Hand Control Operation, Alignment Procedure

Definition

"Altazimuth" or "Alt-Az" refers to a type of mounting that allows a telescope to move in both altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right) with respect to the ground. This is the simplest form of mounting in which the telescope is attached directly to a tripod

Double Stars: Alphabetical listing of the most visually stunning double, triple and quadruple stars in the sky.

Variable Stars: Select list of the brightest variable stars with the shortest period of changing magnitude.

Asterisms: A unique list of some of the most recognizable star patterns in the sky.

5.Info: Displays coordinates and useful information about objects selected from the StarSeeker database.

6.Tour: Activates the tour mode, which seeks out all the best objects for a given month and automatically slews the StarSeeker to those objects.

7.Enter: Pressing Enter allows you to select any of the StarSeeker functions, accept entered parameters and slew the telescope to displayed objects.

8.Undo: Undo will take you out of the current menu and display the previous level of the menu path. Press Undo repeatedly to get back to a main menu or use it to erase data entered by mistake.

9.Menu: Displays the many setup and utilities functions such as tracking rate and user defined objects and many others.

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Figure 3-2.The StarSeeker hand control

10.Scroll Keys: Used to scroll up and down within any of the menu lists. A double arrow symbol on the right side of the LCD indicates that the scroll keys can be used to view additional information.

11.Rate: Instantly changes the rate of speed of the motors when the direction buttons are pressed.

12.RS-232 Jack: Allows use with a computer and software programs for point and click slewing capability.

Hand Control Operation

This section describes the basic hand control procedures needed to operate the StarSeeker. These procedures are grouped into three categories: Alignment, Setup and Utilities. The alignment section deals with the initial telescope align- ment as well as finding objects in the sky; the setup section discusses changing parameters such as tracking mode and tracking rate; finally, the last section reviews all of the utility functions such as adjusting the telescopes slew limits and backlash compensation.

Alignment Procedure

In order for the StarSeeker to accurately point to objects in the sky, it must first be aligned to known positions (stars) in the sky. With this information, the telescope can create a model of the sky, which it uses to locate any object with known coordi- nates. There are many ways to align the StarSeeker with the sky depending on what infor-

mation the user is able to provide: SkyAlign uses your current date, time and city to create an accurate model of the sky. Then the user can simply point the telescope to any three bright celestial objects to accurately align the telescope with the sky. Auto Two-Star Align will ask the user to choose and center the first alignment star, then the StarSeeker will automatically select and slew

to a second star for alignment. Two-Star Alignment requires the user to identify and manually slew the telescope to the two alignment stars. One-Star Align is the same as Two-Star Align however only requires you to align to one known star. Although not as accurate as the other alignment methods, One-Star Align is the quickest way to find and track bright planets and objects in Altazimuth mode. Finally, Solar System Align will display a list of visible daytime objects (planets and the moon) available to align the telescope. Each alignment method is dis- cussed in detail below.