Meade ETX-90PE Autostar Operation, AutoStar Navigation Exercise, To Calculate Sunset time

AUTOSTAR OPERATION

SETUP MENU

Automatic alignment permits all telescope

operations with only minimal setup.

Select Item:

Setup

UTILITIES MENU Calculate eyepiece magnifications;

set timer alerts; create your own landmark survey.

Select Item:

Utilities

GLOSSARY

What is an elliptical galaxy? How far away is the Sun? Expand your knowledge of astronomy by displaying terms

and definitions, and other information.

Select Item:		OBJECT MENU
		Want to see Mars? The Orion nebula?
	Object
		The Andromeda galaxy? Select from
		over 30,000 objects and press
		GO TO to move the telescope
		automatically to an object.
		Select Item:
		Event

		EVENT MENU
		Display the time of
The Universe of
		past, present and future
Autostar
		astronomical events,
		such as Moon phases
		or meteor showers.
		Select Item:
		Guided Tour
		GUIDED TOUR
		Autostar escorts you
		on a tour of tonight's
Select Item:		best celestial objects
		at your viewing location.
	Glossary

Object

Event

Guided Tours

Glossary

Utilities

Setup

Fig. 27a: Menus set in a loop.

Setup

Align

Date

Time

Daylight Saving Telescope Targets

etc.

Fig. 27b: Menu options display on the second line. Use the Scroll keys to move up or down through the list of options. Press ENTER to select the desired option.

Fig. 26: The AutoStar Universe: The six primary categories listed in the Select menu.

It is important to understand that menu selections are set in a loop (Fig. 27a). This means that pressing the Scroll Down key cycles down through all the available options within a given category, then returns to the first option. The Scroll Up key 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 bottom of the list. The following example demonstrates this capability.

Example:

To navigate to the “Select Item: Setup” menu option when the “Select Item: Object” menu is displayed:

1.Press the Scroll Down key four times or the Scroll Up key once.

The screen in Fig. 27b shows two lines of information in the AutoStar display. The top line shows the current menu level. The second line displays an option which may be selected. Some options are submenus that offer more choices. The Scroll keys move up and down within the list of available options, showing one option at a time.

When an option is displayed on the second line, press the ENTER key to choose that option.

Press the MODE key to return back to the last menu. This can be useful to exit a menu or if the wrong menu option is chosen.

IMPORTANT NOTE: No matter how many levels into AutoStar are trav- eled, each press of the MODE key moves up a level, until the top level, "Select Item," is reached. Once Select Item displays, 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 location of the observing site. See INITIALIZING AUTOSTAR, page 17, before proceeding with this exercise.

To Calculate Sunset time:

1.Press the MODE key several times, until “Select Item: Object” is displayed.

2.Press the Scroll Down key once to display the “Event” option in the “Select Item” menu.

20