Meade 4500 Instruction Manual
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Meade 4500 Instruction Manual

Meade 4500 Instruction Manual

4.5" equatorial reflecting telescope
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Instruction Manual
Model 4500: 4.5" Equatorial Reflecting Telescope
A D V A N C E D
Meade Instruments Corporation
World's Leading Manufacturer of Astronomical Telescopes for the Serious Amateur
6001 Oak Canyon, Irvine, California 92618
FAX: (949) 451-1460
0
P R O D U C T S
D I V I S I O N
(949) 451-1450
www.meade.com
© 1995
Rev. B
4/95

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  • Page 1 Instruction Manual Model 4500: 4.5" Equatorial Reflecting Telescope A D V A N C E D P R O D U C T S Meade Instruments Corporation World’s Leading Manufacturer of Astronomical Telescopes for the Serious Amateur 6001 Oak Canyon, Irvine, California 92618...
  • Page 2 Meade Limited Warranty Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and binocular is warranted by Meade Instruments Corp. (MIC) to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE YEAR from date of original retail purchase in the U.S.A. MIC will repair or replace the product, or part thereof, found upon inspection by MIC to be defective, provided the defective part or product is returned to MIC, freight prepaid, with proof of purchase.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Star Testing the Collimation ......14 I. Specifications: Model 4500 ....... .15...
  • Page 4 21. Declination axis 22. R.A. lock Key to Fig. 1 23. Dec. lock 24. 6 x 30 viewfinder 25. Telescope front dust cover 26. Viewfinder bracket thumbscrews 27. R.A. setting circle 28. Dec. setting circle 29. Latitude dial 30. Azimuth lock 31.
  • Page 5 Fig. 1: Meade Model 4500: 4.5" Equatorial Reflecting Telescope...

  • Page 6: Introducing The Meade Model 4500

    These instructions detail the set-up, operation, specifications, and optional accessories of your Meade Model 4500. In order that you may achieve maximum enjoyment of the instrument, we urge that you take a few minutes to read all of this manual before making first observations through the telescope. As you read this manual, the technical terms associated with telescopes will be made clear.

  • Page 7: Balancing The Telescope

    1. Balancing the Telescope In order for the telescope to move smoothly on its mechanical axes, it must first be balanced about the 2 telescope axes: the polar axis (10) and the Declination axis (21). All motions of the polar aligned telescope (more on this later) take place by moving about these two axes, separately or simultaneously.

  • Page 8: Understanding Celestial Movements And Coordinates

    For this reason, in part, star-hopping is popular because it is the faster, easier way to become initiated in the hobby.

  • Page 9: Lining Up With The Celestial Pole

    Right Ascension and Declination, the task of finding objects (in particular, faint objects) in the telescope is vastly simplified. The setting circles, R.A (27) and Dec. (28) of the Model 4500 telescope may be dialed, in effect, to read the object coordinates and the object found without resorting to visual location techniques.
  • Page 10 This condition is caused by air turbulence in the upper atmosphere. The Meade Model 4500 may be used for a lifetime of rewarding astronomical observing, but basic to your enjoyment of the telescope is a good understanding of the instrument. Read the above instructions carefully until you understand all of the telescope’s parts and functions.

  • Page 11: Using Setting Circles

    For example, the focal length of the Model 4500 telescope is fixed at 910mm. To calculate the power in use with a particular eyepiece, divide the focal length of the eyepiece into the focal length of the main telescope. For example, using the MA25mm eyepiece supplied with the Model 4500, the power is calculated as follows: Meade Instruments manufactures several types of eyepiece designs that are available for your telescope.

  • Page 12: Maintenance

    3. Collimation (Alignment) of the Optics All Meade Model 4500 telescopes are optically aligned at the factory prior to shipment. It is unlikely that you will need to align, or collimate, the optics after receipt of the instrument. However, if the telescope received unusually rough handling in shipment, it is possible that the optics must be re-aligned for best optical performance.
  • Page 13 – 13 – Fig. 5: Diagonal Assembly Fig. 6: Primary Mirror Cell falls directly through the center of the focuser drawtube (17, Fig. 1). These mirror tilt adjustments are made with the diagonal assembly (Fig. 5) and the primary mirror cell (Fig. 6), and will be discussed later. To inspect the view of the mirror collimation, look down the focuser drawtube with the eyepiece removed.

  • Page 14: Spider Vane Adjustments

    With the collimation performed, you will want to test the accuracy of the alignment on a star. Use the MA25mm eyepiece and point the telescope at a moderately bright (second or third magnitude) star, then center the star image in the telescope’s field-of-view. With the star centered follow the method below: •...

  • Page 15: Specifications: Model 4500

    (2, Fig. 6), to allow free turning movement of the tilt knobs. • Using the flexible cable controls (3) and (4), Fig. 1, move the telescope until the star image is at the edge of the field-of-view in the eyepiece, as in Fig. 11B.
  • Page 16 A D V A N C E D P R O D U C T S D I V I S I O N Meade Instruments Corporation World’s Leading Manufacturer of Astronomical Telescopes for the Serious Amateur 6001 Oak Canyon, Irvine, California 92618...

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