Meade ETX-90PE - Manual

TELESCOPE FEATURES 6 1 2 6 16 4 15 7 3 Features of the ETX-90PE, ETX-105PE and ETX-125PE are identical,with the exception of the size ofoptical tube. 8 14 18 Fig. 1a, b and Fig. 2: The ETX Premier Telescope 1 Eyepiece 2 SmartFinder 3 Holder Thumbscrew 4 90° Eyepiece Holder 5 Optical Tube 6 Vertical ...

MEADE ETX: YOUR PERSONALWINDOW TO THE UNIVERSE The Meade Premier Edition ETX-90PE, ETX-105PE and the ETX-125PE areextremely versatile, high-resolution telescopes. With pushbutton controls, automatictracking of celestial objects and diffraction-limited imaging, an ETX Premier telescopemay be all the ...

8 j Horizontal (R.A.) Lock: Controls the manual horizontal rotation of the telescope.Loosen the horizontal lock counterclockwise to unlock the telescope, enabling it tobe freely rotated by hand about the horizontal axis. Tightening the horizontal lockclockwise prevents the telescope from being rotat...

9 Fig. 4: The AutoStar Handbox. AUTOSTAR FEATURES 1 4 7 9 J 8 35 6 L K Want to learn more aboutdownloading the latestupdates of AutoStarsoftware from theMeade website? Seepages 28 and 42. Tour the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of ETX Telescopes is through the operation of the standar...

10 B 2-Line LCD Display: This screen displays AutoStar's menus and informationabout the telescope. • Top line: Lists the primary menu. • Bottom line: Displays other menus that may be chosen, menu options,telescope status or information about a function that is being per-formed. c ENTER Key: Press to...

11 Also, use the Arrow keys to scroll through numbers 0 through 9 and the alphabet.The Down Arrow key begins with the letter "A;" the Up Arrow key begins with digit"9." Additionally, use the Arrow keys to to move the cursor across the display: Use theRight or Left Arrow key to move t...

12 GETTING STARTED Fig. 5: Battery installation. Fig. 6: Spread tripod legs. Fig. 7: Slide spreader on rod. Parts Listing Getting the telescope ready for first observations requires only a few minutes. Whenfirst opening the packing box, note carefully the following parts: • ETX Premier Telescope wit...

13 4. Place the 26mm eyepiece ( 12, Fig. 15) into the eyepiece holder on the telescope and tighten the attachment thumbscrew ( 13, Fig. 15) to a "firm feel" only. Make sure that the flip-mirror control ( 14, Fig. 15) is in the “up” position, as shown in the above photo. See page 14, for more...

14 Fig. 20a & 20b : Jupiter: Examples of the right amount of magnification and too muchmagnification. Fig. 19: Meade SuperPlössl eyepieces. Too Much Power? Can you ever have too much power? If the type of power you’re referring to iseyepiece magnification, yes, you can! The most common mistake o...

15 OBSERVING Observing by Moving the Telescope Manually If you wish to observe a distant land object, such as a mountain top or a bird, you canobserve by merely pointing the telescope and looking through the eyepiece.1. Loosen the telescope’s horizontal lock ( 9, Fig. 1a) and vertical lock (6, Fig. ...

16 Slew Speeds AutoStar has nine slew speeds that move the optical tube at rates that are directly proportional to the sidereal rate and have been calculated to accomplish specific functions. Press the Number key to change the slew speed. The nine available speeds are: Number Key 1 = 1x = 1 x sidere...

17 Initializing AutoStar for the First Time This section describes how to initialize AutoStar. Perform this procedure the first timeyou use AutoStar or after performing a Reset (see RESET , page 28). AutoStar will ask you to choose your observing location and your telescope’s modelnumber from the li...

18 Which One’s the Alignment Star? If you’re not familiar with objects in the night sky, how can you be sure if the starin your eyepiece is really the alignment star? The rule of thumb is that an alignment star is usually the brightest star in thatarea of the sky. If you perform a GO TO to an alignm...

19 5. Use the Arrow keys ( 5, Fig. 2) to locate a bright star in the night sky. Use the smartfinder ( 2, Fig. 1a) to help line up on the star. You may choose any unob- structed, bright star for the purposes of this example. Use AutoStar's Arrow keysto center the star in the eyepiece. Once the star i...

