Meade 80EQ-AR manual

MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL 80mm | 3.1" Equatorial Refracting T elescope 80EQ-AR www .meade.com Meade80EQ-AR 4/28/06 9:55 AM Page 1[...]

INTRODUCTION Y our tel escope is an e xc ell ent 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 f ollo wing parts: • Optical tube • Aluminum tripod with an ac c es sory tray • T w o 1.25" eyepiec es: MA25mm (28X), MH9mm (78X) •[...]

FIGURE 1 Figur e 1 : Meade 80EQ-AR Equatorial Refracting T el escope Inset A : Red Dot Viewfinder Assembl y 2 1. Dust cap (not shown) 2. Dew shield/lens shade 3. Object lens c ell 4. Main optical tube (OT A) 5. Declination lock 6. Cradle ring att achment lock knob 7. Cradle ring l ock knob (not shown) 8. Cradle ring 9. Red dot viewfinder bracket mo[...]

1. Adjustabl e sliding inner leg e xtension (see Inset C) 2. Sliding leg e xtension lock (see Inset C) 3. Right ascension lock 4. Right ascension setting cir cl e 5. Counterweight 6. Counterweight shaft 7. Counterweight safety washer 8. Counterweight lock 9. T ripod l egs 10. Leg brace 11. Leg brace support 12. Eyepiece holder sl ots 13. Acces sory[...]

ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD The tripod is the basic support for your tel esc ope. Its height may be adjusted so that y ou can view comf ortabl y . 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 [...]

3. Replace the thumbscr ews ont o the bolts and tighten to a firm f eel. INSERT THE EYEPIECE 1. Slide the MA25mm eyepiec e (19) into eyepiec e holder on the focuser (17). 2. Tighten the focuser thumbscr ew to hold the eyepiec e secur el y . A TT ACH THE COUNTERWEIGHT (see Fig. 5) 1. Hold the counterw eights (5) firmly in one hand, (one by one) slid[...]

3. Check this alignment at night on a cel estial object, such as the Moon or a bright star, and use the viewfinder’ s alignment scr ews to mak e any nec es sary r efinements. UNDERST ANDING CELESTIAL MOVEMENTS AND COORDINA TES Underst anding wher e to l ocate c el estial objects and how those objects mo v e acr oss the sky is the k e y to enjoyin[...]

latitude and longitude, c el estial objects may also be loc ated using Right Ascension and Declination. F or exampl e: Y ou can locat e Los Angeles, Calif ornia, by its latitude (+34 ° ) and longitude (118 ° ). Similarl y, you c an loc ate the Ring Nebula (also known as "M57") by its Right Ascension (18hr) and its Declination (+33 ° ).[...]

compl ete r e volution about the pol e, cir cling with the pol e at the center . By lining up the tel escope's polar axis with the North Celes tial Pol e (or for observ ers l ocated in Earth's Southern Hemispher e with the South Celes tial Pol e), astr onomic al objects may be foll owed, or "tr acked," by mo ving the t el escope[...]

THE MOST IMPORT ANT RULE W e have one v ery important rul e that you should al ways foll ow when using your tel esc ope: Have F un! Have a good time when you’r e observing. Y ou may not know everything that ther e is to kno w about a t el escope or what all the sights in the universe ar e, but that’ s OK. Just point and observe at firs t. Y ou [...]

wish to mov e the tel escope in very small (fine contr ol) s teps. Observe the Moon : When you f eel comf ortabl e with the viewfinder, the eyepiec es, the locks and the adjustment contr ols, you will be ready to try out the tel escope at night. The Moon is the best object to observe the fir st time you go out at night. Pick a night when the Moon i[...]

observe V enus going thr ough cr escent phases. But you cannot see any surf ace detail on V enus bec ause it has a very thick atmospher e of gas. When Mar s is cl ose to the Earth, you c an see some details on Mars, and sometimes e ven Mars ’ polar caps. But quite often, Mars is further away and just appears as a r ed dot with some dark lines cri[...]

Optional col or filters help bring out detail and contr ast of the planets. Meade offer s a line of inexpensive col or filters. What’ s Next? Beyond the Solar System : Onc e you have observ ed our own system of planets, it’ s time to r eall y travel f ar fr om home and l ook at star s and other objects. Y ou can observe thousands of s tars with[...]

same size as they l ook in your ey epiece. Y ou will see that the moons ar e in a differ ent position every night. As y ou get better at drawing, try mor e chall enging sights, lik e a crater syst em on the moon or even a nebula. Go your library or check out the internet f or mor e information about as tr onomy . Learn about the basics: light years[...]

thr ough the field of view of the eyepiec e mor e rapidl y . Place the object to be vie wed at the edge of the field and, without touching the tel escope, wat ch it drift thr ough the field to the other side bef or e r epositioning the tel escope so that the object to be viewed is again plac ed at the edge of the field, r eady to be further observe[...]

Primary mirr or diameter is how big the mirr or is on your sc ope. T elesc opes ar e always described by how lar ge their primary mirr or is. Y our tel escope is 114mm or 4.5 inches. Other tel escopes ar e 90mm, 8 inches, 16 inches, or even 3 f eet in diameter . The Hubble T elescope’ s objective mirr or has a diameter of 2.4 meters (that’ s 7.[...]

Y our 25mm low-pow er eyepiec e magnifies an object 28 times. Multiply 28 by 2 and y ou get 56 times magnification with a Barl ow . Eyepiece’ s magnification x 2 = Magnification with a 2X Barl ow l ens It’ s worth repeating : Keep in mind that a bright, clear, but small er image is mor e inter esting than a lar ger, dimmer, fuzzy one. Using too[...]

MEADE CONSUMER SOLUTIONS If you have a ques tion conc erning your tel escope, c all 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 F riday . Write or call the Meade Consumer Solutions Department first, bef or e r eturning the tel escope to t[...]

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OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NO TES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade80EQ-AR 4/28/06 9:55 AM Page 21[...]

OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NO TES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade80EQ-AR 4/28/06 9:55 AM Page 22[...]

www .meade.com Meade Instr uments Corporation 6001 Oak Canyon, Ir vine, California 926 18 1-800 626-3233 Meade80EQ-AR 4/28/06 9:55 AM Page 24[...]