Meade SmartFinder Manuel d'instructions Page 1

Instruction ManualETX®Premier Edition Telescope SeriesAutoStar®— LNT™— SmartFinder™™Premium ETX_without 105.qxd 1/27/09 12:33 PM Page 1

10B 2-Line LCD Display: This screen displays AutoStar's menus and informationabout the telescope. • Top line: Lists the primary menu. • Bottom li

11f Arrow Keys: The Arrow keys have several functions. Press an Arrow key to slewthe telescope in a specific direction (up, down, left and right), at

12GETTING STARTEDParts ListingGetting the telescope ready for first observations requires only a few minutes. Whenfirst opening the packing box, note

134. Place the 26mm eyepiece (12, Fig. 15) into the eyepiece holder on the telescope and tighten the attachment thumbscrew (13, Fig. 15, not visible i

14Fig. 20a & 20b: Jupiter: Examplesof the right amount of magnification and too much mag-nification.Fig. 19: Meade SuperPlössl eyepieces.Too Much

15OBSERVINGObserving by Moving the Telescope ManuallyIf you wish to observe a distant land object, such as a mountain top or a bird, you canobserve by

16Slew SpeedsAutoStar has nine slew speeds that move the optical tube at rates that are directly proportional to the sidereal rate and have been calcu

17Automatic Alignment1. When you slide the On/Off switch to “On” on your telescope’s computer control panel,a version screen briefly appears, followed

Tip: Try out the GuidedTour feature; the “Tonight’sBest” Guided Tour willpoint your telescope at thebest objects visible in thesky for every given nig

19NOTE:Saturn is not visible the entire year and you may need to choose another object from AutoStar's database;however, the procedure, as descri

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AUTOSTAR OPERATION ObjectEvent Guided ToursGlossaryUtilitiesSetup20DateTimeDaylight SavingTelescopeTargetsetc. Setup AlignFig. 27b: Menu options

21Tip:When multiple choicesare available within amenu option, the currentoption is usually displayed first and highlighted by a rightpointing arrow (&

22 Tonight's Best How Far is Far A Star's Life Downloaded Tours User-created ToursSolar System Mercury Etc. Moon Asteroids CometsConstellat

23Want to learn more aboutObserving Satellites? Seepage 32.Use the OBJECT menuto select an object from thedatabase.When your telescope isaligned and y

24WARNING!Never useyour ETXTelescope tolook at the Sun! Lookingat or near the Sun willcause instant and irreversible damage toyour eye. Eye damage iso

25Tip: The Contrast Adjustmentfeature is usually onlyrequired in very coldweather.If you adjust the contrastso that you can no longerread the display,

26Sleep Scope is a power saving option that shuts down AutoStar and the telescopewithout forgetting its alignment. With "Sleep Scope" select

27 Tracking Rate: Changes the speed at which the telescope tracks targets in thesky. a. Sidereal: The default setting for AutoStar; sidereal rate is

28 Add: Scroll through the list of Countries/States. Press ENTER when the site youwish to add displays. Then choose the desired city in the same mann

29Before trying out the examples in this section, familiarize yourself with the basic operations of AutoStar described earlier in this manual. The fol

Quick-Start Guide ... 4Telescope Features ...

30Using AutoStar to Find Objects Not in the DatabaseIn this procedure, you will enter coordinates of celestial objects that do not appear inany of the

313. Select a satellite from list and press ENTER.4. "Calculating..." and then "Tracking..." displays. If the satellite is goin

32Interactive Mode:Tour name appears on the first line of the AutoStar display and thename of the object displays on line 2. To display descriptive te

33The following commands specify objects that are already in the AutoStar database. Ifthese commands follow the command AUTO SELECT, the object's

34STAR "name"Enter STAR followed by the name of the desired star in quotes. For example: STAR"Vega"LANDMARK az alt "title&quo

35To Add a landmark to the database:In this procedure, you will store the location of terrestrial landmarks in AutoStar'smemory.1. Set the teles

36displays information about an object in its database that is closest to the one youqueried about. Important Note:For this function to operate proper

37One-Star Alt/Az Alignment One-Star Alignment requires some knowledge of the night sky. AutoStar provides adatabase of bright stars. One-Star Alignme

