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Advanced Alt/Az Alignment
If you would rather choose your own alignment stars from the Autostar database during the
Alt/Az alignment procedure, Autostar offers two methods. Information for Equatorial (Polar)
alignment is discussed in "Appendix A," page 45.
Two-Star Alt/Az Alignment
Two-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky. Autostar provides a database
of bright stars and two stars from this database are chosen by the observer for alignment.
1.
Perform steps 1 through 7 as described in "EASY ALIGN," page 19.
2.
With "Align: Easy" displayed, use the Scroll keys to display "Align: Two Star." Press
ENTER.
3.
Place the telescope in the home position as described in the "EASY ALIGN" procedure.
When you have finished, press ENTER.
4 . "Select Star" displays. Autostar then displays a database of stars for the observer to
choose from. Use the Scroll keys to scroll to a star on the list that you wish to align upon.
Select a star that you can easily locate in the night sky. Press ENTER.
5.
The telescope slews to the star. Use the Arrow keys to move the telescope until the star is
centered in the eyepiece. Press ENTER.
6.
Repeat procedure for the second alignment star. The telescope is aligned and you are now
ready to use Autostar's GO TO capabilities for a night of observing.
One-Star Alt/Az Alignment
One-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky. Autostar provides a database
of bright stars. One-Star Alignment is identical to Two-Star Alt/Az: Alignment (see "TWO-STAR
ALT/AZ ALIGNMENT," above), except only one star from this database is chosen by the
observer for alignment.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The accuracy of One-Star Alt/Az Alignment, unlike the Two-
Star and Easy (Alt/Az) Alignment procedures, depends on how well the observer
levels the telescope and how close to North the telescope is pointed when setting
the Home Position (Fig. 8). Because the other methods use two stars to align upon,
they are more precise than One-Star Alignment.
Browse
This menu allows you to search the database for objects with certain parameters, much like a
search engine. "Edit Parameters" lets you set various parameters for the search, and "Start
Search" activates the search. A typical search might be performed as follows:
1.
Select "Browse" from the Object menu. Press ENTER. "Browse: Start Search" displays.
2.
Press one of the Scroll Keys and "Browse: Edit Parameters" displays. Press ENTER.
3.
"Edit Parameters: Largest (mins)" displays. "Mins" stands for arc-minutes. Press ENTER.
4.
"Largest (mins)" and a value displays. Using the Number keys, enter a size in arc-minutes.
Autostar will search for objects up to this size and no larger. Press ENTER.
5. "Edit Parameters: Largest (mins)" displays again. Press the Scroll Down key. "Edit
Parameters: Smallest (mins)" displays. Enter the value for the smallest size of an object
that Autostar will search for in the database. Continue with "Brightest," Faintest," and
"Minimum Elevation," using the procedure described in steps 3 and 4.
6.
After "Minimum Elevation," "Object Type" displays. Press ENTER." "+Black Hole" dis-
plays.If you do not wish wish to have "Black Holes" in your search, press ENTER and the
"+" changes to a "–." Press the Scroll Down to scroll to the next item. "+Diffuse Nebula"
displays. Continue to scroll through the list and press ENTER if you wish to change the "+"
to a "–" or vice-versa.
7.
After you have scrolled to the last item on the "Object Type" list, press MODE twice and
the Scroll Down key once. "Browse: Start Search" displays. Press ENTER. "Start Search:
Next" displays. Press ENTER. Autostar searches the database and displays the first object
that matches the search parameters you have entered. Use the scroll keys to display infor-
mation about the object. Press MODE and "Start Search: Next" displays again. Press
ENTER and the next item matching the parameters displays. Repeat this procedure to dis-
play all the objects.
8.
Press MODE repeatedly to leave this menu.
37
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