Meade Autostar User Manual download pdf (Page 54)

Star Alignment

Here is a brief description of the Autostar alignment process:

The Autostar has two alignment positions (also known as mounts) for ETX telescopes: Polar and

Alt/Az

The Autostar has thee alignment methods: Easy, One Star, and Two Stars.

Easy: The Autostar provides you with the best stars based on the date, time,

and location.

One Star: The Autostar points to Polaris plus one other star.

Two Stars. Same as the Easy method, but you choose the two stars used for

alignment.

You can see that whichever alignment you choose, it uses at least three points of reference.

One Star alignment is not recommended for precise GOTOs.

The Autostar’s selected alignment stars are at least 90° apart in the sky and are the brightest

stars in the direction at that time and date. Therefore, unless you are very familiar with the stars, it

is better to let the Autostar select the alignment stars for you with the Easy alignment method.

Whatever mount position you choose and whichever alignment method you select this is the

general process:

1) The Autostar confirms that your telescope is in the proper mount position.

2) You or the Autostar chooses the first star and points the telescope to it.

3) You center the first star with the keypad and press Enter to confirm.

4) You or the Autostar chooses the second star and points the telescope to it.

5) You center the second star with the keypad and press Enter to confirm.

6) The Autostar gives either a successful or failed alignment message.

If everything is set up according to the instructions, the alignment stars should always appear in

the viewfinder (or just outside the field of view of the viewfinder). You should not have to scan the

sky to find the alignment star. How accurate the alignment star appears initially in the center of

your viewfinder is a good indication of how accurate your initial set up is.

It has been my experience that whenever something went wrong in a star alignment, I would go

back and recheck all of the settings in the Autostar (time zone, mount type, date, time) and also

recheck the telescope tripod leveling, OTA, or Fork arm leveling. I would usually find one or

more of those items not set correctly.

Rule of thumb on the alignment star:

1) If there is only one star, this is the right star.

2) If there are several stars in the general direction of the alignment star, it is usually the

brightest one in the group. The Autostar always chooses the brightest star in the group

for alignment.

3) If you cannot decide on a star, you can press the SCROLL down key for the next star.

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Meade Autostar User Manual Page 54