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Rarely SkyAlign will not be able to determine what three alignment objects were centered. This sometime happens when a
bright planet or the Moon passes near one of the brighter stars. In situations like these it is best to try to avoid aligning to either
object if possible.
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For the best possible pointing accuracy, always center the alignment stars using the same final movements as the direction of the
GoTo Approach (by default this will be using the up arrow button and the right arrow button). Approaching the star from this
direction when looking through the eyepiece will eliminate much of the backlash between the gears and assure the most accurate
alignment possible.
Auto Two-Star Align
As with Sky Align, Auto Two-Star Align downloads all the necessary time/site information from orbiting GPS satellites.
information is received, CPC will prompt you to slew the telescope and point at one known star in the sky. The CPC now has all the
information it needs to automatically choose a second star that will assure the best possible alignment. Once selected the telescope will
automatically slew to that second alignment star to complete the alignment. With the CPC set up outside with all accessories attached
and the tripod leveled, follow the steps below to align the telescope:
1.
Once the CPC is powered on , Press ENTER to begin alignment.
2.
Use the Up and Down scroll keys (10) to select Auto Two-Star Align and press ENTER.
3.
The hand control will display the last time and location information that was entered or downloaded from the GPS. Use the Up
and Down buttons to scroll through the information. Press ENTER to accept the downloaded information or press UNDO to
manually edit the information.
4.
The display will now prompt you to select a bright star from the displayed list on the hand control. Use Up and Down buttons (6
and 9 on the keypad) to scroll to the desired star and then press ENTER.
5.
Use the arrow buttons to slew the telescope to the star you selected. Center the star in the crosshairs of the finderscope and press
ENTER. Finally, center the star in the eyepiece and press ALIGN.
6.
Based on this information, the CPC will automatically display the most suitable second alignment star that is above the horizon.
Press ENTER to automatically slew the telescope to the displayed star. If for some reason you do not wish to select this star
(perhaps it is behind a tree or building), you can either:
Press the UNDO button to display the next most suitable star for alignment.
Use the UP and DOWN scroll buttons to manually select any star you wish from the entire list of available stars.
Once the desired star is displayed press ENTER to automatically slew the telescope to the displayed star. When finished slewing, the
display will ask you to use the arrow buttons to align the selected star with the cross hairs in the center of the finderscope. Once
centered in the finder, press ENTER. The display will then instruct you to center the star in the field of view of the eyepiece. When the
star is centered, press ALIGN to accept this star as your second alignment star. When the telescope has been aligned to both stars the
display will read Alignment Success, and you are now ready to find your first object.
Two Star Alignment
With the two-star alignment method, the CPC requires the user to know the positions of two bright stars in order to accurately align the
telescope with the sky and begin finding objects. Here is an overview of the two-star alignment procedure:
1.
Once the CPC is powered on, use the Up and Down scroll keys (10) to select Two-Star Align, and press ENTER.
2.
Press ENTER to accept the time/site information displayed on the display, or wait until the telescope has downloaded the
information from the GPS satellites.
3.
The SELECT STAR 1 message will appear in the top row of the display. Use the Up and Down scroll keys (10) to select the
star you wish to use for the first alignment star. Press ENTER.
4.
CPC then asks you to center in the eyepiece the alignment star you selected. Use the direction arrow buttons to slew the
telescope to the alignment star and carefully center the star in the finderscope. Press ENTER when centered.
5.
Then, center the star in the eyepiece and press ALIGN
Helpful
Hint
In order to accurately center the alignment star in the eyepiece, you may wish to decrease the slew rate of the motors for fine
centering. This is done by pressing the RATE key (11) on the hand controller then selecting the number that corresponds to the
speed you desire. (9 = fastest , 1 = slowest).
15
Once this
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