Orion ATLAS EQ-G - Manual (Page 9)

9
consult section 6 of this manual and attempt to polar align the
mount more accurately.
Tracking can be deactivated or activated at any time the Atlas
EQ-G mount is receiving power. In order to deactivate tracking,
simply press and hold the
Guide button then press the Slow
button on the controller. Pressing the same button combination
will reactivate tracking at the default (sidereal) rate.
There are three tracking rates used by the dual-axis control-
ler:
Sidereal rate tracking is the default tracking rate for the Atlas
EQ-G mount. Celestial objects are tracked using this rate
which is equivalent to the rate of the Earth’s rotation.
Solar rate tracking is used to track the Sun over a long period
of time. Solar rate tracking is activated by pressing and holding
the
Slow speed button, then the Right directional button.
Warning: Never look directly at the Sun through your tele-
scope or its finder scope, even for an instant, without a
professionally made solar filter that completely covers the
front aperture of the instrument, or permanent eye dam-
age could result. Young children should use this telescope
only with adult supervision.
Lunar rate tracking is used to track the Moon at its rate of
apparent motion across the sky. Lunar rate tracking is activat-
ed by pressing and holding the
Slow button, then the Down
directional button.
Note: Solar and Lunar tracking rates can only be used when
the Atlas EQ-G has tracking activated. If tracking is deacti-
vated, you must first activate tracking by holding the
Guide
button then pressing the Slow button.
setting the slewing speed
In order to conveniently center an object in your telescope’s
finderscope or eyepiece, you can set the speed rate at which
the motors slew (move) the telescope when the directional
buttons are pressed. The three speed buttons located near the
top of the hand controller are used to set the slewing rates of
the mount.
The slewing speed buttons each have two different speeds
assigned to them. The slewing speed employed is dependent
on whether or not the dual-axis controller has tracking activat-
ed or deactivated (by holding the
Guide button then pressing
the Slow button).
With tracking activated, the Guide button will slew the Atlas
EQ-G mount at a very slow speed equal to 1.5x sidereal rate.
This speed rate will generally be used to guide a telescope
while imaging with a camera. You can also change the
Guide
button speed rate to be slightly faster or slower (see “Setting
the Guiding Speed”). If tracking is deactivated, pressing the
Guide button will set the Atlas EQ-G to slew at 32x sidereal
rate; this speed is too fast for guiding during imaging.
By pressing the
Slow button with tracking activated, the Atlas
EQ-G will slew at 4x sidereal rate. With tracking deactivated,
pressing the
Slow button will set the Atlas EQ-G mount to slew
at 64x sidereal rate.
With tracking activated, the
Fast button will set the Atlas EQ-G
mount to slew at 8x sidereal rate. If tracking is not activated,
pressing the
Fast button will set the Atlas EQ-G to slew at
800x sidereal rate; this is a very fast speed that can be used to
slew the mount from object to object across the sky.
Figure 9‑1. Atlas EQ-G mount faceplate.
Power indicator light
12V DC
power jack
Power
switch
Autoguider
modular
jack
Hand controller serial jack
Figure 9‑2. The Atlas EQ-G Dual-Axis hand controller
Speed
buttons
Directional
buttons
Set button