21
Obser
ving
Moving Through AutoStar II’s Menus
The AutoStar II database is organized in levels for quick and
easy navigation.
■
Press ENTER (
Pg. 10, Fig. 2, 2
) to go deeper into
AutoStar II’s menu levels.
■
Press MODE (
Fig. 2, 3
) to move back toward the
top menu level.
■
Press the Scroll keys (
Fig. 2, 7
) to move up and
down through the options available for each level.
■
Press the Arrow keys (
Fig. 2, 5
) to enter
characters and digits. The Arrow keys are also
used to move the telescope.
■
Use the Number keys (
Fig. 2, 6)
to enter digits.
Automatic Alignment for Alt-Az
Mounted Telescopes
AutoStar II offers four methods of altazimuth (alt-az) alignment;
this section describes how to initialize and align your telescope
using Automatic Alignment. (For a description of the other alt-
az alignment methods,
see page 41
. For information about
equatorial (polar) alignment, see the
next section, Appendix D
and Appendix E
).
To prepare your telescope for Automatic Alignment:
1. Tighten the RA and DEC locks (
Pg. 10, Fig. 1, 12
and 17
).
2. Verify that AutoStar II is properly connected to
your telescope. See
How To Assemble Your
Telescope, page 17.
3. Flip the telescope power switch to the
ON position.
When you slide the On/Off switch to “On” on your
telescope’s computer control panel, a version
screen briefl y appears, followed by “Welcome
to AutoStar”.
4. “Press 0 to align or Mode for Menu” displays.
Press “0” to begin Automatic Alignment. (If you
wish to choose a manual alignment method,
keep pressing Mode to go through the menus to
fi nd other alignments.)
Note:
AutoStar II initializes the Smart Drive if
it has been turned “On,” has been previously
selected, PEC training has been performed and
you have “parked” the telescope. If you have
parked it, AutoStar II will remember its position
on the worm gear. If you do not park the scope
and turn it off, it will not remember its position.
See Parking the Telescope, page 32 and PEC
Training, page 43.
5. “Automatic Alignment” displays. The system
now performs the following routines (press any
AutoStar II key to abort Automatic Alignment) :
Caution: As the telescope performs the
following operations, it will swing and rotate.
Keep a safe distance from the telescope. The
telescope now fi nds the level and tilt position
of the telescope, and also detects where
true North is. It may not actually level or tilt
the telescope or point to North — it is just
detecting these positions. This may take a
minute or two.
a. Finds the home position.
Moves the
telescope to fi nd the “home” position. When the
home position is found, the system knows the
limiting positions of the telescope and can avoid
tangling cables and over-rotating the telescope.
b. Detects “level” position of the telescope;
fi nds tilt and tip.
To detect level, AutoStar II
must calculate “level” at three compass points.
See Detecting True Level on page 24
.
AutoStar II also determines the positioning (i.e.,
tilt and tip) of the optical tube.
c. Finds North.
Locates magnetic North, then
calculates true North.
See Detecting True
North, page 24
.
d. Attempts a “GPS Fix”.
The GPS receiver
attempts to acquire and sync up with signals
from the GPS satellite system. “Getting GPS Fix”
displays.
See The Global Positioning System
on page 24.
After performing these operations, AutoStar II
now knows:
■
The telescope’s limiting positions
■
Where level is for the telescope
■
The location of true North
■
The observing site’s location
■
The date and time
