope locks or move the base or align ment is lost 1 When a desired object is visible in the eyepiece keep pressing MODE until the Select Item Object menu is displayed Press ENTER to select this menu 2 Scroll through the Object menu options until the Object Identify screen appears 3 Press ENTER Autostar searches the database for the identity of the object being observed 4 Ifthe telescope is not directly on an Autostar database object the nearest database object is located and displa
98. see INITIALIZING AUTOSTAR page 17 before proceeding with this exercise 21 To Calculate Sunset time 1 2 3 o w Press the MODE key several times until Select Item Object is displayed Press the Scroll Down key once to display the Event option in the Select Item menu Press the ENTER key to choose the Event option and move down a level Event Sunrise is displayed Press the Scroll Down key once to display the Sunset option in the Event menu Press the ENTER key to choose the Sunset option and move down another level Autostar calculates the Sunset time based on the current date time and location Autostar then displays the results of the calculation Press MODE once to start moving back up through the Autostar levels The first level up is the Event menu Press MODE again to move up another level This is the top level Select Item Press MODE again to return to the starting point of Select Item Object Entering data into Autostar To enter numbers and text a Use the Number keys if available with your model or b Use the Arrow keys to scroll through numbers 0 9 and the alphabet The Down Arrow key begins with the letter A the Up Arrow key begins with digit 9 To move the cursor across the display Use the Right or Left Arrow key 5 Fig 2 to move the cursor from one number to the next in the display Press ENTER when the desired information has been entered
99. sen and a constellation name appears on the first line of the screen press GO TO once to change the second line to the name of the brightest star in the constel lation Press GO TO a second time to slew the telescope to that star Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the list of stars in the constellation from brightest to dimmest Deep Sky is a database of objects outside our Solar System such as nebulae star clusters galaxies and quasars Star is a database of stars listed in different categories such as named double variable or nearby Satellite is a database of Earth orbiting objects such as the International Space Station the Hubble Space Telescope Global Positioning System GPS satellites and geosynchronous orbit satellites User Objects allows the user to define and store in memory deep sky objects of specific inter est that are not currently in the Autostar database See Appendix A for more information i Object i 1 Solar System TCE Mercury Etc Moon Asteroids Comets onstellations Andromeda Named Object Galaxies Nebulae Planetary Neb Etc SAO Catalog Double Messier Other Star Catalogs Satellite Select User Objects Select Add Delete Edit Landmarks Start Search Edit Parameters im E i Tour Objects i iL Timer Sunset Tonight s Best Set Moonrise How Far is Far Start amp Stop One Star Moonset A Star s Life B Alarm Two Star Moon Phases C
100. the pole find the North Star Polaris by using the Big Dipper as a guide Fig 25 For precise tracking of astronomical objects your telescope should be Polar aligned a Lon Hey IMPORTANT NOTE For almost all astro Little Dipper IMPORTANT NOTE In order to select any of Autostar s three Polar Alignment options you must first select Polar in the Mount option of the Setup Telescope menu nomical observing requirements approxi i Polaris mate settings of the telescopes latitude i dd Y and Polar axis are acceptable Do not Ve f um allow undue attention to precise Polar Big Dipper AET Alignment of the telescope to interfere with your basic enjoyment of the instrument Fig 26 Locating Polaris Autostar Polar Alignment Autostar provides three different methods for Polar Alignment Easy One Star and Two Star In each method the telescope is pointed at Polaris which Autostar uses the star as a refer ence Easy Polar Alignment Polaris and two alignment stars are chosen by Autostar based on the date time and location entered First choose Polar from the Setup Telescope menu The rest of the procedure is identical to the Alt Az EASY ALIGN page 19 except that Autostar prompts you to point the telescope at Polaris and center it in the telescope eyepiece One Star Polar Alignment Polar Two Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky Autostar provid
