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Adv
anced AutoStar II F
eatures
and press ENTER.
2. Use the Scroll keys to scroll through the list of
satellites.
3. Select a satellite from the list and press ENTER.
4. “Calculating...” and then “Tracking...” displays. If
the satellite is going to make a pass, “Located”
displays.
5. Use the Scroll keys to display data about the
pass: aos — acquisition of signal and los — loss
of signal. If you subtract the aos from the los,
you can calculate how long the satellite will be
visible. Location information also displays.
6. “Alarm” displays after the location information.
Press ENTER and AutoStar II automatically sets
the alarm to sound a minute before the satellite’s
scheduled appearance. You may return to regular
observations until the alarm goes off.
7. When the alarm goes off, return to the Satellite
menu and press a Scroll key until the desired
satellite is on the top line of the display.
8. Press GO TO. AutoStar II slews the telescope
to where the satellite should appear. The motor
drive stops and a countdown is displayed.
Note:
If the scheduled appearance position of the
satellite is obstructed (i.e., by a building, tree,
or hill), press ENTER and AutoStar II starts to
move the telescope along the expected satellite
track. When the track clears the obstruction,
press ENTER again to pause the telescope, then
continue with this procedure.
9. With about 20 seconds left on the countdown
timer, start watching through the telescope
viewfi nder for the satellite to enter the fi eld of
view.
10. When the satellite enters the viewfi nder fi eld of
view, press ENTER. The telescope starts to track
with the satellite.
11. Use the AutoStar II Arrow keys to center the
object in the viewfi nder, then look through the
eyepiece to view the object.
Satellite orbits change and new satellites (including the Space
Shuttle) are launched. Visit the Meade website (
www.meade.
com
) approximately once a month to get updated information and
instructions on how to download this data to AutoStar II. If orbital
parameters are more than one month old, the satellite pass may
not happen at the time predicted by AutoStar II. Downloading
requires usage of the included #507 Interface Cable.
Note:
Satellite observing is an exciting challenge. Most satellites
are in low orbit, travelling at approximately 17,500 mph. When
visible, they move quickly across the sky and are only in the
fi eld of view for a few minutes, requiring AutoStar II to slew the
telescope rapidly. Best viewing is near Sunrise or Sunset when
the sky is still dark. Viewing in the middle of the night can be
problematic because a satellite may pass overhead, but not be
visible as it is in the Earth’s shadow.
Landmarks
This menu option allows you to defi ne and store terrestrial
objects in the Landmark database. First, a landmark needs to
be stored in memory using the “Landmark: Add” option. To view
a landmark, use the “Landmark: Select” option. Landmarks
may also be viewed using the “Landmark Survey” option in the
Utilities menu.
Tip:
To use the Landmark function, the telescope must be located
and aligned exactlhy as when the landmark was addded to the
database.
To add objects to the Landmark database, the telescope must
be located and aligned exactlh as when the orignal objects were
added to the database.
To Add a landmark to the database:
In this procedure, you will store the location of terrestrial
landmarks in AutoStar II’s memory.
1. Note for future reference where the telescope
is located and if you have aligned the telescope,
which alignment method is used.
2. Display the “Setup: Targets” menu option. Chose
“Terrestrial” and press ENTER. “Setup: Targets”
displays again. Choosing this option turns off
tracking for astronomical objects which is not
useful for the viewing of terrestrial objects such
as those in the Landmark database. Be sure to
change this option back to “Astronomical” when
you wish to view celestial objects again.
3. Press MODE once. “Select Item: Setup” displays.
4. Press the Scroll Down key once and “Select Item:
Object” displays. Press Enter. “Object: Solar
System” displays.
