Celestron CGX, 91530 Instruction Manual

GERMAN EQUATORIAL MOUNT SERIES TELESCOPES

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Model #91530

2 | ENGLISH

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Basic Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Polar Align the Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Precise Polar Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Motion Range in Mount

Adjusting the Mount for V

USB Port

AUX Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Autoguide P

NexStar+ Hand Control

Object Catalog

Slewing to an Object .

A

ppendix A: Upgrading the Firmware in Your Mount and Hand Control

Appendix B: Care and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Celestron Two Year Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

ort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ery High or Low Latitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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12

13

18

18

ENGLISH | 3

4 | ENGLISH

Introduction

Warning

Never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye or

•
with a telescope (unless you have the proper solar filter).

ermanent and irreversible eye damage may result.

P

• Never use your telescope to project an image of the Sun

onto any surface. Internal heat build-up can damage the
telescope and any accessories attached to it.

• Never use an eyepiece solar filter or a Hersc
Internal heat build-up inside the telescope can cause these
devices to crack or break, allowing unfiltered sunlight to
pass through to the eye.

ever leave the telescope unsupervised. Make sure an

• N

adult who is familiar with the correct operating procedures
is with your telescope at all times, especially when children
are present.

hel wedge.

System Requirements

Parts List

Box 1: 91530-1 CGX Equatorial Mount

CGX Equatorial Mount Head
8mm Allen Wrench (captive in rear handle of mount)
Counterweight Shaft and Stop Nut
3 x 8mm socket hex head screws (attaches head to tripod)
12VDC Power Cable
NexStar+ Hand Control

Box 2: CGX Tripod and Counterweights

Tripod
2 x 5 kg (11 lbs.) counterweights
Accessory Tray
Tray knob and washer (threaded onto central column
of tripod)

• The CGX requires 12 volts of DC power with at least 4

amperes of current. An AC to 12VDC 5A power supply
is available from Celestron and includes a threaded barrel
connector which is recommended. Portable 12 volt field
batteries also make suitable power supplies. The mount
includes a DC power cable with a cigarette lighter plug.

he telescope must have a dovetail mounting bar that is

•

T
either the CG-5/Vixen or CGE/Losmandy D format. CGX
can fit either of these sizes on the dovetail saddle.

or best performance, the total telescope payload should

• F

not exceed 55 lbs (25 kg), not including counterweights.

• Windows 7/10 for use with the telescope control software.

SB cable with the standard A connector when plugged

• U

into the USB port on the mount (for PC use only).

• Phillips head screwdriver (optional, for gear adjustment

.

only)

ENGLISH | 5

Overview

8 mm Allen Wrench

(Located under carry handle)

Carry Handle

Dovetail Lock Knobs

Carry Handle

DEC Clutch Lock Lever

R.A. Clutch Lock Lever

Counterweights

Counterweight Shaft

Counterweight Stop Nut

Tripod

Accessory Tray

Hand Control

Dovetail Saddle

On/Off Switch

See fi gure 1.2

Aux 1 & Aux 2 Ports for Hand Control and Accessories

12VDC 4A Power Input

Altitude Lock Knobs (One on each side)

Altitude Adjustment Knob

Azimuth Adjustment Knobs

Carry Handle

8 mm Allen Wrench

(Located under carry handle)

Figure 1.1 Overview

6 | ENGLISH

Autoguide Port

USB Port

Latitude Scale

Belt Drive Windows

Leg Height Adjustment Lock Levers

Leg Height Index Marks

Figure 1.2 Overview

ENGLISH | 7

Assembly

Unpack all of the contents and follow these steps to
assemble your mount. If you purchased the CGX by itself,
the tripod includes two 11 lbs. counterweights. If you
purchased the CGX with a large optical tube, more
weights may be included to achieve balance.

Note: The included 8mm Allen wrench is contained under

the rear handle of the mount as shown in Figure 1.1.

Setup the Tripod

1. Stand the tripod upright and pull the tripod legs apart

until each leg is fully extended.

2. Remove the Tripod Support Nut and Washer from the

central column attached to the top of the tripod (Figure

2.1 & 2.2).

3. Place the accessory tray over the central column so

that each of the three arms of the tray is supporting a
tripod leg.

4. Thread the nut and washer back onto the threaded

column and firmly tighten into place. The accessory
tray should not be able to move against the tripod
(Figure 2.1 & 2.2).

5. Adjust the height of the tripod by loosening the lock

levers on the end of each tripod leg. Then adjust the
leg height as needed and retighten the lock levers, one
leg at a time. Note that the leg index marks can
be used to easily level the tripod.

