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INSTRUCTION MANUAL
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
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INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4 WARNING ................................................................................................................................................... 4 ASSEMBLY.................................................................................................................................................. 8 ASSEMBLING THE NEXSTAR ..........
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MOTION OF THE STARS ............................................................................................................................. 26 POLAR ALIGNMENT (WITH OPTIONAL WEDGE)......................................................................................... 27 Photography with the NexStar 4.......................................................................................................... 28 Finding the North Celestial Pole ................................................
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Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron NexStar! The NexStar ushers in a whole new generation of computer automated technology. Simple and friendly to use, the NexStar is up and running after locating just two alignment stars. It’s the perfect combination of power and portability. If you are new to astronomy, you may wish to start off by using the NexStar's built-in Sky Tour feature, which commands the NexStar to find the most interesting objects in the sky and automatically slews to e
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3 Eyepiece StarPointer 3 1 Flip Mirror Focuser Knob Attach the included accessories (eyepiece and Star Pointer finderscope) and remove the front lens cover. Remove plastic cover over the battery and turn-on the Star Pointer by rotating the dial on the side. (For instructions on aligning the Star Pointer see the Assembly section of the manual). Remove the NexStar from its packaging and place the base on a sturdy, level surface. Remove the accessories from their individual boxes. 4 2 Rotate the tu
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5 7 Direction Buttons Catalog Keys Up and Down Scroll Buttons Object List Button TOUR Button Input the necessary date and time information as instructed by the hand control. Press ENTER after each entry. The NexStar will also ask for time zone and location information. Use the UP and Down scroll Press the TOUR button on the hand control. The hand control buttons to select from the various options, pressing will display a list of objects that are visible for the date and ENTER after each selectio
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9 10 1 8 2 7 3 6 5 4 1 Optical Tube 6 Focuser Knob 2 Liquid Crystal Display 7 Straight Through Photographic Adapter 3 Hand Control 8 Flip Mirror Control 4 ON/OFF Switch 9 Eyepiece 5 Battery Compartment 10 Star Pointer Finderscope 7
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The NexStar 4 comes completely pre-assembled and can be operational in a matter of minutes. The NexStar is conveniently packaged in one reusable shipping carton that contains all of the following accessories: 25mm SMA Eyepiece – 1¼" Star Pointer Finderscope Computerized Hand Control with 4,000 Object Database Assembling the NexStar Assembling the NexStar Start by removing the telescope from its shipping carton and setting the round base on a flat table or surface. It is best to carry
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The Hand Control The hand control is located on the side of the fork arm and can be removed and used remotely or used while attached to the fork. The hand control attaches to the fork arm by resting on two posts, located on the bottom of the hand control cradle, and a clip inside the fork arm. To remove the hand control from the fork arm cradle, gently lift the hand control upwards and pull out. To return the hand control into the fork arm, lower the hand control into the cradle so that the two
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The Star Pointer Finderscope The Star Pointer is the quickest and easiest way to point your telescope exactly at a desired object in the sky. It's like having a laser pointer that you can shine directly onto the night sky. The Star Pointer is a zero magnification pointing tool that uses a coated glass window to superimpose the image of a small red dot onto the night sky. While keeping both eyes open when looking through the Star Pointer, simply move your telescope until the red dot, seen through
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5. Without moving the main telescope, turn the Star Pointer's azimuth and altitude alignment controls until the red dot is directly over the alignment star. If the LED dot is brighter than the alignment star, it may make it difficult to see the star. Turn the variable brightness control counterclockwise, until the red dot is the same brightness as the alignment star. This will make it easier to get an accurate alignment. The Star Pointer is now ready to be used. 11
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The NexStar 4 has a removable hand controller built into the side of the fork arm designed to give you instant access to all the functions the NexStar has to offer. With automatic slewing to over 4,000 objects, and common sense menu descriptions, even a beginner can master its variety of features in just a few observing sessions. Below is a brief description of the individual components of the NexStar 4 hand controller: 1. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Window: Has a dual-line, 16 character displa
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Caldwell – A combination of the best NGC and IC objects. Planets - All 8 planets in our Solar System plus the Moon. Stars – A compiled list of the brightest stars from the SAO catalog. List – For quick access, all of the best and most popular objects in the NexStar database have been broken down into lists based on their type and/or common name: Named Stars Common name listing of the brightest stars in the sky. Named Objects Alphabetical listing of over 50 of the most popular deep sky objects. D
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to use your hand control on a different NexStar model, the Select Model utility feature allows you to re-select the proper NexStar model from the displayed list (see Select Model later in this section). 2. Use the Up and Down scroll keys to select AutoAlign if it is not already displayed, and press ENTER. 3. The telescope will then ask you to use the direction keys (3) to level the telescope tube and point the front of the telescope towards north. North can be found by finding the direction of t
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procedure for that star. When the telescope has been aligned to both stars the display will readAli Ali Ali Alignme gnme gnme gnment nt nt nt Su Su Su Succe cce cce ccessf ssf ssf ssful ul ul ul, and you are now ready to find your first object. If the wrong star was centered and aligned to, the NexStar display will read Ali Ali Ali Align Fai gn Fai gn Fai gn Failed led led led. Press UNDO to begin the Observing alignment procedure again. T Tiip ps s If you are not sure if the correct star was ce
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NexStar Re-Alignment The NexStar has a re-alignment feature which allows you to replace either of the two original alignment stars with a new star or celestial object. This can be useful in several situations: • If you are observing over a period of a few hours, you may notice that your original two alignment stars have drifted towards the west considerably. (Remember that the stars are moving at a rate of 15º every hour). Aligning on a new star that is in the eastern part of the sky will improv
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The speed at which information scrolls across the hand control display can be changed while the information is being viewed: • Press the “1” key repeatedly to speed up the scroll speed. • Press the “4” key repeatedly to slow down the scroll speed. • Press the “7” key to freeze and unfreeze the information on the display. 2. Press the ENTER Key. This will automatically slew the telescope to the coordinates of the object. While the telescope is slewing to the object, the user can still access many
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• Press the RATE key on the hand control. The LCD will display the current speed rate. • Press the number on the hand control that corresponds to the desired speed. The hand control has a "double button" feature that allows you to instantly speed up the motors without having to choose a speed rate. To use this feature, simply press the arrow button that corresponds to the direction that you want to move the telescope. While holding that button down, press the opposite directional button. This wi
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Observing If you want to explore the entire object database, set the maximum altitude limit to 90º and the minimum limit to –90º. This Tip! will display every object in the database lists regardless of whether it is visible in the sky from your location. User Defined Objects - The NexStar can store up to 50 different user defined objects in its memory. The objects can be daytime land objects or an interesting celestial object that you discover that is not included in the regular database. There
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Utility Features Utility Features Scrolling through the MENU options will also provide access to several advanced utility functions such as anti-backlash compensation and slew limits. Setup Time-Site - Allows the user to customize the NexStar display by changing time and location parameters (such as time zone and daylight savings). Anti-backlash – All mechanical gears have a certain amount of backlash or play between the gears. This play is evident by how long it takes for a star to move in the
