SmartStar®-PR EQ Mount Manual www. iOptron.
WARNING! NEVER USE A TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.
SmartStar® -PR Layout (OTA not included)
Tripod Set up the Tripod The SmartStar®-PR comes with a two-inch stainless steel tripod. The tripod comes fully assembled with a metal plate called the Tripod Head, which holds the legs together at the top. In addition, there is a central rod that extends down from the Tripod Head, which attaches the equatorial mount to the tripod. To set up the tripod: 1. Stand the tripod upright and pull the tripod legs apart until each leg is fully extended. After the tripod is set up you may adjust the height. 2.
2. Retract the screws so they no longer extend into the azimuth housing on the mount. Please do not remove the screws, they are needed later for polar alignment. 3. Hold the Equatorial Mount Head over the Tripod Head so that the azimuth housing is above the metal Peg. 4. Place the equatorial mount on the Tripod Head so that the two are flush. 5. Tighten the knob (attached to the Central Rod) on the underside of the Tripod Head to hold the Equatorial Mount Head firmly in place. 6.
EQ Mount Head
Since the fully assembled telescope can be quite heavy, position the mount so that the polar axis is pointing towards north before the OTA and counterweight are attached. This will make the polar alignment procedure easier. Install the Counterweight The telescope needs to be balanced by the Counterweight to reduce the stress on the gears and motors. To install the Counterweight bar: 1. Thread the Counterweight Bar Lock Nut onto the threaded end of the Counterweight Bar. 2.
Balance in R.A. To reduce the excessive stress on the mount and motor, the telescope should be properly balanced around both R.A. and DEC axes. Proper balancing is crucial to both accurate tracking and protection of the mount. Both the R.A. and DEC axis have lock levers to clutch down each axis of the telescope. To loosen the clutches on the telescope, rotate the lock levers counterclockwise. 1. Verify that the telescope is securely attached to the Telescope-Mounting Platform. 2. Loosen the R.A.
6. Tighten the knobs on the Telescope-Mounting Platform to hold the telescope in place. Just like R.A. balancing, these are general balance instructions and will reduce excessive stress on the mount. When doing astrophotography, this balance process should be done for the target area where the telescope is pointing to. Adjust the Mount To track celestial objects accurately, the telescope’s axis of rotation must be parallel to the Earth’s axis of rotation. This is called the polar alignment.
Both screws push the Peg on the Tripod Head. This means you have to loosen one screw when tightening the other. The screw that holds the equatorial mount to the tripod may have to be loosened slightly too. Keep in mind that adjusting the mount is done during the polar alignment process only. Once polar aligned, the mount should NOT be moved. Pointing the telescope to a target is done by moving the mount in right ascension and declination as described earlier in this manual.
The GOTONOVATM 8401 Controller Layout: The 8401 GoToNovaTM hand held controller is the standard controller for SmartStar®-PR. The user interface is simple and easy to learn. LCD Display: 8-line big screen, it displays all the information Back Key: Move back to the previous screen. Menu Key: Return to the Main Menu. Enter Key: Confirms an input, goes to the next menu, selects a choice, slews the telescope to a selected object. Arrow Keys: Moves the cursor, moves the telescope in a specific direction.
The LCD Display: Target Right Ascension Target Declination Right Ascension GPS Status Slew Speed Declination Tracking Speed Local Star Hour Altitude Azimuth Local Date and Time N/S Hemisphere GPS status: When the power is turned on, it shows “GPS ON”. When it finds the satellite and receives GPS signal, it shows “GPS OK”.
SmartStar®-PR Basic Setups and Functions 1. Set Up Time Zone (Main Menu/Set up Controller/Set up Site) Turn on the power, push MENU, from the main menu, scroll down and select “Set up controller” Select and slew Sync. to target Electronic focuser Set up controller Align PEC option Set up Tracking User objects Push ENTER. Scroll down and select “Set up site” Set Set Set Set Set Set Set Set up Local Time up site N/S hemisphere display contrast Eyepiece light Backlash anti-backlash Key Beep Push ENTER.
When the number is correct, push ENTER and go back to the previous screen. Do not worry about longitude and latitude numbers; they will be set by internal GPS. Set up site info: Longitude: W071d27m47s Latitude: N42d15m40s 300 Min. behind of UT 2.
3. Set mount type (Main Menu/Set up Controller/Set Mount Type) Scroll down and select “Set Mount Type” Set Set Set Set Set Set Set Set up site N/S hemisphere display contrast Eyepiece light Backlash anti-backlash Key Beep Mount Type SmartStar®-PR is an EQ mount, so select Equatorial mount and push ENTER. Equatorial Mount Alt/Azi Mount 4. Time, location and GPS Push BACK twice and go back to the starting screen. Turn off the power. Wait a few seconds and turn the power back on.
you to choose the second star. If the star you choose is too close to the first one, the system will let you choose another one. When you aligned with the second star, two-star align is finished. “Three-Star Align” will increase the accuracy even higher and requires an even wider view of the sky. This basically asks you to choose yet another third star to align after two-star align. 7.
Find Polaris Polaris is less than one degree from the celestial pole. Finding Polaris helps you locate the celestial pole. Although this is not a perfect alignment, it does get you quite close to the pole. 1. Set the telescope up so that the polar axis is pointing north. 2. Loosen the DEC Lock Lever and move the telescope so that the tube is parallel to the polar axis. When this is done the declination setting circle should read +90°.
and straightforward at first look, but it is actually very time consuming if you don’t have a lot of experience with it. You are strongly suggested to do a lot of homework before trying it out. It is also suggested that you work with people who have had a lot of experience -- at least for the first couple of nights. With DEC Drift Method, you monitor the drift of each star which tells you how far away you are from the celestial pole.
So, repeat the process again to improve the accuracy checking both axes for minimal drift. Once the drift has been eliminated, the telescope is very accurately aligned. You can now do prime focus deep-sky astrophotography for long periods. SmartStar®-PR Select And Slew After you have finished the set up and align steps in chapter 1 go to the main menu. Select “Select and slew.
Caldwell Catalogue Contains 109 objects from the CaldWell catalogue. Abel Catalogue Contains 2712 objects from the Abel catalogue. Herschel Catalogue Contains 400 objects in Herschel catalogue. Comets Contains up to 256 comets. Asteroids Contains up to 4096 asteroids. Stars Named Stars Contains 191 stars. Constellations Contains 88 constellations. Double Stars Contains 40 double stars. Variable Stars Contains 38,624 variable stars. SAO Bright Stars Contains up to 26,584 SAO bright stars.
Main Menu/Sync To Target Matches the telescope's current equatorial coordinates to Target Right Ascension and Declination. Main Menu/Electric Focuser If you have an electric focuser in your system use this option to adjust the focuser. Main Menu/PEC option If your telescope is equipped with Periodic Error Correction use this option to adjust Periodic Error Correction. Main Menu/Set up tracking Set up tracking speed. Main Menu/User objects Add, edit or delete user objects.
IOPTRON TWO YEAR TELESCOPE, MOUNT, AND CONTROLLER WARRANTY A. iOptron warrants your telescope, mount, or controller to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two years. iOptron will repair or replace such product or part which, upon inspection by iOptron, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of iOptron to repair or replace such product, the product must be returned to iOptron together with proof-ofpurchase satisfactory to iOptron. B.
