Manual Meade ETX-90AT (page 52 of 60) (English)

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However, owners who wish to perform astrophotography or use the Meade LPI (see

PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE’S AUTOSTAR SUITE, page 42, for more information) will find

equatorial mounting indispensible to their needs.

Equatorial Mount

Equatorial mounting lines up the telescope’s polar axis with the North Celestial Pole (or the

South Celestial Pole if observing in the southern hemisphere).

When using an equatorially mounted telescope, tracking (following) celestial objects is

possible by turning on your ETX telescope's motor drive. The motor counteracts the Earth's

rotation and keeps objects in the field of view of the eyepiece for hands-off tracking.

Equatorial Mounting Procedure

1. Assemble the tripod as described in Step #2 of How to Assemble Your Telescope and

Tripod

, page 12.

2. Loosen the latitude control latch (

1, Fig. 43) and lift up the tilt-plate (2, Fig. 43) so that

you can easily access the underside of the plate. Relock the latitude

control latch, so the assembly doesn't slip while you are attaching the telescope.

3. Turn the tripod, so that the face of the tilt-plate points North (

Figs. 47 and 48). If you

attach the telescope to the tripod indoors, be sure to orient the face of the tilt-plate to

point North after moving the telescope outdoors. Equivalently, point the tripod leg (

Fig. 47) North. This is the leg opposite from the latitude control bar (4, Fig. 47).

4. Line up the mounting hole on the base of the telescope labeled "High Latitude Leg"

with the attachment knob that is closest to the latitude control bar (

see Fig. 44). Line

up the other mounting hole with the remaining attachment knob. Thread both

attachment knobs into the base of the telescope. Tighten to a firm-feel only.

5. Determine the latitude of your observing location from a road map, atlas or the

LATITUDE CHART FOR MAJOR CITIES OF THE WORLD, page 55. Loosen the

latitude control latch (1, Fig. 46) and adjust the latitude control bar (4, Fig. 46) so that

your observing site's latitude is just visible above the flat surface of the tripod head.

Retighten the latch.

6. If you have not already done so orient the tripod leg (see

Step #3 and 5, Fig. 47) so

that it is pointing due North (if the location of Polaris, the North Star, is known, point

the telescope directly at Polaris. Observers located in the Earth’s Southern

Hemisphere must point the telescope due South).

7. The telescope is now equatorially mounted; the tripod must not be moved or else the

alignment will be lost. Instead, use one of the following methods to move the

telescope's optical tube to a desired celestial object.

(a) Loosen the vertical and/or horizontal locks (

6 and 9, Fig. 1) to permit the optical

tube to be freely moved manually. Tighten the locks once you center on the

object.

(b) With the horizontal and vertical locks in their “locked” positions, use the Arrow

keys to move the optical tube.

Note: For most astronomical observing requirements, approximate

settings of the telescope's latitude and North-pointing tripod leg (

Steps #5

and #6) are acceptable. Do not allow undue attention to precise equatorial

mounting of the telescope to interfere with your enjoyment of the instrument.

Using an Equatorially Mounted Telescope

Once your telescope is equatorially mounted, the telescope motor drive will keep a

celestial object in the telescope eyepiece's field of view.

To Track a Star When Polar Mounted:

Make sure you have initialized your telescope before you try out this feature (see

INITIALIZING AUTOSTAR, page 18).

1. Tighten the vertical and horizontal locks (

6 and 9, Fig. 1) if necessary.

2. Make sure that Autostar is connected to the HBX port (

C, Fig. 2) of the

telescope’s computer control panel.

3. Flip the telescope power switch (

A, Fig. 2) to the ON position.

The Autostar screen displays a copyright message displays, followed by a short beep.

Then Autostar takes a few moments to start up the system.

4. A message displays that warns not to look at the Sun. At the end of this message,

press the key prompted by Autostar to signify that the message has been read and

understood.

Fig. 45: Attach telescope to

tripod.

Fig. 44: High latitude leg

mounting hole and

corresponding attachment

knob.

High latitude

leg mounting

hole.

Attachment

knob.

ᕢ

Fig. 43: Loosen control latch.

Latitude

control

bar.

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Meade ETX-90AT Manual

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