Meade ETX-80AT-TC manual

Instruction Manual ETX-80A T -TC MEADE.COM[...]

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3 CONTENTS W ARNING! Never use a Meade ® T elescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irre v ersible damage to your e y e. Eye damage is often painless , so there is no warning to the obser ver that damage has occurred until it is too late. Do not point the telescope or its viewfinder at or near the Sun. Do not [...]

4 QUICK-ST ART GUIDE Setting up the T ripod 1. Open the tripod: Remov e the tr ipod from the giftbo x and stand v er tically . Gently pull the legs apar t to a fully open position. T ur n the center tripod lock knob to secure and stabilize the tripod. Tighten to a fir m f eel. Caution : Make sure you loosen the tripod loc k knob before collapsing t[...]

5 Observe Y ou can now use the A utoStar Arrow ke ys to move the tele- scope up , down, right, or left. T o change the speed at which the telescope mov es (sometimes called the slew speed), briefly press the Speed/? k ey . Each press decreases the slew speed do wn one lev el, and then will cycle back to the f astest speed. Sight along the side of t[...]

6 Fig. 1 : The ETX-80A T T elescope. TELESCOPE FEA TURES 1. Eyepiece 2. Eyepiece holder thumbscre w 3. 90 ° Eyepiece holder 4. Rear Cell P or t 5. Flip mirror control (inset) 6. Flip Bar lo w 7. Battery compar tment 8. F ork ar ms 9. Optical tube 10. Objective lens cell 11. Base/Holes f or tripod bolts 12. Dust cap 13. V er tical lock 14. Horizont[...]

7 Fig. 2 : The AutoStar Handbox (see page 10). Fig. 1c : The batter y compar tment. Fig. 1b : The computer control panel: A - HBX por t; B - LED; C - On/Off; D - A UX por t. Fig. 3 : The tr ipod. h 1^ A B C D 2) 1* 2! 2@ 2# 2% 1( 2$ 18. AutoStar 19. Bubb le lev el compass 20. T r ipod base 21. Adjustable legs 22. Accessory tray 23. Loc king knob 24[...]

8 Fig. 4a: Flip mirror control in the “up” position. Fig. 4b: Flip mirror control in the “do wn” position. ETX: Y our Per sonal Window to the Universe The Meade ETX-80A T is an extremely v ersatile, high-resolution telescope with f eatures similar to those once av ailable only with larger and more specialized imaging systems . With pushbut-[...]

9 1% Focus Knob : Mov es the telescope’s objectiv e lens ( 10, Fig. 1 ) in a finely-controlled motion to f ocus an image. The ETX-80A T telescope can be focused on objects from a distance of about 17 ft. to infinity . Rotate the focus knob clockwise to f ocus on distant objects, and countercloc kwise to f ocus on nearby objects. Note: The first t[...]

10 Fig. 5: #494 AutoStar Handbo x. T our the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of the ETX-80A T is through the operation of the standard-equipment #494 A utoStar . Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a fe w pushes of A utoStar’ s but- tons. Some of the major features of A utoStar are: • A utomatically mo[...]

11 The A utoStar Computer Controller provides control of vir tually e very telescope function within a compact handbo x. A utoStar has soft-touch keys designed to ha ve a positive f eel. The LCD (Liquid Cr ystal Displa y) is backlit with a red LED (Light Emitting Diode) f or easy viewing in the dark. The backlit displa y , key arr angement, and seq[...]

12 H Speed/? Ke y : Pressing the Speed/? k ey cycles through the nine sle w speeds that move the telescope. Each time the Speed/? ke y is pressed briefly , the current slew speed is shown f or about two seconds on the display . See SLEW SPEEDS, page 15. The Speed/? k e y also accesses the "Help" file. "Help" provides on-screen i[...]

13 P arts Listing Getting the telescope ready f or first obser v ations requires only a f ew min utes. When first open- ing the packing bo x, note carefully the follo wing par ts: • The ETX Astro T elescope with fork mount system, built-in flip barlow . • #882 Standard Field T r ipod with carry case • Accessor y tra y with mounting bolts and [...]

14 8. Plug in the handbo x: Mak e sure that the computer control panel pow er switch is in the OFF position. Remove A utoStar from the packing materials and plug it into the HBX port. Flip the P ower Switch on the computer control panel to the ON position. The cop yr ight message lights on A utoStar’ s LCD display . See Fig. 11b . 9. Accept the S[...]

15 Manual Operation of the T elescope Using A utoStar's Arrow K eys Y ou may also observe land and astronomical objects using A utoStar's Arrow k eys . If you ha ve not already done so , prepare your telescope follo wing the steps descr ibed in TELESCOPE ASSEMBL Y, page 13. Next, flip the On/Off Switch ( C, Fig. 1b ) on the computer con- [...]