AUTOSTAR OPERATION ObjectEvent Guided ToursGlossaryUtilitiesSetup 20 DateTimeDaylight SavingTelescopeTargetsetc. Setup Align Fig. 27b: Menu options display onthe second line. Use the Scroll keysto move up or down through the listof options. Press ENTER to selectthe desired option. Fig. 27a: Menus se...

23 Want to learn more aboutObserving Satellites? Seepage 32. Use the OBJECT menu to select an object from thedatabase. When your telescope isaligned and you select anobject from any of theselists, you just need to pressthe GO TO key to move thetelescope so that it is pointed at the selectedobject. O...

24 WARNING!Never useyour ETX Telescope to look at the Sun! Lookingat or near the Sun willcause instant and irreversible damage toyour eye. Eye damage isoften painless, so there isno warning to the observer that damage hasoccurred until it is toolate. Do not point the telescope at or near theSun. Do ...

25 Tip:The Contrast Adjustmentfeature is usually onlyrequired in very coldweather. If you adjust the contrastso that you can no longerread the display, turn offthe power and turn it onagain. When Versionappears on the display (theinitial display screens arenot affected by theContrast control), press...

26 Sleep Scope is a power saving option that shuts down AutoStar and the telescopewithout forgetting its alignment. With "Sleep Scope" selected, press ENTER to activate the Sleep function. AutoStar goes dark, but the internal clock keeps running.Press any key, except ENTER, to re-activate Au...

27 J Tracking Rate: Changes the speed at which the telescope tracks targets in thesky. a. Sidereal: The default setting for AutoStar; sidereal rate is the standard rateat which stars move from East to West across the sky due to the rotation ofthe Earth. b. Lunar: Choose this option to properly track...

28 J Add: Scroll through the list of Countries/States. Press ENTER when the site youwish to add displays. Then choose the desired city in the same manner. Choose ZipCode to enter your zip code, if you wish. Choose “Custom” if you wish enter thename of an observing site. In this method, you will ente...

29 Before trying out the examples in this section, familiarize yourself with the basic operations 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 option and how to enter numbe...

30 Using AutoStar to Find Objects Not in the Database In this procedure, you will enter coordinates of celestial objects that do not appear inany of the AutoStar database lists. You will enter the object's name and R.A. and Dec.coordinates (required information). You may also enter the object's magn...

31 3. Select a satellite from list and press ENTER. 4. "Calculating...." and then "Tracking..." displays. If the satellite is going to make apass, "Located" displays. 5. Use the Scroll keys to display data about the pass: aos – acquisition of signal andlos – loss of signal. I...

34 STAR "name" Enter STAR followed by the name of the desired star in quotes. For example: STAR"Vega" LANDMARK az alt "title" "description" Enter the azimuth (az) for the desired object in the following format: xxxdxxmxxs. Forexample: 123d27m00s. Then enter the altitu...

35 To Add a landmark to the database:In this procedure, you will store the location of terrestrial landmarks in AutoStar'smemory. 1. Set the telescope in the home position, if necessary. Note for future referencewhere the telescope is located and if you have aligned the telescope, which alignment me...

36 displays information about an object in its database that is closest to the one youqueried about. IMPORTANT NOTE: For this function to operate properly, you must firstset the telescope in the home position and initialize AutoStar. If you physically move the telescope after initialization, this fu...

37 One-Star Alt/Az Alignment One-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky. AutoStar provides adatabase of bright stars. One-Star Alignment is identical to Two-Star Alt/Az: Alignment(see TWO-STAR ALT/AZ ALIGNMENT , above), except only one star from this database is chosen by the observ...

38 2. Look through the reticle. Use the Arrow keys to keep the star centered in the reticle cross-hairs. AutoStar displays a count of the 150 positions of the worm gear. Whenthe count reaches 150, one cycle is complete. A full cycle takes about 24 minutes. 3. Press MODE to exit. PEC Update Menu Opti...

39 Photography with a 35mm Camera Photography through your ETX model requires the addition of the optional #64 T-Adapter (see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES , page 42). With the #64 T-Adapter attached to the telescope ( Fig. 30), through-the-telescope photography is possible with any 35mm camera body with a r...

40 Photography through a long lens, such as the ETX, requires special technique forgood results. The photographer should expect to use several rolls film in acquiring thistechnique. Long-lens photography has its own rewards, however, which short-focuslenses cannot duplicate. A Few Tips on Photograph...

