Meade Instruments LX200-R - Manual (Page 28)

- 28 - Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele-
scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
Sleep Scope: A power saving option that shuts down AutoStar II and the telescope
without forgetting its alignment. With "Sleep Scope" selected, press ENTER to activate
the Sleep function. AutoStar II goes dark, but the internal clock keeps running. Press
any key, except ENTER, to re-activate AutoStar II and the telescope.
Park Scope: Designed for a telescope that is not moved between observing sessions.
Align the telescope one time, then use this function to park the telescope. The next time
it is powered up, pressing ENTER causes the telescope to move to its predetermined
Park position. Once parked, the screen prompts to turn off power.
Important Note: When the "Park Scope" option is chosen and the display
prompts you to turn off the telescope's power, AutoStar II is unable to be
returned to operation without turning the power off and then back on.
Setup Menu
The Setup menu’s primary function is used for manual telescope alignment (see MAN-
UAL ALT/AZ ALIGNMENTS , pages 36 and 37 ). However, there are numerous other fea-
tures available within the Setup menu, including:
Align on Home: For permanently mounted telescopes only. If Calibrate Home has
been performed, power up your telescope and select this menu to return the previous-
ly calibrated home position. In other words, the telescope is fully aligned according to
the setting that were stored in AutoStar II's memory during the Calibrate Home proce-
dure. See
CALIBRATE HOME , page 29, for more information.
Date: Changes the date used by AutoStar II. This function is useful to check events in
the past 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 26.
Time: Changes the time entered into AutoStar II. Setting the correct time is critical for
AutoStar II to properly calculate locations and events. Time may be set to "AM," "PM,"
or 24-hour mode (military time). To select the 24-hour mode, press ENTER when the
the "blank" option displays (
i.e., neither "AM" nor "PM" is displayed).
Daylight Saving: Enables or disables the Daylight Savings time setting.
Note: See TIMING IS EVERYTHING below.
Note: Daylight Savings Time may be referred to by different names in various
areas of the world. Check local time to verify.
Telescope: Accesses the several options, including:
a Mount: Set this option to "Alt/Az" if using alt/az alignment and to "Polar" if using
polar alignment. "Alt/Az" is the default value.
a Model: Allows you to select the telescope model connected to AutoStar II.
a Focal Length: Displays the focal length of the selected telescope.
a Max Slew Rate: Sets the upper limit for the slew rate. 8 degrees per second is the
fastest setting.
a Mount Upper Limit: Allows you enter a number from 0 to 90 that sets an upper
limit as to how far the optical tube can swing upward during a programmed slew.
Want to learn more about
using the Date menu?
See the
LX200R TIPS box,
page 23.
Timing is Everything
Your telescope receives the precise time when it synchs with the GPS. Precise time
is important in aligning your telescope so that it can accurately locate celestial
objects.
AutoStar II receives time data in the Universal Time format. However, if you wish
to display the correct time in your local time zone, use the Daylight Saving menu
(see above) to turn the Daylight Saving option on or off. Keep in mind that the tele-
scope is receiving the correct time whether or not you set this option to display your
local time.
LX200R TIPS
Want to learn more about
using the new Smart
Mount Feature? See
Appendix I: Smart
Mount s 67 and 68.