382. Look through the reticle. Use the Arrow keys to keep the star centered in the reticlecross-hairs. AutoStar displays a count of the 150 positions

39Photography with a 35mm Camera Photography through your ETX model requires the addition of the optional #64 T-Adapter (see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES, pag

QUICK-START GUIDE2Make sure that the computer control panel power switch(F) is in the OFF position. Remove the AutoStar®handboxand the coiled cord fro

40technique. Long-lens photography has its own rewards, however, which short-focuslenses cannot duplicate.A Few Tips on Photography 1.Use the standard

41• Try to block ambient light (from street lights, house, etc.) from the eyepiece andthe camera with a piece of cardboard, a screen, etc.• Keep extr

42OPTIONAL ACCESSORIESA wide assortment of professional Meade accessories are available for the for ETXtelescopes. Meade accessories greatly extend ma

43#932 45° Erecting Prism: All ETX models include an internal optically-flat mirror toreflect light to the telescope’s 90° astronomical observing posi

44MAINTENANCEYour ETX model telescope is a precision optical instrument designed to yield a lifetime of rewarding observations. Given the care and res

45Storage and TransportWhen the telescope is not in use, store it in a cool, dry place. Do not expose theinstrument to excessive heat or moisture. It

46Object appears in the SmartFinder but not in the eyepiece:• The SmartFinder is not properly aligned with the telescope (see ALIGNINGSMARTFINDER,page

47SPECIFICATIONSSpecifications: ETX-90PE Astro TelescopeOptical design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maksutov-CassegrainPrimary mirror diame

48Specifications: ETX-125PE Astro TelescopeOptical design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maksutov-CassegrainPrimary mirror diameter . . . . .

49AutoStar SpecificationsProcessor ...68HC11, 8MHzFlash Memory ...

5To begin automatic alignment, press "0." AutoStar then dis-plays: “Location Option: 1-Zipcode 2-City”. This optionallows you to choose how

50Equatorial AlignmentIn equatorial (or "polar") Alignment, the telescope is oriented so that the horizontal and vertical axes of the telesc

51However, owners who wish to perform astrophotography or use the Meade LPI or DeepSky Imager (see PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE’S AUTOSTAR SUITE, page 41,

525. Press ENTER repeatedly until “Setup: Align” displays. 6. Press the Scroll Down key repeatedly until "Setup: Telescope" displays. Press

53Setting CirclesThe ETX models are equipped with R.A. and Dec. setting circles (13 and 16, Fig. 1a) toaid in locating faint celestial objects when th

54APPENDIX B: LATITUDE CHARTLatitude Chart for Major Cities of the World To aid in the polar alignment procedure (see page 51), latitudes of major cit

55Train the telescope motors using AutoStar. Perform this procedure if you are experiencing any pointing accuracy problems.Fig. 53 depicts the complet

APPENDIX D:CHANGING THELNT MODULE BATTERY56The LNT Module uses a lithium coin CR2023 battery that will last about 5 years andis installed with the ori

57APPENDIX E:BASICASTRONOMYFig. 57: The Moon. Notethe deep shadows in thecraters.In the early 17th century Italian Scientist Galileo, using a telescop

58Fig. 60: The Pleiades isone of the most beautifulopen clusters.Tip:Enter a date in the Datemenu and you can determine if a planet(s)—or any other ob

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TELESCOPE FEATURES61261641573Features of the ETX-90PE and ETX-125PE are identical, with the excep-tion of the size of optical tube andtwo styles of th

14-1010-29 1/09 MEADE LIMITED WARRANTYEvery Meade telescope, spotting scope and telescope accessory is warranted by Meade Instruments Corporation (“Me

MEADE ETX: YOUR PERSONALWINDOW TO THE UNIVERSEThe Meade Premier Edition ETX-90PE and the ETX-125PE are extremely versatile,high-resolution telescopes.

8j Horizontal (R.A.) Lock: Controls the manual horizontal rotation of the telescope.Loosen the horizontal lock counterclockwise to unlock the telescop

9Fig. 4: The AutoStar Handbox.AUTOSTAR FEATURESWant to learn more aboutdownloading the latestupdates of AutoStarsoftware from the Meadeweb