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Polar alignment, ALT/AZ alignment and
Star Alignment Check list
for
Meade ETX telelscopes, Meade 494, 495, 497 Autostar and Meade
Tripods
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| Polar Alignment is require for astrophotography. Alt/Az is
much easier but is not suitable for strophotograpy. This is the check list
you should go through before you start the star alignment in Polar alignment
or Alt/Az alignment home positions. You do not want to redo the setup
and offset again because after the Autostar moves your telescope, you will
have to level the fork arms or the OTA and point to north again. This
is similar to the pre-flight checklist for the pilot.
Please
remember, performing the entire pre-alignment checklist and alignment
procedure for Polar alignment or Alt/Az alignment home position may seem
like a lot of work, but in reality, it should not take more than 3
minutes to complete. Spending
those 3 minutes to make sure everything is correctly set up can pay off
with an entire night of accurate GOTOs.
Note: It is possible to check some of the information by pressing the
MODE key for two seconds, holding it in, and releasing but it will not provide
you with telescope model, mount, daylight saving, or time zone information.
OTA refers to Optical Tube Assembly, the telescope tube itself. |
| Polar alignment, ALT/AZ alignment
& Star Alignment check list |
| Telescope/Tripod/Mount
Checklist:
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Polar
Alignment home Position
Tripod leveled
Fork arm leveled
Telescope points to 90° on DEC dial
Telescope in Polar home position
Polar offset performed (optional)
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Alt/Az
Position for Star alignment
Tripod leveled
OTA points to North and is level
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Meade 494 595 497 Autostar Checklist:
Telescope
Model
Mount (Polar or Alt/Az)
Site
Latitude
Longitude
Time Zone
Date
Time
Synchronize with a
precision time source
Daylight Savings
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| Checking
these settings is especially important if you use your computer to
control the ETX-Autostar. Some
software might change the settings in your Autostar during its
operation. These changes
made by the PC software may cause total star alignment failure or
incorrect GOTOs if not corrected.
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