101. the site the better Give your eyes about ten minutes to adjust to the darkness before observing Give your eyes a rest from observing every ten or fifteen minutes to relieve eye strain Try not to use a standard flashlight A lot of W Set Enter the time of day for the alarm to observers use red LED flashlights or tape sound in hours minutes and seconds red cellophane over their flashlights to use then press ENTER for setup and map reading so they don t have to continually readjust their eyes to W Start Stop Activates the alarm set pre the darkness Be careful not to shine viously Use the Scroll keys to toggle between ON and OFF When ON is dis played press ENTER to activate the alarm When the alarm time arrives Autostar beeps Press ENTER to deacti vate the alarm Eyepiece Calc calculates information about an eyepiece for the specific telescope to which Autostar is connected bright lights if there are other observers in the area Do not shine a flashlight into the telescope while someone is observing Dress warmly It gets chilly when you re sitting for prolonged periods Practice setting up your equipment during the day or in a lighted area to become familiar with it before going to a dark site Use your 26mm eyepiece to view terrestri al objects and wider areas of space such as open star clusters Use your 9mm eye Field of View Scroll through a list of piece when you wish to view something availa
102. then requests the current date Use the Number keys 5 Fig 2 to enter the dig its for the date Use the Right Arrow key 5 Fig 3 to move from one number to the next in the day display and also to move to the month Then use the Scroll keys 7 Fig 3 to cycle through the list of months 17 NOTE Autostar requests the Country State City and Telescope Model infor mation only the first time Autostar is activated If you wish to change this information use the Site and Telescope Model options in the Setup menu See pages 26 and 27 for more infor mation IMPORTANT NOTE While performing the automatic tracking pro cedure only use the Arrow keys to move the telescope Once the tel escope has been set in the Alt Az home posi tion do not loosen the telescope locks 6 and 9 Fig 1 or move the base manually or align ment will be lost 10 11 When the current month is displayed use the Right Arrow 5 Fig 2 to move to the year Use the Number keys to enter all four digits of the current year Press ENTER when the date has been entered Autostar then requests the current time Use the Number keys to enter the time Use a 0 for the first digit if less than 10 Use the Right or Left Arrow key to move from one num ber to the next Press one of the Arrow keys 5 Fig 2 to scroll to AM or PM If you select the blank choice that follows AM and PM the clock displays tim
103. tical axes of the tele Pom f i i i 90 Dec scope are lined up with the celestial coordinate Pole i Vicinity system of Polaris In order to Polar align your telescope it is essen tial to have an understanding of how and where to locate celestial objects as they move across the 17 sky This section provides a basic introduction to 19 Celestial the terminology of Polar aligned astronomy and Ri ht Ascension Easter includes instructions for finding the celestial pole and for finding objects in the night sky using Declination and Right Ascension Celestial Coordinates South Celestial Pole 90 Dec Celestial objects are mapped according to a coordi Fig 25 Celestial Sphere nate system on the Celestial Sphere Fig 25 an imaginary sphere surrounding Earth on which all stars appear to be placed This celestial object mapping system is analogous to the Earth based coordinate system of latitude and longitude The poles of the celestial coordinate system are defined as those two points where the Earth s rotational axis if extended to infinity North and South intersect the celestial sphere Thus the North Celestial Pole 1 Fig 25 is that point in the sky where an extension of the Earth s axis through the North Pole intersects the celestial sphere This point in the sky is located near the North Star Polaris In mapping the surface of the Earth lines of longitude are drawn be
104. to the dark for observing Remove the field tripod from the shipping carton Stand the tripod vertically with the tripod feet down and with the tripod still fully collapsed Grasp two of the tripod legs and with the full weight of the tripod on the third leg gently pull the legs apart to a fully open position Thread in two lock knobs on each leg six total near the foot of each tripod leg Use the lock knobs to vary the height of the inner extendible tripod leg sections Tighten the locks to a firm feel only do not overtighten Threaded Rod E Remove the threaded rod see above figure from the tripod head A small piece of plastic holds the threaded rod in place Remove the small plastic bag that is stapled to the threaded rod This bag contains the C clip retainer and an extra clip Remove the spreader bar see above figure from the shipping carton Slide the spreader bar onto the threaded rod and position the rod back through the tripod head Place the C clip into the slot in the threaded rod this clip holds the threaded rod in place Position the spreader bar so that its three arms line up with the three tripod legs Take the LX90 from its packaging and place the entire telescope onto the top of the tripod head inserting the threaded rod into the central hole in the bottom of the drive base of the telescope Tighten the tension knob see above
