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SPHINX SXD MOUNT

Instruction Manual

Summary of Contents for Sphinx SXD

Page 1: ...SPHINX SXD MOUNT Instruction Manual...

Page 2: ...s B digital device pursuant of Part 15 of the FCC rules Caution Do not try to restrain the movement of the mount when in operation which may lead to injures to you or damage to your equipment Do not l...

Page 3: ...f Operation Aligning the Telescope Starting Automatic Slewing PREPARATION Inserting the Battery Replacing the Battery SETTING UP Setting Up the Tripod Attaching the Equatorial Mount Installing the Cou...

Page 4: ...rotation the mount moves to follow a celestial object Without this movement stars and celestial objects move through the field of view of the telescope as time elapses Basics of the Sphinx and Sphinx...

Page 5: ...Page 5 Parts Descriptions...

Page 6: ...Page 6 Descriptions of STAR BOOK Controller...

Page 7: ...y Setting date time The first time only Setting longitude latitude The first time only 3 BASIC OPERATION Learning basic operation of the mount 4 GO TO SLEWING Home position Setting the telescope tube...

Page 8: ...e figure Insert a fresh battery so that its positive polarity faces upward Screw the cover back in place Replacing the Battery Remove the cover of the battery container on the back of the STAR BOOK by...

Page 9: ...ening the lock knob on the lower part of the half pillar place the half pillar over the tripod head Attach the half pillar on the tripod head so that the metal peg on the tripod head comes underneath...

Page 10: ...rweight Proceed to the next section if your telescope doesn t have a counterweight The counterweight bar is in the declination body Release the counterweight bar clamp to draw out the counterweight ba...

Page 11: ...t finder 1 Loosen the chrome setscrew of the bracket shoe on the telescope 2 Slide the dot finder onto the bracket shoe and tighten the chrome bracket setscrew The dot finder bracket is made of plasti...

Page 12: ...h the telescope the eyepiece can be attached on either side straight thru and right angled Make sure that the light rays passing through the telescope enter your eyepiece by turning the mirror shift k...

Page 13: ...omes to horizontal as shown in the figure Loosen the lock screw on the side of the counterweight so that it can be moved to a point where it balances the telescope It is the point that the telescope r...

Page 14: ...electric shock Connecting to the STAR BOOK Plug the other end of the STAR BOOK cable where the ferrite core is attached into the controller cable connector of the STAR BOOK Secure the connectors with...

Page 15: ...screen soft keys and the group of left buttons corresponds to the lower left on screen soft keys Hint 1 In the initial setting screen contrast and brightness of the LCD screen can be adjusted with the...

Page 16: ...te and time move the cursor with the keys to the item where corrections are needed Then change the number with the keys To finish the setting move the cursor with the keys to OK and press Select About...

Page 17: ...ns are needed Then change the numbers with the keys To finish the setting move the cursor to OK with the keys and press Select The screen will go to the initial setting screen Saving the Settings Save...

Page 18: ...a warning on solar observation After reading the text choose Confirm with the keys and press Select to enter The warning continues on the screen when Not Confirm is chosen The screen advances to the h...

Page 19: ...sun with your naked eye or through any telescope or its finder scope or guide scope Permanent and irreversible eye damage may result 1 Place the telescope in an open area where you can view in excess...

Page 20: ...re used The image may be inverted or tilted but this does not mean the telescope is out of order There is no up or down in space so image orientation is not so important Hint 3 When using an eyepiece...

Page 21: ...trial objects IV Aligning the Finder Scope For the novice telescope user it is difficult to locate a selected object in the field of view at high magnification Using a finder scope will make this easi...

Page 22: ...to rotate freely While looking through the finder scope as far into the distance as possible rotate the objective barrel to find the best focus When the finder scope is in focus tighten the lock ring...

Page 23: ...ing a bright and easy to find object the Moon and then proceed to finding planets and fainter celestial objects easily visible at moderate power 1 Aim the telescope at the Moon using the keys on the S...

Page 24: ...omatic slewing can begin after you complete a two point alignment Home Position After you finish setting up the telescope turn the power switches of both the RA motor on the mount and STAR BOOK hand c...

Page 25: ...vances to the star charts as soon as you press the Select key When you set up a confirmation dialog the dialog box is displayed to confirm entering the SCOPE MODE Refer to page xx 3 Pressing the Selec...

Page 26: ...MODE as you slew the telescope the star chart on the screen moves along with the telescope as its direction changes SCOPE MODE is displayed as soon as you begin automatic slewing after a GOTO command...

Page 27: ...center a reference object on screen more accurately In SCOPE MODE it allows you to point the telescope more precisely The Zoom key reduces the star chart on the screen It allows you to scroll the scr...

Page 28: ...lignment center Vega in the field of view of your telescope Center Vega in the field of view of the telescope s finder scope and then point the telescope so that Vega is in the center of the field of...

Page 29: ...al alignments Select the next reference object from the database and repeat steps 1 to 8 Zoom the star chart out with the Zoom key to find the next reference object over a large area of the sky Hint 1...

Page 30: ...o search for a celestial object in this case Hint 16 A variety of celestial objects can be used for reference points the Moon planets nebulae and star clusters However using a reference star fixed sta...

Page 31: ...DE on the screen changes to CHART MODE Choose the next object on the screen with the keys after zooming the star chart out to show a large area of the sky Press the GOTO key Choosing a Target from the...

Page 32: ...te 3 The Object Menu also includes the Sun Moon planets constellations NGC IC objects and well known celestial objects You can search for them in the same way Warning Never look directly at the sun wi...

