P r i m a L u c e L a b i S r l
S p i d e r 2 3 0 u s e r m a n u a l
Mount polar alignment
This procedure is performed during nighttime with sky clear from clouds (you need to see the North Star, for obser-
vers in the northern hemisphere or the South Pole for those in the Southern Hemisphere) and is to point the mount
polar axis to the celestial pole (the North Pole to the South Pole locations in the northern hemisphere and for those
in the Southern Hemisphere). The polar alignment procedure is described in the mount user manual but we see
here some helpful tips to make it quickly and accurately, as an example pointing the North Pole with the N-EQ6
SynScan mount supplied as standard with the Spider230 radio telescope (observers in the southern hemisphere
follow an almost equal procedure described in the mount user manual).
Turn on the mount using its power button. The hand control will display a warning message on the damage resul-
ting from the direct observation of the Sun. Press the ENTER button of hand pad to confirm that you have read.
Sullo schermo LCD comparirà la scritta "Enter Location": se non li avete precedentemente inseriti, premete i tasti
numerici della pulsantiera per inserire i dati di latitudine e longitudine del vostro luogo di installazione del radiotele-
scopio. Potete utilizzare i tasti freccia verticali per cambiare la longitudine est/ovest e latitudine nord/sud quando il
cursore lampeggi nei corrispondenti caratteri. Utilizzate i tasti freccia sinistra e destra per spostare il cursore. Pre-
mete quindi il tasto ENTER per confermare (premendo il tasto ESC tornate al passaggio precedente)
The LCD screen will display "Enter Location": if you have not previously entered it, press the numeric keys of the
keypad to enter latitude and longitude data of the radio telescope place of installation. You can use the vertical
arrow keys to change the longitude east-west and north-south latitude when the cursor flashes in the correspon-
ding characters. Use the left and right arrow keys to move the cursor. Then press the ENTER key to confirm (press
ESC key to go to previous step)
The screen will display the message "Set Time Zone": use the arrow keys to change the signs “+" and "-“ if needed.
“+" is used for East areas (Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania), while the "-" indicates those in the West (North and
South America). Use the numeric keys to select the correct value (for example, Italy is +1). then press ENTER to
confirm or ESC to return to the previous step.
When the message "Date: mm/dd/yyyy", enter the date (note: in month/day/year format). Then press ENTER to
confirm or ESC to return to the previous step.
The display will show "Polaris Position in P.Scope = HH: MM." This indicates the orientation of the Polar Star in the
field of polar finder. You can imagine the great circle visible in the polar scope as a big clock with the hours 12:00
high. In order to make a good polar alignment, you have just to bring the North Star at the point of the great circle
corresponding to the time shown "HH: MM." So for example, if the value shown is 3:00, just bring the Polaris in the
rightmost point of the great circle. Unscrew the cap white back of the mount and the smaller cap black front.
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