Meade ETX-90PE instruction manual Telescope Controls, Smartfinder, SmartFinder? See Aligning

Caution:

Using products other than standard Meade accessories may cause damage to the telescope’s internal electronics and may void the Meade warranty.

B Want to learn more about the eyepieces available for your ETX telescope?

See OPTIONAL

ACCESSORIES, pages

42 and 43.

c Want to learn more about the

SmartFinder?

See Aligning

SmartFinder, page 13.

G Want to learn more about the Right

Ascension and Declination setting circles? See page 54.

Caution:

When loosening the Dec. lock, be sure to support the optical tube (5 Fig.

1a). The weight of the tube could cause the tube to swing through the fork arms suddenly.

MEADE ETX: YOUR PERSONAL WINDOW TO THE UNIVERSE

The Meade Premier Edition ETX-90PE, ETX-105PE and the ETX-125PE are extremely versatile, high-resolution telescopes. With pushbutton controls, automatic tracking of celestial objects and diffraction-limited imaging, an ETX Premier telescope may be all the telescope ever required by many terrestrial and astronomical observers.

Your ETX 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 ETX Premier telescopes are instruments fully capable of growing with your interest and are ideal for both the casual observer and serious astronomer alike.

Telescope Controls

Become acquainted with all of these controls before attempting observations through

the telescope.

BEyepiece: Place the supplied 26mm eyepiece into the 90° Eyepiece Holder (4, Fig. 1b) and tighten in place with thumbscrew (3, Fig.1b).

CSmartfinder™

Provides an easier way to sight on objects than the main telescope’s eyepiece which has a narrow field of view. Comes pre-assembled on the telescope.

DEyepiece Holder Thumbscrew: Tightens the eyepiece in place. Tighten to a firm feel only.

e90° Eyepiece Holder: Holds the eyepiece upright for easy viewing.

FOptical Tube: The main optical component that gathers the light from distant objects and brings this light to a focus for examination with the eyepiece.

GVertical (Dec.) Lock: Controls the manual vertical movement of the telescope. Turning the vertical lock counterclockwise unlocks the telescope enabling it to be freely rotated by hand about the vertical axis. Turning the vertical lock clockwise (to a firm feel only) prevents the telescope from being moved manually, but engages the vertical motor drive clutch for AutoStar operation. When polar aligned, the vertical lock serves as the Declination or Dec. lock.

Note: The vertical lock knob is a knurled knob located on the fork arm to the right of the focus knob (8, Fig. 1b). Mounted beneath the knob is a cir- cular scale without numbers. Do not confuse this scale with the Dec. setting circle (16, Fig. 1a) on the opposite fork arm which has a numbered scale used to locate astronomical objects.

HFork Arms: Hold the optical tube in place.

Note: The telescope base and fork mount are designed with internal “rotational limit stops.” The horizontal limit stop prevents the telescope from rotating more than 630° to avoid damage to the internal wiring. The vertical limit stop prevents the smartfinder from striking the fork mount when the telescope is pointed upward just past 90° and prevents the optical tube from striking the base if pointed downward more than 30°. Do not force the telescope to move beyond these stops or damage to the telescope will result.

iFocus Knob: Moves the telescope’s primary mirror in a finely-controlled motion to achieve precise image focus. The ETX telescopes can be focused on objects from a distance of about 11.5 ft (ETX-90PE) or 15 ft (ETX-105PE or ETX-125PE) to infinity. Rotate the focus knob clockwise to focus on distant objects and counterclockwise to focus on nearby objects.

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