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NW
270° –
360°
225° –
W
315°
180° –
270°
SW
Figure 30.
Pie chart of the eight directional regions referenced in
the Brightest Star Alignment procedure.
the RATE button, and then choose a number between 0
(slowest) and 9 (fastest). You may find that Rate 4 is best
for centering the object in the EZ Finder, while Rate 3 or
less is best for centering in the eyepiece view. When the
star is centered in the eyepiece, press ENTER.
5.
The hand controller will now generate a list of bright stars
to choose as your second alignment star. Scroll through
the list using the Scroll keys and refer to the appropriate
star chart in the back of this manual to choose a second
alignment star. Ideally, you want this star to be about 60
degrees (i.e., about six fist-widths held at arm's length)
away from the first alignment star in azimuth, and pref-
erably at roughly the same altitude. The more distance
between the two alignment stars, the better accuracy the
alignment will produce. Once you've selected the second
alignment star, press ENTER. The mount will now auto-
matically slew to the selected star, which should land in
or near the field of view of the EZ Finder II. When it stops
slewing you'll hear a beep, then the hand controller will
instruct you to use the directional buttons to center the star
in the eyepiece. After you've done that, press ENTER.
The message "Alignment Successful" should display on the
LCD. You may now use the hand controller to locate objects
to view. At this time it is recommended that you switch to the
low-power DeepView 2" eyepiece for acquiring targets using
the GoTo system.
If the message "Alignment Failed" displays, it usually means
the star positions do not correspond with the location and
date/time information input during setup. Please check your
user input settings before starting again.
NOTE: To ensure the accuracy of the star alignment, make
sure to end the movement of the telescope with the UP
N
NE
315° –
45°
0° –
90°
45° –
135°
90° –
180°
135° –
SE
235°
S
or RIGHT directional button when centering the object in
the eyepiece view.
NOTE: The hand controller will beep when the telescope
has finished slewing to an object. Do not try to adjust the
telescope position further before you hear the beep. The
hand controller will only respond to the ESC key while
slewing.
Two-Star Alignment
The standard two-star alignment is suggested if you have a
E
star chart handy or are able to identify two bright stars visible
in the night sky. To perform the two-star alignment, you follow
the same steps described for the Brightest Star alignment,
except that the hand controller will not prompt you to select a
directional region for a bright star. Instead, you'll be presented
with a list of stars available in your current sky to choose from,
for each of the two alignment stars.
Use the supplied 12.5mm Illuminated Plössl to ensure accu-
rate centering of your alignment objects. Refer to the appro-
priate star chart in the back of this manual for help in locating
a specific star.
NOTE: When the power is on, you may choose to adjust
the telescope electronically by using the hand control or
manually by pushing the tube with your hand. The tele-
scope will calculate the coordinates accordingly and dis-
play the information correctly on the hand controller.
NOTE: The hand control's backlit display will become
dimmer and the button Illumination will turn off if left idle
for 30 seconds. Pressing any button will re-illuminate the
display.
NOTE: After doing a successful star alignment, the infor-
mation is stored in the hand controller even after the
power has been turned off. You will only need to perform
the star alignment once as long as these two criteria are
met: 1. The telescope is moved to its Home position, i.e.,
the telescope is "parked" (Choose Menu > Utility Func.
> Park Scope > Home position) before turning off the
power, and 2. The telescope setup, including the mount,
has not been moved. Changing accessories shouldn't
upset the alignment as long as it is done carefully. When
the hand controller is turned on for the next session,
make sure to choose YES when prompted whether to
start from the Home position. The time entered during
initial setup should be based on the same source as last
time. For example, if you enter the time from your watch
for this observing session, the time you enter next ses-
sion should also be read from your watch.
8. Using the Telescope in
GoTo Mode
Object Database in the Hand Controller
The SkyQuest XXg GoTo hand controller contains a database
of over 42,900 celestial objects:
19
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