Meade ETX-90PE Observing by Moving the Telescope Manually, Terrestrial Observing

Note:

Viewing conditions vary widely from night-to-night and site-to-site. Turbulence in the air, even on an apparently clear night, can distort images. Low-power eyepieces, such as the 26mm supplied with your telescope, are better suited to resolving images in poor viewing conditions.

NEVER point

the telescope directly at or near the Sun at

any time! Observing the Sun, even for the smallest fraction of a second, will result in instant and irreversible eye damage, as well as physical damage to the telescope itself.

Do not look through the telescope's eyepiece while it is rapidly moving. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.

Important Note:

AutoStar requests the Country/State, City and Telescope Model information only the first time AutoStar is activated. Subsequently, AutoStar uses the location and model number you have chosen.

If you wish to change this information, use the "Telescope Model" and "Site" options in the Setup menu. See pages 27 and 29 for more information.

OBSERVING

Observing by Moving the Telescope Manually

If you wish to observe a distant land object, such as a mountain top or a bird, you can observe by merely pointing the telescope and looking through the eyepiece.

1.Loosen the telescope’s horizontal lock (9, Fig. 1a) and vertical lock (6, Fig. 1b).

2.Move your telescope to observe distant street signs, mountains, trees and other struc- tures. Use the SmartFinder to help sight-in on an object.

3.Center the object with SmartFinder’s red dot and then in the telescope eyepiece. When the object is centered in your eyepiece, remember to re-tighten the horizontal and vertical locks.

4.Practice focusing objects using the focus knob (8, Fig. 1b).

5.Once you get a feel for how your telescope moves and focuses, try to view something more challenging, like a bird or a distant moving train.

You can also observe stars and objects in the night sky using this method, but note that objects begin to slowly drift across the eyepiece field. This motion is caused by the rotation of the Earth. As you become familiar with the AutoStar handbox operation, you can coun- teract the drift using the automatic tracking feature (see TO TRACK AN OBJECT AUTO- MATICALLY, page 16) or by using AutoStar's GO TO capabilities (see GO TO SATURN, page 19).

Terrestrial Observing

ETX telescopes are excellent high-resolution terrestrial (land) telescopes. Viewing terres- trial objects requires looking along the Earth's surface through heat waves. These heat waves often cause degradation of image quality. Lower power eyepieces, like the 26mm, magnify these heat waves less than higher power eyepieces (such as a 9mm eyepiece). Therefore, lower power eyepieces provide a steadier, higher quality image. If the image is fuzzy or ill-defined, reduce to a lower power eyepiece, where the heat waves do not have such an effect on image quality. Observing in early morning hours, before the ground has built up internal heat, produces better viewing conditions than during late afternoon hours.

Observing Using AutoStar Arrow Keys

You may observe land and astronomical objects using AutoStar's Arrow keys to move the telescope.

1.Tighten the horizontal (9, Fig. 1a) and vertical locks (6, Fig. 1b).

2.Make sure that AutoStar’s coiled cord is connected to the computer control panel’s HBX port (C, Fig. 2).

3.Flip the Power Switch (A, Fig. 2) on the computer control panel to the ON position. A copyright message lights on AutoStar’s LCD display, followed by a warning not to look at the Sun. Press the AutoStar key prompted by the message when you are done reading. See page 9 to 11 for more information about AutoStar’s keys.

4.A “Getting Started” message displays. Press ENTER to skip this message.

5.AutoStar then displays: “Location Option: 1-Zipcode 2-City”. This option allows you to

choose how you wish to enter the location of your observing site: you can enter your zip code or choose the site from a list of countries, states and cities.

Press the number key “1” if you wish to enter by zip code. Then enter the five digits of the zip code of your observing site and press ENTER.

Press the number key “2” if you wish to select your observing site from a list of coun- try, states and cities. First, use a Scroll key to cycle through the list of countries and states (listed alphabetically). Press ENTER when the correct location displays. Next, use a Scroll key to cycle through the list of cities (also listed alphabetically). Press ENTER when the closest city displays.

6.Finally “Telescope Models” displays. Using the SCROLL KEYS, cycle through the list of telescope models and press ENTER when your model displays.

7.The display now displays "Align: Automatic."

You can now use the ARROW KEYS to slew (move) the telescope up, down, right or left. Practice using the ARROW KEYS to center objects in the eyepiece.To change the speed at which the telescope moves (known as the “slew” speed), press a NUMBER KEY from 1 through 9. 1 is the slowest speed and 9 is the fastest.

15