105. tography with the LX90 Many groups also hold regularly scheduled Star Parties at which you can check out and observe with many different telescopes and other pieces of astronomical equipment Magazines such as Sky amp Telescope and Astronomy print schedules for many popular Star Parties around the United States and G7 4 Te CR GETTING STARTED Parts Listing Getting the telescope ready for first observations requires only a few minutes When first open ing the packing box note carefully the following parts LX90 Telescope with fork mount system Autostar handbox and interface coil cord 8x 50mm viewfinder assembly Eyepiece holder and 1 25 diagonal prism Super Pl ssl 26mm eyepiece packed in a plastic storage container Variable height tripod and mounting base Set of hex wrenches How to Attach the Tripod to the Telescope Assembly The telescope s fork mount attaches directly to the field tripod The telescope in this way is mount ed in an Altazimuth Altitude Azimuth or vertical horizontal format The telescope in this configuration moves along vertical and horizontal axes corresponding respectively to the Declination vertical and Right Ascension horizontal axes in an astronomical observing mode The field tripod also can be used in conjunction with the optional equatorial wedge see EQUA TORIAL WEDGE page 47 for long exposure astrophotography The equatorial wedge per mits alignment of the t
106. ttom 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 in Fig 10 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 Some options are choices that select the next menu level down The Scroll keys move up and down within the list of available options showing one option at a time When the desired option is displayed on the second line press the ENTER key to choose that option and move down one menu level Press the MODE key to leave a level e g the wrong menu option is chosen IMPORTANT NOTE No matter how many levels into Autostar are traveled each press of the MODE key moves up a level until the top level Select Item is reached Once in the Select Item level press MODE to return to the topmost level Select Item Object Autostar Navigation Exercise To demonstrate how the Autostar menu structure works the following exercise calculates Sunset time so an evening observing session can be planned NOTE To perform an accurate calculation Autostar must be properly initialized with the current date time and location of the observing site To enter the current date time and location information of your observing site
107. tween the North and South Poles Similarly lines of latitude are drawn in an East West direction parallel to the Earth s Equator The Celestial Equator 2 Fig 25 is a projection of the Earth s Equator onto the celes tial sphere Just as on the surface of the Earth in mapping the celestial sphere imaginary lines have been drawn to form a coordinate grid Thus object positions on the Earth s surface are specified by their latitude and longitude For example you could locate Los Angeles California by its lati tude 34 and longitude 118 West similarly you could locate the constellation Ursa Major which includes the Big Dipper by its general position on the celestial sphere R A 11hr Dec 50 Right Ascension The celestial analog to Earth longitude is called Right Ascension or R A and is measured in time on the 24 hour clock and shown in hours or hr minutes or min and seconds or sec from an arbitrarily defined zero line of Right Ascension passing through the constellation Pegasus Right Ascension coordinates range from Ohr Omin Osec to 23hr 59min 59sec Thus there are 24 primary lines of R A located at 15 degree intervals along the celestial equator Objects located further and further East of the prime Right Ascension grid line Ohr Omin Osec carry increasing R A coordinates Declination The celestial analog to Earth latitude is called Declination or Dec and is measured in degrees arc
