Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product RCX400 Meade
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Instruction Manual 16", 20" RCX400 ™ Ad v anced Ritche y-Chrétien T elescopes with The Max Mount MEADE.COM.
DANGER Read this manual carefully before attempting to assemble the MA X mount and attaching the OT A . Follow steps as outlined in this manual in order to assemble the telescope safely . Failure to follow steps may result in injur y or death, and/or damage to the telescope and mount .
T elescope F eatures ...................................................... 4 A utostar II F eatures ........................................................11 Assembly ........................................................................14 T ripod Assembly .
4 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
5 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. P edestal Assembly MAX's P edestal assembly can be configured to cov er three latitude ranges without the need of disassembly .
6 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Right Ascension Housing Assembly The RA Housing mates to the P edestal easily , sliding fir mly into a dovetail b lock that measures ov er 100 square inches.
7 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Declination Housing Assemb ly The Dec Housing mates to the RA Housing using another huge dov etail b lock.
8 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Counterweights The MAX counterweights are beautifully crafted with sure loc king, but quic k release , b uttons .
9 Optical T ube Assembly MAX is sold stand alone, or it is a v ailable b undled with Meade's 16” RCX400 ™ or 20” RCX400™ Optical T ube Assemblies .
10 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
Fig. 2: The Autostar II Handbo x. T our the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of Max and RCX400 telescope models is through the operation of the standard A utostar II system. Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a f e w pushes of A utostar II’ s buttons .
12 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. The A utostar II system provides control of virtually ev ery telescope function.
4 FOCUS : T oggles between two functions . The first press allows you to change the f ocus and f ocus speed. The next press allo ws y ou to create presets that tell the telescope where to f ocus. 5 SS : Press to displa y the Solar System library . 6 ST AR: Press to display the Star libr ary .
14 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 5 4 3 2 1 A Phillips screwdriv er will be useful during assembly . Ref er to images pages 4 to 10 f or location of various telescope f eatures .
Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 15 9 10 11 A 7 8 Tighten (rotate) the lock knobs belo w the P edestal to a "tight" f eel.
12 13 14 15 A 16 THE RA ASSEMBL Y Slide the RA assembly onto the P edestal dov etail. CAUTION: MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FINGERS ARE CLEAR OF THE TRACK BEFORE YOU SLIDE THE RA ASSEMBLY INTO THE PEDESTAL TRACK. THE RA ASSEMBLY REQUIRES TWO PEOPLE TO LIFT. Tighten the RA assembly loc k knob .
17 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 15 B 16 17 18 ...Slide down to the hard stop . Slide saf ety pin into the hole .
18 19 21 20 A 20 B A TT A CH COUNTER WEIGHTS Line up a fix ed counterweight's 4 bolts with the f our threaded holes in the Dec assembly base . The weights can only be positioned with indentations lined up in a v er tical or ientation. Slide the bolts into the threaded holes and tighten each securing knob by hand until it reaches the top .
23 24 22 A 22 B 19 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Put on adjustable counterw eights (three f or 20 inch models, tw o f or 16 inch models).
20 25 26 A 26 B 26 C 26 D A TT A CH OPTICAL TUBE T O THE DEC SADDLE Adjust the clamps so that there is NO T a gap. The O T A should ha v e its dust co v er attached when left stored on the ground in an upright position. A minimum of f our people are needed to lift the optical tube .
31 21 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do no t look thr ough the t elescope as it is mo ving. 27 28 29 30 ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS Attach the O T A cab le to the saddle plate.
22 HOME POSITION AND B ALANCING THE O T A After pow er is applied and A utostar has initialized, press MODE to mov e to the ver tical home position (32). CAUTION : BEFORE DISASSEMBLING , THE TELE- SCOPE MUST BE PUT INTO THE HOME POSITION. Bef ore using the telescope , y ou will need to balance it in both the RA and Dec ax es .
23 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. When the displa y readout is close to "1" (perhaps .99 or 1.01) and remains close to 1 while it is moving, it is balanced.
24 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. T o Attach the handbox holder: Remov e the handbo x holder from the plastic bag.
Focusing the T elescope All f ocusing is perf ormed digitally , using AutoStar II’ s Focus k ey (n umber k ey 4). The Focus k ey functions as a toggle k ey: J Press the F ocus ke y the first time to f ocus the telescope e yepiece and to control the speed at which you f ocus.
scope), you can use A utostar to control both the RCX and the microfocuser . Make sure you ha v e connected the saddle plate to the RCX and the microf ocuser to y our tele- scope and also the saddle plate's F ocuser por t. Follow this procedure: • Press the Number K e y 4 and A utostar displa ys "O T A: F ast" displa ys.
27 Aligning for the Fir st Time If you wish to ha v e precise pointing accuracy , the first time you align your telescope y ou will need to align it to using A utomatic Alignment and Drift Alignment . Y ou will then electronically collimate the telescope, square the O T A and finally calibrate home .
28 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. How to Drift Align Max (Northern Hemisphere) Important Note: Y ou will need a reticle to perform this procedure 1.
29 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Follow these steps f or collimation of the optical system: The only adjustments possible , or necessary , on the RCX 400 models is performed with the A utoStar handbo x.
30 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
31 It is impor tant to understand that menu selections are set in a loop ( Fig. 44 ). This means that pressing the Scroll Down k ey cycles do wn through all the a v ailable options within a giv en categor y , then retur ns to the first option. The Scroll Up key cycles up through the options in the opposite order .
