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Meade 114EQ-AR manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL 114mm | 4.5" Equatorial Reflecting T elescope 114EQ-AR www .meade.com Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 1[...]

  • Page 2

    WARNING! Never use a Meade ® Telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near t he Sun will cause instant and irrev ersible damage to y our e y e. Ey e damage is of ten painless, so t here is no w arning to t he obser v er t hat damage has occurred until it is too lat e. Do not point t he telescope at or near t he Sun. Do not look t hrough t he te[...]

  • Page 3

    INTRODUCTION Y our telesc ope is an exc ellent beginner’ s instrument, and is designed to observe objects in the sky . It can be your personal window on the universe. The tel escope is shipped with the foll owing parts: • Optical tube • Aluminum tripod with an acc essory tray • T wo 1.25" eyepiec es: MA25mm (28X), MH9mm (78X) • Red d[...]

  • Page 4

    FIGURE 1 2 Inset C Inset B Inset A 1. T ripod legs 2. Equatorial Mount 3. Right ascension contr ol cable 4. Declination contr ol cable 5. Counterweights 6. Counterweight shaft 7. Counterweight lock knobs 8. Counterweight safety washer 9. Latitude adjustment lock 10. Polar axis (see Fig. 5) 11. Latitude adjustment knob 12. Main optical tube (OT A) 1[...]

  • Page 5

    ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD The tripod is the basic support for y our tel escope. Its height may be adjusted so that you can view c omfortably . N N o o t t e e : : N N u u m m b b e e r r i i n n b b r r a a c c k k e e t t s s , , e e . . g g . . , , ( ( 3 3 ) ) , , r r e e f f e e r r t t o o F F i i g g . . 1 1 u u n n l l e e s s s s n n o o t t e e [...]

  • Page 6

    1. Note the two thumbscr ews (16, Fig. 4) thr ead onto two bolts on the optical tube. Remov e the thumbscr ews from the tube. 2. Line up the two holes on the r ed dot viewfinder brack et over the two bolts. Slide the brack et over the bolts. 3. Replace the thumbscr ews on to the bolts and tighten to a firm f eel. INSERT THE EYEPIECE 1. Slide the MA[...]

  • Page 7

    2. Tighten the cradl e ring attachment l ock knob (36) to a firm feel. ALIGN THE RED DOT VIEWFINDER Perf orm the first part of this pr ocedur e during the daytime and the last step at night. 1. Point the tel escope at an easy-to-find land object such as the top of a tel ephone pole or a dis tant mountain or tower . Look thr ough the eyepiece and tu[...]

  • Page 8

    In mapping the surfac e of the Earth, lines of longitude ar e drawn between the North and South Pol es and lines of latitude are drawn in an East-W est direction, parall el to the Earth's equator . Similarl y, imaginary lines have been drawn to f orm a latitude and longitude on the c elestial spher e. These lines ar e known as R R i i g g h h [...]

  • Page 9

    equator ar e indicated with a plus (+) sign (e.g., the Dec. of the North cel estial pole is +90 ° ). Any point on the cel estial equator (such as thee const ellations of Orion, Vir go, and Aquarius) is said to have a Declination of zer o, shown as 0 ° 0' 0". All cel estial objects theref ore may be loc ated with their celes tial coordin[...]

  • Page 10

    1. Release the Azimuth l ock (30)of the Azimuth base, so that the entir e tel escope-with-mounting may be r otated in a horizontal dir ection. Rotate the tel escope until it points due North. Use a compas s or locate Polaris, the North Star, as an accur ate ref erence t o North (See Fig. 7). 2. Level the mount with the horizon, if neces sary, by ad[...]

  • Page 11

    who is one of the first as tr onomers to use a tel escope, discover ed four of the moons of Jupiter with a tel escope about the same size as yours (and his didn’t e ven f ocus very well!). OBSERVING Observe during the daytime : T ry out your tel escope during the daytime at first. It is easier to l earn how it operates and how to observe when it [...]

