meade telescopes

[slrman]

hello can anyone who has a meade auto star telescope give me some advice please.

[Jeff RV]

Welcome to the forum slrman.

How can we help?

Jeff.

[Doc]

If we can help we will....

[slrman]

thanks for taking some of your time to help. well it seems im not the only one who doesnt understand the simplicity of autostar telescopes, i was reading other questions and answers earlier and the same problem occured, its just that when i first bourght my meade xt70 and got it out on my patio i thourght it was going to be all pre programed and just need some batteries and off i went exploreing the universe.lol. little did i know. i thourght i went through the start up program pretty well by levelling the tripod, then pointing it north, with a compass. then it asked for 2 stars to align itself and i got completely confused and never used it again. ive had the thing for 4 years yet have never had the auto star working, i spend loads of time just trying to position the thing manually and it becomes too tedious after a short time. im no expert at these things and no astronomy expert either. just keen to see the planets and stars on a clear night. i had big plans to conect to my laptop etc.lol all dashed on the first try..

[Jeff RV]

Just stick with it and try the suggested replies, it will all come out in the wash.

Jeff.

[SteveP]

slrman

Like Jeff says, stick with it. It's worth it in the end.

Are you following the Meade instructions? When i had a Meade, I found the most difficult aspects being

1 to get the finderscope well aligned with the main scope (this becomes critical when you start to get the alignment stars in the FOV),

2 to get the mount pointing true north and

3 remembering to input the position and time accurately before starting the alignment process.

Where are you based? Maybe you're near enough to somebody here who could give you some personal help?

[slrman]

thanks for the help. im in telford and i keep meaning to join the S.S.A. shropshire astronomy association. but keep thinking i will be well out of my depth. its very close as well. maybe next year. im just waitng for a clear night over telford and im going to start again with the scope. i tried it the other night and the batteries still work and it was going through some searches. this was inside the house. its usually pointed out of my window lately as ive lost interest with the goto not being used. i read someone aligned it to the pole star then levelled the scope and started there, is that what i should do. mine doesnt have a finder scope, i wish i had just bourght a scope with a bigger lens and no auto set-up. but the wife got me this one and it is a nice piece of kit.i must find the manual that came with it and see if i can get it working.

[barkis]

Take my word for it, no Astronomy society worth it's salt, will treat you like a Leper. Far from it, they should only be too pleased to

provide you with the help you need.

Perhaps you should spend some time teaching yourself how to navigate the menus in the Handset Controller you have there. The scope is small enough to take indoors to practice. May as well do it in the warmth of your Kitchen or living room.

As suggested, if you are on the Internet, go to the Meade Website, and download the manual for the scope.

Ron.

[slrman]

yes i supose you are correct. im going to join. the times ive thourght about..... well ive found the set-up manual for my meade ETX70 AT and i think i made a big mistake when i was firrst setting it up. it says it will automatically aline 2 stars itself. im sure i aligned one myself and had no idea where the other was...

[astro_dt]

yes i supose you are correct. im going to join. the times ive thourght about..... well ive found the set-up manual for my meade ETX70 AT and i think i made a big mistake when i was firrst setting it up. it says it will automatically aline 2 stars itself. im sure i aligned one myself and had no idea where the other was...

Hi, I have a write up of the alignment process for the ETX125 on my website if it helps

Cheers

Danny

[slrman]

cheers danny, im having a look.