Meade DS-114AT manual

Instruction Manual DS-114A T Reflecting T elescope Meade Instruments Corporation[...]

Reflecting T elescopes use a concave primary mirror to collect light and form an image. In the Newtonian type of reflector , light is reflect- ed by a small, flat secondary mirror to the side of the main tube for observation of the image. Light is collected by a concave mirror and brought to a focus at F . F Eyepiece Concav e Mirror Secondary Mirro[...]

Quick-Start Guide .......................................................... 4 T elescope Features ...................................................... 7 Autostar Features .......................................................... 8 Getting Started ..............................................................10 Packing List .....................[...]

4 QUICK-ST AR T GUIDE 1. Remove the optical tube and tripod fr om the gift- bo x. Perform this setup on a flat, stable surface. It is rec- ommended that you perform this operation in the day- time or in bright light the first time you assemble the tel- escope. The optical tube assembly is shipped with the cradle rings, yoke mount, and tripod attach[...]

5 6. Adjust tripod. Adjust the height of the tripod by lifting the clip on each leg and extending the sliding inner section of each tri- pod leg to the desired length. Then press the clip back against the leg to lock in place. 4. Attach and balance the optical tube. T urn the optical tube around and replace it into the cra- dle rings. Fasten the cr[...]

6 1 2 9 5 11 10 6 16 20 13 15 7 3 23 Fig. 1: DS-114A T Series T elescope. Fig. 1b (Inset): Computer Control P anel. (A) LED (B) 12V P or t (C) Handbox P or t (D) AZ P or t (E) AL T P or t (F) A UX P or t 12 14 19 18 21 4 Fig. 1c: Cradle Rings Lock Knobs (on opposite side). 17 3 A C D E F B 8 22[...]

7 The DS-1 14A T telescope has a variety of useful features. Be sure to become acquainted with all of these controls bef ore you begin making observations through the telescope.  Focus Knobs : Move the telescope’s focus drawtube in a finely-controlled motion to achieve precise image focus.  Eyepiece Holder : Holds the eyepiece in place. [...]

8 Control of the DS-1 14A T Series T elescopes is through the operation of the #494 Autostar handbox. Nearly all functions of the telescope can be operated with just a few pushes of Autostar ’s buttons. Some of the major features of Autostar are: ■ Automatically move the telescope to any of the 1400 objects stored in the database or manually en[...]

9  Arro w Keys : Move the telescope in a specific direction (up, down, left, and right), at any one of nine different slew speeds. The Arrow Keys can also be used to scroll through the letters of the alphabet and numeri- cal digits. The Down Arrow key starts with the letter "A" and the Up Arrow key starts with the digit "9." [...]

10 P acking List Assembling the telescope for the first time requires only a few minutes. When first opening the packing box, note carefully the parts listed on your giftbox. How to Assemb le Y our T elescope The telescope attaches directly to the tripod. The telescope in this way is "mounted" in an “ Altazimuth ” ( “ Altitude-Azimu[...]

11 12. Connect Autostar: Plug the coil cord of the Autostar Controller into the HBX port ( C, Fig.1b ) of the computer control panel. W ARNING: Make sure you plug in Autostar before you plug in the battery pack. NO TE: A utostar does not require batteries; the telescope’ s batter ies supply power to A utostar . 13. Insert batteries : Install 10 A[...]

DEFINITION: A capital "X" is used to denote an ey epiece's (or a Barlow's) power or magnification. For e xam- ple, "40X" is read as "40-power ." 12 Aligning the Viewfinder: It is recommended that you perform steps 1 through 4 of this procedure during the daytime and step 5 at night. 1. Loosen the Az lock ( 19[...]

OBSER VING Observing by Mo ving the T elescope Manually If you wish to observe a distant land object, such as a mountain top or a bird, you can observe by merely pointing the telescope and looking through the eyepiece. 1. Loosen the telescope ’ s Az lock ( 19, Fig. 1 ) and Alt lock ( 22, Fig. 1 ). 2. Move your telescope to point at distant street[...]

