Meade RCX400 Instruction Manual download pdf (Page 24)

When the procedure is performed correctly, "Alignment Successful" displays.

If Autostar II does not display this message, perform this procedure again.

Note: Alignment stars may change from night to night. All that is required

is for the observer to center the selected stars in the eyepiece when

prompted.

Observe a Star using the Automatic Tracking Feature

w that your telescope has been aligned, you are able to track celestial objects. In

this example, the Autostar II Arrow keys are used to find a star, and then Autostar II's

tracking capability automatically keeps the star centered in your telescope's eyepiece.

1. When Automatic Alignment is completed (as described in the previous section),

"Select Item: Object" displays on Autostar II.

2. Select a bright star from one of the Object menus. You may choose any unob-

structed, bright star for the purposes of this example. Use the viewfinder (

21, Fig.

1a) to help line up on the star. Use Autostar II's Arrow keys to center the star in

the eyepiece. The tracking motors will then keep the star you have chosen in the

center of the eyepiece.

Go To Saturn

This exercise demonstrates how to select a celestial object, the planet Saturn, for

viewing from Autostar II’s Solar System library. Objects in the eyepiece should main-

tain their position even though the Earth is rotating beneath the stars. In other words,

the telescope tracks the chosen objects.

Note: Saturn is not visible the entire year; you may need to choose anoth-

er object from any of Autostar II's many object libraries; however, the pro-

cedure, as described below, remains the same.

1 After the telescope is aligned, press Number key "5."

2. “Solar System: Mercury” displays. Keep pressing the Scroll Down key until “Solar

System: Saturn” displays.

3. Press ENTER. “Calculating” displays. Then “Saturn” and a set of coordinates dis-

plays. Note that Saturn’s (and other planets’) coordinates change throughout the

year.

4. Press GO TO. “Saturn: Slewing...” displays and the telescope slews until it finds

Saturn.You may need to use the Arrow keys to center Saturn precisely in the eye-

piece. Autostar II then automatically moves the telescope so that it "tracks"

Satur

n (or whate

ver other object you may have chosen);

i.e

Satur

n remains cen

tered in the e

epiece

Using the Guided Tour

The Guided Tour feature is an easy and fun method of exploring Autostar II's GO TO

capabilities

This e

xample demonstr

ates using

“T

onight’s Best” Guided Tour.

1. After observing Saturn, keep pressing MODE until “Select Item: Object” displays

again.

2. Press the Scroll Down key twice. “Select Item: Guided Tour” displays.

Press ENTER.

“Guided

our: 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 y

ou wish to select dis

pla

, press ENTER.

4. “Tonight’s Best: Searching...” displays. After calculating, “Tonight’s Best: Jupiter”

displa

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.

Important Note:

While performing the

automatic tracking proce-

dure, only use the Arrow

keys to move the tele-

scope. Once the tele-

scope has been aligned,

do not loosen the tele-

scope locks (

13 and 17,

Fig. 1a), or move the

base manually, or align-

ment will be lost.

Tip:

To manually enter the

R.A.

and Dec.

coor

nates of an object:

Press and hold MODE for

o seconds or more

The

R.A. and Dec. coordi-

nates displa

Press GO

TO. "Object Position" and

a set of coordinates dis-

pla

Then enter the R.A.

and Dec. coordinates of

any celestial object using

Number keys. As soon as

the coordinates are

entered, Autostar II slews

the telescope to the coor-

dinates. Note that the tel-

escope m

ust be initial

ed f

or this procedure to

operate properly.

Tip:

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 finish-

es its search. (This some-

times occurs during an

alignment procedure.)

Press GO TO when the

telescope stops slewing.

The telescope begins to

move 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.

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Meade RCX400 Instruction Manual Page 24

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