Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product LX90GPS Meade
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Instruction Manual 8", 10", 12" LX90 GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain T elescopes A utoStar ® — GPS— Smar tFinder ™ ™.
Primary Baffle Tube Field Stops Primary Mirror Ray (1) Ray (2) (2) (1) (2) (1) Secondary Mirror Correcting Plate S econdary B affle (2) (1) F ocal P lane In the Schmidt-Casseg rain design .
Quick-Start Guide .......................................................... 4 T elescope Features ...................................................... 6 T o Attach the Handbox Holder .................................. 8 A utoStar ® F eatures .....
4 QUICK-ST AR T GUIDE It is recommended that you attach the supplied tripod to the LX90 f or obser ving. P erf or m the telescope and AutoStar setup indoors in the light so that you become f amiliar with the par ts and operation bef ore moving the telescope outside into the dark for observing.
5 R ib Battery H older B attery C ompar tment 8. Tighten, to a firm feel only , the Dec and R.A. locks ( X and X, Fig. 1) . Remove the dust co ver from the end of the telescope tube. 10. “Press 0 to align or Mode f or Men u” displays . Y ou can use the Arrow k eys to slew (mo ve) the tele- scope up , down, right, or left.
6 Fig. 1 : The LX90 T elescope and AutoStar Handbo x. TELESCOPE FEA TURES 2 D 3 6 8 J M O P Q A R K N 2! 1@ 2) A B C D D E (not sho wn) 9 1 Eyepiece 2 Ey epiece Holder Thumbscre w 3 Eyepiece Holder 4 Diagonal Prism 5 Optical T ube 6 Dec. Lock 7 Fork Arms 8 Focus Knob 9 R.
7 LX90: Y our P ersonal Window to the Universe The Meade LX90 is an e xtremely versatile, high-resolution telescopes with f eatures similar to those av ailable only with larger and more specializ ed imaging systems.
8 D . A uxiliary (AUX) P or t (2) : Pro vides connection f or the Smar tFinder LNT module, and also current and future Meade accessories, such as the Meade Accessor y P or t Module .
9 Fig. 2: The LX90 A utoStar Handbox. L 1 B D E H I J K C F G T our the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of the LX90 is through the operation of the standard-equipment A utoStar . Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a f ew pushes of A utoStar’ s buttons.
10 The A utoStar Computer Controller provides control of vir tually ev er y telescope function within a compact handbo x. AutoStar has soft-touch k eys designed to ha ve a positiv e feel. The LCD (Liquid Cr ystal Displa y) is backlit with a red LED (Light Emitting Diode) f or easy viewing in the dark.
11 8. The Smar tFinder’ s red dot will now blink on f or 10.2 seconds and turn off for 0.7 seconds , and then repeat the cycle until you change the v alues again. Press and hold MODE c to e xit this function. Similar ly , you can set the Intensity v alue by scrolling through the intensity v alues with the Scroll keys h .
12 Getting the telescope ready f or first obser vations requires only a f ew minutes . When first opening the packing bo x, note carefully the f ollowing par ts: • LX90 T elescope with fork mount system and attached Smar tFinder • A utoStar handbox and interf ace coil cord • Eyepiece holder and 1.
13 6. Place the entire telescope onto the top of the tripod head, and inser t the threaded rod into the centr al hole in the bottom of the drive base of the telescope . Tighten the tension knob ( 3, Fig. 3 ); firm tightening of the tension knob is sufficient to result in r igid positioning of the tr ipod legs.
14 Choosing an Eyepiece A telescope’ s ey epiece magnifies the image formed by the telescope’ s main optics. Each ey epiece has a focal length, e xpressed in millimeters, or “mm.
15 Aligning SmartFinder In order f or the Smar tFinder to be useful, it must first be aligned with the main telescope, so that both the Smar tFinder and the main telescope are pointing at precisely the same location.
16 OBSER VING Observing By Moving the T elescope Manually If you wish to observe a distant land object, such as a mountain top or a bird, y ou can obser ve by merely pointing the telescope and looking through the e yepiece. 1. Loosen the telescope’ s R.
17 2. V erify that AutoStar is properly connected to your telescope . See HO W T O ASSEMBLE Y OUR TELESCOPE , page 13. 3. Flip the telescope power s witch to the ON position. The A utoStar screen is activated and a cop yright message displays briefly , f ollowed b y a shor t beep.
18 Astronomical Observing Used as an astronomical instr ument, your telescope has many optical and electromechanical capabilities. It is in astronomical applications where the high lev el of optical performance is readily visible .
19 A utoStar also deter mines the positioning ( i.e ., tilt and tip) of the optical tube . b. Finds North. Locates magnetic Nor th, then calculates true Nor th. See FINDING TRUE NORTH, page 21. c. Attempts a "GPS Fix ." The GPS receiv er attempts to acquire and sync up with signals from GPS satellite system.