4. Press the Scroll Down k ey once to displa y the "Sunset" option in the Event menu. 5. Press the ENTER ke y to choose the "Sunset" option and mov e down another le vel. 6. A utostar II calculates the Sunset time based on the current date, time , and loca- tion.
33 AUTOST AR II's MENUS Figure 46: The Complete A utostar II Men u T ree Str ucture . Hold do w n MODE f or tw o s econds and the fol lowing data displa ys: • Ri ght Ascension and Declination c.
34 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Object Menu Almost all obser ving with A utostar II is perf ormed using the Object menu categor y .
35 Bro wse: Allows y ou to search the library for objects with certain parameters, much like a search engine . "Edit P arameters" lets y ou set various parameters for the search, such as: Object T ype, Minimum Ele vation, Largest, etc . Once you ha v e set the param- eters of the search, select "Star t Search" and press ENTER.
O T A Fan: Allo ws y ou to turn the fan off or on if you ha ve an RCX model. The fan assists with the stabilization of the optics. The fan should be activ ated at the begin- ning of an obser ving session and run until the optics hav e achie v ed an equilibrium with the en vironment.
37 Important Note: When the "P ark Scope" option is chosen and the display prompts y ou to turn off the telescope's power , Autostar II is unab le to be returned to operation without tur ning the power off and then bac k on.
Tip: If the "ENTER to Sync" f ea - ture is accessed by mistak e (holding the ENTER ke y f or more than 2 seconds), press MODE to return to the previous screen. J T rain Drive : All telescopes hav e a certain amount of "backlash" (looseness in the inter pla y of gears).
39 Da ylight Sa ving : Enab les or disables the Da ylight Savings time setting. Note : Da ylight Savings Time ma y be ref erred to by diff erent names in vari- ous areas of the world. Chec k local time to v erify . Smart Mount: See page 55 f or detailed information.
Statistics: Provides basic statistical data about A utostar II, including: J Characters Free : Displays ho w much room is a v ailable in user-defined object memor y . J V ersion : Displa ys the current v ersion of the A utostar II software . J Serial Number : Displa ys the unit's serial number .
ADV ANCED AUTOST AR II FEA TURES Bef ore tr ying out the e xamples in this section, f amiliarize y ourself with the basic oper- ations of A utostar II described ear lier in this manual.
42 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 11. Press MODE. "Site: Edit" displa ys. 12. Using the Arrow k eys , scroll to "Site: Select.
Observing Satellites In this procedure, y ou will prepare your telescope to observe a satellite pass . 1. Navigate to the "Object: Satellite" menu option and press ENTER. 2. Use the Scroll ke ys to scroll through the list of satellites. 3. Select a satellite from the list and press ENTER.
44 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 2. Navigate to the "Object: Identify" option and press ENTER. 3. "Searching.
Note: Autostar II locates align- ment stars based on the date, time, and location entered. The alignment stars may change from night to night. All that is required is for the observer to center the selected stars in the ey epiece when prompted. Tip: T ry a Spiral Search The GO TO ke y also allows y ou to perf or m a "spiral search.
computer control panel/ Plug the other end into a USB por t of your PC Ne xt, you will install the A utostar Suite software from the CD ROM. This software pro- vides a men u that allows y ou to download the latest version of A utostar II software into the A utostar II handbox.
47 OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A wide assor tment of prof essional Meade accessories is av ailable f or the RCX400 tel- escope models. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the quality of the instr ument itself. Consult the Meade General Catalog f or complete details on these and other accessories.
Series 4000 Nebular Filter s: A moder n boon to the city-dwelling deep-space obser v er , the interference neb ular filter eff ectiv ely cancels out the eff ects of most urban light pollution, while leaving the light of deep-space neb ular emissions vir tual- ly unattenuated.
49 filter . The filter increases visual and photographic contrast, decreases glare, and helps to penetrate haze . RCX A C W all Adapter: P er mits powering from a standard home (115v A C) outlet. Cigarette Lighter Adapter: P owering the RCX400 telescope b y means of an automo- bile cigarette lighter plug.
MAINTENANCE RCX400 telescopes are precision optical instruments designed to yield a lifetime of rew arding applications. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument, y our RCX400 will rarely , if ev er , require factory ser vicing. Maintenance guidelines include: a.
51 T otal instrument capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 lbs. Aper ture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16" & 20" Optical design . . . . . . . . . . .
52 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. W eights and Dimension W eights Dimensions RA Housing Assembly 66 pounds L = 20.
53 APPENDIX A: LA TITUDE CHART Latitude Chart for Major Cities of the W orld T o aid in the polar alignment procedure, latitudes of major cities around the world are listed below . T o determine the latitude of an obser ving site not listed on the char t, locate the city closest to your site .
54 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. APPENDIX B: THE MOON The Moon option of the Object menu allows y ou to obser ve the moon in a wa y nev er possible bef ore.
APPENDIX C: Smart Mount Intr oduction Smar t Mount improv es the pointing accuracy of y our RCX 400 telescope's "Go to" sys- tem. Despite careful eff or ts to calibrate and align telescopes, the y may f ail to precisely center objects.
56 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. • Sav e your model, using a good, descriptive name, using the “Save As” menu.
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14-7753-00 8/06 A 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 or iginal purchase in the U .
An important point after buying a device Meade RCX400 (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 RCX400 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 RCX400 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Meade RCX400 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Meade RCX400 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Meade RCX400, 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 RCX400.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Meade RCX400. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Meade RCX400 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
