Meade ETX-LS SC manual

Instruction Manual 6" ETX-LS ACF and 6" ETX-LS SC T elescopes with AutoStar III Hand Controller INDEX INDEX[...]

W ARNING! Never use a Meade ® ETX-LS ™ T elescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late. Do not point the telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telesco[...]

CONTENTS Introduction The most sophisticated and easiest to use telescope ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Getting Started Assembling the T elescope and using LightSwitch Assembling the tripod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 M o u n t i n g t h e t r i p o d .......................... 6 Installing the batteri[...]

INTRODUCTION The ETX-LS LightSwitch ® 6" ACF and ETX-LS LightSwitch ® 6" SC T elescope The most sophisticated and easiest to use telescopes ever Congratulations on receiving your new ETX-LS 6” telescope. Y ou’ll nd that this telescope system has all you need to explore the Universe we live in. Meade’ s concept was to create a t[...]

GETTING ST ARTED Y ou may want to perform the ETX-LS assembly indoors in the light so that you become familiar with the parts and operation before moving the telescope outside into the dark for observing. This Getting Started Guide assumes you are too impatient to read the entire manual rst and want to use your new telescope as quickly as possib[...]

Mounting the T elescope 5 T ake the ETX-LS from its packaging and place the entire telescope onto the top of the tripod head. Rotate the telescope head slowly until you feel the scope register on the center hub of the tripod head. Carefully screw the three attachment thumb-screws on the bottom of the plate to the base of the tripod. Hand tighten th[...]

Attaching Accessories 8 Be sure the telescope master power switch is in the off position. Remove the ETX-LS handbox and the coiled interface cable from the packing materials. Plug one end into the HNDBX port of the control panel and plug the other end into the Handbox port on the ETX-LS handbox. 9 Remove the dust cap from the rear cell of the teles[...]

 After the telescope powers on, you will hear a brief introductory message. Y ou can press the “MEDIA” key to bypass the introduction if you like. If you have attached a video cable from the Video Out connection on the telescope to the composite video input of a TV monitor , you will also see graphics accompanying the telescope introduction.[...]

Key Functions “BACK” - return to previous menu. “ENTER” - select or conrm entry . “GO TO” - Slew to currently selected object. “SPEED” - Adjust Slew Speed. “FOCUS” - Optional Electronic focuser . Motion pad controls focuser . Up/Down scrolls focus speed. “VOL” . - Up/Dn adjusts media volume. “DISP” - Control Display c[...]

The “ENTER” and “BACK” buttons on the top of the display let you move up and down the menu tree. When you press “ENTER” you will select the current active menu choice. Pressing “BACK” will move you up the menu tree. T o get us to the top of the menu tree, press “BACK” until “Select Item” is displayed on line 1 of the display[...]

ETX-LS KEY FEA TURES ETX-LS KEY FEA TURES Figure 1: ETX-LS T elescope  3 2 1 5  8   4   T elescope Input/Output Panel  ON/OFF LightSwitch  ECLIPS CCD Module  Red Dot Finder Alignment Screws  Handbox Storage Cradle 1 Diagonal Eyepiece Holder 2 Diagonal Prism 3 1.25” Eyepiece Holder 4 Eyepiece Holder Thumb Screw 5 Eyep[...]

Figure 2: ETX-LS Right Side ETX-LS KEY FEA TURES Figure 3: ETX-LS Front Figure 4: ETX-LS Connectors  2! 2@ 2# 2$ 2% 2^   7 9    6 6 Diagonal Thumbscrew 7 Optical T ube Assembly (OT A) 9 Focus Knob  Integrated Sensor Module  Dust Cover  Battery Compartments  Red Dot Finder  Mini SD Card Slot  USB-A for Future Expa[...]

1 Diagonal Holder: Holds the eyepiece in place. 2 Diagonal Prism: provides a more comfortable right angle viewing position. Slide the diagonal prism directly into the eyepiece holder ( Fig. 1, 3 ). 3 1.25" Eyepiece Holder 4 Eyepiece Holder Thumb Screw 5 Eyepiece: Place the Super Plössl 26mm eyepiece into the 90° diagonal prism ( Fig. 1, 4 ) [...]

b. Images from the ECLIPS camera. d. Sky maps of the region where your telescope is pointed e. Astronomer Inside videos and images of the moon, planets, and deep sky objects 2# Audio Output: This connection will allow you to pass the telescope’s stereo sound to external speakers, headphones or and external television monitor . 2$ Electronic Focus[...]