20 Go T o Saturn After perf or ming the Automatic Alignment procedure , the motor dr ive begins oper ating and the telescope is aligned f or a night of viewing. Objects in the ey epiece should maintain their position e ven though the Ear th is rotating beneath the stars.
21 LX90 T ips Fig. 9: The GPS Receiver . GPS Receiv er The Global Positioning System The Global P ositioning System (GPS) is comprised of 24 satellites orbiting the Ear th that are constantly transmitting their precise position and time.
22 It is impor tant to understand that menu selections are set in a loop ( Fig. 11 ). This means that pressing the Scroll Down k ey ( 7, Fig. 2 ) cycles down through all the a vailab le options within a giv en categor y , then retur ns to the first option.
23 T o Calculate Sunset time: 1. Press the MODE ke y sev eral times, until “Select Item: Object” is displa yed. 2. Press the Scroll Down k ey once to displa y the “Ev ent” option in the “Select Item” menu. 3. Press the ENTER ke y to choose the "Event" option and mo ve down a le v el.
MENUS AND MENU OPTIONS 24 T o night's Best H o w F ar is F ar A Star's Life D o wnloaded T ours U s er-created T ours Solar System M e rcury Etc . M o on A s teroids C omets C onstellations A n dromeda Etc . Dee p S k y N amed Obj ect G ala x ies N e b ulae M e ssier Etc .
25 Object Menu Almost all obser ving with A utoStar is performed using the Object menu categor y . ( NO TE: Exceptions include Guided T our and Landmark Sur vey . ) See GO T O SA TURN , page 20, f or an e xample of obser ving using the Object menu. Also see USING THE GUIDED T OUR , page 20.
26 Event Menu The Event men u provides access to dates and times of astronomical e vents. The Event database includes: Sunrise and Sunset calculates the time that the Sun rises or sets on the current date. Find rise and set times for other dates b y entering a new date into the “Setup: Date” menu.
27 J Set : Enter the time of day f or the alarm to sound, in hours, minutes, and seconds , then press ENTER. J Start/Stop : Activates the alarm set previously . Use the Scroll keys to toggle betw een ON and OFF . When ON is display ed, press ENTER to activate the alarm.
28 P ark Scope is designed for a telescope that is not mov ed between observing sessions. Align the telescope one time , then use this function to park the telescope. Next time it is po wered up , enter the correct date and time – no alignment is required.
29 c. Custom : Allows entry of user-defined tracking rates . J Rever se L/R: Rev erses the functions of the Left and Right Arrow ke ys ( i.e. , the Right k ey mov es the telescope to the left ). J Rever se UP/DO WN: Rev erses the functions of the Up and Down Arrow k eys ( i.
30 J Delete : Deletes a stored site from the database. J Edit : Edits a selected site, including: the name, latitude, longitude , and time zone. Time Zone ref ers to the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) time zone shift. Users West of Greenwich, England use “-” hours , East of Greenwich use “+” hours.
31 AD V ANCED A UT OST AR FEA TURES Adding Observing Sites If you plan to observe using A utoStar at different geog raphic locations, y ou can store up to six obser vation sites in A utoStar's memory to help simplify your telescope setup . P erform these procedures using the Site options (Add, Select, Delete, Edit) of the Setup menu.
32 4. Using the Arrow k eys, change the name of the site so that it no w reads the name of your obser ving location. Press ENTER. "Edit: Name" displays again. 5. Press the Scroll Down k ey and "Edit: Latitude" displays. Press ENTER.
33 9. A utoStar then prompts you to enter the magnitude of the object. This step is also optional. Use the Number ke ys to enter this information, if so desired, and press ENTER to go to the ne xt display . "User Object: Add" displays again.
34 How to Create Y our Own Guided T our When a Guided T our is selected, AutoStar sle ws your telescope to a predetermined list of objects and displa ys information about each object, such as type of object, constellation location, R.A. and Dec coordinates, and so f or th.
35 Writing a T our Using the list of commands listed abov e, a custom tour can be created. Placing the word A UT O SELECT bef ore any of the command lines activates A utomatic Mode and, when selected, A utoStar automatically searches and finds the designated object.
36 ASTER OID "name" Enter ASTEROID and then the name of the desired asteroid in quotes . A utoStar displays inf or mation about the asteroid from its database. For e xample: ASTEROID: "Ceres" COMET "name" Enter COMET and then the name of the desired comet in quotes.
37 A UT O SLEW ON / A UT O SLEW OFF With A UT O SLEW ON enabled in the tour , AutoStar automatically sle ws the telescope to objects first bef ore displaying the te xt description. This f eature is useful when designing tours in which obser ving cer tain objects is required.
38 2. Displa y the "Landmar k: Select" menu option. Press ENTER. 3. Use the Scroll ke ys to scroll through the list of objects you ha ve pre viously entered. When the desired object displa ys, press ENTER to select the object. Use the Scroll ke ys to scroll through location inf or mation about the object, if desired.
