19
The Autostar II screen is activated and a copyright message displays briefly, fol-
lowed by a short beep. Then Autostar II takes a few moments to start up the sys-
tem.
4. A message displays that warns not to look at the Sun. At the end of this message,
press the key prompted by Autostar II to signify that the message has been read
and understood.
5. The first time you turn on the system, Autostar II prompts you to enter the Country
or State (listed alphabetically) of the observing site. Use the Scroll keys to cycle
through the database of countries, states, and provinces. Press ENTER when the
correct location displays.
6. Autostar then prompts you to enter the nearest city (listed alphabetically) to the
observing site. Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the database of cities. Press
ENTER when the correct city appears on screen.
7. The system now performs the following routines:
Caution: As the telescope performs the following operations, it will swing
and rotate. Keep a safe distance from the telescope.
a. Initializes the Smart Drive. The R.A. and Dec. motors operate briefly.
b. Attempts a "GPS Fix." The
LX200's GPS receiver attempts to acquire and
sync up with signals from GPS satellites. "Getting GPS Fix" displays. The first
time this operation is performed, it may take as long as 8 to 10 minutes; nor-
mally, however, it takes only a minute or two. "Align: Automatic Alignment" dis-
plays when the GPS signal is acquired. Press ENTER. See
THE GLOBAL
POSITIONING SYSTEM in the LX200GPS INFO box on page 21.
c. Finds the home position. Moves the telescope back and forth to find the
hard stops (i.e., the "home" position). The hard stops are limiting positions for
the rotation of the telescope, in order to prevent the telescope from over-rotat-
ing and from tangling cords.
d. Detects “level” of the base of the telescope; finds tilt and tip. To detect
level, Autostar II must calculate "level" at three compass points. See
FINDING
TRUE LEVEL in the LX200GPS INFO
box on page 21.
Autostar II also Determines the positioning (i.e., the tilt and tip) of the optical
tube.
e. Finds North. Locates magnetic North and then calculates and points the tel-
escope to true North. See
FINDING TRUE NORTH, page 21.
After performing these operations, Autostar II now knows:
■ The position of the telescope's hard stops
■ The observing site's location
■ The date and time
■ The location of true North
■ Where level is for the telescope
f. Star Alignment. Autostar II then chooses two stars to align upon. When the
telescope slews (moves) to the first star for alignment, it may not appear in
Which One’s the Alignment Star?
If Autostar has chosen an alignment star with which you are unfamiliar, 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 GO TO 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
viewfinder. When you view an alignment star in the viewfinder, it stands out dra-
matically from the rest of the stars in that portion of the sky. The viewfinder will
help you locate a star more quickly than the eyepiece, because it has a much
wider field of view than the eyepiece. Using Autostar, set the slew speed to 6 or
higher and use the Arrow keys to center the alignment star in the viewfinder. If
your viewfinder 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 20.
LX200GPS TIPS
Important Note:
The Daylight Saving
menu enables or disables
the Daylight Savings Time
setting: Remember to turn
this setting off or on the
two days a year when
Daylight Saving changes.
See TIMING IS
EVERYTHING
, page 28.
Important Note:
Once the telescope is
aligned, only use the Arrow
keys to move the tele-
scope. Once the telescope
has been aligned, do not
loosen the telescope locks
(12 and 17, Fig. 1), or
move the base manually,
or alignment will be lost.
Important Notes:
It is recommended that you
do not attempt a GPS fix
indoors.
It is also recommended
that you
CALIBRATE SEN-
SORS
the first time your
telescope takes a GPS fix.
See page 29 for more
information.
Important Note:
Autostar II only prompts
you to enter the Site infor-
mation (Steps #5 and #6)
the first time you initialize
the system.The next time
you turn on the system,
Autostar II skips Steps #5
and #6 and proceeds to
step #7a; you need not
enter Site information
again unless you use the
Reset function
The Site information is
stored in the Site menu. If
you move the telescope
outside of a 5 miles area
of your initial observing
location, Autostar II auto-
matically determines your
new location when it gets a
GPS Fix, and adds the
new location to the Site
menu.
If you wish to manually add
or select a Site in the Site
menu, see
ADDING
OBSERVING SITES
, page
32.
