Celestron skyexpedition 60 Instruction Manual Download Page 11

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dIrEctIon ButtonS

The SkyExpedition has four direction buttons in the center of the hand
control which controls the telescope motion in altitude (up and down) and
azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at nine different
speed rates.

rate Button

Pressing the RATE key (11) allows you to instantly change the speed rate of
the motors from high speed slew rate to precise guiding rate or anywhere
in between. Each rate corresponds to a number on the hand controller
key pad. The number 9 is the fastest rate (approximately 3º per second,
depending on power source) and is used for slewing between objects and
locating alignment stars. The number 1 on the hand control is the slowest
rate (2x sidereal) and can be used for accurate centering of objects in the
eyepiece. To change the speed rate of the motors:
• Press the RATE key on the hand control. The LCD will display the current

speed rate.

• Press the number on the hand control that corresponds to the

desired speed.

The hand control has a “double button” feature that allows you to instantly
speed up the motors without having to choose a speed rate. To use this
feature, simply press the arrow button that corresponds to the direction
that you want to move the telescope. While holding that button down,
press the opposite directional button. This will increase the speed to the
maximum slew rate.

SEt uP ProcEdurES

The SkyExpedition contains many user defined setup functions designed to
give the user control over the telescope’s many advanced features. All of
the set up and utility features can be accessed by pressing the MENU key
and scrolling through the options:

tracking Mode

— Once the SkyExpedition is aligned, the tracking

motors will automatically turn on and begin tracking the sky. However,
the tracking can be turned off for terrestrial use:

alt-az:

This is the default tracking rate and is used when the

telescope has been properly aligned.

EQ north:

Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar

aligned using an equatorial wedge in the Northern Hemisphere.

EQ South:

Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar

aligned using an equatorial wedge in the Southern Hemisphere.

off:

When using the telescope for terrestrial (land) observation

the tracking can be turned off so that the telescope never moves.

Note: EQ North and EQ South tracking modes are only needed with
telescopes that can be polar aligned. The LCM series are exclusively
Alt-Az mounted telescopes and do not require equatorial tracking.

tracking rate

— In addition to being able to move the telescope with the

hand control buttons, the SkyExpedition will continually track a celestial
object as it moves across the night sky. The tracking rate can be changed
depending on what type of object is being observed:

Sidereal:

This rate compensates for the rotation of the earth

by moving the telescope at the same rate as the rotation of the
earth, but in the opposite direction. When tracking in Alt-Az
mode, the telescope must make corrections in both altitude
and azimuth.

Lunar:

Used for tracking the Moon when observing the lunar

landscape.

Solar:

Used for tracking the Sun when solar observing using a

proper solar filter.

View time-Site

— View Time-Site will display the last saved time and

longitude/latitude entered in the hand control.

user defined objects

— The SkyExpedition can store up to 50 different

user defined objects in its memory. The objects can be daytime land objects
or an interesting celestial object that you discover that is not included in
the regular database. There are several ways to save an object to memory
depending on what type of object it is:

Save Sky

object:

The SkyExpedition stores celestial objects

to its database by saving its right ascension and declination in
the sky. This way the same object can be found each time the
telescope is aligned. Once a desired object is centered in the
eyepiece, simply scroll to the “

Save Sky Obj

” command

and press ENTER. The display will ask you to enter a number
between 1-25 to identify the object. Press ENTER again to save
this object to the database.

Save database (db) object:

This feature allows you to

create your own custom tour of database objects by allowing
you to record the current position of the telescope and save the
name of the object by selecting it from any one of the database
catalogs. These objects then can be accessed by selecting

goto

Sky object.

Save Land object:

The SkyExpedition can also be used as

a spotting scope on terrestrial objects. Fixed land objects can
be stored by saving their altitude and azimuth relative to the
location of the telescope at the time of observing. Since these
objects are relative to the location of the telescope, they are only
valid for that exact location. To save land objects, once again
center the desired object in the eyepiece. Scroll down to the
“

Save Land Obj

” command and press ENTER. The display

will ask you to enter a number between 1-25 to identify the
object. Press ENTER again to save this object to the database.

Enter r.a. - dec:

You can also store a specific set of

coordinates for an object just by entering the R.A. and declination
for that object. Scroll to the “

Enter RA-DEC

” command and

press ENTER. The display will then ask you to enter first the R.A.
and then the declination of the desired object.

goto object:

To go to any of the user defined objects stored

in the database, scroll down to either

GoTo Sky Obj

GoTo Land Obj

and enter the number of the object you wish

to select and press ENTER. The hand control will automatically
retrieve and display the coordinates before slewing to the object.

To replace the contents of any of the user defined objects, simply save a
new object using one of the existing identification numbers; SkyExpedition
will replace the previous user defined object with the current one.

get r.a./dEc.

— Displays the right ascension and declination for the

current position of the telescope.

goto r.a./ dEc.

— Allows you to input a specific R.A. and declination

and slew to it.

Identify

Identify Mode

will search any of the SkyExpedition database catalogs

or lists and display the name and offset distances to the nearest
matching objects. This feature can serve two purposes. First, it can be
used to identify an unknown object in the field of view of your eyepiece.
Additionally,

Identify Mode

can be used to find other celestial objects that

are close to the objects you are currently observing. For example, if your
telescope is pointed at the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, choosing

Identify

and then searching the

named star

catalog will no doubt return

the star Vega as the star you are observing. However, by selecting

Identify

and searching by the

named object

Messier

catalogs, the hand control

will let you know that the Ring Nebula (M57) is approximately 6° from your
current position. Searching the

double star