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page 20
Align Your Telescope Using Starfinder
After completing the "Train the Drive" procedure, align your telescope using Starfinder.
The fastest and easiest way to start observing with Starfinder's Go To capabilities is to
align your telescope using One-Star (Polar) Alignment. An alternate method, Two-Star
alignment, is described later in this manual.
1. With "Train Drive: Dec Train" displayed (or scroll to this menu, if necessary), keep
pressing MODE until "Select Item: Setup" is displayed. Press ENTER.
2. "Setup: Align" displays. Press ENTER. "Align: One Star" displays. Press ENTER.
3. "German North" displays and a scrolling message prompts you to Polar align your
telescope. See "TO POLAR ALIGN THE TELESCOPE," page 15, for a description
of how to Polar align your telescope. Press ENTER after you finish the alignment
procedure.
4. "Ctr. Polaris" displays and the telescope begins to slew. Starfinder beeps and
"Adjust Mount" displays after the telescope finishes slewing.
5. A scrolling message prompts you to unlock both the Latitude Lock (23, Fig. 2b)
and the Azimuth Lock (24, Fig. 2b).
6. Manually rotate (do NOT use Starfinder's Arrow keys!) the telescope until Polaris
is centered once again in the eyepiece. Then re-lock both the Latitude and
Azimuth Locks and press ENTER.
7. Starfinder then chooses another star from its database and the telescope slews to
the star for alignment. It may not appear in the field of view in the eyepiece. The
alignment star should be easily recognized and be the brightest star in the area of
the sky where the telescope is pointing. Use the Arrow keys to move the telescope
until the star is visible and centered in the eyepiece. When the star is centered,
press ENTER.
Another method to find the alignment star if it does not appear in the eyepiece is
to perform a "spiral search." If the alignment star is not visible in the eyepiece
when the telescope finishes its search, press GO TO and the telescope starts
slewing in a spiral pattern at a very slow speed around the search area. Look
through the eyepiece and when the object does become visible, press MODE to
stop the spiral search. Then use the Arrow keys to center the object and press
ENTER to complete the alignment procedure.
NOTE: Starfinder locates alignment stars based on the date, time, and
location entered. The alignment stars may change from night to night. All
that is required is for the observer to center the selected star in the eyepiece
when prompted.
Check Mount
It is possible for the 4504 telescope to move in such a way that the telescope tube
might interfere with the mount while slewing. Starfinder has a feature called "Check
Mount" to alert you of this possibility.
If "Check Mount" displays, inspect the assembly to see if it's moving in such a way that
the mount, tube, levers, motors, etc., might catch on or collide with each other. Also
inspect the cable to see if it might become tangled. If any of these possibilities seem
likely to occur, press MODE to abort the current operation of the telescope. If they do
not seem likely, press GO TO to continue with the current operation. Press any key
during slewing to stop the telescope.
If "Check Mount" displays during alignment, and interference seems likely, press MODE.
Select another alignment star by pressing one of the Scroll keys to select the next align-
ment star in the database. Repeat this procedure as necessary to align the telescope.
To abort the alignment procedure, press and hold MODE for about two seconds.