Meade LX200 R Instruction Manual
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Meade LX200 R Instruction Manual

8", 10", 12", 14", 16" advanced ritchey-chrétien telescopes with gps and autostar ii hand controller
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Instruction Manual
®
8", 10", 12", 14", 16" LX200
R
Advanced Ritchey-Chrétien Telescopes
®
with GPS and AutoStar
II Hand Controller
(800) 626-3233
www.meade.com

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Summary of Contents for Meade LX200 R

  • Page 1 Instruction Manual ® 8", 10", 12", 14", 16" LX200 Advanced Ritchey-Chrétien Telescopes ® with GPS and AutoStar II Hand Controller (800) 626-3233 www.meade.com...
  • Page 2 WARNING! Never use a Meade LX200R ™ ® Telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    R Users: See APPENDIX G 68, for features unique to the 14" model. ® The name "Meade," the Meade logo, LX200 and Autostar are trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in principal countries throughout the world.

  • Page 4: Quick-Start Guide

    It is recommended that you attach the supplied tripod to the II setup indoors in the light so that you become familiar with the parts and operation before moving the telescope out- side into the dark for observing. The setup is the same for the standard field tripod and the giant field tripod.
  • Page 5 See page 17 for more details. Or you can Alignment. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. R.A.

  • Page 6: Telescope Features

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 1& AutoStar II Hand Controller.
  • Page 7 Panel Light menu; see page 27). Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. telescopes can be...
  • Page 8 GO TO mode. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 9: Autostar Ii Features

    Meade website? See page 3o. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 9 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 10 "spiral search." Arrow Keys: The Arrow keys have several functions. Press an Arrow key to slew the telescope in a specific direction (up, down, left, and right), at any one of nine different speeds. See , page 17. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move the SLEW SPEEDS telescope vertically up and down.
  • Page 11 GO TO to slew the telescope to the object. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 11 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 12: Getting Started

    (6, Fig. 3). Grasp the tripod head (1, Fig. 3) with one hand and, with the Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 13: How To Assemble Your Telescope

    AutoStar II handbox into the HBX port (13F, Fig. 1 ). Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 14: Choosing An Eyepiece

    To find an object with a telescope, always start Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 15: Mounting And Adjusting The Viewfinder

    43. The power, or magnification of a telescope is determined by the focal length of the tel- escope and the focal length of the eyepiece being used (an eyepiece's focal length is printed on the side of the eyepiece).

  • Page 16: Observing

    II’s Arrow keys to center the object in the telescope’s field of view. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 17: Focusing The Eyepiece With The Microfocuser

    Speeds 7 or 8: Best used for rough centering of an object in the viewfinder. Speed 9: Moves the telescope quickly from one point in the sky to another. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 17 - at or near the Sun.

  • Page 18: Observe The Moon, Astronomical Observing

    , page 28 and TELESCOPE PEC TRAINING Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. ) Feature ™...
  • Page 19 , page 28. EVERYTHING Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 19 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 20: Observe A Star Using Automatic Tracking

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 20 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 21: Finding True North

    Telescope menu. See page 29 for more information. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 22: Basic Autostar Ii Operation

    "Event: Sunrise" is displayed. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. OBJECT MENU...

  • Page 23: Navigating Autostar Ii

    (>). Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 23 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 24: Autostar Ii Menus

    AUTOSTAR II's MENUS Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- - 24 - scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 25: Objects Menu

    AutoStar II database. This function works with a telescope that remains in one fixed spot or can be setup in the exact same spot each time it is used. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 25 - at or near the Sun.

  • Page 26: Event Menu

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. WARNING!

  • Page 27: Glossary Menu, Utilities Menu

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 28: Setup Menu

    Park Scope: Designed for a telescope that is not moved between observing sessions. Align the telescope one time, then use this function to park the telescope. The next time it is powered up, pressing ENTER causes the telescope to move to its predetermined Park position.
  • Page 29 ( i.e. , the Right key moves the telescope to the left ). Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 30 AutoStar II handbox. Software: Sends only the basic AutoStar II software. This is useful if one user has downloaded a new version of AutoStar II software from the Meade website (www.meade.com) and wants to pass this software along to friends.

  • Page 31: "Hot Button" Menus

    AutoStar II handbox. Software: Receives only the basic AutoStar II software. This is useful if one user has downloaded a new version of AutoStar II software from the Meade website (www.meade.com) and wants to pass this software along to friends.

  • Page 32: Advanced Autostar Ii Features

    States, look up the shift in page 30. TABLE 1, Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 33: Creating User Objects

    Press GO TO and the telescope slews to the object. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- - 33 - scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 34: Observing Satellites, Landmarks

    11. Use the AutoStar II Arrow keys to center the object in the viewfinder, then look Satellite orbits change and new satellites (including the Space Shuttle) are launched. Visit the Meade website (www.meade.com) approximately once a month to get updated information and instructions on how to download this data to AutoStar II. If orbital parameters are more than one month old, the satellite pass may not happen at the time predicted by AutoStar II.

  • Page 35: Identify

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- - 35 - scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 36: Browse

    Press GO TO to slew telescope to a displayed object. Press MODE repeatedly to leave this menu. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 36 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 37: Alternate Alt/Az Alignment Methods

    6. You may need to repeat this procedure when you change eyepieces. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 38: Two-Star Alt/Az Alignment

    Set Home Position. Place the telescope in the home position. To Set the Home Position Manually: a. See Figs. 19 and 20. Loosen the telescope’s Dec. lock (17, Fig. 1) . Set the optical tube to 0° on the Dec. setting circle (20, Fig. 1).