Page 33: ...return the telescope to the initial set position automatically at the end of your observing session when you choose Home Position just before turning off the power to the mount and the STAR BOOK hand...

Page 34: ...the STAR BOOK cable and power cord from the equatorial mount Remove accessories such as the eyepiece and finder scope Remove the optical tube Remove the counterweight and put back the counterweight b...

Page 35: ...e Value Value keys Choose OK and press Select to enter A Chart Mode Choose RADC in order to display a borderless star on the screen with no horizon The chart is oriented equatorially and scrolls in Ri...

Page 36: ...u proceed to SCOPE MODE for automatic slewing Choose YES to start automatic slewing If you choose NO automatic slewing is canceled and the screen returns to SCOPE MODE The default setting is OFF E Bri...

Page 37: ...ayed Example Using the star chart in Zoom 2 1 Zoom the star chart in by one step by pressing the Zoom key once 2 Zoom in by pressing the Zoom key once again 3 The prominent bright star names and Messi...

Page 38: ...t time the STAR BOOK is used Polar Axis Scope Illumination Adjustment Choose Polar Axis Light Brightness to change the brightness of the illuminator for the Polar axis scope 1 Press Menu to display th...

Page 39: ...ds in 5 second intervals The backlight is turned off after the set time elapses 3 After setting the backlighting duration move the cursor to OK and press Select to enter Save the setting in order for...

Page 40: ...nd and confirm your setting GO TO Speed Variation The speed of automatic slewing can be chosen between high speed and middle speed If the Middle is selected the slewing speed is reduced to half of the...

Page 41: ...the R A axis of the mount to the North Pole or South Pole of the sky 2 Change the screen to SCOPE MODE and down the speed of the telescope to the slowest or the second slowest with the Zoom key 3 Cen...

Page 42: ...escope moves when you increase the values Start with setting an initial reference value 10 for example and double this value after checking the telescope movement with the initial value If the second...

Page 43: ...manual operation of the buttons on the controller and memorize it in the STAR BOOK It will enable you to track more precisely by using the recorded motion The tracking accuracy relies on how you corre...

Page 44: ...the wide screen with the Zoom key but be sure to set the zoom level at the maximum when you make the correction Corrections may be useless in other zoom levels During the PEC recording the guide star...

Page 45: ...Stop will be shown on the screen If the PEC recording is less than one cycle Rec Stop will be indicated The PEC recording can be stopped any time after the 8 minutes has elapsed if you are satisfied w...

Page 46: ...if you need to slew the telescope at higher speed Automatic Go To slewing is possible during the play pack When you stop the play back of the PEC recording choose Play Stop in the PEC screen and press...

Page 47: ...tion programs can be downloaded through a website for upgrading For information on availability of the latest firmware version for the STARBOOK S visit Vixen Optics Downloads page at http www vixenopt...

Page 48: ...he STARBOOK PC Computer for data transfer Ethernet Card on PC LAN crossover cable Orbital elements of comets Procedures for comet registration 1 Connect the STARBOOK and the PC with the LAN crossover...

Page 49: ...to a registration form for inputting orbital elements If the STARBOOK S screen is not in SCOPE MODE or CHART MODE the message below is displayed Change to the correct screen and re enter the IP addres...

Page 50: ...distance from Q 0 170729 AU pericentre Inclination Inc 77 8349 Longitude of the Node 267 4147 Ascending node Eccentricity e 1 000022 Epoch 2007 1 20 0 3 Click on Update Data by the left click after yo...

Page 51: ...Table of the registered comets the screen changes to a registration form for inputting orbital elements 2 Click on the Browse button by the left click and designate the file previously downloaded 3 I...

Page 52: ...s you can display the comet on the screen of the STARBOOK and slew to the comet automatically You can set the comets so as to show or to hide them on the star chart In the Comet Menu screen choose the...

Page 53: ...the keys 4 As you press the GOTO key the telescope moves to the target comet automatically in order to bring it in the field of view of the telescope Automatic slewing to comets Appointing the comet u...

Page 54: ...ent settings before you start to update EXEMPTION Vixen Co Ltd and Vixen s international distributors assume no liability whatsoever for any damage caused by using or installing this update Installati...

Page 55: ...Write down the IP address Subnet mask numbers Make a note of the version and build to compare with after the update 7 Open the update program that you downloaded in 1 e g Update32 exe 8 You should be...

Page 56: ...following IP Address 169 254 a b a b show random numbers Subnet mask number 255 255 00 If your computer s IP address Subnet mask numbers are different proceed to obtaining IP Address automatically 5 C...

Page 57: ...edure 6 in How to Update your STARBOOK and follow the directions thereafter Please refer to the network administrator or a manufacturer of the router for their settings if you are not familiar with th...

Page 58: ...container on the back of the STARBOOK by taking off the screws with a screwdriver as shown in the figure 2 Pull out 4 jumper plugs in a row and shift them next to the original position It is easiest...

Page 59: ...you connect SBIG s autoguider be sure to switch the power On in order of autoguider RA motor and STAR BOOK 3 Set backlash compensation values to 0 both in RA And DEC Setting Autoguider 1 Press Menu t...

Page 60: ...nter Changing the Altitude Range The SX Sphinx mount is set for use in the middle latitude zone altitude of about 35 degrees at Vixen s factory If your observing site is in the lower latitude zone bel...

Page 61: ...shift to the low latitude zone set the altitude at 15 degrees When you have set the zone tighten the altitude adjustment clamp 6 Replace the Allen bolt to its original position and tighten it securely...

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