108. u have scrolled to the last item on the Object Type list press MODE twice and the Scroll Down key once Browse Start Search displays Press ENTER Start Search Next displays Press ENTER Autostar searches the database and displays the first object that matches the search parameters you have entered Use the scroll keys to display infor mation about the object Press MODE and Start Search Next displays again Press ENTER and the next item matching the parameters displays Repeat this procedure to dis play all the objects 8 Press MODE repeatedly to leave this menu 37 Fig 13 LX90 with 62 T Adapter Fig 14 Example of vignetting PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE LX90 Photography through the LX90 requires the addition of the optional 62 T Adapter See OPTION AL ACCESSORIES page 39 With the 62 T Adapter and a T mount attached to the telescope Fig 13 through the telescope photography is possible with any 35mm camera body with a removable lens In this way the telescope effectively becomes the lens of the camera The 62 T Adapter 1 Fig 13 threads on to the photo port followed by a T Mount 2 Fig 13 for the particular brand of 35mm camera being used followed by the camera body 3 Fig 13 To orient an object in the viewfinder of the 35mm camera body use a small jeweler s screw driver to slightly loosen three adjustment screws around the outer knurled ring of the T Mount Rot
109. uch as a mountain top or a bird you can observe by merely pointing the telescope and looking through the eyepiece 1 Loosen the telescope s R A lock 9 Fig 1 and Dec lock 6 Fig 1 2 Move your telescope to observe distant street signs mountains trees and other struc tures Use your viewfinder to to help site in on an object 3 Center the object in the viewfinder s crosshairs and then in the telescope eyepiece When the object is centered in your eyepiece remember to re tighten the R A and Dec locks 4 Practice focusing objects with the focus knob 8 Fig 1 5 Once you get a feel for how your telescope moves and focuses try to view something more challenging like a bird or a distant moving train NOTE Viewing conditions vary widely from night to night and site to site Turbulence in the air even on an apparently clear night can distort images Low power eyepieces such as the Super Pl ssl 26mm supplied with your telescope are better suited to resolving images in poor viewing conditions You can also observe stars and objects in the night sky using this method but note that objects begin to slowly drift across the eyepiece field This motion is caused by the rotation of the Earth As you become familiar with the Autostar handbox operation you can counteract the drift using the automatic tracking feature in the Autostar Setup menu see TO TRACK AN OBJECT AUTOMATICALLY page 18 or by using Autostar s GO TO cap
110. ular or par tial of eclipse and the location and time of the first and last contacts of the Moon s shadow Use the Scroll Up and Down keys to display the available data Remember never use a tele scope to look at the Sun See WARNING to the left Lunar Eclipse lists upcoming Lunar Eclipses including the date and type total partial penumbral of eclipse Use the Scroll Up and Down keys to display the available data Min Minimum of Algol is the minimum brightness of the dramatic eclipsing binary star sys tem Algol It is relatively close at a distance of 100 light years Every 2 8 days during a 10 hour period Algol undergoes a major change in apparent magnitude as one of the two stars pass es behind the other The combined magnitude of the two stars thus dips from 2 1 to a mini mum of 3 4 halfway through the eclipse as the second star is hidden Autostar calculates min imum magnitude time at mid eclipse 24 Autumn and Vernal Equinox calculates the time and date of the fall or spring equinox of the current year Winter and Summer Solstice calculates the time and date of the winter or summer solstice of the current year Glossary Menu The Glossary menu provides an alphabetical listing of definitions and descriptions for common astronomical terms and Autostar functions Access directly through the Glossary menu or through hypertext words embedded in Autostar A hypertext word is any word in brackets usually found whe
111. utostar handbox W Software Sends only the basic Autostar software This is useful if one user has down loaded a new version of Autostar software from the Meade website www meade com and wants to pass this software along to friends W All Everything user defined information and Autostar software is sent to another Autostar Statistics provides basic statistical data about Autostar including W Characters Free Shows how much room is available in user defined object memory W Version Shows the current version of the Autostar software Reset completely resets Autostar Most values entered into the menus revert to factory defaults Autostar requires initialization again after a Reset before proceeding with observa tions See INITIALIZING AUTOSTAR page 17 28 ADVANCED AUTOSTAR FEATURES Before trying out the examples in this section familiarize yourself with the basic operations of Autostar described earlier in this manual The following examples assume that you have a basic knowledge of Autostar and understand how to scroll to a desired menu or menu option and how to enter numbers and text It also assumes that you have initialized Autostar and have placed the telescope in the Home position when appropriate Adding Observing Sites If you plan to observe using Autostar at different geographic locations you can store up to six observation sites in Autostar s memory to help simplify your telescope setup Perform th