  • Page 39: Periodic Error Correction

    Select "On" to enable the Smart Drive. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 39 - at or near the Sun.

  • Page 40: Photography

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 41 Photography with Meade’s AutoStar Suite™ The AutoStar Suite with Meade LPI™ (Lunar Planetary Imager) or Meade Deep Sky Imager™ turns your Meade LX200R telescope, AutoStar and PC into even more powerful and easy-to-use astronomical instrument.

  • Page 42: Star Charts

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. LX200R TIPS ™...

  • Page 43: Optional Accessories

    A wide assortment of professional Meade accessories is available for the escope models. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the quali- ty of the instrument itself. Consult the Meade General Catalog for complete details on these and other accessories.
  • Page 44 Moon and planets. Each filter threads into the barrel of any Meade 1.25" eyepiece, and into the barrels of virtually all other eye- piece brands as well. Meade filters are available in 12 colors for lunar and planetary applications, and in Neutral Density as a lunar glare-reduction filter.
  • Page 45 Meade General Catalog or contact your local Meade dealer. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 46: Maintenance

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 47 You now have good collimation of the optics. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 48: Inspecting The Optics

    Customer Service hours are 8:00 AM to 5:o0 PM, Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. In the unlikely event that your write or call the Meade Consumer Solutions Department first, before returning the tel- escope to the factory, giving full particulars as to the nature of the problem, as well as your name, address, and daytime telephone number.

  • Page 49: Specifications

    Net telescope weight ...62 lbs. Net tripod weight...20 lbs. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 49 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 50 Net telescope weight ...110 lbs. Net tripod weight...50 lbs. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 50 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 51 Depth ...0.81" (21cm) AutoStar II net weight ...1.12 lbs (0.51kg ) Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 51 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 52: Appendix A: Equatorial (Polar) Alignment

    Fig. 40) is located on the top surface of the telescope’s drive base. The Declination circle (Fig. 39) is located at the top of the fork tine. With the telescope pointed at the North Celestial Pole, the Dec. circle should read 90° (understood to mean +90°).
  • Page 53 Equatorial Wedge An optional equatorial wedge is required for equatorial (polar) alignment. Note: The Meade Ultra wedge is recommended for the 10" to 14" models. The equatorial wedge permits use in an astronomical, or “equatorial,” mode. The wedge fits onto the field tripod. Equatorial alignment allows you to take longer expo-...

  • Page 54: Lining Up With The Celestial Pole

    This tracking may be accomplished automatically with the If the telescope is reasonably well aligned with the pole, very little use of the tele- scope’s Declination slow motion control is necessary. Virtually all of the required tele- scope tracking will be in Right Ascension.

  • Page 55: Precise Polar Alignment

    The above procedure results in very accurate polar alignment, and minimizes the need for tracking corrections during astrophotography. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 56 NASA, Hubble, HST, astronomy, Messier, satellite, nebula, black hole, variable stars, etc. Check Meade’s website for the latest product and technical information. You can download the latest software revisions, links to other astronomical sites, coordinates of celestial objects and the latest satellite tracking information for your AutoStar II handset.

  • Page 57: Appendix B: Latitude Chart

    48° N 52° N Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Country Latitude Colombia 4°...

  • Page 58: Appendix C: How To Create Your Own Guided Tour

    Keywords: Action to be performed during a tour. AutoStar II recognizes the following keywords: Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 58 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 59 Enter CALDWELL followed by the Caldwell number and AutoStar II provides the user with a description of the object from its database. For example: CALDWELL 17 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 59 - at or near the Sun.
  • Page 60 "They contain 50,000 to 100,000 stars and are located on the fringes of our"galaxy." Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- - 60 - scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 61 AutoStar II. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- - 61 - scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. LX200...

  • Page 62: Appendix D: Training The Drive

    And watch Jack Horkheimer, Star Gazer, on your local PBS station. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 63: Appendix E: The Moon Menu

    Kepler Copernicus Tycho Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope - 63 - at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Figure 46: Some easily recognized lunar craters.

  • Page 64: Appendix F: 16" Lx200R Features

    (6, Fig. 1) until you have read the following note. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 65 Use the following procedure to assemble your telescope: To Assemble the 16” Super Field Tripod The 16” Super Field Tripod (Figs. 48 and 49) for the Meade 16” supplied as a completely assembled unit, except for the spreader bar (4, Fig. 48) and the six lock-knobs (5, Fig.
  • Page 66 When they are in place, slide the OTA back so that the shoulder bolts lock into the slots (Fig. 56). Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 67 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- - 67 - scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Observing Considerations , page 43 for more details), when OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES .

  • Page 68: Appendix G: 14" Lx200R Features

    Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this tele- scope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. optical tube assembly to the...

  • Page 69: Appendix H: De-Rotater And Microfocuser Assembly

    5. Attach the de-rotater to the rear cell of the telescope. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

  • Page 70: Appendix I: Smart Mount

    Once Smart Mount training has been performed, the scope will benefit from it so long as you carefully park the telescope at the end of each session and do not modify the mounting.
  • Page 71 When Smart Mount is "On," the telescope will use the currently loaded model to refine you telescope's pointing, but will not update the model (see S above). If Smart Mount was "On" when you last powered off your telescope, it will be "On" when you start the next session.

  • Page 72: Basic Astronomy

    Earth are about one-half mile across. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 73 “W” of Cassiopeia and the great square of Pegasus. Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
  • Page 76 ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U.S.A. and Canada. Meade will repair or replace a product, or part thereof, found by Meade to be defective, provided the defective part is returned to Meade, freight-prepaid, with proof of purchase.

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