Meade Instruments LX80 - Manual (Page 26)

still level, rotate it so that it points in the direction of the
North Star. Lock the horizontal lock. The tube is pointing
True North and now in the alt/az home position.
Method #2: Finding True North using a compass
adjusted for local declination: True North and Magnetic
North differ and will vary from location to location. In
order to correctly compensate for these differences
you will need to know the declination based on your
location. Find your location on the declination map of
North America on Page 66, Appendix F, or the world
map on Page 67, Appendix G. Notice the curved
contour lines that are referenced with plus (+) and
minus (-) values.
Notice the thicker line in the middle of the map that has
a value of zero. Along this line, Magnetic North will point
to True North; no compensation will be necessary.
Most of us are not so lucky and will have to compensate
using the declination value for our location. For those
of you that live on the left side of the thicker zero (0)
value line your declination values will have positive (+)
values and said to be East Declination. Those of you
located to the right will have negative (-) values and
said to be West Declination.
For example if you were located in San Francisco, your
East Declination value would be about 14 1/2 (San
Francisco is located between the 14 and 15 lines). Using
this value, Magnetic North would be 14 1/2 degrees
East of True North and you would align your telescope
tube along this line. Use the AudioStar left arrow slew
button to rotate the telescope counterclockwise until
the compass needle is on the 14 1/2 line.
If you were located in New York City, your West
Declination value would be about -13. Using this
value, Magnetic North would be minus (-) 13 degrees
West of True North or 347° (360° - 17° = 347°) and
you would align your telescope tube along this line.
Using the AudioStar right arrow slew button to rotate
the telescope clockwise until the compass is on the 13°
line. The tube is pointing True North.
Finding Magnetic North.
Use the bubble level/compass or other magnetic
compass to locate Magnetic North. Point the north
arrow on the mount in this direction.
5. Release the DEC lock (Page 8, Fig 1, 30) so the
optical tube may be rotated. Rotate the optical tube
until objective lens is in the level position. Insert the
provided combination bubble level/compass into
the telescopes diagonal to aid you in the leveling
process.
The telescope should now be pointing in the
direction of True (or Magnetic) North (or South
for the Southern Hemisphere) with the OTA level.
Your telescope is now in the alt-az home position
and now ready to begin the Easy (Two-Star)
Alignment procedure.
Easy (Two-Star) Align
The fastest and easiest way to locate objects with
AudioStar’s GoTo capabilities is to use Easy Align.
AudioStar automatically picks two stars from its database
for the Easy Align procedure. During this procedure,
AudioStar slews the telescope to a fi rst alignment star.
The user is asked to verify that the telescope is pointed
at the chosen star and then prompted to center the star
in the eyepiece. The process is repeated with a second
star to complete the alignment.
Note: Before aligning the telescope, fi rst verify
that “INITIALIZING AUDIOSTAR”, Page 24, has
been performed. See “Moving through AudioStar’s
Menus”, Page 22, for a description of how AudioStar’s
keys operate.
Perform the Easy Align Procedure
If you have just powered on the telescope, follow
the procedures listed in “Initializing AudioStar” on
Page 24. When completed, continue on to the steps
below to perform the Easy Alignment procedure. If the
telescope is already powered on and the correct site
location, date, time and telescope model have already
been entered, the Easy Alignment can be started by
selecting in the menu Setup: Align: Easy and following
the steps below.
1. Verify that the telescope is in the Alt-Azimuth home
position. See Page 25 for detailed instruction how
to set-up in this position.
2. True North or Compass North. “North Method:
1=True 2=Compass” displays. Press the 1 key if
the telescope was placed in the True North Home
Position. Press the 2 key if the telescope was
placed using the Magnetic North Home Position.
See Page 26 for more information about setting
the telescope into the home position.
3. Star Alignment - The AudioStar will select two bright
AudioStar #497 HANDBO
X
The LX80 Multi-Mount System
26