Using the Red-Dot Finder Because your telescope has so much magnication, its eld of view is very small. This can make it hard to know exactly where your telescope is pointing by simply looking at it. T o help you point the telescope quickly and accurately , for terrstrial targets or when not using Auto Alignment and GO TO pointing, the ETX-LS[...]

Meade makes a complete line of accessories to enable you to get the most fun and performance from your ETX- LS telescope. No matter what you want to accomplish, we have the equipment to help you get there. Choosing Eyepieces A telescope’ s eyepiece magnies the image formed by the telescope’s main optics. Each eyepiece has a focal length, exp[...]

The Series 5000 Premium Eyepieces represent the highest level of eyepiece technology . Featuring advanced lens designs with 5, 6 and 7 elements, super fully multi-coated lenses and some of the widest elds of view available, they provide the user with the highest-contrast, pinpoint-sharp images and spectacular wide eld views of the heavens. Th[...]

Universal AC Adapter (07584): This adapter supplies a constant regulated 12 volt DC at up to 5 Amps from either a standard 1 15 volt AC or 220 volt AC household supply . It is the only tested and recommended AC power supply for the ETX-LS system. Power Supplies While the ETX-LS will operate with 8 “C” cell batteries, you should consider several[...]

AUTOST AR III HANDBOX Figure 5: The AutoStar III Handbox T our the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button The AutoStar III hand controller operates the ETX-LS telescope with just a few pushes of AutoStar ’s buttons. Some of the major features of AutoStar III are: • Automatically move the telescope to any of over 90,000 objects stored in the data[...]

1 “ENTER” Key: Selects the option on the second line of the display . When you are looking at descriptive object text, “ENTER” will synchronize the telescope’s coordinates with the object. This is most useful when synching on bright stars to achieve better pointing in the vicinity of the star . See NA VIGA TING THE MENUS, page 9 and AUT O[...]

5 Arrow Keys: Slew the telescope in a specic direction (up, down, left, and right), at any one of nine different speeds. Speed selection is explained in “SLEW SPEEDS”, below . The following functions are also available with the Arrow keys: • Moves the telescope – Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move the telescope vertically up and down[...]

“9/Display” – instantly brings up the handbox brightness controls so you can adjust your handbox display . “0/Mode” – This key lets you cycle through the telescope’s modes, (See the entry above). 7 Scroll Keys: Accesses options within a selected menu. The menu is displayed on the rst line of the screen. Options within the menu are [...]

Solar System Moon Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Pluto Asteroids Comets Constellation Andromeda V olume Brightness Adj. Contrast Adj. Night Display Sleep Scope Parking Scope Align Automatic Alt/Az 2 Star Alt/Az 1 Star T errestrial Preferences Restore Defaults Hi Prec. Slews Default Alignment Mount T ype Equatorial* Alt. Az Play Intro Vide[...]

Guided T our Menu When Guided T ours is selected, ETX-LS shows you a list of theme tours that will help you explore the night sky . These tours are pre programmed presentations of objects that are visible for the user ’s particular location, time and date. The most popular tour is “T onight’s Best” that guides the user to the best objects t[...]

database. IMPORT ANT NOTE: T o use the Landmark function, the telescope must be located and aligned exactly as when the landmark was added to the database. • Select – T o select a Landmark already in the database (see ADD below), choose the “Select” option and scroll through the list. Press “ENTER” to select a Landmark, then press “GO[...]

• Set Contrast: UP/DOWN selects scrolls through the thirteen pre-set Contrast curves available, “Cont. Day”, “Cont. Moon”, “Cont. Planet”, “Cont. Stars”, and “Cont. Deep1” thru “Cont. Deep9”. The setting after “Cont. Deep9” is Cust.Cont. (Custom Contrast). This setting allows you adjust the Contrast AND Brightness to c[...]

On – Selects full-time red video. Off – Selects full-time color video. Sleep Scope is a power and time saving option that shuts down the ETX-LS telescope without forgetting its alignment. With “Sleep Scope” selected, press “ENTER” to activate the Sleep function. ETX-LS goes dark, but the internal clock keeps running. Press any key , exc[...]

