Meade MAX-ACF manuale d’uso

Instruction Manual 20" MAX-A CF Adv anced Coma-Free T elescope on MAX Robotic German Equatorial Mount MEADE.COM[...]

DANGER Read this manual carefully before attempting to assemble the MA X-ACF mount and attaching the OT A . Follow steps as outlined in this manual in order to assemble the telescope safely . Failure to follow steps may result in injur y or death, and/or damage to the telescope and mount .[...]

T elescope F eatures ...................................................... 4 A utostar II F eatures ........................................................11 Assembly ........................................................................14 T ripod Assembly ........................................................14 P edestal Assembly and Adjusti[...]

4 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. TELESCOPE FEA TURES Components of MAX MAX f eatures a unique modular design that allows a couple of individuals to assemble , either permanently or transpor tably , a mount twice[...]

5 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. P edestal Assembly MAX's P edestal assembly can be configured to cov er three latitude ranges without the need of disassembly . T ogether , the three ranges allow the mount [...]

6 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Right Ascension Housing Assembly The RA Housing mates to the P edestal easily , sliding firmly into a dovetail b lock that measures ov er 100 square inches. When lock ed in place[...]

7 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Declination Housing Assemb ly The Dec Housing mates to the RA Housing using another huge dov etail block. The RA Housing, DEC Housing and P edestal are all designed to allow y ou[...]

8 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Counterweights The MAX counterweights are beautifully crafted with sure loc king, but quic k release, b uttons. The y allow y ou to quick- ly locate balance so you can get bac k [...]

9 Optical T ube Assembly MAX-A CF is delivered with a 20” Advanced Coma-F ree™ Optical T ube Assemblie. Its 20” OT A integrates seamlessly with MAX-ACF German Equator ial Mount. T ogether you get pinpoint stars from Meade's unique Advanced Coma-F ree optical system: • Zero e xpansion carbon fiber body • Advanced Coma-F ree optics •[...]

10 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Off/On USB P or t A UX por t 12vDC In 12VDC Switched 12VDC Switched Out HBX por t (Handbox por t) Serial por t USB P or ts Reticle P or t Focuser HBX por t Auto Guider Smar t Ac[...]

Fig. 2: The Autostar II Handbo x. T our the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of MAX-A CF telescope is through the operation of the standard A utostar II system. Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a fe w push- es of A utostar II’ s buttons. Because the A utostar II system uses flash (rewritable) memory , [...]

12 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. The A utostar II system provides control of virtually ev er y telescope function. The A utostar II handbo x has soft-touch ke ys designed to have a positiv e feel. The LCD (Liqu[...]

4 FOCUS : T oggles between two functions . The first press allows y ou to change the f ocus and f ocus speed. The next press allo ws you to create presets that tell the telescope where to f ocus. 5 SS : Press to display the Solar System library . 6 ST AR: Press to display the Star libr ar y . 7 RET (Reticle): Press to display the Reticle Control me[...]

14 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 4b 4a 3 2 1 A screwdriv er or other 1/4" shaft that can be used as a le ver will be useful during assembly . Ref er to images pages 4 to 10 for location of v ar ious telesc[...]

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 15 7 8 9 A 5 6 Tighten (rotate) the lock knobs belo w the P edestal to a "tight" f eel. First loosely tighten all three knobs, then tighten all three securely . Back off [...]

12 16 Slide the RA assembly onto the P edestal dov etail. CAUTION: MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FINGERS ARE CLEAR OF THE TRACK BEFORE YOU SLIDE THE RA ASSEMBLY INTO THE PEDESTAL TRACK. THE RA ASSEMBLY REQUIRES TWO PEOPLE TO LIFT. Tighten the RA lock knob on the pedestal assemb ly to help secure the RA assembly in place . Looking at or near the Sun will caus[...]