16 NO TE: A utoStar requests the Countr y/State , City , and T elescope Model inf or mation only the first time A utoStar is activated. If you wish to change this inf or ma- tion, use the "Site" and "T elescope Model" options in the Setup menu. The de vice that sup - plies the Time and Date is preset at the Observe the Moon P oi[...]

17 7. Set Y our Location or Zip Code: The Location screen displa ys. This screen asks y ou if you wish to choose either the zip code of your observing location or the location ( i.e., entering the city and state or countr y of y our obser ving location). Press Up to select the zip code option or do wn to enter the city and state . Note: The locatio[...]

18 Easy Alignment After you initializ e the system, A utoStar displays “Easy Align. ” The f astest and easiest wa y to star t observing with AutoStar is with Easy Alignment. During Easy Alignment, AutoStar automatically pic ks two alignment stars from its database of celestial objects. It will then slew the telescope to a first alignment star .[...]

19 4. Press ENTER. “Calculating” displa ys. Then “Saturn” and a set of coordinates displa ys. Satur n’s (and other planets’) coordinates change throughout the y ear . 5. Press GO TO . “Saturn: Slewing... ” displa ys and the telescope slews until it finds Saturn. Y ou ma y need to use the Arrow k eys to center Saturn precisely in the[...]

20 A UT OST AR MENUS T o night's Best H o w F ar is Far A Star's Life D o wnloaded T ours U s er-created T ours Solar System M e rcury Etc . M o on A s teroids C omets C onstellations A n dromeda Etc . Dee p S k y N amed Obj ect G ala x ies N e b ulae M e ssier Etc . Star N amed S A O C atalog D o u b le V aria b le Etc . Satellite S e le[...]

21 It is impor tant to understand that menu selections are set in a loop ( Fig. 19 ) . This means that pressing the Scroll Down k ey ( 6, Fig. 5 ) cycles do wn through all the availab le options within a giv en categor y , then retur ns to the first option. The Scroll Up k ey ( 6, Fig. 5 ) cycles up through the options in the opposite order . Note [...]

22 T o Calculate Sunset time: 1. Press the MODE ke y sev eral times, until “Select Item: Object” is displa yed. 2. Press the Scroll Down k ey once to displa y the “Ev ent” option in the “Select Item” men u. 3. Press the ENTER ke y to choose the "Event" option and mov e down a lev el. "Ev ent: Sunrise" is display ed. [...]

23 Object Menu Almost all obser ving with A utostar is performed using the Object menu categor y . ( NO TE: Exceptions include Guided T our and Landmar k Survey . ) See GO T O SA TURN , page 18, f or an e xample of obser ving using the Object menu. Also see T AKE A GUIDED T OUR , page 19. Many A utostar menu categories contain databases. An Autosta[...]

24 Event Menu The Event men u provides access to dates and times of astronomical e vents. The Event data- base includes: Sunrise and Sunset calculates the time that the Sun rises or sets on the current date. Find r ise and set times f or other dates by entering a new date into the “Setup: Date” menu. See DA T E , page 26. Moonrise and Moonset c[...]

25 Timer selects a countdown timer . This f eature is useful for functions such as astrophotograph y and trac king satellites. See OBSER VING SA TELLITES , page 29. T o use the Timer, press ENTER, then choose “Set” or “Star t/Stop ." N Set : Enter the time to be counted do wn, in hours, minutes , and seconds, then press ENTER. N Start/St[...]

26 Date changes the date used b y A utostar . This function is useful to check e vents in the past or future. For e xample, set the Date menu f or a da y three months in the future. Then check the "Select Item: Ev ent" menu for the Sunset time on that date . See EVENT MENU , page 24. Time changes the time entered into A utostar . Setting [...]

27 N Quiet Slew : Sets the maximum slew rate to 1.5° f or quieter operation. N Max Elev ation : Allows you to enter a v alue in degrees that sets a limit as to how f ar the optical tube can s wing upward during a programmed sle w . (Note that it does not prev ent y ou from perf or ming a manual sle w past this limit.) This is useful when you hav e[...]

28 T errestrial Observing The ETX-80A T makes an e xcellent high-resolution, terrestr ial (land) telescope. Viewing terres- trial objects requires looking along the Ear th's surface through heat w av es. These heat wa ves often cause degradation of image quality . Low po wer ey epieces, like the MA 25mm e yepiece, magnify these heat w a ves le[...]

29 T wo-Star Alt/Az Alignment T wo-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky . AutoStar pro vides a database of bright stars and two stars from this database are chosen by the observer f or alignment. 1. P erform steps 1 thr ough 8 as described in the EASY ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE , page 18. 2 . Align to the first star . AutoStar then disp[...]

