Meade ETX125 Instruction Manual - Page 18

Important Note: The first time you use your telescope or if you are experiencing any problems with pointing accuracy, follow the procedure described in APPENDIX C: TRAINING THE DRIVE, page 55, to insure accurate pointing and tracking. Alignment Star Fig. 25: During alignment, the alignment star is always the brightest star in the area of the sky at which the telescope is pointing. Ti p: Try out the Guided Tour feature; the "Tonight's Best" Guided Tour will point your telescope at the best objects visible in the sky for every given night of the year. The objects in this tour may change from night to night. You can easily create your own Guided Tour using the optional Meade's AutoStar Suite software. See PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE'S AUTOSTAR SUITE, page 41 for more information. 18 Note: If you have an obstruction, such as a tree or a building blocking your view of the alignment star, or if you have any doubts at all about the star that has been chosen, no problem. Just press the Scroll Down key and AutoStar will find another star to align upon. 7. The telescope now slews to the second alignment star. AutoStar displays "Center Brightest Star: Press ENTER" displays. Use the Arrow keys to center the alignment star in the eyepiece. When the second alignment star is centered, press ENTER. 8. "Alignment successful" displays. If "Alignment Unsuccessful" displays, perform the procedure over again. 9. After you align the telescope, "Press "0" for Tour or MODE for menu" displays. Using the Guided Tour This example demonstrates using "Tonight's Best" Guided Tour. 1. After Automatic Alignment, "Press "0" for Tour or MODE for menu" displays. 2. Press "0." "Guided Tour: Tonight's Best" displays. Press ENTER. Note: If you wish to try out other Guided Tours, press the Scroll Down key to scroll through other tour choices. When the tour you wish to select displays, press ENTER. 3. "Tonight's Best: Searching..." displays. After calculating, "Tonight's Best: Jupiter" displays. Note: Different objects may be displayed on a tour list on any given night. Tour objects are selected based on location's time and date. Press ENTER to display information about the object. Press GO TO to move the telescope to the object. 4. Press MODE to return to the Tour list. Press the Scroll keys to scroll through the list. Press ENTER when you find the next object you wish to observe. 5. Press and hold down MODE for two seconds to leave the Guided Tour menu. Go To Saturn After performing the Automatic Alignment procedure, the motor drive begins operating and the telescope is aligned for a night of viewing. Objects in the eyepiece will maintain their position even though the Earth is rotating beneath the stars. This exercise demonstrates how to select a celestial object, the planet Saturn, for viewing from AutoStar's database. ETX TIPS Which One's the Alignment Star? If you're not familiar with objects in the night sky, how can you be sure if the star in your eyepiece is really the alignment star? The rule of thumb is that an alignment star is usually the brightest star in that area of the sky. If you perform a GO TO to an alignment star and you're not sure if you have located the alignment star or it isn't in the eyepiece, look through your smartfinder. When you view an alignment star in the SmartFinder, it stands out dramatically from the rest of the stars in that portion of the sky. The SmartFinder will help you locate a star more quickly than the eyepiece. Using AutoStar, set the slew speed to 6 (press Number key 6) or higher and use the Arrow keys to center the alignment star in the SmartFinder. If your SmartFinder has been aligned with the telescope, the alignment star should now be in the eyepiece. Set the slew speed to 4 or less and center the star in the eyepiece. Also see the SPIRAL SEARCH tip, page 17. If you have an obstruction, such as a tree or a building blocking your view of the alignment star or if you have any doubts at all about the star that has been chosen, no problem. Just press the Scroll Down key and AutoStar will find another star to align upon.