Toc 2 Align, Toc a Altaz, Toc a -Star with Known Site

Meade Instruments Corporation - Meade LX200 Instruction Manuals

latitude. The entered longitude and latitude is compared by the LX200's computer to your local time, GMT offset, and calendar date to accurately calculate celestial coordinates. Once entered, the information is stored in the telescope's internal memory, you need never to re-enter the same information unless you decide to change it. To enter new site information or to change an old one, refer to section D. Quick Start. You can choose any one of the four site selections at your convenience, without the bother of entering longitude and latitude every time you use the LX200. Once the site is chosen, exit the SITE menu by pressing the MODE key.

[ toc ] 2) ALIGN

The Align menu selection of the TELESCOPE file demonstrates the unique ability to transform the LX200 into an Altazimuth, celestial tracking telescope, a polar-equatorial celestial tracking telescope, or land spotting scope with electric Altazimuth movements within three options, which are; ALTAZ, POLAR, and LAND.

Assuming that you have already entered correct local time and your site' s latitude and longitude (refer to section D. Quick Start) you are ready to choose a particular type of alignment, by pressing the NEXT or PREV key to run the LCD arrow beside the desired option of ALTAZ, POLAR, or LAND, and then pressing the ENTER key. The display will then give you specific instructions from this point that will literally walk you through the chosen alignment type.

[ toc ] a) ALTAZ

The 2-Star initialization routines provide three options for aligning the LX200 telescope when in the ALTAZ mode. (Note: The 2-Star initialization routines only apply to the ALTAZ alignment mode.

The first and second options require that you have entered the SITE and TIME information, and the third option can be used when the SITE information is not known or has not been entered into the LX200's memory.

[ toc ] a. 1-Star with Known SITE

After selecting the SITE location (1-4), move to the ALIGN menu (see steps 5-9).

When you select the ALTAZ alignment mode, the display will give you two options: 1-Star or 2-Star alignment. If you select the 1-Star alignment (by pressing the "1" key), the alignment routine is exactly the same as the procedure described earlier.

[ toc ] b. 2-Star at Known SITE

To use the 2-Star alignment procedure at a known site, follow these steps:

(1)Select the 2-Star alignment (by pressing the "2" key); the Keypad display will prompt you to level the tripod. This leveling step requires a rough level only and, unlike the 1-Star alignment routine, does not affect the pointing accuracy of the telescope. (See Section d. below for a summary of the differences in telescope operation when selecting each of the three alignment procedures.)

(2)After leveling the base and pressing ENTER, follow the Keypad display prompts to select the first alignment star. Slew to that star using the N, S, E, W keys. (3) Follow the Keypad display prompts to choose and center the the second alignment star. Be sure to use the Keypad to slew to the second star. After pressing the ENTER key in the last step, the Keypad display should show the TELESCOPE / OBJECT LIBRARY screen.

The LX200 calculates the distance between the two stars that you chose in the alignment steps and compares this to the distance that you actually slewed the telescope. This is a check to be sure you centered the correct stars during the alignment steps. Should the LX200 discover a discrepancy, the Keypad will display an "Align Mismatch - Check Stars" message. If you get this message after aligning the telescope, check that you are using the correct stars and align again.

IMPORTANT

Whenever using either of the two 2-Star alignment procedures (at a known SITE or at an UNKNOWN SITE), choosing the proper two stars will determine the pointing accuracy of the telescope. Choose two

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