41 • If the camera is not directly coupled to the eyepiece, keep it as close to the eyepiece as possible and center the image to be photographed to minimizevignetting (darkening of the edges of the photo). • Try to block ambient light (from street lights, house, etc.) from the eyepiece andthe camera...

42 OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A wide assortment of professional Meade accessories are available for the for ETXtelescopes. Meade accessories greatly extend many important applications to the telescope, from low-power, wide-field terrestrial viewing to high-power lunar and planetary observing. The premium ...

43 #932 45° Erecting Prism: All ETX models include an internal optically-flat mirror toreflect light to the telescope’s 90° astronomical observing position. In this position thetelescope’s image is upright, but reversed. For terrestrial observing with an ETXmodel, the #932 Erecting Prism ( Fig. 38) ...

44 MAINTENANCE Your ETX model telescope is a precision optical instrument designed to yield a lifetime of rewarding observations. Given the care and respect due any precisioninstrument, the telescope will rarely require factory servicing or maintenance. Use thefollowing guidelines: 1. Avoid cleaning...

45 Storage and Transport When the telescope is not in use, store it in a cool, dry place. Do not expose the instru-ment to excessive heat or moisture. It is best to store the telescope in its original box with the vertical and horizontal locks ( 6 and 9, Fig. 1a and 1b) in the unlocked positions. If...

46 Object appears in the SmartFinder but not in the eyepiece: • The SmartFinder is not properly aligned with the telescope (see ALIGNING SMARTFINDER , page 13). Slew speed does not change when you press the SPEED key or the telescopemoves slowly even though the fast slew speed is chosen: • The batte...

47 SPECIFICATIONS Specifications: ETX-90PE Astro Telescope Optical design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maksutov-Cassegrain Primary mirror diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96mm (3.78”) Clear aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90mm (3.5”) Focal le...

48 SmartFinder . . . . . . . . . . . Red dot projected onto finder’s lensLNT Module . . . . . . High accuracy, temperature-compensated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . oscillator, updatable using Meade’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . optional ATUM accessory Input voltage . . . . ....

49 AutoStar SpecificationsProcessor ............................................................................ 68HC11, 8MHz Flash Memory ............................................................1MB, reloadableKeypad ........................................................................20 key ...

50 Equatorial Alignment In equatorial (or "polar") Alignment, the telescope is oriented so that the horizontal and vertical axes of the telescope are lined up with the celestial coordinate system. In order to equatorial align your telescope, it is essential to have an understanding of howand...

51 However, owners who wish to perform astrophotography or use the Meade LPI or DeepSky Imager (see PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE’S AUTOSTAR SUITE , page 41, for more information) will find equatorial mounting indispensible to their needs. Equatorial MountEquatorial mounting lines up the telescope’s polar ...

53 Setting Circles The ETX models are equipped with R.A. and Dec. setting circles ( 13 and 16, Fig. 1a) to aid in locating faint celestial objects when the telescope has been polar aligned. Setting cir-cles emulate the celestial coordinates found on star charts or in sky catalogs. Any chartedobject ...

54 APPENDIX B: LATITUDE CHART Latitude Chart for Major Cities of the World To aid in the polar alignment procedure (see page 51), latitudes of major cities around the world are listed below. To determine the latitude ofan observing site not listed on the chart, locate the city closest to your site. ...

55 Train the telescope motors using AutoStar. Perform this procedure if you are experiencing any pointing accuracy problems. Fig. 53 depicts the complete Drive Training procedure. Note: Use a terrestrial object, such as a telephone pole or lamp post, to train the drive. Complete this exercise once e...

APPENDIX D:CHANGING THELNT MODULE BATTERY 56 The LNT Module uses a lithium coin CR2023 battery that will last about 5 years andis installed with the original LNT Module assembly. After you replace the battery, youwill need to recalibrate the telescope’s sensors and reset the time and date. You willn...

57 APPENDIX E:BASICASTRONOMY Fig. 57: The Moon. Notethe deep shadows in thecraters. In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo, using a telescope smaller than your ETX , turned it skyward instead of looking at the distant trees and mountains. What he saw and what he realized about what he s...

58 Fig. 60: The Pleiades isone of the most beautifulopen clusters. Tip:Enter a date in the Datemenu and you can determine if a planet(s)—or any other object in thedatabase—will be visibleduring the night of theentered date. After entering a new date,go to the Object menuand select the desiredplanet ...

14-1010-29 10/04 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...