Meade LS 6 inch User Manual - Page 9

AUTOSTAR III BASIC USAGE AUTOSTAR III HANDBOX - BASIC USAGE Now that you have successfully setup and used your LS telescope, it's time for more information about all the capabilities of this amazing optical system. The first step is to familiarize yourself with the AutoStar III handbox operation. The largest keys on the keypad are the motion control keys. Most of the time, these keys allow you to move, or slew, your telescope both up and down and right and left. Press them now and see how the telescope moves in response to the keys. When the telescope initially starts up the scope is set to move at its fastest speed. While this is great for getting close to the area you want to see, it is really too fast to get anything positioned into the eyepiece. For that reason, the LS has 9 distinct speeds. Key Functions "BACK" - return to previous menu. "ENTER" - select or confirm entry. "GO TO" - Slew to currently selected object. "SPEED" - Adjust Slew Speed. "FOCUS" - Optional Electronic focuser. Motion pad controls focuser. Up/Down scrolls focus speed. "VOL". - Up/Dn adjusts media volume. "DISP" - Control Display contrast, brightness. "MODE" - Cycles thru Menu -> Scope info -> SkyMap -> Menu and aborts current operation. "MEDIA" - Toggles media on and off. "CALD" - Lookup Caldwell Objects "MES" - Look up Messier Objects "PLANETS" - Look up planets in our solar system "STAR" - Look up bright stars To change the telescope's speed, press the 1/SPEED key. You can now select a speed with the scroll up and down small arrow keys on the bottom of the hand control. When you have the desired speed selected, press the "ENTER" key. Alternatively, when the speed selection screen is showing, you can just press a number 1-9 to select a speed quickly, where 1 is the slowest and 9 is the fastest. Take a moment and try move the scope around at some different speeds. Navigating the Menus Now that you are starting to get comfortable with the basics, lets learn some new keys. The most important keys for navigating the menus on you telescope are the keys along the top and bottom rows of your AutoStar. The two small arrows on the bottom of the key pad, allow you to scroll through the possible menu selections. The menu line is at the top of the handbox display and the top of the video monitor if connected. The second line of the hand control display has the current active menu item. If you are looking at a connected video display, you will see more menu choices and the active selection will be highlighted. 9 INDEX