Meade Instruments Corporation - Meade LX200 Instruction Manuals
[ toc ] 1. ENTER Key
The ENTER key (1, Fig. 6) is used to select a menu file, a file option, or to edit a value. To select a file or an option, press and release the ENTER key. The LX200 will give a short beep tone and perform the action that you have requested. To edit a value, press and hold the ENTER key until a double beep tone is heard and a blinking cursor appears in the display. There are some other specific situations where the ENTER key is used. These are described in detail where necessary. From now on, the two types of presses will be called 'press' and 'press and hold'.
[ toc ] 2. MODE Key
The MODE key (2, Fig. 6) cycles through the five modes of the
LX200, and is used to exit from specific menu files.
[ toc ] 3. GO TO Key
The GO TO key (3, Fig. 6) causes the LX200 to automatically slew to specific library entry coordinates. The GO TO key also produces a blinking cursor in the GO TO menu file of the COORDINATES/ GO TO mode, to allow new Right Ascension and Declination coordinates to be entered.
[ toc ] 4. Direction Keys
Labeled N,S,E, and W, ( 4, Fig. 6) these four keys make the LX200 move, or slew, in a specific direction, with an option of
four different speeds, explained later. During entry to change a value, the E and W keys can be used to move the blinking cursor back and forth across the LCD display, so that if an error is made during entry, it can be erased and changed.
The remaining twelve keys have multiple functions, there are up and down arrow keys and numbered keys from 0 through 9. Each one of these keys also has alternate functions listed above the arrow symbols and numbers. The ALT LED light is only visible when entering numerical data. A description of the individual keys follows:
[ toc ] 5. Speed Keys (SLEW, FIND, CENTER, and GUIDE)
These keys (6, Fig. 6) allow you to set the rate of movement or slew speed in the drives of the LX200, as activated by the N, S, E, and W keys. The chosen rate is indicated by the speed indicator illuminated LED beside the rate key that you have pressed. The speed rates are SLEW (for the 7", 8" and 10" telescopes, it is 8 degrees per second, for the 12" telescope, it is 6° per second), FIND (2 degrees per second), CNTR (32X sidereal rate), and GUIDE (2X sidereal rate).
NOTE: All of the slew speeds will drive the LX200 in all four directions, except for GUIDE. The 2X sidereal speed in GUIDE has one difference in that it will not interrupt the Right Ascension tracking direction to make Easterly (for Northern hemisphere) or Westerly (for Southern hemisphere) adjustments; it will merely slow down the tracking drive to one half its normal speed. You will find, however, that the slower drive will move the image opposite of the tracking direction, without disturbing the smooth drive action. This performance is absolutely essential when making astrophotographs.
Also note that on DC power sources, the top speed of 8 degrees per second (7", 8" and 10" telescopes) and 6 degrees per second (12" telescopes) is slightly slower. Guiding and tracking rate speeds, are however, unaffected.
SLEW, FIND, CENTER, and GUIDE keys also have numbers listed 7, 4, 1, and 0 respectively. When editing a value, the multiple function of each of these keys is realized. SLEW and FIND are also used to set
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