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Instruction Manual
7" LX200 Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope
8", 10", and 12" LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes
Meade Instruments Corporation
World's leading manufacturer of astronomical telescopes for the serious amateur.
6001 OAK CANYON, IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92618-5200 U.S.A. • (949) 451-1450
FAX: (949) 451-1460 • www.meade.com
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NOTE: Instructions for the use of optional accessories are not included in this manual. For details in this regard, see the Meade General Catalog. In the Schmidt-Cassegrain design of the Meade 8", 10", and 12" models, light enters from the right, passes through a thin lens with 2-sided aspheric correction ("correcting plate"), proceeds to a spherical primary mirror, and then to a convex aspheric secondary mirror. The convex secondary mirror multiplies the effective focal length of the primary mi
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¬ WARNING! ¬ Never use the LX200 telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late. Do not point the telescope or its viewfinder at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope or its viewfinder as it is moving. Children should always have adult supervision while observing. Captions for Figure 1 1. Viewfinder D
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Contents 7" LX200 Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope 8", 10", & 12" LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope Introduction 5 Mode Functions 16 1. Mode 1: Telescope/Object Library 16 1. What is the LX200? An Overview 5 a. Telescope Menu File 16 a. Heavy-Duty Mounts 5 b. Object Library Menu File 20 b. Built-in 64,359 Object Library 5 2. Mode 2: Coordinates/GO TO 22 c. Altazimuth Mode Operation 5 a. Coordinates Menu File 22 d. Terrestrial Operation 5 b. GO TO Menu Option 22 e. Keypad and Powe
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5 INTRODUCTION one of 351 alignment stars or any one of 56,050 SAO, UGC, IC or As a new LX200 owner, you are preparing for a journey into the GCVS objects, press GO TO, and the telescope automatically universe with the most advanced amateur telescope ever slews, or moves, to the object at up to 8° per sec., centering it in produced. The advent of this instrument is the culmination of the main telescope field. twenty years of innovation and design at Meade Instruments; never before have the featu
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6 celestial software library; 25 ft. power cord and adapter for As the high intensity light passes through the Schmidt corrector telescope operation from 115v.AC; 8 x 50mm viewfinder; plate, most of it is transmitted through (about 98%+) while the rest eyepiece-holder and diagonal prism (1.25"); Series 4000 of the light scatters through the glass. As the light hits the mirrored SP26mm eyepiece; variable-height field tripod; operating surfaces, most of it is reflected back (about 94%) while the r
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7 TELESCOPE ASSEMBLY Use the following steps to assemble your telescope. Alternately, the field tripod can be used in conjunction with the appropriate optional equatorial wedge (APPENDIX A, page 25) for NOTE: If the section is not applicable to all LX200 models, it is long exposure astrophotography. The equatorial wedge permits noted at the beginning of each section. alignment of the telescope's Polar Axis with the Celestial Pole (or 1. The Field Tripod North Star). The field tripods (Figs. 2
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8 4. Checking the Collimation of the Optics 2. Mounting the Viewfinder The optical systems of all Meade Schmidt-Cassegrains are Each 7", 8", 10", and 12" LX200 telescope is supplied as standard precisely collimated, or aligned, before leaving the factory. equipment with an 8x50mm straight-through viewfinder. The However, if the telescope has received a severe jolt in shipment bracket for this viewfinder is packed separately from the finder the optics can become de-collimated, a situation whi
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9 QUICK START To use the Declination fine-adjust, or manual slow-motion knob, To utilize all the features of the telescope, it is necessary to enter lock the telescope in Declination using the Declination lock knob some information into the telescope's computer memory, and (2, Fig. 4), and turn the Declination slow-motion knob (1,Fig.4). learn the menu structure of the keypad hand controller, which is described in the rest of this manual. As advanced as LX200 With the above mechanical operations
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10 Method to Use?, page 13). Follow steps 4 through 8 in Setting Up the Telescope, page 11, to change the telescope's operation to Altazimuth (ALTAZ) mode before proceeding. You should find the position of your observing site to within 1 or 2 minutes of arc in both latitude and longitude. Many automobile, pilot, and topographical maps, as well as most atlases show latitude and longitude in 15 minute increments or better. The accuracy of the LX200 will depend on how close you get, so take a littl
