Meade LX850 User Manual - Page 33
Setup Menu
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AutoStar II Operation Setup Menu There are numerous other features available within the Setup menu, including: Align: Lets you choose a method of alignment. • Easy • One Star • Two Star • Align on Home • Drift Align Telescope: Accesses several options, including: • Telescope Model: Allows you to select the type of OTA mounted on LX850. • Align OTA: Provides an alignment routine that adjusts the OTA so that it is orthogonal to the LX850 telescope mount. This routine should be run when you have changed your collimation or mounting significantly. Note that Meade LX850 ACF optical tube assemblies have screws that allow you adjust for orthogonality. If you are using an optical tube assembly other than a Meade LX850 ACF you will need to verify that there is a mechanical means to correct for orthogonality before using this utility When you select this menu, Autostar will ask you to center two stars in the telescope that are on opposite sides of the sky. Once you have centered them, the telescope will slew back to the first star. You will then be asked to center the star using the hex head screws located on the bottom side of the OTA dovetail. Using a hex head wrench, make adjustments to the dovetail so the star is centered in the vertical direction in the eyepiece (perpendicular to the plane of the saddle. Note: The vertical direction is when the 90 degree diagonal is positioned as shown page 18, figure 24. The dovetail adjustments will only move the OTA in this direction. The horizontal direction can not be adjusted using these adjusting screws and is compensated for during the electronic alignment routine. When complete, verify the dovetail is still securely attached to the OTA radius blocks. • Max Past Meridian: Allows you to set how far the OTA axis can tilt past the meridian. 2° is the default setting. • Focal Length: Displays the focal length of the selected telescope. • Max Slew Rate: Sets the upper limit for the slew rate. 3° degrees per second is the fastest setting. • Park Position: After aligning your telescope, select this menu and power down the telescope. The alignment settings-North, time, alignment stars-are stored in Autostar II's memory and are remembered after you power off the telescope. When you power on the telescope, "Automatic Alignment" displays after the start up routine. Press MODE (do not press ENTER). The telescope remembers its alignment and you can continue viewing or performing other operations without aligning the telescope again. Park Position provides two options. Use Current Position uses the last position set by the user. Default Position places scope in the home position. • Calibrate Home: For permanently mounted telescopes only. After aligning your telescope, select this menu and the alignment settings-North, time, alignment stars-are stored in Autostar II's memory and are remembered after you power off the telescope. You can enable Autostar II to retrieve and automatically align your telescope using these settings the next time you power up by choosing the Align on Home menu. This menu helps improve auto alignment. • Anti-Backlash: This option allows you to change the backlash along either the RA and the DEC axes by entering a number from 0% to 199%. This sets the backlash in the way the Arrow keys move the telescope along an axis. If you enter a value near 199%, telescope responds more quickly as you hold down an Arrow key. If you enter a value near 0%, it takes longer for the tube to respond as you hold down an Arrow key. Experiment with this option: Try changing the values until the motion of the telescope (while holding down an Arrow key) feels comfortable to you. • Train Drive: All telescopes have a certain amount of "backlash" (looseness in the interplay of gears). This menu allows you to compensate for the backlash in the RA and DEC motors-which helps locate objects with more precision. 33