39 T wo-Star alt/az alignment procedures, y ou will (unlike the A utomatic and Easy alignment pro- cedures) manually place the telescope in the home position. The procedures f or equator ial (polar) alignment are discussed in APPENDIX A , page 50; the three alternative alt/az alignment methods are discussed below .
40 One-Star Alt/Az Alignment One-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky . AutoStar provides a library of br ight stars. One-Star Alignment is identical to T wo-Star Alt/Az: Alignment (see TWO-ST AR AL T/AZ ALIGNMENT , page 38), e xcept only one star from the database is chosen by the observer f or alignment.
41 Photog raph y through the LX90 requires the addition of the optional #62 T–Adapter . See OPTIONAL A CCESSORIES, page 43. With the #62 T -Adapter and a T -mount attached to the telescope ( Fig. 15 ), through-the-telescope photograph y is possible with an y 35mm camera body with a remov able lens.
42 Shor ter exposure times is one of the biggest dr awback. Long exposures with digital cameras introduce undesirab le noise and ar tif acts into a digital image.
43 OPTIONAL A CCESSORIES A wide assor tment of professional Meade accessories is av ailable f or the LX90 telescope. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the quality of the instrument itself. Consult the Meade General Catalog for complete details on these and other accessories.
44 #62 T -Adapter: The T -Adapter ( Fig. 22 ) is the basic means of pr ime-focus photogr aphy through all Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain models . Thread the T -Adapter on to the rear cell of your telescope, f ollowed b y a T -Mount for your 35mm camer a, and the camera body is rigidly coupled to the telescope.
45 MAINTENANCE The LX90 is a precision optical instrument designed to yield a lifetime of re warding applications. Given the care and respect due an y precision instrument, the LX90 will rarely , if e ver , require f actor y ser vicing. Maintenance guidelines include: a.
46 ring of light fills about 10% of the eyepiece field-diameter . If the dark central spot is offset in (i.e., not concentric with) the ring of light, your telescope’ s optical system is misaligned and requires collimation. F ollow these steps for collimation of the optical system: a.
47 Inspecting the Optics A Note About the “Flashlight T est:" If a flashlight or other high-intensity light source is pointed down the main telescope tube , the view (depending upon the observe.
48 8” LX90 Specifications Optical design ............................................................Schmidt-Cassegrain Clear aper ture ............................................................8" F ocal length ...............................
49 12” LX90 Specifications Optical design ............................................................Schmidt-Cassegrain Clear aper ture ............................................................12" F ocal length .............................
50 P olar Alignment In P olar 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 P olar align your telescope , it is essential to hav e an understanding of how and where to locate celestial objects as they mo ve across the sky .
51 Locating the Celestial P ole T o get basic bearings at an obser ving location, tak e note of where the Sun rises (East) and sets (W est) each day . After the site is dar k, face North b y pointing y our left shoulder toward where the Sun sets.
52 Note that the R.A. circle is double-inde xed (i.e ., there are two series of numbers running in opposite directions around the circumf erence of the R.
53 Begin polar aligning the telescope b y locating P olar is. Finding P olar is is simple. Most people recognize the “Big Dipper . ” The Big Dipper has two stars that point the wa y to P olaris ( Fig. 29 ) . Once P olaris is found, it is a straightf orward procedure to obtain a rough polar alignment.
54 1. Obtain a rough polar alignment as described ear lier . Place the illuminated reticle ey epiece (or ey epiece/Bar low combination) into the e yepiece holder of the telescope.
55 NORTH AMERICA City State/Pro v ./Country Latitude Albuquerque New Me xico 35° N Anchorage Alaska 61° N Atlanta Georgia 34° N Boston Massachusetts 42° N Calgary Alber ta 51° N Chicago Illinois .
56 T rain the telescope motors using A utoStar . P erform this procedure if you are e xperiencing any pointing accuracy problems . Fig. 33 depicts the complete Drive T raining procedure. NO TE: Use a terrestrial object, such as a telephone pole or lamp post, to train the dr ive .
57 In the ear ly 17th centur y Italian Scientist Galileo, using a crude telescope considerab ly smaller than the LX90, turned it to look towards the sky instead of distant trees and mountains. What he sa w , and what he realized about what he sa w , fore v er changed the wa y mankind thought of the universe .
58 Planets Planets change positions in the sky as they orbit around the Sun. T o locate the planets on a given da y or month, consult a monthly astronomy magazine , such as Sky and T elescope or Astronom y . Y ou can also consult AutoStar f or inf or mation about planets.
59.
14-6700-00 01/06 (800) 626-3233 www .meade.com MEADE LIMITED W ARRANTY Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is warranted b y Meade Instruments Cor poration (“Meade”) to be free of defects in materials and workmanship f or a period of ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U .
An important point after buying a device Meade LX90GPS (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Meade LX90GPS yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Meade LX90GPS - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Meade LX90GPS you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Meade LX90GPS will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Meade LX90GPS, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Meade LX90GPS.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Meade LX90GPS. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Meade LX90GPS along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