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11 8. Press ENTER to complete the site information input. The display will go back to Display 3. U.S.A. TIME ZONES 9. Press MODE to go back to Display 2. STANDARD TIME TIME ZONE DAYLIGHT TIME 10. Press MODE again to go back to Display 1. +9 Hours It is important to note that the longitude standard used in the +10 Hours HAWAII LX200 starts at 0 degrees in Greenwich U.K. and increases +8 Hours +7 Hours PACIFIC Westerly only to 359 degrees 59 minutes. Many maps will show +6 Hours MOUNTAIN
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12 3. Loosen the R.A. lock (7, Fig. 1) and rotate the telescope so use the next month's chart. Once you identify the that the R.A. pointer (9, Fig. 1) and the HA pointer (16, Fig. 1) are constellation, pick any of the labeled stars that is not within approximately in line with each other. This will position the fork arms a 10 degree radius of overhead, but do not choose Polaris, so that they are parallel to the power panel (11, Fig. 1). lock the R.A. for reasons made clear below. Polaris i
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13 3. Follow the keypad display prompts to choose and center the 2. Telescope Position. The first display shows the RA and the second alignment star. Be sure to use the keypad to slew DEC (telescope position in stellar coordinates) and the to the second star. After pressing the ENTER key in the last second display (accessed by pressing the ENTER key) step, the keypad display should show the shows the telescope position in ALTAZ coordinates. TELESCOPE/OBJECT LIBRARY screen. 3. Time and D
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14 2. MODE Key THE LX200 KEYPAD HAND CONTROLLER The MODE key (2, Fig.6) cycles through the five modes of the Designed to make you a better astronomer, the integration of LX200, and is used to exit from specific menu files. optics, mechanics, electronics, and software in the LX200 Maksutov Cassegrain or Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope is easily 3. GO TO Key mastered. So easy, in fact that the telescope becomes a natural The GO TO key (3, Fig. 6) causes the LX200 to automatically slew extension
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15 THE LX200 POWER PANEL 7. FOCUS Key The power panel incorporates a power switch and LED indicators The FOCUS key (9, Fig. 6) allows 2 speed electric focus control of showing power on with a current ammeter to show power draw. the optional Meade #1206 Electric Focuser (or equivalent corded electric focusers such as the Meade Model #1200A). To activate, The power panel has all of the connectors for the AC or DC power press either the SLEW or FIND key (for fast focusing), or the input, the DE
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16 5. CCD Connector MODE FUNCTIONS The CCD Port (10, Fig. 7) allows direct interface from popular To view the separate modes within the LX200 system, press the aftermarket CCD autoguiding/imaging cameras with their MODE button located between the ENTER and GO TO keys at the compatible connecting cables to accomplish autoguiding for non- top of the hand controller. Simple entry and editing of information attended astrophotography. The CCD cameras effectively watch in the different modes contain
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17 options, which are; ALTAZ, POLAR, and LAND. TELESCOPE mode and press the ENTER key. Assuming that you have already entered correct local time, Ignore the keypad display instructions to return the latitude, and longitude (see QUICK START, page 9) you are telescope to 90 degrees in Declination and 00 HA. Instead, press the GO TO key and the LX200 will slew ready to choose a particular type of alignment, by pressing to the calculated position of where the pole star should the NEXT or PREV key t
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18 side of the keypad. Altazimuth coordinate readings can still be displayed in the coordinates mode (see MODE 2, corrections immediately by pressing any of the direction (N, page 22). Refer to QUICK START (page 9) for the LAND S, E, W) keys to keep the star on the crosshair of the guiding menu option, for full operating procedures. You will eyepiece. It is suggested that you train in DEC LEARN for at also find that the addition of the Meade #928 45-Degree least half of your intended exposure t
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19 NOTE: If this star is not in the field of view or if it is obstructed 9. HI-PRECISION: The High-Precision Pointing feature of by a land object, the other two stars are available. Use the LX200 allows for very precise pointing of the telescope. By PREV and NEXT keys to cycle through the three closest stars. incorporating the unique LX200 SYNC command, 0.3 arc- sec resolution encoders, and high-speed DC servo motors, c. The telescope will slew to the selected object or position. observers ca
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20 Press the ENTER key and the hand control will display the step c, above. Press ENTER when the number is first object in its finding sequence. This first object is entered. selected by the LX200, based off of where the instrument is e. Check the time delay as described in step b. If there is pointing in the sky when you entered START FIND. To point a delay, increase the compensation number. If there is your LX200 to the object displayed, press the GO TO key a slight jump when reversing dir
