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Powering the StarSeeker
The StarSeeker II 102 can be powered by the supplied bat-
tery pack, or an optional AC-to-DC adapter or Dynamo Pro
12V field battery. The battery pack requires 8 user-supplied
AA alkaline batteries. To power the StarSeeker, insert the
plug of your desired power supply into the 12V jack located
on the side of the fork arm (Figure 11). Once the power sup-
ply is plugged in, the LCD on the StarSeeker's hand control-
ler will light up and display the opening message. To turn the
StarSeeker off, simply disconnect the power supply from the
jack on the mount. (There is no On/Off switch.)
The GoTo Hand controller
This section describes the basic hand controller procedures
needed to operate the StarSeeker.
Refer to Figure 12 to familiarize yourself with the hand control-
ler's features and keypad.
1.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Window: Has a dual-line,
16 character display screen that is backlit for comfortable
viewing of telescope information and scrolling text.
2.
Align: Instructs the StarSeeker to use a selected star or
object as an alignment position.
3.
Enter: Pressing Enter allows you to select any of the
StarSeeker functions, accept entered parameters, and
slew the telescope to displayed objects.
4.
Back: Will take you out of the current menu and
display the previous level of the menu path. Press Back
repeatedly to get back to a main menu or use it to erase
data entered by mistake.
5.
Directional (Arrow) Buttons: Allow the StarSeeker to
be moved in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and
right). Use the direction buttons to move the telescope
or center objects in the EZ Finder II and eyepiece. You
can press just one button at a time or you can press two
adjacent buttons simultaneously to move the scope in
both altitude and azimuth simultaneously. These buttons
only move the telescope. They cannot be used to scroll
through menu features.
6.
Object Type Buttons: Three separate buttons for
accessing lists of Solar System objects; Stars, including
variable and double stars; and Deep Sky objects.
7.
Identify: Allows search of any of the StarSeeker
database catalogs or lists and display the name and
offset distances to the nearest matching objects.
8.
Sky Tour: Activates the tour mode, which lists the best
objects currently visible. Scroll through the selections and
press Enter to slew the telescope to any of the objects.
9.
Scroll Buttons: Pair of angled buttons used to scroll up
and down within any of the menu lists. The angled face of
the buttons makes them literally stand out from the other
buttons on the keypad. A double arrow symbol on the
right side of the LCD indicates that the scroll buttons can
be used to view additional information.
8
1.
2.
7.
8.
10.
11.
Figure 12. The StarSeeker GoTo hand controller
10. Menu: Displays the many setup and utilities functions
such as tracking rate, user-defined objects, and many
others. See below for detailed review of Menu options.
11. Help: Will be used in future revisions to the firmware to
provide tutorials on using the more advanced features of
the hand controller.
12. Object Info: Displays coordinates, magnitude, a
description, and other useful information about the
object currently selected. Use the scroll buttons to
toggle through the various pieces of information. Object
information can be obtained without having to do a star
alignment. After the telescope is powered on, pressing
any of the object type buttons allows you to scroll through
object lists or enter catalog numbers and view the
information about the object by then pressing the Object
Info button.
13. Motor Speed: Instantly changes the rate of speed of
the motors when the direction buttons are pressed. (0 =
slower, 9 = faster)
14. RS-232 Port: This port, on the bottom end of the
controller, allows connection with a computer running
3.
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5.
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14.
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