13 14 A THE DEC SADDLE ASSEMBL Y T ur n the Dec loc k knob so there is no gap (see step 10). Note, in the photos , the Dec assembly is already shown as attached. Howe v er , adjust this knob bef ore you attach the assemb ly . CAUTION: MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FINGERS ARE CLEAR OF THE TRACK BEFORE YOU SLIDE THE RA ASSEMBLY INTO THE PEDESTAL TRACK. THE RA[...]

18 19 20 A TT A CH COUNTER WEIGHT ASSEMBL Y Note that there are two types of counterweights used with Max. One is the typical round counterweight you're probably used with other telescopes; this is the adjustable counterw eight. The other type is uncommon and is called a fix ed counterweight. See photo at left. Looking at or near the Sun will [...]

23 21 A 21 B Slide the bolts into the threaded holes and tighten each securing knob by hand until it reaches the top . Then use a 1/4" shaft, such as a Phillips screwdriv er , as a le ver , to tur n the knob very tight. Screw in counterw eight shaft into the bottom of the fix ed counterweight assembly until it reaches the hard stop . Slide a s[...]

20 27 A TT A CH OPTICAL TUBE T O THE DEC SADDLE T ur n the O T A lock knobs on the Dec Assemb ly so that there is NO a gap . Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. no gap 25 Screw the saf ety cap on the end of the shaft[...]

28 A 28 B 28 D 28 E The O T A should hav e its dust cov er attached when left stored on the ground in an upright position. Y ou can also store it on its side. A minimum of f our people are needed to lift the optical tube. DANGER!: MAKE SURE THAT THE COUNTERWEIGHTS ARE ATTACHED BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THIS STEP. SEE STEPS 17 THROUGH 22. IMPORTANT! DA[...]

22 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 32 30 31 Slide in the included 2" accessor y adapter , a diagonal ey epiece holder and an ey epiece. Tighten thumbscrews to secure. ALIGN THE VIEWFINDER WITH THE O T A: (Se[...]

23 HOME POSITION AND B ALANCING THE O T A After pow er is applied and A utostar has initialized, press MODE to mov e to the ver tical home position (see photo at left). C C A A U U T T I I O O N N : BEFORE D D I I S S A A S S S S E E M M B B L L I I N N G G , THE TELE- SCOPE MUST BE PUT INTO THE HOME POSITION. Bef ore using the telescope, you will [...]

24 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. When the displa y readout is close to "1" (perhaps .99 or 1.01) and remains close to 1 while it is moving, it is balanced. Press MODE. This stops the Balance procedure[...]

25 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. T o Attach the handbox holder: Remov e the handbox holder from the plastic bag. If necessar y , loosen the lock knob ( 1, Fig. 39a ) and place the clamp ( 2, Fig. 39a ) about on[...]

Focusing the T elescope All f ocusing is perf ormed digitally , using AutoStar II’ s Focus k e y (number k ey 4). The F ocus key functions as a toggle k ey: 쩦 Press the F ocus ke y the first time to focus the telescope ey epiece and to control the speed at which you f ocus. 쩦 Press the F ocus ke y again to set and adjust up to nine focus pres[...]

scope), you can use A utostar to control both the MAX-ACF and the microf ocuser. Make sure y ou have connected the saddle plate to the MAX-A CF and the microfo- cuser to your telescope and also the saddle plate's F ocuser por t. Follow this proce- dure: • Press the Number K ey 4 and Autostar displa ys "OT A: Fast" displa ys. Y ou a[...]

28 Aligning for the Fir st Time If you wish to ha ve precise pointing accuracy , the first time you align your telescope you will need to align it to using A utomatic Alignment and Drift Alignment . Y ou will then electronically collimate the telescope, square the O T A and finally calibrate home. Once you do this . you will need only to park your [...]

29 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. How to Drift Align Max (Northern Hemisphere) Important Note: Y ou will need a reticle to perform this procedure 1. Center your reticle on a bright star near the Eastern hor izon[...]

30 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Follow these steps f or collimation of the optical system: The only adjustments possible , or necessary , on the MAX-ACF models is perf ormed with the A utoStar handbo x. No adj[...]

