Meade RCX400 manual

Instruction Manual 16", 20" RCX400 ™ Ad v anced Ritche y-Chrétien T elescopes with The Max Mount MEADE.COM[...]

DANGER Read this manual carefully before attempting to assemble the MA X 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 t elescope 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 twic[...]

5 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 t elescope 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 fir mly into a dovetail b lock that measures ov er 100 square inches. When locked in plac[...]

7 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 b lock. The RA Housing, DEC Housing and P edestal are all designed to allow y [...]

8 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 allo w y ou to quic k- ly locate balance so you can get b[...]

9 Optical T ube Assembly MAX is sold stand alone, or it is a v ailable b undled with Meade's 16” RCX400 ™ or 20” RCX400™ Optical T ube Assemblies . RCX O T A's integrate seamlessly with MAX. T ogether you get pinpoint stars from Meade's unique Adv anced Ritche y-Chrétien optical system: • Zero e xpansion carbon fiber body [...]

10 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 A uto Guider Smar t [...]

Fig. 2: The Autostar II Handbo x. T our the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button Control of Max and RCX400 telescope models is through the operation of the standard A utostar II system. Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a f e w pushes of A utostar II’ s buttons . Because the A utostar II system uses flash (rewritab[...]

12 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 ery telescope function. The A utostar II handbo x has soft-touch ke ys designed to ha v e a positiv e f eel. The LCD (L[...]

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

14 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 5 4 3 2 1 A Phillips screwdriv er will be useful during assembly . Ref er to images pages 4 to 10 f or location of various telescope f eatures . T ripod Assembly Bef ore y ou p[...]

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 15 9 10 11 A 7 8 Tighten (rotate) the lock knobs belo w the P edestal to a "tight" f eel. Back off the ejector knobs on the P edestal. Adjust legs until they are le v el[...]

12 13 14 15 A 16 THE RA ASSEMBL Y 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 assembly loc k knob .. THE DEC SADDLE ASSEMBL Y Back off Dec clamp knob . Note, in the[...]

17 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. 15 B 16 17 18 ...Slide down to the hard stop . Slide saf ety pin into the hole . Retighten the Dec clamp knob . Plug in the RA to Dec jumper cable . Hint: Y ou ma y wish to plu[...]

18 19 21 20 A 20 B A TT A CH COUNTER WEIGHTS Line up a fix ed counterweight's 4 bolts with the f our threaded holes in the Dec assembly base . The weights can only be positioned with indentations lined up in a v er tical or ientation. Slide the bolts into the threaded holes and tighten each securing knob by hand until it reaches the top . Then[...]

23 24 22 A 22 B 19 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. Put on adjustable counterw eights (three f or 20 inch models, tw o f or 16 inch models). The weights can be attached more easily if you mak e this a two person [...]

20 25 26 A 26 B 26 C 26 D A TT A CH OPTICAL TUBE T O THE DEC SADDLE Adjust the clamps so that there is NO T a gap. The O T A should ha v e its dust co v er attached when left stored on the ground in an upright position. A minimum of f our people are needed to lift the optical tube . DANGER!: MAKE SURE THAT THE COUNTERWEIGHTS ARE ATTACHED BEFORE PRO[...]

31 21 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope at or near the Sun. Do no t look thr ough the t elescope as it is mo ving. 27 28 29 30 ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS Attach the O T A cab le to the saddle plate. Plug in 12VDC In-make sure po wer switch is turned off first. Plug in handbo x to HBX and[...]

22 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 (32). CAUTION : BEFORE DISASSEMBLING , THE TELE- SCOPE MUST BE PUT INTO THE HOME POSITION. Bef ore using the telescope , y ou will need to balance it in both the RA and Dec ax es . Before y ou balance ,[...]

23 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 procedur[...]

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

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

scope), you can use A utostar to control both the RCX and the microfocuser . Make sure you ha v e connected the saddle plate to the RCX and the microf ocuser to y our tele- scope and also the saddle plate's F ocuser por t. Follow this procedure: • Press the Number K e y 4 and A utostar displa ys "O T A: F ast" displa ys. Y ou are n[...]

27 Aligning for the Fir st Time If you wish to ha v e precise pointing accuracy , the first time you align your telescope y ou 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 . y ou will need only to park y[...]

28 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 izo[...]

29 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 RCX 400 models is performed with the A utoStar handbo x. No adj[...]

30 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 r[...]

