Meade LXD55 - Manual

8 2( Polar Alignment Viewfinder: Allows you to precisely polar align the telescope.Useful when performing astrophotography. See page 50. 3) Polar Alignment Viewfinder Reticle and LED Knob: Rotate the knob to switchon or off the LED that illuminates the reticle within the polar alignment finder. Besu...

9 Fig. 2: The Autostar Handbox. Tour the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of most LXD55-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. MODE Key: Press to return to the pr...

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 Unscrew the safety cap (23, Fig. 1d) from the shaft. Holding the counterweight(21, Fig. 1d) firmly in one hand, slip the counterweight to approximately the mid-point of the counterweight shaft (22, Fig. 1d). Tighten the counterweight lockknob to a firm feel. Replace the safety cap. Note: If the c...

13 Insert the eyepiece: Achromatic refractor and Schmidt-Cassegrain models(Fig. 10b): Lift to remove the dust cap from the eyepiece holder on the focuserassembly. Set the dust cap aside in a safe place and replace it when you havefinished observing to protect the eyepiece assembly. Back off the eyep...

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 Your telescope comes supplied with a Super Plössl (SP) 26mm eyepiece which givesa wide, comfortable field of view with high image resolution. 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 telesc...

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 55, 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 availableoptions within a given category, then returns to the first option. The Scroll Up key (7,Fig. 2) cycles up through the options i...

25 Solar System MercuryEtc.MoonAsteroidsComets Constellations AndromedaEtc. Deep Sky Named ObjectGalaxiesNebulaePlanetary Neb.Etc. Star Named SAO CatalogDoubleVariableEtc. Satellite SelectAddDeleteEdit User Objects SelectAddDeleteEdit Landmarks SelectAddDelete IdentifyBrowse Start SearchEdit Paramet...

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 Time changes the time entered into Autostar. Setting the correct time is critical forAutostar to properly calculate locations and events. Time may be set to 24-hour mode(military time) by selecting the "blank" option (i.e., no option is displayed) which fol-lows the "AM" and "...

30 b. Lunar: Choose this option to properly track the Moon over long observingsessions. c. Custom: Allows entry of user-defined tracking rates. ■ Reverse L/R: Reverses the functions of the Left and Right Arrow keys (i.e., theRight key moves the telescope to the left). ■ Reverse U/D: Reverses the fun...

31 Statistics provides basic statistical data about Autostar, including: ■ Characters Free: Shows how much room is available in user-defined objectmemory. ■ Version: Shows the current version of the Autostar software. Reset completely resets Autostar. Most values entered into the menus revert to fac...

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 LXD55 Schmidt-Newtonian telescope requires an LXD55-Series T- Adapter (supplied) attached to the telescope (Fig. 22). Through-the-telescope photog-raphy is possible with any 35mm camera body with a removable lens. In this way, the tel-escope effectively becomes the lens of ...

37 OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A wide assortment of professional Meade accessories is available for the LXD55-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 LXD55-Series telescopes are precision optical instruments designed to yield a lifetime of rewarding applications. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument,your LXD55 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...

44 Inspecting the Optics A Note About the “Flashlight Test: If a flashlight or other high-intensity light sourceis pointed down the main telescope tube, the view (depending upon the observer’sline of sight and the angle of the light) may reveal what appears to be scratches, darkor bright spots, or j...

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

47 Alignment ....................................................German-type equatorial mountSlew Speeds ................................................1x sidereal to 4.5°/sec in 9 incrementsTripod ..........................................................Variable-height field tripodAccessories ......

48 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...

49 Polaris Little Dipper Big Dipper Cassiopeia Fig. 35: 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. coordin...

50 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...

52 4. Observe the position of the object in the eyepiece. Assuming that the declinationwas properly set in the previous procedure, the object should have moved onlyhorizontally (that is, side-to-side) from its original position. It may be out of theeyepiece altogether. 5. Using the adjustment mechan...

53 Method 2: Axis Alignment Using Autostar Perform this procedure during the daytime. You will need to have an unobstructedview of an easily sighted landmark, such as a light post. Use a low-power eyepiece,such as the supplied 26mm. This procedure assumes that you have some familiaritywith Autostar'...

54 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 ...

55 APPENDIX D: EC HANDBOX The model SN-6EC , model SN-8EC , and model AR-5EC come equipped with an Electronic Controller (EC) handbox, rather than the Autostar Handbox. The ElectronicController provides you with the means to control the telescope motors from a com-pact handbox. The Electronic Contro...

56 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 57. OUT Key: Use this key to decrease the tracking rate. See TRACKING RATES , page 57. IN Key: Use this key to increa...

57 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. 42) 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...

58 Note: The tracking rate can be increased by up to 65%. 4. To use a rate slower than sidereal, press OUT (6, Fig. 3) 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, thetr...

59 APPENDIX E: MOUNTINGTHE MODEL SC-8 SCHMIDT-CASSEGRAIN OPTICALTUBE How to Attach the Optical Tube to the Mount The LXD55 model SC-8 Schmidt-Cassegrain assembles and operates identically toall the other LXD55 models equipped with an Autostar handbox, with one exception:the optical tube is attached ...

60 In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo, using a telescope smaller than your LXD55 , 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...

61 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 aboutplanets. Scroll to the "Object: Solar System...

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