Celestron Advanced VX 6 Refractor Telescope Advanced VX Manual - Page 14

• Press ENTER to accept the current parameters. • Press BACK to enter current date, time and location information into the hand control. 3. The following information will be displayed: Note: If incorrect information is entered into the hand control, the BACK button acts like a back space button allowing the user to re-enter the correct data. Select one of the alignment methods as described below. • Location - The hand control will display a list of cities to choose from. Choose the city from the database that is closest to your current observing site. The city you choose will be remembered in the hand control's memory so that it will be automatically displayed the next time an alignment is done. Alternatively, if you know the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site, it can be entered directly into the hand control and remembered for future use as well. To choose a location city: • Use the Up and Down scroll keys to choose between City Database and Custom Site. City Database will allow you to select the closest city to your observing site from a list of either international or U.S. location. Custom Site allows you to enter the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site. Select City Database and press ENTER. • The hand control will allow you to choose from either U.S. or international locations. For a listing of U.S. locations by state and then by city, press ENTER while United States is displayed. For international locations, use the Up or Down scroll key to select International and press ENTER. • Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose your current state (or country if an International location was selected) from the alphabetical listing and press ENTER. • Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose the closest city to your location from the displayed list and press ENTER. • Time - Enter the current local time for your area. You can enter either the local time (i.e., 08:00), or you can enter military time (i.e., 20:00). • Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass this step. • Choose between Standard time or Daylight Savings time. Use the Up and Down scroll buttons (10) to toggle between options. • Select the time zone that you are observing from. Again, use the Up and Down buttons (10) to scroll through the choices. Refer to Time Zone map in Appendix for more information. • Date - Enter the month, day and year of your observing session. Note: Updating Your Location - Since you may not need to update your observing location as often as the date and time, it is not displayed each time you update the date and time. To update your city, press BACK at any time when updating your date and time. Continue to press BACK to change the state, country or to add longitude/latitude coordinates. Two Star Align Two-Star Align allows the user to select two stars on which to align the telescope. To align your telescope using the Two-Star Align method: 1. Select Two-Star Align from the alignment choices given. Based on the date and time information entered, the hand control will automatically select and display a bright star that is above the horizon. • Press ENTER to select this star as your first alignment star. • If for some reason the chosen star is not visible (perhaps behind a tree or building), press BACK to have the hand control automatically select the next brightest star. • Or you can use the Up/Down keys to browse the entire Named Star list and select any one of over two hundred alignment stars. 2. Once the telescope is finished slewing to your first alignment star, the display will ask you to use the arrow buttons to align the selected star with the cross hairs in the center of the finderscope. When centered in the finder, press ENTER. The display will then instruct you to center the star in the field of view of the eyepiece. When the star is entered, press ALIGN to accept this star as your first alignment star. Important: When moving the telescope, remember to always finish slewing using the UP and RIGHT direction buttons on the hand control to eliminate any mechanical backlash in the gears. 3. After the first alignment star has been entered, the hand control will automatically select a second alignment star and have you repeat this procedure for that star. When the telescope has been aligned on both stars, the display will ask you if you wish to add additional calibration stars. Calibration stars are used to improve the pointing accuracy of your telescope by compensating for subtle opto-mechanical misalignments between the telescope optics and the mount. Therefore, it is usually a good idea to add at least one additional calibration star to improve the mount's all-sky pointing accuracy. 4. Press ENTER to select a calibration star. Select a star the same way you did with the first two alignment stars and press ENTER. You will notice that all the calibration stars displayed are located on the opposite side of the side of the sky (Meridian) as the original alignment stars. This is essential for an accurate calibration of the mount. Finally, you can choose to continue to add additional calibration stars or Press BACK to complete the alignment. 14 I