I love the lx200 classic alignment,imo its superior you choose the stars and manually slew to them. The meade lx200 manual describes the following technique for improving the polar alignment of a computerized telescope. The telescope will search for first alignment star, then point to that star in the sky. To scroll through a list on the lx200 hand controller, use the up. Upon installation, please use serial number 783a36800007296416. Lx200 2 star alignment meade computerized telescopes. Polar alignment information southern hemisphere rogers. By aligning the axis of your telescope mount with the motion of the sky, you can accurately track objects in space. Polar scope align will calculate the position of polaris or. Choose an observing spot with a partly obscured sky. Lx200 2 star alignment posted in meade computerized telescopes. If you have an meade 8 lx200 and you want to do astrophotography with exposures beyond 2 3 minutes, you pretty much need to have an equatorial wedge in order to put the scope in polar mode so that it can track the sky without fieldrotation artifacts.
Octantis in your polar scope reticle for your location using your. This selection is done quantitatively, taking many things into account star saturation, minimum star size, signaltonoise ratio, proximity to other stars, proximity to the edge of the field, etc. Begin by setting the tripod in the direction of polaris. The process takes a little bit of practice, but after doing it a few times, you should be able to obtain an accurate polar alignment in minutes. I have a lx200 classic that is 6 years old, recently during polar alignment, when it slews to the alignment star, its been way off. Starry night pro faq astronomy telescope control software. I was stunned by how effortless it was to use the stargpslx. If not point the telescope to the horizon and align it using a distance house or tree. Meade instruments corporation frequently asked questions. Do the same with the second alignment star the scope moves to and youre ready to observe. Apr, 2015 quite often the instruction is from wherever it happens to be point the scope at star abc. Before plugging in the power, be sure that the base is turned off.
May 14, 2014 choose an observing spot with a partly obscured sky. If that star is not precisely centered, a touch or two on the autostar ii hand control directional push buttons quickly centers it. Lx200 alignment stars wstarrynight software driving an lx200 classic with starrynight software lx star databases software to download windows lx200 star database download lx200 database cross reference files sao catalog crossreference to other star designations remote control software for lx200 see remote control topic. I installed the lx200 with the control panel on the north side. These stars were selected to allow observers from anywhere in the world on any given night, to be able to easily and quickly make precision alignments. I have a 10 lx200 schmidtcassegrain telescope manufactured by meade instruments corporation in the usa. Feb 11, 2010 this is a clip from the astrodude instructional videos on how to setup your meade lx200. To set up the meade lx200gps in altaz mode uci physics and. I begin with a leveled and pointing compass south lx200 12. Although the above procedure is specifically for a meade lx200 acf scope on an altaz goto mount, some principles will be able to be transferred to other scopes and mounts. It is often more than 1 degree away using the easy, one star or two star approach.
Pointing accuracy is based solely on how accurately you center the alignment stars in the eyepiece. One star initialization is the only kind offered by the lx200. The theory here is if you move your telescope to where the known star should be according to ra and dec, you can then adjust the telescope in alt and azimuth until the star is in the. In my view then abc is the start but it is not a specific orientation as the meades tend to have. I leveled the tripod, with the wedge azimuth adjustment pointing north and the tilt plate set to my latitude. Quite often the instruction is from wherever it happens to be point the scope at star abc. Oct 25, 20 the article provides a method for getting an accurate polarequatorial alignment using a meade lx200 acf telescope mounted using a meade wedge on a meade standard field tripod. Once i slew to my alignment star via my telrad first and then the finder scope. Press next to move the arrow to 2 star alignment and then press enter to select it. Preparation make sure your mount is reasonably level.
I started more or less conform the meade manual and. Choosing alignment stars for 2star alignment in altaz. Parking tips, park software url, advice parked lx200 in remote obs. Your choices now should be 1 star or 2 star alignment. When selecting an object, i pressed enter and the autostar ii displayed press. Steps to set up the mead lx200gps telescopes in altaz mode.
Looking for advice on how to improve andor fine tune the dailynightly alignment. Known star alignment only works if you have a goto scope or are familiar with your ra and dec setting circles and have a good star atlas computer or paper. The lx200 slews at 8 per second to the first of two alignment stars 6 per second in the case of a 16 scope. With an lx200 interface cable you can upgrade the software in your telescope from. Perfect every time as long as you go to the correct star. It is designed to select the best pair of alignment stars for performing a 2 star alignment of a meade lx200 classic telescope or any meade telescope that uses the autostar computer controller in altazimuth mode. Lx200 polar alignment procedure new drift method by philip perkins in june 1996 i posted on mapug the original procedure for accurate polar alignment of the lx200. Polar alignment by iterating on one star and polaris. Once i align and enter the stars position it points very well. This simple catalog contains the named alignment starts for the meade lx200 gps range of telescopes. Hi all, i have 14 meade lx200gps after update firmware 4. It was an absolute joy, fast, friendly, and accurate. None of the freely chosen stars in column star 2 are below 35 deg.
