Using The Mode Key - Meade LX200 Instruction Manual

3. Loosen the R.A. lock (7, Fig. 1) and rotate the telescope
so that the R.A. pointer (9, Fig. 1) and the HA pointer
(16, Fig. 1) are approximately in line with each other. This
will position the fork arms so that they are parallel to the
power panel (11, Fig. 1). lock the R.A. lock.
Steps 2 and 3 are not required for the telescope to work, so
don't worry about getting it exactly right. The telescope has
some "illegal" positions (places where the telescope will not
go) and these two steps insure proper operation.
4. Turn the telescope on. After a few seconds (after the self-
diagnostic test is complete), the display will look like
Display 15.
¡TELESCOPE
Display 15
5. Press the ENTER key. This selects the TELESCOPE
functions. The display should look like Display 16.
¡1) SITE
Display 16
6. Press the NEXT key. This will move the arrow to the
lower line (see Display 17).
Display 17
¡2) ALIGN
7. Press the ENTER key to select the ALIGN function. The
display will look like Display 18. (If the display looks like
Display 19 — with a checkmark already next to ALTAZ,
go to step 9.)
¡1) ALTAZ
Display 18
8. Press the ENTER key to activate the ALTAZ mode. The
keypad hand controller will beep and display a
checkmark next to the ALTAZ (see Display 19).
¡1) ALTAZ
Display 19
9. Press the ENTER key to use the checked mode (ALTAZ).
The keypad hand controller display will look like Display
20.
1 Star or
Display 20
2 Star Alignment
10. Press "1" to select "Star." The display screen will now
look like Display 21.
Level base, then
Display 21
press ENTER
11. If you have not already leveled the telescope, do so now.
When the telescope is level, press ENTER. The display
will look like Display 22.
Press ENTER, then
Display 22
pick align star
12. This message simply reminds you what you should do
next. Press ENTER to show a display like Display 23.
¡ACHERNAR
Display 23
Using the monthly star charts (APPENDIX B, page 29) pick
13.
an alignment star. Look at the chart for the current month
and face the direction indicated. The constellations
shown are easily found — even in the city. The charts are
approximately 90 degrees wide, with the top of the chart
indicating straight up. If the time is after 9:00 PM, then
OBJECT LIBRARY
2) ALIGN
1) SITE
2) POLAR

2) POLAR
ACRUX A
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use the next month's chart. Once you identify the
constellation, pick any of the labeled stars that is not
within a 10 degree radius of overhead, but do not choose
Polaris, for reasons made clear below. Polaris is also
known as the North Star, and is shown for reference only.
When aligning in ALTAZ, overhead stars can confuse the
LX200 because of an illegal position that prevents the
optical tube assembly from slewing past 90 degrees
altitude to protect the viewfinder from hitting the fork arm.
The LX200 will track an overhead object, but it does so
by moving higher in altitude up to the illegal position, then
the drive speeds up and move 180 degrees in azimuth so
that the optical tube assembly can now be lowered in
altitude to keep up with the overhead object. Confusion
arises because the LX200 does not know which side of
180 degrees of azimuth that it is on. Similarly, Polaris
presents position problems in ALTAZ alignment because
it is so close to the North Celestial Pole. In this region of
the sky, the lines of Right Ascension are so close
together that even the LX200's high-resolution encoders
can yield ambiguous data.
In our example of August 5, we would use the August
chart, face North and look up about 45 degrees. Cygnus
is probably the easiest constellation to recognize, and we
will use the star Deneb for our example.
Use the PREV and NEXT key to scroll through the list of
alignment stars until the arrow is positioned on Deneb
(Display 24).
Display 24
The TELESCOPE and OBJECT LIBRARY features are
accessed through a series of menus, which are shown on the
keypad hand controller display. You can scroll up or down
through the list of choices by using the PREV and NEXT keys,
and select the indicated menu option with the ENTER key.
Menu choices that are shown in lower case letters are
unavailable in the current operating mode (LAND, ALTAZ, or
POLAR). If you try to select a lower case menu option, the
keypad hand controller will emit three warning beeps. Three
beeps always indicate an attempt to perform an invalid
telescope operation.
14. Press the ENTER key to select Deneb. The keypad hand
controller displays a message (Display 25).
Display 25
15. Center the alignment star (Deneb in our example) in the
eyepiece of the telescope. You can manually move the
telescope by loosening the Dec. lock knob and R.A. lock
or electrically by using the N, S, W, and E keys. If moving
the telescope electrically, be sure to use the speed keys,
SLEW to get close, FIND to center in the viewfinder, and
CNTR to center the star in the eyepiece. When the star is
centered, press ENTER.
The telescope is now aligned and fully functional, and
automatically begins to track objects. From this point on, make
all telescope movements using of the keypad hand controller.
Manual movements by loosening the Dec. or R.A. locks will
cause the LX200 to "lose" position, requiring realignment.
e. Using the MODE Key
The LX200 has 5 basic keypad hand controller displays, and
the MODE key is used to move between them. The 5 modes
are:
1. Telescope Functions. The TELESCOPE mode is where
all telescope functions are changed or activated and the
OBJECT LIBRARY is where the features of the object
library are accessed.
CASTOR A
¡DENEB
Center DENEB
then press ENTER