Fig. 18: Alt/Az Home Position. North Level the opti- cal tube 14 5. The Arrow keys are now activated. Press the Arrow keys ( 5, Fig. 2 ) to slew (move) the tel- escope up, down, right, or left. 6. Press the SPEED/? key ( 8, Fig. 2 ) to change the telescope ’ s slew speed. See SLEW SPEEDS , below , for more information. 7. Use the viewfinder ( 5, [...]

DEFINITION: Initialization is a procedure that ensures A utostar operates correctly . When you first use A utostar , it doesn't yet kno w where the obser vation site is or the time or date of the obser vation ses- sion. During the procedure, you will enter inf or- mation, such as the current time and date, and observa- tion location. Autostar [...]

16 10. Select City : The next screen asks for the city closest to the observing site. Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the database of cities (listed alphabetically). Press ENTER when the correct city appears on screen. 11 . Select Model Number : The next screen asks for the telescope model. Use the scroll keys to locate your telescope model nu[...]

17 Observe a Star using the Automatic T rac king Feature In this example, the Autostar Arrow keys are used to find a star , and then Autostar's tracking capability automatically keeps the star centered in your telescope's eyepiece. 1. Set in Home P osition: Level the optical tube and point it North. Make sure that the Alt lock ( 22, Fig. [...]

18 5. Daylight Sa vings - Select “ Ye s ” or “ No, ” then press ENTER. 6. Alignment Option Screen - “ Setup: Align ” displays. Press ENTER. 7. Select Alignment - “ Align: Easy ” displays. Press ENTER. 8. Set Alt/Az Home P osition - Autostar then prompts you to set the telescope in the Alt/Az Alignment home position. T o set your tel[...]

19 Go T o Saturn After performing the Easy Align procedure, the motor drive begins operating and the telescope is aligned for a night of viewing. Objects in the eyepiece should maintain their position even though the Earth is rotating beneath the stars. IMPORT ANT NO TE : Once aligned, only use GO TO or the Arro w ke ys to mov e the telescope. Do n[...]

20 It is important to understand that menu selections are set in a loop ( Fig. 23 ). This means that pressing the Scroll Down key ( 7, Fig. 2 ) cycles down through all the available options within a given category , then returns to the first option. The Scroll Up key ( 6, Fig. 2 ) cycles up through the options in the opposite order . Note that this[...]

21 T o Calculate Sunset time: 1. Press the MODE key several times, until “ Select Item: Object ” is displayed. 2. Press the Scroll Down key once to display the “ Event ” option in the “ Select Item ” menu. 3. Press the ENTER key to choose the "Event" option and move down a level. "Event: Sunrise" is displayed. 4. Pre[...]

22 MENUS AND MENU OPTIONS Object Menu Almost all observing with Autostar is performed using the Object menu category . ( NOTE: Exceptions include Guided T our and Landmar k Surve y . ) See GO T O SA TURN , page 19, for an example of observing using the Object menu. Also see USING THE GUIDED TOUR , page 19. Many Autostar menu categories contain data[...]

23 Landmarks stores the location of terrestrial points of interest in the permanent Autostar data- base. IMPORT ANT NO TE: T o use the Landmark function, the telescope must be located and aligned e xactly as when the landmark was added to the database. ■ Select : T o select a Landmark already in the database (see ADD below), choose the "Sele[...]

24 Solar Eclipse lists upcoming Solar Eclipses, including the date and type (total, annular , or par- tial) of eclipse, and the location and time of the first and last contacts of the Moon's shadow . Use the Scroll Up and Down keys to display the available data. Remember , never use a tele- scope to look at the Sun! See “ W ARNING! ” on pa[...]

