Meade RCX400TM Basic Autostar, Autostar II Navigation Exercise, To Calculate Sunset time

BASIC AUTOSTAR II

SETUP MENU

Automatic alignment permits all telescope

operations with only minimal setup.

Select Item:

Setup

UTILITIES MENU Calculate eyepiece magnifications;

set timer alerts; create your own landmark survey.

Select Item:

Utilities

GLOSSARY

What is an elliptical galaxy? How far away is the Sun? Expand your knowledge of astronomy by displaying terms

and definitions, and other information.

Select Item:

Object

ATheutUnostivearsre ofI I

Select Item:

Glossary

OBJECT MENU

Want to see Mars? The Orion nebula? The Andromeda galaxy? Select from

over 180,000 objects and press GO TO to move the telescope automatically to an object.

Select Item: Event

EVENT MENU Display the time of past, present, and future astronomical events, such as Moon phases or meteor showers.

Select Item:

Guided Tour

GUIDED TOUR Autostar II escorts you

on a tour of tonight's best celestial objects

at your viewing location.

Object

Event

Guided Tours

Glossary

Utilities

Setup

Fig. 28: Menus set in a loop.

Setup

Align

Date

Time

Daylight Saving Telescope Targets

etc.

Fig. 29: Menu options display on the second line. Use the Scroll keys to move up or down through the list of options. Press ENTER to select the desired option.

Fig. 27: The Autostar II Universe: The six primary categories listed in the Select Item menu of Autostar II.

It is important to understand that menu selections are set in a loop (Fig. 28). This means that pressing the Scroll Down key (7, Fig. 2) cycles down through all the available options within a given category, then returns to the first option. The Scroll Up key (7, Fig. 2) cycles up through the options in the opposite order. Note that this capability is a quick way to get to an option that is near the bottom of the list. The following example demon- strates this capability.

Example:

To navigate to the “Select Item: Setup” menu option when the “Select Item: Object” menu is displayed:

1.Press the Scroll Down key five times or the Scroll Up key once.

The screen in Fig. 29 displays two lines of information. The top line shows the current menu. The second line displays an option which may be selected within that menu. Some options are choices that select the next menu level down. The Scroll keys move up and down within the list of available options, showing one option at a time.

When the desired option is displayed on the second line, press the ENTER key to choose that option and move down one menu level.

Press the MODE key to leave a menu level; e.g., the wrong menu option is chosen.

Important Note: No matter how many levels into Autostar II are traveled, each press of the MODE key moves up a level, until the top level, "Select Item," is reached. Once in the Select Item level, press MODE to return to the topmost level, "Select Item: Object."

Autostar II Navigation Exercise

To demonstrate how the Autostar II menu structure works, the following exercise cal- culates Sunset time so an evening observing session can be planned.

To Calculate Sunset time:

1.Press the MODE key several times, until “Select Item: Object” is displayed.

2.Press the Scroll Down key once to display the “Event” option in the “Select Item” menu.

3.Press the ENTER key to choose the "Event" option and move down a level. "Event: Sunrise" is displayed.

26