31 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Calibrate Home: After aligning your telescope , select this menu and the alignment settings—North, time, alignment stars—are stored in A utostar II's memor y and are re[...]

32 It is impor tant to understand that menu selections are set in a loop ( Fig. 44 ). This means that pressing the Scroll Down k ey cycles do wn through all the availab le options within a given category , then retur ns to the first option. The Scroll Up ke y cycles up through the options in the opposite order . Note that this capability is a quick[...]

4. Press the Scroll Down k ey once to displa y the "Sunset" option in the Event menu. 5. Press the ENTER ke y to choose the "Sunset" option and move down another le vel. 6. A utostar II calculates the Sunset time based on the current date, time , and loca- tion. Autostar II then displa ys the results of the calculation. 7. Press[...]

34 AUTOST AR II's MENUS Figure 46: The Complete Autostar II Men u T ree Structure. Hold down MODE f or two seconds and the follo wing data displa ys: • Right Ascension and Declination coordinates • Altitude and Azimuth coordinates • Local Time and Local Sidereal Time (LST) • Timer and Alarm Status • Date • Site coordinates • Batt[...]

35 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Object Menu Almost all obser ving with A utostar II is performed using the Object menu categor y . ( Note: Exceptions include Guided T our and Landmar k Sur v e y . ) A utostar [...]

36 Bro wse: Allows y ou to search the librar y for objects with certain parameters, much like a search engine . "Edit P arameters" lets y ou set v arious parameters for the search, such as: Object T ype, Minimum Ele vation, Largest, etc . Once you hav e set the param- eters of the search, select "Star t Search" and press ENTER. [...]

O T A Fan: Allo ws you to turn the fan off or on if y ou have an MAX-A CF model. The f an assists with the stabilization of the optics. The fan should be activ ated at the begin- ning of an obser ving session and run until the optics hav e achiev ed an equilibrium with the environment. F an operation time should range from about 5 to 25 min utes. N[...]

38 prompts you to turn off the telescope's power , A utostar II is unable to be returned to operation without tur ning the power off and then bac k on. Setup Menu There are numerous other f eatures availab le within the Setup menu, including: Align: Let's you choose a method of alignment. Align on Home: If Calibrate Home has been perf or [...]

Tip: If the "ENTER to Sync" fea- ture is accessed by mistak e (holding the ENTER ke y f or more than 2 seconds), press MODE to return to the previous screen. in the sky . a. Sidereal: The def ault setting f or A utostar II; sidereal rate is the standard rate at which stars mov e from East to W est across the sky due to the rotation of the[...]

40 GPS-UTC Offset: Universal Time (UTC) allows you to add leap seconds to its time calculations, GPS does not. The offset is the number of leap seconds added since the establishment of GPS . Site: Site provides access to se veral options including: 쩦 Select : Displays the currently selected observing site. Use the Scroll k eys to cycle through al[...]

쩦 Serial Number : Displays the unit's serial number . Reset: Completely resets A utostar II. Most values entered into the menus re ver t to f actor y def aults. Autostar II requires initialization again after a Reset bef ore proceed- ing with obser v ations. "Hot Button" Menus T wo menus, six object libr aries and two functions can[...]

42 ADV ANCED AUTOST AR II FEA TURES Bef ore tr ying out the e xamples in this section, familiarize yourself with the basic oper- ations of A utostar II described ear lier in this manual. The f ollowing examples assume that you ha ve a basic knowledge of A utostar II and understand how to scroll to a desired menu or menu option, and ho w to enter nu[...]

43 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 11. Press MODE. "Site: Edit" displays. 12. Using the Arrow k eys , scroll to "Site: Select." The site you hav e just edited dis- pla ys. Press ENTER to selec[...]

Observing Satellites In this procedure, y ou will prepare your telescope to observe a satellite pass . 1. Navigate to the "Object: Satellite" menu option and press ENTER. 2. Use the Scroll ke ys to scroll through the list of satellites. 3. Select a satellite from the list and press ENTER. 4. "Calculating...." and then "T ra[...]

