Meade Meade Instruments Corporation, Meade LX200 Instruction Manual, D. Quick Start

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Meade LX200 Instruction Manual

7" Maksutov-Cassegrain, and 8", 10", and 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes

D. QUICK START

To utilize all the features of the telescope, it is necessary to enter some information into the telescope's computer memory, and learn the menu structure of the Keypad hand controller, described later in this manual. As advanced as LX200 electronics are, the telescope is very straightforward to operate even if you have no experience whatsoever in using a personal computer.

IMPORTANT NOTICE! Never use a telescope or spotting scope to look at the Sun!

Observing the Sun, even for the shortest fraction of a

second, will cause irreversible damage to your eye as well as physical damage to the telescope or spotting scope itself.

If you are reading this manual for the first time and are anxious to "look through the telescope," this section will describe how to use the telescope without going through the rest of the manual. But be sure to come back and read the details, for most of the telescope's features can not be accessed without a full knowledge of these details.

[ toc ] 1. Using the LX200 Manually

The easiest way to use the telescope is to operate it manually. With the telescope mounted on the Field Tripod, and with the diagonal prism and eyepiece in place, you are ready to make observations through the telescope. Even without the viewfinder (if not yet installed), terrestrial objects will be fairly easy to locate and center in the telescope's field of view using a low power eyepiece and "gun sighting" along the side of the main telescope tube.

By unlocking the R.A. Lock (7, Fig. 3), the telescope may be turned rapidly through wide angles in Right Ascension (R.A.). The reason for the terminology "Right Ascension" and its complementary term, "Declination" will be made clear further on in this manual. For now, "Right Ascension" simply means "horizontal" and "Declination" means "vertical". Fine adjustments in R.A. are made by turning the R.A. Slow- Motion Control Knob (8, Fig. 3), while the R.A. lock is in the "unlocked" position.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE THE TELESCOPE MANUALLY IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION WHEN THE R.A. LOCK IS IN THE "LOCKED" POSITION.

The R.A. Slow-Motion Control Knob may be turned, if desired, with the R.A. Lock in a "partially locked" position. In this way, a comfortable "drag" in R.A. is created. But do not attempt to operate the R.A. Slow- Motion Control Knob with the telescope fully locked in R.A., as such operation may result in damage to the internal gear system.

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