18
list of either international or U.S. location. Custom Site allows you to enter the exact
longitude and latitude of your observing site. Select City Database and press ENTER.
The hand control will allow you to choose from either U.S. or international locations.
For a listing of U.S. locations by state and then by city, press ENTER while
United
United
United
United
States
States
States
States
is displayed. For international locations, use the Up or Down scroll key to
select
International
International
International
International
and press ENTER.
Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose your current state (or country if
International locations was selected) from the alphabetical listing and press ENTER.
Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose the closest city to your location from
the displayed list and press ENTER.
Time -
Enter the current local time for your area. You can enter either the
local time (i.e.
08:00)
, or you can enter military time (i.e.
20:00
).
•
Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass
this step.
•
Choose between Standard time or Daylight Savings time. Use the Up and
Down scroll buttons (10) to toggle between options.
•
Select the time zone that you are observing from. Again, use the Up and
Down buttons (10) to scroll through the choices. Refer to Time Zone map in
Appendix for more information.
Date - Enter the month, day and year of your observing session.
4.
Select one of the alignment methods as described below.
Note: If incorrect information is entered into the hand control, the UNDO button acts like a back space button
allowing the user to re-enter the correct data.
T
T
w
w
o
o
S
S
t
t
a
a
r
r
A
A
l
l
i
i
g
g
n
n
Two-Star Align allows the user to select two stars on which to align the telescope. To align your telescope using
the Two-Star Align method:
1.
Select Two-Star Align from the alignment choices given. Based on the date and time information
entered, the hand control will automatically select and display a bright star that is above the horizon.
•
Press ENTER to select this star as your first alignment
star.
•
If for some reason the chosen star is not visible
(perhaps behind a tree or building) press UNDO to
have the hand control automatically select the next
brightest star.
•
Or you can use the Up/Down keys to browse the entire
Named Star list and select any one of over two hundred
alignment stars.
•
The hand control will only display stars on
one side of the Meridian. To display
alignment stars on the opposite side of the
Mount Calibration
After a Two Star Alignment is
successfully completed, the hand
control will ask if you wish to add
calibration stars.
Adding calibration stars is necessary
to calculate and compensate for
"cone" error inherent in all German
equatorial mounts. Cone error is the
inaccuracy that results from the
optical tube not being exactly
perpendicular
to
the
mount’s
declination axis. The telescope is
able to automatically determine the
cone error value by always using
calibration stars on the opposite
side of the Meridian from the
alignment stars. (see Figure 3-2)