3.
Set Home Position
. Place the telescope in the home position.
To Set the Home Position Manually:
a. See
Figs. 32 and 33,
page 34. Loosen the telescope’s Dec. lock (
17, Fig.
1a
).
Set the optical tube to 0° on the Dec. setting circle (
Fig. 33
).
b. Tighten the Dec. lock (
17, Fig. 1a
)
to a firm feel only.
c. Level the tripod base.
d. Move the base of the telescope so that the computer control panel (
12, Fig.
1a
)
approximately faces South.
e. Unlock the R.A. lock (
13, Fig. 1a
)
and turn the telescope's optical tube hor-
izontally until it points North.
f. Re-lock the R.A. lock (
13, Fig. 1a
). Press ENTER.
g. Press ENTER.
4
. Star Alignment
. "Select Star" displays. Autostar II then displays a library of stars
for the observer to choose from. Use the Scroll keys to scroll to a star on the list
that you wish to align upon. Select a star that you can easily locate in the night
sky. Press ENTER.
5.
Center Star.
The telescope slews to the star. Use the Arrow keys to move the tel-
escope until the star is centered in the eyepiece. Press ENTER.
6.
Center Star.
Repeat procedure for the second alignment star. The telescope is
aligned and you are now ready to use Autostar II's GO TO capabilities for a night
of observing.
One-Star Alt/Az Alignment
One-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky. Autostar II provides a
library of bright stars. One-Star Alignment is identical to Two-Star Alt/Az: Alignment
(see
TWO-STAR ALT/AZ ALIGNMENT
, page 42), except only one star from the data-
base is chosen by the observer for alignment.
To Download the Latest Version of Autostar II Software
Included with your telescope is a CD ROM and a USB cable. You need to install the
USB drivers, that are included on the CD ROM,
BEFORE plugging in the cable
:
1 Select RCX Users (the fourth selection on the list) from the CD Rom.
2 Follow on screen instructions (click “Next” and “Finish” buttons when asked to
do so).
3 Plug in the USB cable. Plug one end into one of the RCX400 USB ports on a
computer control panel/ Plug the other end into a USB port of your PC.
Next, you will install the Autostar Suite software from the CD ROM. This software
provides a menu that allows you to download the latest version of Autostar II
software into the Autostar II handbox.
4.
Select Autostar Suite on the CD ROM to install Autostar Suite onto your PC.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
5.
Once the Autostar Suite software installs, double-click the new “Autostar Suite”
icon on the desktop.
6.
Go to the Telescope menu and select “Update Autostar.” The “Autostar Update”
screen displays. Click the “Upgrade Autostar Software Now” button.
7.
The application detects your telescope type and the version of Autostar soft-
ware on your handbox.
8.
A window displays asking if you wish to download the latest version of Autostar
from your hard drive (if you previously downloaded it separately from the
Meade website) or from the internet. Select one of the choices and follow
on-screen instructions.
9.
The download will take several minutes (download time depends on your inter-
net connection, speed of your computer and so forth). When the download is
complete, the new version of the Autostar software displays.
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 eyepiece when
prompted.
Tip:
Try a Spiral Search
The GO TO key also allows
you to perform a "spiral
search." A spiral search is
useful when the telescope
slews to an object, but that
object is not visible in the
eyepiece after the tele-
scope finishes its search.
(This sometimes occurs
during an alignment proce-
dure.) Press GO TO when
the slew is finished and the
telescope starts slewing in
a spiral pattern at a very
slow speed around the
search area. Look through
the eyepiece and when the
object does become visible,
press MODE to stop the
spiral search. Then use the
Arrow keys to center the
object.
43
Summary of Contents for RCX400
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