Tripod Support

Nut and Washer

Figure 2.2 Tripod setup

Attach the Mount to the Tripod

1. Place the head onto the tripod so that it seats securely
into the mating surface.

2. For best stability, orient the mount so that the counter­weight shaft is directly over a tripod leg as shown in
Figures 1.1 and 1.2. Note that you can orient the mount
so the counterweight shaft is between two of the tripod
legs which can be useful in low latitudes, allowing the
counterweights to have more clearance from the tripod.

3. Using the included 8 mm Allen wrench (Figure 3) to
tighten the 3 attachment bolts onto the mount.

Central

Column

Accessory Tray

8 | ENGLISH

Figure 2.1 Tripod setup

Allen
Wrench

Figure 3 Attaching the mount to the tripod

Roughly Polar Align the Mount

Before more weight is added to the mount and tripod,
roughly position the mount so that it’s pointing north
(or south if in the southern hemisphere), and set to your
latitude. Loosen the two altitude lock knobs, then turn the
altitude adjustment knob (Figure 1.1) until you are roughly
set to your latitude indicated on the latitude scale (Figure

1.2), then retighten the altitude lock knobs. The scale is
intended for rough polar alignment only. A more precise
polar alignment can be achieved later with the assistance
of the computerized hand control.

Add the Counterweights

Remove the stop nut at the end of the counterweight shaft,
add the counterweights, then thread the stop nut back on.
Keep the Counterweight shaft pointed downward.
(Figure 1.1)

Attach the Telescope to the Mount

1. Make sure both R.A. and DEC clutch levers are tightened.

2. Loosen the dovetail saddle lock knobs enough to allow
the dovetail to fit into the saddle. Note the arrow should
be pointing to the same side as the front handle (Figure 4).

3. Slide the telescope’s dovetail bar into the dovetail saddle
of the mount. Tighten the telescope in place with the two
lock knobs (Figure 5).

The CGX fits the large Celestron CGE-style dovetail and the
smaller CG-5-style dovetail, also common to the Losmandy D
and Vixen-style2 dovetail.

1

Test fit your Losmandy dovetail bar before securing your

telescope to the mount. Sizes and dovetail angles across
different manufacturers can vary.

2

Test fit your Vixen dovetail bar before securing your

telescope to the mount. Be aware that some of the
Vixen-style dovetails are not flat and have different
heights along the bar. Depending on the length of the
flat, it can affect the fit onto the dovetail saddle of
the mount.

Dovetail
Lock Knobs

Figure 5 Telescope dovetail securely in place

Balance the Mount

Right Ascension Axis: Carefully unlock the clutch lever for R.A.
and position the counterweight shaft so that it’s horizontal.
Without letting go of the telescope, check to see which side
the balance is in favor of. Slide the counterweights as needed
so the R.A. axis does not move when the clutch is unlocked.

Declination Axis: With the counterweight shaft still positioned
horizontally, carefully unlock the clutch lever for DEC
and check which way the optical tube is balanced (Figure 6).
Slide the optical tube forward or backward as needed to
achieve balance. For large and heavy telescopes, return
the telescope to the home position before loosening the
dovetail saddle lock knobs.

1

Figure 4 Attaching the mount to the tripod

Dovetail
Orientation Arrow

Figure 6 Balancing the mount

ENGLISH | 9

Attach the Hand Control Holster

Wrap the hook & loop strap and holster around the tripod
leg and place the hand control in the holster.

Basic Usage

With your mount assembled and polar aligned, proceed to
startup the mount:

Plug in the Hand Control

Plug the supplied NexStar+ hand control into one of the
Aux ports.

Warning: Do not plug the hand control into the

Autoguide Port. Damage to the mount or hand control
could occur. Similarly, do not plug an autoguider cable
into the Aux port or damage could occur.

Home Position

The mount is in the “home” position when the counterweight
shaft is pointing downward, and the telescope is pointing
along the polar axis of the mount as pictured in (Figure 7).
The mount’s internal switches will take the mount to its
home position when you power it on (more on that in “Basic
Usage”), but you can still manually position it before powering
on the mount. Simply unlock the two lock levers.

Powering the Mount

The CGX mount can be powered by the supplied car battery
adapter to a 12VDC battery source that can deliver at least 4
amperes of current. Or you may use an optional AC adapter
that delivers 12VDC and 4 amperes of current. AC power
adapters with threaded barrel connectors are available
from Celestron.

Home Position and Site Information

1. Plug the included NexStar+ Hand Control into one of
the Aux ports. You can plug into Aux 1 or Aux 2.

2. Plug the power cable into the power input port on the
mount. Be sure to secure the power cable with the
threaded barrel connector.

3. Turn the power switch on.

4. When the hand control displays “CGX Ready”, press
ENTER twice. The mount will proceed to move to the
home switch position.

