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AutoStar #497 HANDBOX

ALIGNING THE LT SERIES

Easy (Two-Star) Align

The fastest and easiest way to locate objects with

Autostar’s GO TO capabilities is to use Easy Align.

Autostar automatically picks two stars from its database

for the Easy Align procedure. During this procedure,

Autostar slews the telescope to a ﬁ rst alignment star.

The user is asked to verify that the telescope is pointed

at the chosen star and then prompted to center the star

in the eyepiece. The process is repeated with a second

star to complete the alignment.

Note: Before aligning the telescope, ﬁ rst verify

that “INITIALIZING AUTOSTAR”, page 10,

has been performed. See “Moving through

Autostar’s Menus”, page 10, for a description

of how Autostar’s keys operate.

How to perform the Easy Align

Procedure

If you have just powered on the telescope, follow the

procedures listed in “Initializing Autostar” on page

23. When completed, continue on to the steps below

to perform the Easy Alignment procedure. If the

telescope is already powered on and the correct site

location, date, time and telescope model have already

been entered, the Easy Alignment can be started by

selecting in the menu Setup: Align: Easy and following

the steps below.

1. When the Easy Alignment procedure is selected

in the AutoStar’s setup menu, the display will

read “North Method: 1=True 2=Compass”.

AutoStar is asking which Home Position the

telescope will be placed in. See page 9, “The

LT Series Home Position” for a description on

placing the LT Series telescope into the home

position.

Note: The easiest way to set the telescope in

the home position is using the Magnetic North

method. Follow the steps on page 9 “Magnetic

North Home Position” and press the “2” key on

Autostar to select the “Compass” (Magnetic

North) method.

2. Star Alignment - The Autostar then chooses

two stars to align upon. When the telescope

slews to the ﬁ rst star for alignment, it may not

appear in the ﬁ eld of view in the eyepiece. The

alignment star should be easily recognized

and be the brightest star in the area of the sky

where the telescope is pointing. While looking

through the red dot ﬁ nder, use the Arrow Keys

to move the telescope to place the red dot

on the top of the star. Now look through the

eyepiece and use the Arrow Keys to move the

star to the center of the eyepiece ﬁ eld. Press

ENTER. If that area of the sky is obscured by

an object, you can prompt AutoStar to chose an

alternate star by pressing either one of the two

Scroll Keys. Repeat procedure for the second

alignment star.

When the procedure is performed correctly, “Alignment

Successful” displays. If Autostar does not display this

message, perform this procedure again.

Note: Autostar locates alignment 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

eyepiece when prompted.

NOTE: The GO TO key also allows you to perform

a “spiral search”. A spiral search is useful when the

telescope slews to an object, but that object is not

visible in the eyepiece after the telescope ﬁ nishes its

search. (This sometimes occurs during an alignment

procedure.) Press GO TO when the slew is ﬁ nished

and the telescope starts slewing in a spiral pattern at a

very slow speed around the search area. Look through

the eyepiece and when the object does become visible,

press MODE to stop the spiral search. Then use the

Arrow keys to center the object.

Which One’s the Alignment Star?

If you’re not familiar with objects in the night sky, how

can you be sure if the star in your eyepiece is really the

alignment star?

The rule of thumb is that an alignment star is usually

the brightest star in that area of the sky. If you perform a

GoTo to an alignment star and you’re not sure if you have

located the alignment star or it isn’t in the eyepiece, look

through your viewﬁ nder. When you view an alignment

star in the viewﬁ nder, it stands out dramatically from the

rest of the stars in that portion of the sky.

The viewﬁ nder will help you locate a star more quickly

than the eyepiece. Using AutoStar, set the slew speed

to 6 (press Number key 6) or higher and use the Arrow

keys to center the alignment star in the viewﬁ nder. If

your viewﬁ nder has been aligned with the telescope,

the alignment star should now be in the eyepiece. Set

the slew speed to 4 or less and center the star in the

eyepiece. Also see the Spiral Search tip, page 11.