Celestron CGEM DX Mount and Tripod Computerized Telescope CGEM DX Mount Manual - Page 13

Tour Mode The telescopes include a tour feature which automatically allows the user to choose from a list of interesting objects based on the date and time in which you are observing. The automatic tour will display only those objects that are within your set filter limits (see Filter Limits in the Setup Procedures section of the manual). To activate the Tour mode, press the TOUR key (6) on the hand control. The hand control will display the best objects to observe that are currently in the sky. • To see information and data about the displayed object, press the INFO key. • To slew to the object displayed, press ENTER. • To see the next tour object, press the Up key. Constellation Tour In addition to the Tour Mode, your telescope has a Constellation Tour that allows the user to take a tour of all the best objects in each of the 88 constellations. Selecting Constellation from the LIST menu will display all the constellation names that are above the user defined horizon (filter limits). Once a constellation is selected, you can choose from any of the database object catalogs to produce a list of all the available objects in that constellation. • To see information and data about the displayed object, press the INFO key. • To slew to the object displayed, press ENTER. • To see the next tour object, press the Up key. Direction Buttons The hand control has four direction buttons (3) in the center of the hand control which control the telescope's motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at nine different speed rates. Rate Button Nine available slew speeds 1 = 0.5x 4 = 8x 7 = 1º / sec 2 = 1x (sidereal) 5 = 16x 8 = 2º / sec 3 = 4x 6 = 64x 9 = 5º / sec Pressing the RATE key (11) allows you to instantly change the speed rate of the motors from high speed slew rate to precise guiding rate or anywhere in between. Each rate corresponds to a number on the hand controller key pad. The number 9 is the fastest rate (3º per second, depending on power source) and is used for slewing between objects and locating alignment stars. The number 1 on the hand control is the slowest rate (0.5x sidereal) and can be used for accurate centering of objects in the eyepiece and photographic guiding. To change the speed rate of the motors: • Press the RATE key on the hand control. The LCD will display the current speed rate. • Press the number on the hand control that corresponds to the desired speed. The number will appear in the upper-right corner of the LCD display to indicate that the rate has been changed. The hand control has a "double button" feature that allows you to instantly speed up the motors without having to choose a speed rate. To use this feature, simply press the arrow button that corresponds to the direction that you want to move the telescope. While holding that button down, press the opposite directional button. This will increase the slew rate to the maximum slew rate. The direction that a star moves in the eyepiece when a direction is pressed will change depending on which side of the Meridian the telescope tube is positioned. In order to change the direction of the arrow buttons, see Scope Setup Features later in this section. Setup Procedures The Hand Control contains many user defined setup functions designed to give the user control over the telescope's many advanced features. All of the setup and utility features can be accessed by pressing the MENU key and scrolling through the options: Tracking Mode - This allows you to change the way the telescope tracks depending on the type of mount being used to support the telescope. The telescope has three different tracking modes: EQ North Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar aligned in the Northern Hemisphere. EQ South Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar aligned in the Southern Hemisphere. Off When using the telescope for terrestrial (land) observation, the tracking can be turned off so that the telescope never moves. Tracking Rate - In addition to being able to move the telescope with the hand control buttons, your telescope will continually track a celestial object as it moves across the night sky. The tracking rate can be changed depending on what type of object is being observed: Sidereal This rate compensates for the rotation of the Earth by moving the telescope at the same rate as the rotation of the Earth, but in the opposite direction. When the telescope is polar aligned, this can be accomplished by moving the telescope in right ascension only. Lunar Used for tracking the moon when observing the lunar landscape. Solar Used for tracking the Sun when solar observing with the proper filter. View Time-Site - Displays the current time and longitude/ latitude downloaded from the optional CN-16 GPS receiver. It will also display other relevant time-site information like time zone, daylight saving and local sidereal time. Local sidereal time (LST) is useful for knowing the right ascension of celestial objects that are located on the Meridian at that time. View Time-Site will always display the last saved time and location entered while it is linking with the GPS. Once current information has been received, it will update the displayed information. If GPS is switched off or not present, the hand control will only display the last saved time and location. User Defined Objects - Your telescope can store up to 100 different user defined objects in its memory. The objects can be daytime land objects or an interesting celestial object that you discover that is not included in the regular database. There are several ways to save an object to memory depending on what type of object it is: GoTo Object To go to any of the user defined objects stored in the database, scroll down to 11