Meade 70AZ-ADS instruction manual Taking Care Of Your Telescope, Optional Accessories

USE THE SPECIFICATIONS TO CALCULATE THE MAGNIFICATION OF YOUR EYEPIECE

The power of a telescope is how much it magnifies objects. Your 26mm eyepiece magnifies an object 13 times. Your 9mm eyepiece magnifies objects 36 times. But if you obtain other eyepieces, you can calculate how much magnification they have with your telescope. Just divide the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece.

FOCAL LENGTH OF THE TELESCOPE ÷ FOCAL LENGTH OF THE EYEPIECE = MAGNIFICATION

Look at the specifications. You will see that the focal length of your scope is 350mm. Let’s say that you have obtained a 13mm eyepiece. You can tell that what the focal length of your eyepiece is as it is always printed on the side of an eyepiece. Divide: 350 ÷ 13, which equals 26.9. Round this off to the nearest whole number and your new eyepiece magnifies objects 27 times.

If you use your Barlow lens with one of your eyepieces, it doubles the magnification of your eyepiece. Other types of Barlows can triple or further increase the power of an eyepiece. To find out how much your magnification is when you use a Barlow, multiply your eyepiece’s magnification by two.

EYEPIECE’S MAGNIFICATION X 2 = MAGNIFICATION WITH A 2X BARLOW LENS

Your 26mm low-power eyepiece magnifies an object 13 times. Multiply 13 by 2 and you get 26 times magnification with your Barlow.

It’s worth repeating: Keep in mind that a bright, clear, but smaller image is more interesting than a larger, dimmer, fuzzy one. Using too high a power eyepiece is one of the most common mistakes made by new astronomers. So don’t think that higher magnification is necessarily better—quite often the best view is with lower magnification value!

TAKING CARE OF YOUR TELESCOPE

Your telescope is a precision optical instrument designed for a lifetime of rewarding viewing. It will rarely, if ever, require factory servicing or maintenance. Follow these guidelines to keep your telescope in the best condition:

•Avoid cleaning the telescope’s lenses. A little dust on the front surface of the telescope’s correcting lens will not cause loss of image quality.

•When absolutely necessary, dust on the front lens should be removed with very gentle strokes of a camel hair brush or blown off with an ear syringe (available at most pharmacies).

•Fingerprints and organic materials on the front lens may be removed with a solution of 3 parts distilled water to 1 part isopropyl alcohol. You may also add 1 drop of biodegradable dishwashing soap per pint of solution. Use soft, white facial tissues and make short, gentle strokes. Change tissues often.

CAUTION: Do not use scented or lotioned tissues or damage could result to the optics. DO NOT use a commercial photographic lens cleaner.

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES

Additional Eyepieces (1.25" barrel diameter): For higher or lower magnifications with the telescopes that accommodate 1.25" eyepieces, Meade 4-element Series 4000 Super Plössl eyepieces yield wide fields of view with excellent edge-of-field corrections and are available in a range of focal lengths including 6.4, 9.7, 12.4, 15, 20, 26, 32, and 40mm.

Contact your Meade Dealer or see the Meade catalog for more information. Visit us on the web at: meade.com.

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