Terrestrial Observing; Observing Using Autostar's Arrow Keys; Slew Speeds - Meade DS-2000 Series AutoStar-LNT-SmartFinder Instruction Manual

Terrestrial Observing

NOTE:
Do not look through
DS-2000 refracting telescopes are excellent high-resolution, terrestrial (land) telescopes
the telescope's eye-
(reflecting telescopes are designed primarily for astronomical observations). Viewing terrestrial
piece while it is
objects requires looking along the Earth's surface through heat waves. These heat waves often
rapidly moving.
cause degradation of image quality. Lower power eyepieces, such as a 25mm eyepiece, mag-
Children should
nify these heat waves less than higher power eyepieces. Therefore, lower power eyepieces
always have adult
provide a steadier, higher quality image. If the image is fuzzy or ill-defined, reduce to a lower
supervision while
power eyepiece, where the heat waves do not have such an effect on image quality. Observing
observing.
in early morning hours, before the ground has built up internal heat, produces better viewing
conditions than during late afternoon hours.

Observing Using Autostar's Arrow Keys

You may observe land and astronomical objects using Autostar's Arrow keys to move the tele-
scope.
TIP: When a mes-
sage is scrolling
1.
across the display,
2.
press and hold the
Up Arrow key to
increase the scrolling 3.
speed or press and
hold the Down Arrow
key to decrease the
4.
scrolling speed.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Slew Speeds

Autostar has nine slew speeds that are directly proportional to the sidereal rate (this is the
speed at which stars move) and have been calculated to accomplish specific functions.
Pressing the SPEED/? key changes the slew speed, which is then shown for about two
seconds on Autostar's display.
The nine available speeds are:
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
Speeds 1, 2, or 3: Best used for fine centering of an object in the field of view of a higher power
eyepiece, such as a 12mm or a 9mm eyepiece.
Speeds 4, 5, or 6: Enables centering an object in the field of a low-to-moderate power eye-
piece, such as a standard 25mm eyepiece.
Tighten the Altitude lock (10, Fig. 1) and tripod base lock knob (26, Fig. 1).
Make sure the telescope power switch is in the OFF position. Plug Autostar into the HBX
port of the Control Panel.
Flip the telescope power switch to the ON position.
Autostar is activated and a copyright message displays briefly, followed by a short beep.
Then Autostar takes a few moments to start up the system.
A message displays that warns not to look at the Sun. At the end of this message, press
the key prompted by Autostar to signify that the message has been read and understood.
The Arrow keys are now activated. Press the Arrow keys (5, Fig. 2) to slew (move) the
telescope up, down, right, or left.
Press the SPEED/? key (8, Fig. 2) to change the telescope's slew speed. Each time you
press this key, the speed will change. See
Use the red dot viewfinder (7, Fig. 1) to locate an object and practice using the Autostar's
Arrow keys to center the object in the telescope eyepiece's field of view.
Use the telescope's focus knob (1, Fig. 1) to bring the object into focus.
Speed 1 = 2x =
Speed 2 = 8x =
Speed 3 = 16x =
Speed 4 = 32x =
Speed 5 = 64x =
Speed 6 = 0.5° = 120 x sidereal (30 arc-min/sec or 0.5°/sec)
Speed 7 = 1°/s = 240 x sidereal (60 arc-min/sec or 1°/sec)
Speed 8 = 2°/s = 480 x sidereal (120 arc-min/sec or 2°/sec)
Speed 9 = Max = (Maximum speed possible, dependent on battery power)
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.
SLEW SPEEDS
2 x sidereal (0.5 arc-min/sec or 0.008°/sec)
8 x sidereal (2 arc-min/sec or 0.033°/sec)
16 x sidereal (4 arc-min/sec or 0.067°/sec)
32 x sidereal (8 arc-min/sec or 0.13°/sec)
64 x sidereal (16 arc-min/sec or 0.27°/sec)
15
, page 15, for more information.