Meade 8" LX-90ACF

[Ron]

Help with a Meade 8" LX-90ACF tracking issues?

I was sent this email from one of my Astronomy Club's members:

Ron, thank-you for responding to my issue. I'm not sure if i'm setting up the scope properly. I'm leveling the tripod and then using the bubble compass to level and point the scope due North. I've used it at least a dozen times since I purchased it last year and everytime I have had problems keeping the subject in the field of view...sometimes not as bad as others. I haven't updated the software since I've purchased it as I didn't think that was that big of a thing to do.
 
Matt

Could anyone offer any advice or help with this problem?

Thanks,

Ron

[drclay]

Hi Ron....check with him on the following issues:

1) does he have the mount defaulted to ALT AZ or is it in Polar....should be Alt Az
2) the telescope MUST not just leveled....he has to go through a Two Star aligment before the motors actually engage....cannot just set it up to track.
3) also, if he IS doing an alignment, if he has gone in and manually set the telescope default to "astronomical" this is incorrect; it should be set to "terrestrial"; once he completes the alignment, the Autostar reverts itself to "astronomical" which engages the motors.

More info please.

Doc

[Ron]

Thanks so much for the info, I will forward this to Matt and encourage him to join the ASO Forums.

Will keep you informed on progress.

Ron

[Ron]

Hi Ron....check with him on the following issues:

1) does he have the mount defaulted to ALT AZ or is it in Polar....should be Alt Az
2) the telescope MUST not just leveled....he has to go through a Two Star aligment before the motors actually engage....cannot just set it up to track.
3) also, if he IS doing an alignment, if he has gone in and manually set the telescope default to "astronomical" this is incorrect; it should be set to "terrestrial"; once he completes the alignment, the Autostar reverts itself to "astronomical" which engages the motors.

More info please.

Doc

I talked with Matt by phone Sunday, 1/29/2012, and I'm not sure he is setting his scope up properly.

Hi Ron. No I didn't make it out on Sunday. My daughter is in her first year of high school and needed help with her homework  on Sunday. I plan on taking it out this Friday or Saturday night. I have since set it up in the house and checked the computer control settings and found the date and time were wrong. I can see how this would have affected the scope in finding and locating an object, but not in the tracking. After talking to you I believe my issue with the tracking is getting it aligned using the two star alignment which I haven't done properly. I'll let you know how that turns out this weekend. ; )
 
Matt

I'll keep you updated in his progress.

Ron

[drclay]

From his explanation, I strongly suspect a combination of both incorrect defaults on the Autostar and as you indicated probably not setting it up and aligning properly.  More info would be of great help.

[Ron]

From his explanation, I strongly suspect a combination of both incorrect defaults on the Autostar and as you indicated probably not setting it up and aligning properly.  More info would be of great help.

Doc,

After talking to him by phone, he did say he had gone in and changed the "terrestrial to astronomical".

Skies around Tampa Bay haven't been to conducive to viewing so it may be a few days before he gets a chance to set up and check things out.

I will keep you informed as to his progress,

Thanks,

Ron

[drclay]

That is his problem; that setting should NEVER be changed.  The default is "Terrestrial" and that is where it must be set.  The autostar automatically CHANGES the setting to "Astronomical" once the alignment is finished....it remains on terrestrial until that is complete, thus the motors do not run.

If it is set on Astronomical, it will divert back to Terrestrial when the align process is completed.

He probably needs to go back and simply RESET the complete Autostar and start entering the correct defaults again.