  • Page 12

    Use a neutral density filter (often c alled a “moon filter”) when observing the Moon. Neutral density filters ar e availabl e from Meade as an optional acc essory and enhanc e contrast to impr ove your observation of lunar f eatures. Spend sever al nights observing the Moon. Some nights, the Moon is so bright that it makes other objects in the [...]

  • Page 13

    One of the most f ascinating sights of Jupiter ar e its moons. The four lar gest moons ar e call ed the Galilean moons, after the astr onomer Galileo, who observed them f or the first time. If y ou’ve nev er watched the Galilean moons in y our telescope bef ore, you’r e missing a r eal treat! Each night, the moons appear in differ ent positions[...]

  • Page 14

    col ors, how stars and planets ar e formed, r ed shift, the big bang, what are the diff er ent kinds of nebula, what ar e comets, aster oids and meteors and what is a black hol e. The mor e you learn about astr onomy, the mor e fun, and the mor e rewar ding your tel escope will become. SOME OBSERVING TIPS Eyepiec es : Always begin y our observation[...]

  • Page 15

    Moon and planets. If the image become fuzzy, switch back down to a l ower power . Changing eyepiec es changes the power or magnification of your t elesc ope. By the way, you might have notic ed something strange when y ou look ed through your ey epiece. The image is upside down and r eversed. That means r eading words can be a pr oblem. But it has [...]

  • Page 16

    fuzzy one. Using too high a power ey epiece is one of the most common mis takes made by new astr onomers. Dr ess Warm : Ev en on summer nights, the air can f eel cool or cold as the night wears on. It is important to dr ess warm or to have a sweater, jack et, gloves, etc., nearby . Know your observing site : If pos sible, know the loc ation where y[...]

  • Page 17

    tube. In other wor ds, this is the distance light travels in the tel escope bef or e being br ought to focus in you ey epiece. Y our tube is 900mm long. Primary diameter is how big the mirr or is on your scope. T elescopes ar e always described by how lar ge their primary mirror is. Y our tel escope is 114mm or 4.5 inches. Other tel escopes are 90m[...]

  • Page 18

    inter esting than a larger, dimmer, fuzzy one. Using too high a power eyepiec e is one of the most common mis takes made by new astr onomers. So don’t think that higher magnification is neces sarily better—quite often the best view is with l ower magnification value! T AKING CARE OF YOUR TELESCOPE Y our telesc ope is a precision optic al instru[...]

  • Page 19

    familiarize y ourself with the f ollowing collimation pr ocedur e, so that you will r ecognize a properl y collimated instrument and can adjust the c ollimation yourself, if neces sary . A. CORRECT COLLIMA TION The pr operly collimated (aligned) mirr or system in the Meade 114 EQ-AR as sures the sharpest images possibl e. This occurs when the prima[...]

  • Page 20

    must be unthr eaded slightly to the point of wher e you can tilt the diagonal holder fr om side-to-side by grasping the diagonal holder with your hand and tilt until you see the primary mirr or become as center ed in the r eflection of the diagonal mirr or as possible. Onc e you are at the best position, thr ead in the 3 Phillips-head diagonal tilt[...]

  • Page 21

    image will move acr oss the ey epiece field. Choose one of the 3 primary mirr or tilt scr ews and slightly move the shadow t o the center of the disk. Then slightl y move the tel escope using the fle xible cabl e contr ols to center the s tar disk image in the center of the e yepiece. • If any further adjustments ar e necessary, r epeat this proc[...]

  • Page 22

    MEADE CONSUMER SOLUTIONS If you have a ques tion conc erning your tel escope, call Meade Instruments Consumer Solutions Department at (800) 626-3233. Consumer Solutions Department hours ar e 8:00AM to 5:00PM, Pacific Time, Monday thr ough Friday . Write or call the Meade Consumer Solutions Department first, bef ore r eturning the tel escope to the [...]

  • Page 23

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 23[...]

  • Page 24

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 24[...]

  • Page 25

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 25[...]

  • Page 26

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 26[...]

  • Page 27

    Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 27[...]

  • Page 28

    www .meade.com Meade Instr uments Corporation 6001 Oak Canyon, Ir vine, Califor nia 926 18 1-800 626-3233 Meade114EQAR 3/28/07 9:52 AM Page 28[...]