Meade LXD 75-Series - Manuals

8 sure to turn off the LED when finished with the polar viewfinder. Powered by (fac-tory-supplied) batteries contained within. 3! R.A. Setting Circle: See APPENDIX A, page 50 , for more information. 3@ R.A. Setting Circle Lock Knob: Rotate the knob to lock the R.A. Setting Circle(see 3! ) in place. ...

9 Fig. 2: The Autostar Handbox. Tour the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of most LXD75-Series telescope models (excluding the EC models; see mar- gin note) is through the operation of Autostar. Nearly all functions of the telescope areaccomplished with just a few pushes of Autostar’s b...

10 Note: If ENTER is pressed for two seconds or more and then released, Autostar emits a beep and “ENTER to Sync” is displayed. "ENTER toSync" may be used only after your telescope has been aligned and ispointing at an object. See page 30 for more details. 3 MODE Key: Press to return to the ...

11 As you unpack your telescope, carefully note the following parts. The assembly isshipped in separate boxes. Telescope Assembly ■ Equatorial mount with polar alignment finder ■ Heavy duty, adjustable aluminum tripod with leg braces, three tripod leg lockknobs, and a captive mount locking knob ■ Co...

12 Note: If the counterweight ever slips, the safety cap (23, Fig. 1d) preventsthe counterweight from sliding entirely off the shaft. Always leave the safety cap in place when the counterweight is on the shaft. 6. Set the latitude: Setting the latitude is easier if it is set before you attach the op...

13 thumbscrews to a firm feel only. Insert the supplied SP 26mm eyepiece (3, Fig.1b) into the the diagonal. Tighten the diagonal's thumbscrews to a firm feel tosecure the eyepiece. Note: Two eyepiece holders are included with your telescope—for both1.25" and 2" eyepieces. To change eyepiece ...

14 Important Note: Objectsappear upside-down andreversed left-for-right whenobserved in the viewfinder.With refracting telescopemodels, objects viewedthrough the main telescopewith the diagonal mirror inplace are seen right-side-up,but reversed left-for-right. This image inversion is of noconsequenc...

15 Low power eyepieces offer a wide field of view, bright, high-contrast images, and eyerelief during long observing sessions. To find an object with a telescope, always startwith a lower power eyepiece such as the Super Plössl 26mm. When the object islocated and centered in the eyepiece, you may wi...

16 supplied with your telescope. When the object is centered and focused in the eye-piece, switch to a higher power eyepiece to enlarge the image as much as practi-cal for prevailing viewing conditions. For information about other eyepieces avail-able for your telescope, see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES , p...

17 Speeds 1, 2, or 3: Best used for fine centering of an object in the field of view of ahigher power eyepiece, such as a 12mm or a 9mm eyepiece.Speeds 4, 5, or 6: Enables centering an object in the field of a low-to-moderate powereyepiece, such as the standard Super Plössl 26mm.Speeds 7 or 8: Best ...

18 Observe a Star using the Automatic Tracking Feature In this example, Autostar's Arrow keys are used to find a star, and then Autostar'stracking capability automatically keeps the star centered in your telescope's eyepiece.EC handbox users, see APPENDIX D , page 58, for information about tracking ...

19 Moving Through Autostar’s Menus (Autostar Models Only) Autostar's menus are organized for quick and easy navigation. ■ Press ENTER (2, Fig. 2) to go deeper into Autostar menu levels. ■ Press MODE (3, Fig. 2) to move back toward the top menu level. ■ Press the Scroll keys (7, Fig. 2) to move up an...

20 a. Autostar prompts you to enter the Country or State (listed alphabetically) ofthe observing site. Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the database ofcountries, states, and provinces. Press ENTER when the correct locationdisplays. b. Autostar then prompts you to enter the nearest city (listed a...

21 15. "Drive Setup: For this...." begins to scroll across the display. This is another reminder to point your telescope at a terrestrial object. Loosen the R.A. and Dec.locks (17 and 33, Fig. 1d) and point the telescope at an object. Then re-tightenthe locks. Press ENTER when the telescope ...

22 5. Press GO TO. “Saturn: Slewing...” displays and the telescope slews until it finds Saturn. You may need to use the Arrow keys to center Saturn precisely in theeyepiece. Autostar then automatically slews (moves) the telescope so that ittracks Saturn (or whatever other object you may have chosen)...

