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all these calculations and automatically entering the information for you, the user simply needs to aim the telescope to any
three bright celestial objects in the sky. Since Sky Align requires no knowledge of the night sky it is not necessary to know
the name of the stars that you are aiming. You may even select a planet or the moon. The CPC is then ready to start finding
and tracking any of the objects in its 40,000+ object database. Before the telescope is ready to be aligned, it should be set up
in an outside location with all accessories (eyepiece, diagonal and finderscope) attached and lens cover removed as
described in the Assembly section of the manual. To begin Sky Align:
1. Power on the CPC by flipping the switch located on the
control panel of the drive base, to the "on" position. Once
turned on the hand control display will say CPC Ready.
Press ENTER to choose Sky Align or use the UP/Down
scroll keys (10) to select a different method of alignment.
Pressing the ALIGN key will bypass the other alignment
options and the scrolling text and automatically begins Sky
Align.
2. Once Sky Align has been selected, the hand control will
display “Enter if OK”, “Undo to edit” and “GPS Linking”.
The bottom line of the LCD will display either the current
time or the time when you last used the telescope. The GPS
will quickly link up and display the current date, time and
location. Additionally you have the option of pressing
UNDO and manually updating the time/site information.
Press ENTER to accept the time/site information
downloaded the GPS.
3. The hand control will display a message reminding you to
level the tripod if you already haven’t done so. Press
ENTER to continue.
4. Use the arrow buttons on the hand control to slew (move)
the telescope towards any bright celestial object in the sky.
Center the object in the crosshairs of the finderscope and
press ENTER.
5. If the finderscope has been properly aligned with the
telescope tube, the alignment star should now be visible
inside the field of view of the eyepiece. The CPC will ask
that you center the bright alignment star in the center of the
eyepiece and press the ALIGN button. This will accept the
star as the first alignment position. (There is no need to
adjust the slewing rate of the motors after each alignment
step. The CPC automatically selects the best slewing rate
for aligning objects in both the finderscope and the
eyepiece).
6. For the second alignment object, choose a bright star or
planet as far as possible from the first alignment object.
Once again use the arrow button to center the object in the
finderscope and press ENTER. Then once centered in the
eyepiece press the ALIGN button.
7. Repeat the process for the third alignment star. When the telescope has been aligned to the final stars, the display
will read "Match Confirmed". Press UNDO to display the names of the three bright objects you aligned
to, or press ENTER to accept these three objects for alignment. You are now ready to find your first object.
Tips for Using Sky Align
Remember the following alignment guidelines to make using Sky Align as simple and accurate as possible.
• Be sure to level the tripod before you begin alignment. The time/site information along with a level tripod will help
the telescope better predict the available bright stars and planets that are above the horizon.
• Remember SkyAlign does not care where the optical tube is pointed at the beginning of the alignment. So to make
the alignment process even faster it is acceptable to move the telescope to the first alignment star manually by
A Few Words on GPS:
The CPC uses an on-board GPS to take the
guesswork out of aligning your telescope with the
sky. Once an alignment method is selected, the
CPC automatically initiates the internal GPS
module. However, there are a few things you
should be aware of in order to get full use of its
many capabilities:
GPS alignment will only work when the
telescope is set-up outdoors with an
unobstructed view of the sky. If the CPC
is set-up in a location that has a limited
horizon in any direction it may take
longer for the telescope to find and link
with the needed satellites.
When using the GPS for the first time, it
may take 3-5 minutes for the CPC to
link-up with its satellites. Once the
telescope is successfully linked, leave the
telescope powered on for at least 20
minutes. During this time the CPC will
download the complete almanac of
orbital elements (called the ephemeris)
for the orbiting GPS satellites. Once this
information is received it will be stored
for future alignments.
If your CPC is transported over a long
distance (say from the northern to the
southern hemisphere) it may take as long
as one hour to establish a satellite link
from its new location. Observers wishing
to travel long distances with their
telescope are advised to turn on their
telescope in advance to allow the GPS to
acquire the necessary data.