45 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 2. Navigate to the "Object: Identify" option and press ENTER. 3. "Searching..." displa ys. When Autostar II finishes calculating, the name of the closest obj[...]

Note: Autostar II locates align- ment stars based on the date, time, and location entered. The alignment stars may change from night to night. All that is required is for the observer to center the selected stars in the ey epiece when prompted. Tip: T r y a Spiral Searc h The GO TO k ey also allo ws you to perf or m a "spiral search." A s[...]

computer control panel/ Plug the other end into a USB por t of your PC Ne xt, you will install the A utostar Suite software from the CD ROM. This software pro- vides a menu that allows y ou to download the latest version of A utostar II software into the A utostar II handbox. 4. Select A utostar Suite on the CD ROM to install A utostar Suite onto y[...]

48 OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A wide assor tment of prof essional Meade accessories is av ailable f or the MAX-ACF telescope models. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the qual- ity of the instrument itself. Consult the Meade General Catalog f or complete details on these and other accessories. Meade Series 4000 Eyepieces: Series [...]

Series 4000 Nebular Filter s: A modern boon to the city-dwelling deep-space obser v er , the interference neb ular filter eff ectiv ely cancels out the eff ects of most urban light pollution, while leaving the light of deep-space neb ular emissions vir tual- ly unattenuated. Meade Series 4000 Nebular Filters utiliz e the very latest in coating tech[...]

50 #1A filter . The filter increases visual and photographic contr ast, decreases glare, and helps to penetrate haze . MAX-A CF AC W all Adapter: P er mits powering from a standard home (115v A C) out- let. Cigarette Lighter Adapter: Po wer ing the MAX-A CF telescope by means of an auto- mobile cigarette lighter plug. #644 Flip Mirror System: Has a[...]

MAINTENANCE MAX-A CF telescopes are precision optical instruments designed to yield a lifetime of rew arding applications. Giv en the care and respect due any precision instrument, your MAX-A CF will rarely , if ev er , require factory ser vicing. Maintenance guidelines include: a. A void cleaning the telescope’ s optics: A little dust on the fro[...]

52 T otal instrument capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 lbs. Aper ture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20" Optical design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adv anced Coma-F ree Optical coatings . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

53 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. W eights and Dimension W eights Dimensions RA Housing Assembly 66 pounds L = 20.75"; W = 18.85"; H = 20.34". Dec Housing Assembly 75 pounds L = 18.25"; W = 1[...]

54 APPENDIX A: LA TITUDE CHART Latitude Chart for Major Cities of the W orld T o aid in the polar alignment procedure, latitudes of major cities around the world are listed below . T o determine the latitude of an obser ving site not listed on the char t, locate the city closest to your site . Then f ollow the procedure below: Northern hemisphere o[...]

55 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. APPENDIX B: THE MOON The Moon option of the Object menu allows y ou to obser ve the moon in a wa y nev er possible bef ore. Y ou will be able locate many specific f eatures of t[...]

56 APPENDIX C: Smart Mount Introduction Smar t Mount improv es the pointing accuracy of your MAX-A CF telescope's "Go to" system. Despite careful efforts to calibrate and align telescopes, they ma y fail to precisely center objects. Smar t Mount allows y our telescope to learn about, and then correct f or , any systematic pointing er[...]

57 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. • Sav e your model, using a good, descriptive name, using the “Sav e As” menu. Upon completion of the training, Smar t Mount is enab led and remains on until you choose ?[...]

APPENDIX D: How to Read the Latitude Scale Introduction As Max needs to be polar aligned, you will need to set the latitude scale f or you lati- tude range. The Latitude scale has three sets of measurements, one f or each latitude range: 0 to 30°, 30° to 60° and 60 to 90°. Note that there are five e xtra degrees bey ond both 0 and 90°. This al[...]

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14-7753-00 8/06 REVB 27 Hubble, Irvine, California 92618 (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 original purchase in[...]