112. wide assortment of professional Meade accessories is available for the LX90 telescope The premium quality of these accessories is well suited to the quality of the instrument itself Consult the Meade General Catalog for complete details on these and other accessories Meade Series 4000 Eyepieces Magnifying With 140 Eyepiece Power 2x Barlow Lens Super Plossl 4 elements SP 6 4mm 313X 626X SP 9 7mm 206X 412X SP 12 4mm 161X 322X SP 15mm 133X 266X SP 20mm 100X 200X SP 26mm 77X 154X SP 32mm 63X 126X SP 40mm 50X 100X SP 56mm 36X 72X Super Wide Angle 6 elements SWA 13 8 mm 145X 290X SWA 18mm 111X 222X SWA 24 5mm 82X 164X SWA 32mm 63X 126X SWA 40mm 50X 100X Ultra Wide Angle 8 elements UWA 4 7mm 426X 852X Fig 15 Series 4000 Eyepieces UWA 6 7mm 299X 598X UWA 8 8mm 227X 454X UWA 14mm 143X 286X Refer to CHOOSING AN EYEPIECE page 14 and TOO MUCH POWER page 15 to determine which optional eyepieces are best suited to your applications and how to avoid overpowering the telescope 140 2x Barlow Lens An amplifying lens the 140 2x Barlow doubles the power of all eye pieces with which it is used Insert the 140 into the telescope s eyepiece holder first followed by the diagonal prism and eyepiece 909 Accessory Port Module APM The 909 APM attaches to the rear cell of the LX90 and connects by cable to the Aux port on the telescope s control panel The APM includes auxiliary connectors for plu
113. y optical and electromechanical capabilities It is in astronomical applications where the high level of optical performance is readily visible The range of observable astronomical objects is with minor qualification limit ed only by the observer s motivation To Track an Object Automatically As the Earth rotates beneath the night sky the stars appear to move from East to West The speed at which the stars move is called the sidereal rate You can setup your telescope to move at the sidereal rate so that it automatically tracks the stars and other objects in the night sky If the telescope is not tracking an astronomical object the object will drift out of the eyepiece field of view The tracking function automatically keeps an object more or less centered in the tele Scope s eyepiece To automatically track objects you must first set the telescope in the home position then ini tialize Autostar and finally select Targets Astronomical from the Autostar Setup menu You must also learn how the Autostar keypad operates in order to move through the Autostar menus The Alt Az Home Position 1 Loosen the telescope s Dec lock 6 Fig 1 2 Level the tripod head 1 Fig 3 Level the optical tube by lining up 0 on the Dec setting circle 11 Fig 1 with the Dec pointer 12 Fig 1 3 Tighten the Dec lock 6 Fig 1 to a firm feel only 4 Unlock the R A lock 9 Fig 1 and turn the telescope horizontally until it points North
114. yed on the screen Press GO TO and the telescope slews to that object Browse allows you to search the database for objects with certain parameters much like a search engine Edit Parameters lets you set various parameters for the search such as Object Type Minimum Elevation Largest etc Once you have set the parameters of the search select Start Search and press ENTER Autostar will display the results of the search See page 37 for more information Event Menu The Event menu provides access to dates and times of astronomical events The Event data base includes Sunrise and Sunset calculates the time that the Sun rises or sets on the current date Find rise and set times for other dates by entering a new date into the Setup Date menu See DATE page 26 Moonrise and Moonset calculates the time that the Moon rises or sets on the current date Find rise and set times for other dates by entering a new date into the Setup Date menu See DATE page 26 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 showers such as the Perseids the Leonids etc Also lists the dates of the showers and when they reach maximum NOTE Meteors are fast moving objects that cover large areas of the sky and are usually best observed with the naked eye Solar Eclipse lists upcoming Solar Eclipses including the date and type total ann

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