It is important to understand that menu selections are set in a loop (Fig. 19). This meansthat pressing the Scroll Down key ( 7, Fig. 2) cycles down through all the available options within a given category, then returns to the first option. The Scroll Up key (7,Fig. 2) cycles up through the options...

26 MENUS Object Menu Almost all observing with Autostar is performed using the Object menu category.(Note: Exceptions include Guided Tour and Landmark Survey.) See GO TO SATURN , page 21, for an example of observing using the Object menu. Also see USING THE GUIDED TOUR , page 22. Autostar contains m...

28 ■ Set: Enter the time to be counted down, in hours, minutes, and seconds, then pressENTER. ■ Start/Stop: Activates the timer set previously. Use the Scroll keys to togglebetween ON and OFF. When ON is displayed, press ENTER to activate the timer.When the timer runs out, four beeps sound and the t...

29 Date changes the date used by Autostar. This function is useful to check events in thepast or future. For example, set the Date menu for a day three months in the future.Then check the "Select Item: Event" menu for the Sunset time on that date. See EVENT MENU , page 27. Time changes the t...

30 a. Sidereal: The default tracking setting for Autostar; sidereal rate is the stan-dard rate at which stars move from East to West across the sky due to therotation of the Earth. b. Lunar: Choose this option to properly track the Moon over long observingsessions. c. Custom: Allows entry of user-de...

31 ■ Address: Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to enter your street address, city,state, and zip code. Press ENTER when the entry is complete. Download transfers information from another Autostar. During the operation, thewarning “Downloading Do Not Turn Off” appears. Clone uploads information from on...

32 USEFUL AUTOSTAR PROCEDURES Before trying out the examples in this section, familiarize yourself with the basic oper-ations of Autostar described earlier in this manual. The following examples assumethat you have a basic knowledge of Autostar and understand how to scroll to a desiredmenu or menu o...

33 11. Press MODE. "Site: Edit" displays. 12. Using the Arrow keys, scroll to "Site: Select." The site you have just edited dis- plays. Press ENTER to select the site or press MODE to exit. Using Autostar to Find Objects Not in the Libraries In this procedure, you will enter coordina...

34 Observing Satellites In this procedure, you will prepare your telescope to observe a satellite pass. 1. Navigate to the "Object: Satellite" menu option and press ENTER. 2. Use the Scroll keys to scroll through the list of satellites. 3. Select a satellite from the list and press ENTER. 4....

35 Another setup method is to select an object from the Landmark database. See TO SELECT A LANDMARK FROM THE DATABASE below. Then manually move the tele- scope's optical tube and center this object in the telescope eyepiece. 2. Display the "Setup: Targets" menu option. Choose "Terrestria...

36 Photography through an LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian and Newtonian Reflector telescope requires an LXD75-Series T-Adapter (supplied) attached to the telescope ( Fig. 22a). Through-the-telescope photography is possible with any 35mm camera body with aremovable lens. In this way, the telescope effectivel...

37 OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A wide assortment of professional Meade accessories is available for the LXD75-Series telescope models. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the qual-ity of the instrument itself. Consult the Meade General Catalog for complete detailson these and other a...

40 MAINTENANCE General Maintenance LXD75-Series telescopes are precision optical instruments designed to yield a lifetime of rewarding applications. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument,your LXD75 will rarely, if ever, require factory servicing. Maintenance guidelines include: a. ...

41 shipment of your telescope. It is only necessary for you to confirm that the telescopehas not been badly jarred out of collimation, and to perform the final fine-tuning of Step4, below. Fig. 31a shows a correctly collimated Schmidt-Newtonian telescope, as it appearswhen viewed through the focuser...

46 SPECIFICATIONS 6" f/5 Model SN-6AT, SN-6EC Specifications Optical design ..............................................Schmidt-NewtonianClear aperture ..............................................6" (152mm)Focal length ................................................762mmFocal ratio (pho...

49 Autostar Specifications Processor ............................................................................ 68HC11, 8MHz Flash Memory ............................................................1.0MB, reloadableKeypad ........................................................................20 k...

50 A celestial coordinate system was created that maps an imaginary sphere surround-ing the Earth upon which all stars appear to be placed. This mapping system is simi-lar to the system of latitude and longitude on Earth surface maps. In mapping the surface of the Earth, lines of longitude are drawn...