5. Select City Database or Custom Site.

• In City Database, select the nearest city to your location.

Figure 7 Telescope in the home position

• If you choose Custom Site, you will have to enter the

longitude, latitude and time zone of your location.

6. Once the location is selected, proceed to enter the date
and time. The CGX has a Real-Time Clock (RTC) which
stores the date, time and location information for the next
time you use the mount.

Alignment

Prerequisite: The mount must be roughly polar aligned,
with the date, time and location information correctly
entered as outlined before this step.

1. For best alignment results, choose Two Star Align and
press ENTER.

You can also choose from Solar System, One Star, Last
Align, or Quick Align. The Scroll buttons 6 and 9 on the
keypad are used to scroll through any list selection in the
hand control.

10 | ENGLISH

2. Select the first star from the named star list. Use the
Scroll buttons 6 (up) and 9 (down) on the keypad to
scroll through the star names. They consist of the brightest
and easiest stars to find. Press ENTER when you have
selected a suitable star. If your mount is at least roughly
polar aligned, the mount will slew to the approximate
location of the star.

The default selection of stars is on the west side of the
meridian. If your sky is obstructed in the west or you wish
to choose from stars on the east side of the meridian, press
the MENU button on the keypad.

3. Using the direction keys, slew to the telescope to the
selected named star and center it in the viewfinder of
your telescope, then press ENTER.

The mount will automatically adjust the motor speed for fine
centering.

4. Using the direction keys, center the star in the eyepiece of

your telescope and press ALIGN.

5. Select a second star from the list and repeat the process

from steps 2-4. When prompted to add a Calibration Star,
you can either press BACK to complete the alignment, or
for best results, proceed to add a calibration star.

For best results, add at least one Calibration Star. This
will improve the pointing accuracy of your mount.

6. When prompted to “Add Calibration Star”, choose a star

from the list and press ENTER. The mount will slew to the
other side of the meridian to add a calibration star.

7. Center and align the star as you did with the first two

alignment stars: Center in the viewfinder, press ENTER,
center the star in your eyepiece, then press ALIGN.

8. When prompted to add another calibration star, you may

continue to add more, or press BACK to complete the
alignment.

Example of selecting and slewing to Messier M42 deep
sky object:

• Press DEEP SKY then ENTER

• Scroll down (keypad 9) to Messier and press ENTER

• Press “0-4-2” on the keypad and press ENTER

The SkyTour (keypad 5) is a great way to explore the sky
without consulting a star chart. The Tour function will
generate a list of the most interesting objects to observe
for your time and location.

Polar Align the Mount

The computerized go-to is capable of locating objects even
if the mount is not perfectly polar aligned. However, polar
alignment is necessary to achieve the best tracking accuracy
of your mount. And it’s essential to astrophotography. When
polar aligned, an Equatorial mount tracks the sky in one motion,
keeping the object centered in the eyepiece or camera.

CGX’s polar alignment system consists of an altitude
adjuster and azimuth adjuster (Figure 8).

An optional polar alignment scope is available from Celestron
and attaches to the mount. The optional polar axis scope
does not pass through the R.A. axis because that area is used
for internal cabling. If you are not using the optional polar
alignment scope, you can achieve a rough polar alignment by
sighting through the viewfinder of your telescope, and adjust­ing the mount until you center Polaris in the eyepiece of your
telescope. This will get you to within about three-quarters of a
degree within the North Celestial Pole (NCP).

Altitude
Lock Knobs

Selecting Objects

Select from the object database categorized by Solar
System, Stars, or Deep Sky. Within these menus (on keypad
numbers 1, 2, and 3, you can select by object name or
popular catalog number (such as M42 for Messier 42).

Keypad 6 and 9 (up and down) allows you to scroll through
any list in the hand control. Press ENTER to go to the
selected object the list.

Altitude
Adjustment Knobs

Azimuth
Adjustment Knobs

Figure 8 Polar alignment adjustment

ENGLISH | 11

Precise Polar Alignment

Celestron’s All-Star Polar Alignment allows you to precisely
polar align your mount without using Polaris or a polar axis
finder. This software-assisted polar alignment allows you to
choose a convenient star.

Prerequisite: The CGX must be aligned with a Two Star,
One Star, or Solar System Align.

1. Select a suitable bright star from the NexStar hand

control’s database. Slew the telescope to the star.

2. Press the Align button. Select “Polar Align” then “Align
Mount” from the list.

3. The telescope will then re-slew to the alignment star and
ask you to center it in the eyepiece in order to “sync” on
the star.