31 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 a v ailable options within a giv en categor y , then retur ns to the first option. The Scroll Up key cycles up through the options in the opposite order . Note that this capability is a qui[...]

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 mov e down another le vel. 6. A utostar II calculates the Sunset time based on the current date, time , and loca- tion. A utostar II then displa ys the results of the calculation. 7. Pre[...]

33 AUTOST AR II's MENUS Figure 46: The Complete A utostar II Men u T ree Str ucture . Hold do w n MODE f or tw o s econds and the fol lowing data displa ys: • Ri ght Ascension and Declination coordinates • Altitude and Azimuth coo rdinates • Local Ti me and Local Sidereal T ime (LST) • Timer and Alarm Status • Date • Site coordinat[...]

34 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 perf ormed using the Object menu categor y . ( Note: Exceptions include Guided T our and Landmark Sur ve y . ) A utostar [...]

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

O T A Fan: Allo ws y ou to turn the fan off or on if you ha ve an RCX model. The fan 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 achie v ed an equilibrium with the en vironment. F an operation time should range from about 5 to 25 min utes. Note[...]

37 Important Note: When the "P ark Scope" option is chosen and the display prompts y ou to turn off the telescope's power , Autostar II is unab le to be returned to operation without tur ning the power off and then bac k on. Setup Menu There are numerous other f eatures a v ailable within the Setup men u, including: Align: Let's[...]

Tip: If the "ENTER to Sync" f ea - 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. J T rain Drive : All telescopes hav e a certain amount of "backlash" (looseness in the inter pla y of gears). This menu allows you to compensate f or the backlash in the [...]

39 Da ylight Sa ving : Enab les or disables the Da ylight Savings time setting. Note : Da ylight Savings Time ma y be ref erred to by diff erent names in vari- ous areas of the world. Chec k local time to v erify . Smart Mount: See page 55 f or detailed information. GPS-UTC Offset: Univ ersal Time (UTC) allows you to add leap seconds to its time ca[...]

Statistics: Provides basic statistical data about A utostar II, including: J Characters Free : Displays ho w much room is a v ailable in user-defined object memor y . J V ersion : Displa ys the current v ersion of the A utostar II software . J Serial Number : Displa ys the unit's serial number . Reset: Completely resets A utostar II. Most valu[...]

ADV ANCED AUTOST AR II FEA TURES Bef ore tr ying out the e xamples in this section, f amiliarize y ourself with the basic oper- ations of A utostar II described ear lier in this manual. The follo wing e xamples assume that you ha v e a basic knowledge of A utostar II and understand how to scroll to a desired men u or menu option, and ho w to enter [...]

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

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[...]

44 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 ob[...]

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 ry a Spiral Search The GO TO ke y also allows y ou to perf or m a "spiral search." A spi[...]

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 men u 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 [...]

47 OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES A wide assor tment of prof essional Meade accessories is av ailable f or the RCX400 tel- escope models. The premium quality of these accessories is well-suited to the quality of the instr ument 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 moder n 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 utilize the v ery latest in coating tec[...]

49 filter . The filter increases visual and photographic contrast, decreases glare, and helps to penetrate haze . RCX A C W all Adapter: P er mits powering from a standard home (115v A C) outlet. Cigarette Lighter Adapter: P owering the RCX400 telescope b y means of an automo- bile cigarette lighter plug. #644 Flip Mirror System: Has an X/Y adjustm[...]

MAINTENANCE RCX400 telescopes are precision optical instruments designed to yield a lifetime of rew arding applications. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument, y our RCX400 will rarely , if ev er , require factory ser vicing. Maintenance guidelines include: a. A v oid cleaning the telescope’ s optics: A little dust on the front [...]

51 T otal instrument capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 lbs. Aper ture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16" & 20" Optical design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adv anced Ritchey-Chrétien Optical coatings .[...]

52 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 Assemb ly 75 pounds L = 18.25"; W =[...]

53 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 follo w the procedure below: Northern hemisphere o[...]

54 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 [...]

APPENDIX C: Smart Mount Intr oduction Smar t Mount improv es the pointing accuracy of y our RCX 400 telescope's "Go to" sys- tem. Despite careful eff or ts to calibrate and align telescopes, the y may f ail to precisely center objects. Smar t Mount allows y our telescope to learn about, and then correct f or , any systematic pointing[...]

56 Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this t elescope 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 “Save As” menu. Upon completion of the training, Smar t Mount is enab led and remains on until you choose ?[...]

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14-7753-00 8/06 A 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. Meade will repair or replace a product, or [...]