25 Display Options enables or disables Autostar ’ s two initial displays. If both displays are dis- abled, Autostar begins with the Date display . ■ Sun W arning: Turns the “ Sun W arning ” message on or off. ■ Getting Started: Turns the “ Getting Started ” message on or of f. Brightness Adj : Adjusts the brightness of the display usi[...]

26 T elescope accesses the several options, including: ■ Model: Allows you to select the telescope model connected to Autostar . ■ Focal Length: Displays the focal length of the selected telescope. ■ Az Ratio and Alt Ratio : The Az (Azimuth) ratio and Alt (Altitude) ratio refers to the gears of the telescope's motors. Do not alter these [...]

27 ■ Edit : Edits a selected site, including: the name, latitude, longitude, and time zone. T ime Zone refers to the Greenwich Mean T ime (GMT) time zone shift. Users W est of Greenwich, England use “ - ” hours, East of Greenwich use “ + ” hours. For the United States, look up the time zone shift in T able 1 . NO TE: A utostar compensates[...]

28 CARING FOR Y OUR TELESCOPE Y our DS-1 14A T telescope is a precision optical instrument designed to yield a lifetime of rewarding observations. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument, your tele- scope will rarely , if ever , require factory servicing. Maintenance guidelines include: a. Avoid cleaning the telescope ’ s optics: [...]

29 2 1 3 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 4 3 6 2 5 1 4 Fig. 26. Fig. 27. Fig. 28. Fig. 29. Fig. 30. Fig. 31. Fig. 32.[...]

30 3. Secondar y mirror-holder adjustments : If the secondary mirror ( 1 , Fig. 31 ) is centered in the focuser drawtube ( 2, Fig. 31 ), but the primary mirror is only partially visible in the reflection ( 3, Fig. 31 ), the three “ + ” (Phillips head) secondary mirror-tilt screws ( 2, Fig. 27 ) should be slight- ly unthreaded to the point where[...]

31 OPTIONAL A CCESSORIES A wide assortment of professional Meade accessories is available for the DS-1 14A T T elescopes. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the quality of the instru- ment itself. Consult the Meade General Catalog for complete details on these and other accessories. Eyepieces (1.25" barrel diameter): Fo[...]

32 Locating the Celestial P ole T o get basic bearings at an observing location, take note of where the Sun rises (East) and sets (West) each day . After the site is dark, face North by pointing your left shoulder toward where the Sun set. T o precisely point at the pole, find the North Star (Polaris) by using the Big Dipper as a guide ( Fig. 33 ).[...]

APPENDIX B 33 Using A utostar to Find Objects Not in the Database Although Autostar contains a database of more than 1400 celestial objects (stars, nebulae, planets, etc.) that you can observe, you may eventually want to view objects that are not part of the database. Autostar provides a feature that allows you to enter an object's R.A and Dec[...]

34 Observing Satellites In this procedure, you will prepare your telescope to observe a satellite pass. 1. Go to the "Object: Satellite" menu option 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 "T racking.[...]

35 In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo, using a telescope smaller than your DS-1 14A T model, turned it skyward instead of looking at the distant trees and mountains. What he saw , and what he realized about what he saw , has forever changed the way mankind thinks about the universe. Imagine what it must have been like being the fir[...]

36 Access directly through the Glossary menu or through hypertext words embedded in Autostar . See “ GLOSSAR Y MENU," page 24, for more information. Objects in Space Listed below are some of the many astronomical objects that can be seen with the DS-1 14A T Series T elescope: The Moon The Moon is, on average, a distance of 239,000 miles (380[...]

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0601 AD V ANCED PRODUCTS DIVISION Meade Instruments Corporation World’ s Leading Manufacturer of Astronomical T elescopes for the Serious Amateur 6001 Oak Canyon, Irvine, California 92618 ■ (949) 451-1450 F AX: (949) 451-1460 ■ www .meade.com © 2001 MEADE LIMITED W ARRANTY Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is war[...]