AUTOST AR III MENU OPTIONS 28 • Use GPS allows you to disable use of the GPS to determine the time and your telescope’s location. If your scope is mounted in an observatory , or on a permanent mount, disabling the GPS can speed your startup. When the GPS is disabled, you are presented a menu that offers you the choice of using the previous loca[...]

e. “Automatic Alignment: Selecting Star” and “Slewing” display . When it is close to the alignment star “Center Brightest Star: Press “ENTER” ” displays. When the telescope slews to the rst star , it may not appear in the eld of view in the eyepiece. Use the Red Dot Finder ( Pg. 12, Fig. 2, 16 ) to locate the star . The alignm[...]

This menu option allows you to dene and store terrestrial objects in the Landmark database. First, a landmark needs to be stored in memory using the “Landmark: Add” option. T o view a landmark, use the “Landmark: Select” option. T o add a landmark to the database In this procedure, you will store the location of terrestrial landmarks in [...]

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” , ETX-LS 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 ob[...]

T errestrial Observing The ETX-LS is an excellent high-resolution, terrestrial (land) telescopes. Viewing terrestrial objects requires looking along the Earth’s surface through heat waves. These heat waves often cause degradation of image quality . Lower power eyepieces, like the Super Plössl 26mm eyepiece, magnify these heat waves less than hig[...]

7. If the ETX-LS is not to be used for an extended period, perhaps for one month or more, it is advisable to remove the batteries from the telescope. Batteries left in the telescope for prolonged periods may leak, causing damage to the telescope’ s electronic circuitry . 8. Do not leave the ETX-LS inside a sealed car on a warm summer day; excessi[...]

eyepiece eld of view ( Fig. 8, 2 ), in the same direction as the darker shadow is offset in the ring of light. 4. T urn the set screw that you found with the pointing exercise while looking in the eyepiece. Y ou will notice that the star image will move across the eld. If while turning the defocused star image ies out of the eyepiece el[...]

Inspecting the Optics A Note About the “Flashlight T est”: If a ashlight or other high-intensity light source is pointed down the main telescope tube, the view (depending upon the observer ’s line of sight and the angle of the light) may reveal what appears to be scratches, dark or bright spots, or just generally uneven coatings, giving th[...]

If you have a question concerning your ETX-LS telescope, call the Meade Instruments Customer Service Department at (800) 626-3233. Customer Service hours are 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Pacic T ime, Monday through Friday . In the unlikely event that the ETX-LS requires factory servicing or repairs, before returning the telescope to the factory , write o[...]

APPENDIX A: TRAINING THE DRIVE Figure 9: T raining the Drive TRAINING THE DRIVE Perform this procedure if you are experiencing any pointing accuracy problems. Fig. 9 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 exercise once every 3 to 6 mont[...]

CREA TING USER OBJECTS and TOURS APPENDIX B: CREA TING USER OBJECTS User Object are catalogs of deep sky objects you can create or import that are not in the ETX-LS telescope. Y ou can dene your own objects and create your own titles. T ours, similar to the three preloaded guided tours (T onight’s Best”, “A Star ’s Life” and “How Far[...]

In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo, using a crude telescope considerably smaller than the ETX- LS, turned it to look towards the sky instead of distant trees and mountains. What he saw , and what he realized about what he saw , forever changed the way mankind thought of the universe. Imagine what it must have been like being the ?[...]

Planets change positions in the sky as they orbit around the Sun. T o locate the planets on a given day or month, consult a monthly astronomy magazine, such as Sky and T elescope or Astronomy . Y ou can also consult ETX-LS for information about planets. Scroll to the “Object: Solar System” menu and scroll through the lists of planets. When a pl[...]

SPECIFICA TIONS SPECIFICA TIONS Model and Product Number 6"ETX-LS ACF # 0610-03-10 Optical System Optical Design Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) Primary Mirror Diameter 6” (152mm) Primary Mirror Material Pyrex® Glass Focal Length, Focal Ratio 1524mm, f/10 Optical Coatings Ultra-High T ransmission Coatings (UHTC™) Resolving Power (arc seconds) 0.[...]

SPECIFICA TIONS SPECIFICA TIONS Model and Product Number 6" ETX-LS SC # 0610-03-12 Optical System Optical Design Schmidt Cassegrain (SC) Primary Mirror Diameter 6” (152mm) Primary Mirror Material Pyrex® Glass Focal Length, Focal Ratio 1524mm, f/10 Optical Coatings Ultra-High T ransmission Coatings (UHTC™) Resolving Power (arc seconds) 0.7[...]

MEADE LIMITED W ARRANTY Every Meade telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is warranted by Meade Instruments Corporation (“Meade”) to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U.S.A. and Canada. Meade will repair or replace a product, or part thereof, found by [...]