51 Polaris Little Dipper Big Dipper Cassiopeia Fig. 42 Locating Polaris. star, and also of the object you wish to locate, in a star atlas. Point the object at thebright star. Then loosen the R.A. setting circle lock knob (32, Fig. 1d) and turn theR.A. setting circle to read the correct R.A. coordina...

52 APPENDIX B: ENHANCINGPOINTING PRECISION The Polar Alignment Viewfinder Typically Autostar's pointing capabilities are sufficient for most telescope observers,and the use of the polar alignment viewfinder is unnecessary for them. However, forthose observers who need to meet the more demanding requ...

53 4. Autostar then chooses three stars from its database to align upon. When the telescope slews to a star for alignment, it may not appear in the field of view in theeyepiece. Use the Arrow keys to move the telescope until the star is visible andcentered in the eyepiece. The alignment star should ...

54 Important Note: The image will appear right-side-up, but reversed left-for-right, in the eyepiece of a refractor telescope. The image will appear upside-down, but correct left-for-right, in the eyepiece of a Schmidt- Newtonian telescope, if the eyepiece extends horizontally from the tube, asdescr...

55 7. Rotate the telescope 180° in the R.A. axis ONLY, to return the optical tube to position A. 8. Repeat steps 5 through 8, if necessary, alternating between position A and posi- tion B, and bringing the reference object halfway of the remaining distance tocenter. Stop the procedure once the dista...

56 The telescope first moves 180° on the Dec. axis and then rotates 180° on theR.A. axis. Autostar displays "Slewing....". When the telescope has completed the 180° slew, the telescope will be underthe mount instead of over it. The counterweight shaft is now pointed upwardsand the cradle adj...

57 APPENDIX C: LATITUDE CHART Latitude Chart for Major Cities of the World To aid in the polar alignment procedure (see pages 17-21), latitudes of major cities around the world are listed below. To determine the lati-tude of an observing site not listed on the chart, locate the city closest to your ...

58 APPENDIX D: EC HANDBOX Some LXD75 models (designated with an “EC,” for example, AR-5EC) come equippedwith an Electronic Controller (EC) handbox, rather than the Autostar Handbox. TheElectronic Controller provides you with the means to control the telescope motors froma compact handbox. The Electr...

59 5 MODE Key: Press and hold MODE to place the Electronic Controller into theMode function, i.e., to select operation for the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.See TRACKING RATES , page 60. 6 OUT Key: Use this key to decrease the tracking rate. See TRACKING RATES , page 60. 7 IN Key: Use this key to ...

60 7. When the test is complete, light 1 remains on; lights 2, 3, and 4 turn off. 8. Use the four Arrow keys (1, Fig. 49) to slew the telescope to the desired object.To change the slew speed, press SPEED. 9. Fine-adjust the position of the object with the Electronic Controller Arrow keys sothat it i...

61 Note: The tracking rate can be increased by up to 65%. 4. To use a rate slower than sidereal, press OUT (6, Fig. 49) until light 4 blinks again(sidereal rate). Press OUT key and light 4 goes out, signifying a tracking rate0.5% slower than sidereal. Note that when the Mode function is active, thet...

62 APPENDIX E: MOUNTINGTHE MODEL SC-8 SCHMIDT-CASSEGRAIN OPTICALTUBE How to Attach the Optical Tube to the Mount The LXD75 model SC-8 Schmidt-Cassegrain assembles and operates identically toall the other LXD75 models equipped with an Autostar handbox, with one exception:the optical tube is attached ...

63 In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo, using a telescope smaller than your LXD75 , turned it skyward instead of looking at the distant trees and mountains. What he saw, and what he realized about what he saw, has forever changed the waymankind thinks about the universe. Imagine what...

64 PlanetsPlanets change positions in the sky as they orbit around the Sun. To locate the plan-ets on a given day or month, consult a monthly astronomy magazine, such as Skyand Telescope or Astronomy. You can also consult Autostar for information about planets. Scroll to the "Object: Solar Syste...

14-7500-01 7/04 MEADE LIMITED WARRANTY Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is warranted by Meade Instruments Corporation (“Meade”)to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U.S.A.and Canada. Meade w...