17
USING THE MOTOR DRIVE
The motor drive included with your Eclipse 114 telescope is designed to track the
movement of stars so you don’t have to. As long as your telescope is properly
polar aligned and the motor drive is properly used, it will help keep stars in your
field of view during long periods of viewing. When trying it out, don’t worry if it you
do not immediately see the telescope moving - stars appear to move very slowly
and the motion of your scope will be subtle. To test if your motor drive is working,
aim your telescope at a stationary object and turn on the motor drive. After 15
minutes, look through your telescope again - if it is no longer pointing exactly
where you originally aimed it, the motor drive is working.
MOTOR DRIVE SETTINGS
The motor drive features two controls that must be set depending on your
viewing location. The N-S Switch (North-South) is the hemisphere switch.
Northern Hemisphere viewers should set the switch to N and Southern
Hemisphere views should set the switch to S. The Speed setting should be
adjusted while viewing to help keep stars centered in your field of view. This
setting will need to be adjusted for each different celestial object you view. As a
general rule, the further from the celestial pole (closer to the horizon) an viewed
object is, the faster it will appear to move and the faster the Speed setting on the
motor drive will need to be.
VIEWING THROUGH YOUR
ZHUMELL ECLIPSE TELESCOPE
MANUAL ADJUSTMENT WITH MOTOR DRIVE
The motor drive on your telescope should only be used for the subtle motions
needed to follow viewed objects. To point your telescope at a different object
elsewhere in the sky, you must disengage the motor drive. To do so, loosen the
thumbscrew on the motor drive R.A. (Right Ascension) adjustment cable. This
is the longer cable that is pointed towards the ground. Disengaging the motor
drive by loosening the R.A. axis will prevent bending and breaking of the R.A.
adjustment cable, which will break the motor drive mechanism. When you are
ready to re-engage the motor drive, simply tighten the thumbscrew on the R.A.
adjustment cable and turn the motor drive on.
