Celestron CGEM DX 1400 HD Computerized Telescope CGEM DX Mount Manual - Page 9

2. Align: Instructs the telescope to use a selected star or object as an alignment position. 3. Direction Keys: Allows complete control of the telescope in any direction. Use the direction keys to move the telescope to the initial alignment stars or for centering objects in the eyepiece. 4. Catalog Keys: The hand control has keys on the hand control to allow direct access to each of the catalogs in its database. The hand control contains the following catalogs in its database: Messier - Complete list of all Messier objects. NGC - Complete list of all the deep-sky objects in the Revised New General Catalog. Caldwell - A combination of the best NGC and IC objects. Planets - All 8 planets in our Solar System plus the Moon. Stars - A compiled list of the brightest stars from the SAO catalog. List - For quick access, all of the best and most popular objects in the telescope's database have been broken down into lists based on their type and/or common name: Named Stars Common name listing of the brightest stars in the sky. Named Objects Alphabetical listing of over 50 of the most popular deep sky objects. Double Stars Numeric-alphabetical listing of the most visually stunning double, triple and quadruple stars in the sky. Variable Stars Select list of the brightest variable stars with the shortest period of changing magnitude. Asterisms A unique list of some of the most recognizable star patterns in the sky. CCD Objects A custom list of many interesting galaxy pairs, trios and clusters that are well suited for CCD imaging. IC Objects A complete list of all the Index Catalog deep-sky objects. Abell Objects A custom list of the Abell Catalog deep-sky galaxies. Constellation A complete list of all 88 constellations. 5. Info: Displays coordinates and useful information about objects selected from the telescope database. 6. Tour: Activates the tour mode, which seeks out all the best objects for the current date and time, and automatically slews the telescope to those objects. 7. Enter: Pressing Enter allows you to select any of the telescope's functions and accept entered parameters. 8. Undo: Undo will take you out of the current menu and display the previous level of the menu path. Press Undo repeatedly to get back to a main menu or use it to erase data entered by mistake. 9. Menu: Displays the many setup and utilities functions such as tracking rates and user defined objects and many others. 10. Scroll Keys: Used to scroll up and down within any of the menu lists. A double-arrow will appear on the right side of the LCD when there are sub-menus below the displayed menu. Using these keys will scroll through those sub-menus. 11. Rate: Instantly changes the rate of speed of the motors when the direction buttons are pressed. 12. RS-232 Jack: Allows you to interface with a computer and control the telescope remotely. 1 7 2 8 3 9 4 10 11 5 6 12 Figure 3-1 The Hand Control Hand Control Operation This section describes the basic hand control procedures needed to operate all Celestron computerized telescopes. These procedures are grouped into three categories: Alignment, Setup and Utilities. The alignment section deals with the initial telescope alignment as well as finding objects in the sky; the setup section discusses changing parameters such as tracking mode and tracking rate; finally, the last section reviews all of the utilities functions such as calibrating your mount, polar alignment and backlash compensation. Alignment Procedures In order for the telescope to accurately point to objects in the sky, it must first be aligned with known positions (stars) in the sky. With this information, the telescope can create a model of the sky, which it uses to locate any object with known coordinates. There are many ways to align your telescope with the sky depending on what information the user is able to provide: 7