30 8. Use the Arrow k eys to center the object in the e yepiece to view the object. Satellite orbits change and new satellites (including the Space Shuttle) are launched. Visit the Meade website ( www .meade .com ) appro ximately once a month to get updated information and instructions on how to download this data to A utoStar . If orbital paramete[...]

31 6. With about 20 seconds left on the countdown timer , star t watching through the e yepiece for the satellite to enter the field of view . 7. When the satellite enters the field of view , press ENTER. The telescope starts to track with the satel- lite . instrument. LPI ( Fig. 22 ) and Deep Sky Imager ( Fig. 23 ) combine the power of an electron[...]

32 Fig 27: #827 Right-Angle Viewfinder . A wide assor tment of prof essional Meade accessories are av ailable f or the ETX-80A T . Meade accessories greatly extend man y impor tant applications to the telescope, from low-pow er , wide-field terrestrial viewing to high-pow er lunar and planetar y observing. The premium quali- ty of these accessories[...]

33 General Maintenance The ETX-80A T telescope is a precision optical instr ument designed to yield a lif etime of reward- ing applications. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument, y our telescope will rarely require f actor y ser vicing or maintenance. Maintenance guidelines include: 1. A void cleaning the telescope’ s optics. A[...]

34 T roubleshooting The f ollowing suggestions ma y be helpful with operation of the ETX-80A T . The power indicator light on the telescope does not come on or there is no response when pressing A utoStar Arro w keys: • V er ify that the Computer Control P anel power s witch ( C, Fig. 1b ) is in the ON position. • V er ify that the A utoStar co[...]

35 Meade Customer Service If you ha ve a question concerning your ETX-80A T , contact the Meade Instr uments Customer Ser vice Department at: T elephone : (800) 626-3233 Customer Ser vice hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, P acific Time, Monday through F riday . In the unlikely e vent that the ETX requires f actor y ser vicing or repairs, write or ca[...]

36 Although A utoStar's database contains more than 1400 objects (stars, neb ulae, planets, etc.) that you can observe , you ma y ev entually want to vie w objects that are not par t of the database. A utoStar provides a f eature that allows you to enter an object's R.A and Dec coordinates in the "User : Objects" option of A uto[...]

37 P olar Alignment The great majority of ETX-80A T owners will find it unnecessar y e ver to P olar align the telescope. With these ETX telescope models the standard-equip- ment A utostar controller allows the telescope to be used in the altazimuth (Alt/Az) orientation for all obser ving purpose. This section is included only f or educational pur [...]

38 e .g., the Declination of the Nor th Celestial P ole is +90°, with Declination South of the celestial equator indicated with a “–” sign, e.g., the Declination of the South Celestial P ole is –90°. Any point on the celes- tial equator itself which, f or example , passes through the constellations Or ion, Virgo , and Aquarius, is specifi[...]

39 UNITED ST A TES City State Latitude Albuquerque New Me xico 35° N Anchorage Alaska 61° N Atlanta Georgia 34° N Boston Massachusetts 42° N Chicago Illinois 42° N Clev eland Ohio 41° N Dallas T exas 33° N Denv er Colorado 40° N Detroit Michigan 42° N Honolulu Haw aii 21° N Jac kson Mississippi 32° N Kansas City Missouri 39° N Las V ega[...]

40 T rain the telescope motors using A utoStar . P erform this procedure after RESET or if you are e xper iencing any point- ing accuracy prob lems. Figure 33 depicts the complete Drive T raining procedure. Note: Use a terrestrial object, such as a telephone pole or lamp post, to train the drive. Complete this ex er- cise once e very 3 to 6 months [...]

41 In the ear ly 17th centur y , Italian Scientist Galileo, using a crude telescope considerably small- er than the ETX-80A T , tur ned it to look tow ards the sky instead of distant trees and mountains. What he sa w , and what he realized about what he saw , fore ver changed the wa y mankind thought of the universe . Imagine what it must hav e bee[...]

42 Planets Planets change positions in the sky as they orbit around the Sun. T o locate the planets on a given da y or month, consult a monthly astronomy magazine, such as Sky and T elescope or Astronom y . Listed belo w are the best planets for vie wing through the ETX-80A T . V enus is about nine-tenths the diameter of Ear th. As V enus orbits th[...]

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Part no . 14-6882-00 07/00 (800) 626-3233 www .meade.com MEADE LIMITED W ARRANTY Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is warranted b y Meade Instruments Cor poration (“Meade”) to be free of defects in materials and workmanship f or a period of ONE YEAR from the date of or iginal purchase in the U .S.A. and Canada. Mead[...]