It is designed to select the best pair of alignment stars for performing a 2star. Best pair ii is a port of jim burrows bestpair dos program for macintosh and windows. Optics 101 14 setting up for imaging 5 software instructions 1. Easy polar alignment for astrophotography step by step.
Alignment stars the lx200 utilizes 33 bright and well known stars to calibrate the telescopes object library in the altaz and alignments. Steps to align the meade lx200gps telescope in equatorial mode. I have the scope pier mounted on a wedge, in polar mode, and aligned almost exactly to the celestial pole. Best pair ii is a port of jim burrows bestpair dos program for macintosh and windows computers. Meades dsi camera control and basic image processing software. After making an investment in a telescope such as the meade lx200gps, you expect to be able to have the scope find an object easily and accurately, and to be able. Polar alignment is an essential first step towards a night of visual observation or astrophotography. Best pair ii is a port of jim burrows bestpair dos program for macintosh and. This software provides an efficient way to transfer, browse, modify and distribute digital media. Lx200 alignment stars the 33 stars used to align a meade lx200 as compiled by bill arnett. Polar alignment problem lx200 series meade 4m community. Macintosh or windows sac doubles bill arnetts double stars from the saguaro astronomical club. I have a meade 12 lx200 and have been struggling to get it sufficiently polar aligned so that the goto gets the target in the field of view. Once you center the alignment stars in the eyepiece and press enter, all the previous position data has been corrected.
Lx200 technical help needed discussions scopes whole. Please note that the only inapp purchases available are tips. It is a wonderful instrument that gives me superb views of the heavens or at least as superb as you can get 10 miles from the centre of london in the uk on those rare ocassions when its not cloudy. This is a clip from the astrodude instructional videos on how to setup your meade lx200. Use the arrow keys to center the star in the finderscope. The column labeled star 2 is the best star to use with star 1 in a 2 star alignment, best in the sense of wholesky pointing accuracy, expressed by the number rms, described later. The astronomy help center celestrons auto two star. The meade usb to serial cable provides the capability of using the usb port on a personal computer to connect to a. To align the telescope on the sky, choose setup align 2 stars. The telescope will be near the star, although the star may not be in the finderscope. The autoselect star icon used to trigger an automatic selection of the best guide star candidate in the field of view. The display should now read level base, then press enter this is good time to double check that the base of the telescope is level and adjust the legs of the tripod if necessary.
Guide to polar alignment of a meade lx200gps telescope page 2 of 11 1 why polar align. When you perform a sync it simply shifts the scopes notion of where it was pointed based on the last go to command it received. The 10 lx200 classic set up and located even faster, and after a 2 star alignment, the scope goto slewed perfectly to m51, and the galaxy showed nicely in the 40mm televue plossl. If i slew it east about 3 or 4 degrees it will come to the alignemt star, no need to slew north or south. Astroalign will only select alignment stars visible for this sky. When i use a digital camera and take a 15 second photo for instance and. I have put the scope in altaz mode and did autoalignment the all goto in this mode were successfull and targets all dead. Alignment star for lx 200 classic posted in meade computerized telescopes. When i align the telescope, the alignment star is not in the viewfinder.
It is designed to select the best pair of alignment stars for performing a 2 star alignment of a meade lx200 classic telescope or any. Page 1 of 2 help needed with an lx200 gps alignment posted in meade. The lx200 acf comes fully equipped with a heavy duty height adjustable meade field tripod, 1. Phd2 drift alignment the drift align tool in phd2 can be used to quickly obtain a precise polar alignment of your equatorial mount. Calibrate sensors about once every 46 months check time, and date, after the gps gets a lock just to verify check daylight savings time yes or no do your alignment the first star may not be in the eyepiece use a 26mm or so widefield eyepiece, and defocus the star to center it. Software url lx200 daytime observingalignment separate page. Use the up and down buttons to select catalog solar system, messier, etc.
Some posts state you need a starpatch, but dont have any details on. What follows is an update of that procedure based on the experience i have gained in the meantime. Amen, that is just like celestrons 2 star alignment routine. Usually polaris is used for polar alignment, and since that tree is no more there i can see polaris. Input their coordinates into the form or select the star by the lx200 number. I would argue then that by starting at a selected star is not 2 star alignment but 1 star alignment. Surviving the 2 staralignment learning curve beginners. Jul 20, 2017 when you perform a 2 star alignment using the lx200 s keypad, the scope not only determines a known point in the sky, it can also determine if the mount wasnt perfectly level and compensate. The manual for the lx200 gps as we know is really quite a work of nonart. The alignment stars need only to be in the finder so you can see them. The meade level and north is in effect a virtual star. Here is how i polar aligned my lx200 10 f10 classic which is permanently mounted on my pier and wedge.
167 658 738 1436 746 774 1073 164 245 1336 332 843 835 403 63 1289 1428 1298 306 314 1236 1338 1606 136 1503 1361 756 322 953 764 1471 308 1368 74