Meade LXD 750 Site →2 Align, Move to 90 deg., dec. and 00 H.A, Center Polaris then press Enter

- 8 -

1)SITE

→2) ALIGN

Display 17

5.Press the ENTER key to activate the ALIGN function. The display will look like Display 18.

Move to 90 deg., dec. and 00 H.A.

Display 18

6.Loosen the R.A. and Dec lock knobs on the LXD Equatorial Mount. Position the optical tube assembly so that the Dec Circle reads 90°. Retighten the Dec Lock Knob. Then loosen the R.A. lock knob and rotate the telescope so that the R.A. pointer and the Hour Angle Pointer are approximately in line with each other. This will position the tube assembly and the counterweight so that they are parallel to the ground and the Power Panel is facing the sky, as shown in Fig. 7. This step is necessary for the CDS to work. The telescope has some "illegal" positions (places where the telescope will not go) and these two steps insure proper operation.

1

Fig. 7: Aligning the Telescope. (1) Alignment tripod leg.

7.Press the ENTER key. The CDS electronics will slew the LXD Equatorial Mount to the calculated position of the pole star. The display will look like Display 19.

Center Polaris then press ENTER

Display 19

8.Center the pole star in the eyepiece of the telescope by using the Azimuth adjustment knobs and the Latitude adjustment knob on the LXD Equatorial Mount. Do not use the R.A. or Dec controls. Using the R.A. and Dec slow- motion controls will destroy the alignment procedures.

9.After centering the pole star, press the ENTER key. The telescope will slew to one of the 33 bright and well known stars as a second alignment star. Appendix B can be used

as a reference for the position and the catalog number of these prominent stars. The display will look like Display 20.

Center your star choice then press ENTER

Display 20

10.Center the second alignment star in the telescope eyepiece using the "N", "E", "W", or "S" keys on the Keypad Hand Controller. Once the second star is centered, press the ENTER key to complete the alignment sequence.

Should the alignment star be hidden from the view of the telescope, do not manually move the telescope. Simply press the ENTER key and select another bright star from the Alignment Star List that appears in Appendix B. Look up the catalog number of the star. Then, press the STAR key and type in the star catalog number using the number keys. Press the ENTER key, and then the GO TO key. The telescope will then slew to the approximate position of the alternate star. Center the star with the "N", "E", "W", or "S" keys, then press and hold the ENTER key until the display reads "Coordinates matched". This method synchronizes the CDS computer to the sky.

The telescope is now polar aligned and fully functional, and will automatically track objects. From this point on, make all telescope movements by use of the Keypad Hand Controller. Manual movements by loosening the Dec or R.A. locks will cause the CDS to "lose" position, requiring realignment.

USING THE #1697 COMPUTER DRIVE SYSTEM

1) The MODE Key

The CDS has 5 basic Keypad Hand Controller displays, and the MODE key is used to move between them. The 5 modes are:

1.Telescope Functions. The TELESCOPE mode is where all telescope functions are changed or activated. The OBJECT LIBRARY is where the features of the object library are accessed.

2.Telescope Position. The first display shows the telescope's position in Right Ascension (R.A.) and Declination (Dec).

3.Time and Date. The first display shows local time and sidereal time. The second display (accessed by pressing the ENTER key) shows the date.

4.Timer and Freq. This display is a countdown timer and allows the user to change drive rates. These are advanced features.

5.All Off. This mode simply turns off all displays and backlighting. You can also adjust the backlighting brightness by pressing the ENTER key and using the PREV and NEXT keys to adjust the brightness.

2) Library Object Keys

The Library Object keys, ("M" - for Messier objects, "STAR" - for alignment stars, SAO and GCVS catalogs, and "CNGC" - for Computerized New General Catalog) may be directly accessed while in any of the 5 main Keypad displays. (See Appendix C of this manual for a listing of the 64,359-Object Library). Simply press a library object key, type in the number of the object desired, and press ENTER.

For example: during the first part of the year, a good object to

begin with is M42—the Great Orion Nebula. Press: the "M" key, the "4" key, the "2" key, and then the ENTER key. The display