4. Press Align and the telescope will slew to the position
that the star should be if it were accurately polar-aligned.

5. Use the mount’s altitude and azimuth adjustments to
center the star in the eyepiece. Do not use the direction
keys on the hand control to center the star.

6. Press Enter. Polar alignment is complete.

Figure 9.1 One side of R.A. mechanical limit

Motion Range in Mount

Sofware Range

The CGX employs software controlled limit sensors which
detect when the mount has reached near its mechanical
range limit. Once the mount reaches the switch, the motor
will decelerate to a stop and a “Limit Switch” warning
message will appear. The mount will no longer slew in the
direction of the limit switch until you reverse directions.

Mechanical Range

The CGX uses internal cabling so the mount is designed
not to move more than a certain range. Both axis are limited
by a hard stop built into the mount. This limited range can
also help prevent unintentional interference between your
telescope and the mount or tripod. If for any reason the
mount exceeds the software limit switch (or if the clutch is
unlocked and the mount is manually moved), the mount will
halt at the hard stop.

R.A. limit (Figure 9.1) allows you to track 20º past the
meridian. If you leave the mount unattended while it’s
tracking, it will automatically stop before reaching the
mechanical hard stop.

Figure 9.2 One side of DEC mechanical limit

DEC limit (Figure 9.2) contains enough slew range to reach
any portion of the sky.

12 | ENGLISH

Adjusting the Mount for Very High
or Low Latitudes

The EQ head can be set on the tripod in three different
positions. These three positions can also be used to optimize
the balance over the tripod. The mount ships in the center
position which works for latitudes between 20-55º. If you
wish to use the mount at latitudes below 20º, shift the
mount forward, if you wish to use above 55º, shift the
mount backward.

1. Remove the head from the tripod by removing the 3
socket-head screws.

2. Carefully remove the 8 socket head screws located under
the head. Once they are removed, the altitude adjustment
mechanism will be the only thing securing the bottom
plate of the EQ head.

3. Turn the altitude adjuster knob until the threaded holes on
the bottom of the mount align with the new set of holes
on the bottom plate. Shift the plate forward (towards
the counterweight shaft side) if you wish to use at lower
latitudes. Shift the plate backward (towards the altitude
adjustment knob) if you wish to use at higher latitudes
(Figure 10).

DEFAULT POSITION

USB Port

The USB port on the CGX is used to interface with your
PC only for:

1. Use with the dedicated telescope control software.

2. Upgrading the motor control firmware in the mount.

Simply connect a standard USB A type cable into the USB
port on the mount, and plug into your PC. The mount should
automatically install.

The USB port on the mount is not intended to be used
with ASCOM or third party telescope control software.
To control the mount via ASCOM, connect your PC to the
NexStar+ hand control’s mini USB port.

Aux Ports

Aux 1 and Aux 2 can be used for the NexStar+ handcontrol,
as well as optional accessories such as the StarSense
AutoAlign and SkyPortal WiFi module.

Autoguide Port

BACK POSITION

FRONT POSITION

Figure 10 Changing the mount position on the tripod head

The autoguide port should only be used for autoguide
camera relays.

CAUTION: Never plug the NexStar+ hand control or other
accessory into the autoguide port. Damage could result.

ENGLISH | 13

NexStar+ Hand Control

1. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Window: Red back-
lighting for comfortable nighttime viewing of telescope
information and scrolling text. Remove the clear
protective tape from the screen before use.

2. Align: Instructs the telescope to begin the default alignment
procedure. It is also used to select star or object as an
alignment position.

3. Direction Keys: Allow complete control of your telescope
in any direction. Use the direction keys to center objects in
the eyepiece or to manually slew your telescope.

4. Catalog Keys: Allow direct access to each of the main
catalogs in the database of thousands of objects.

Your telescope contains the following catalogs in its database:

• Solar System- All 7 planets in our Solar System plus

the Moon, Sun and Pluto.

• Stars- Custom lists of all the brightest stars, double

stars, variable stars, constellations and asterisms.

• Deep Sky- Custom lists of all the best Galaxies,

Nebulae and Clusters, as well as the complete
Messier and select NGC objects.

5. Identify: Searches your telescope’s database and

displays the name and offset distances to the nearest
matching objects.

6. Menu: Displays setup and utilities functions, such as
tracking rate, user defined objects and others.

7. Option (Celestron Logo): Works similar to the SHIFT

key on a keyboard and can be used in combination with
other keys to access more advanced features and
functions to be added with later firmware updates.

8. Enter: Pressing ENTER allows you to select any of your
telescope’s functions, accept entered parameters and
slews the telescope to displayed objects.

9. Back: Pressing BACK will take you out of the current
menu and display the previous level of the menu path.
Press BACK repeatedly to get back to a main menu or
use to erase data entered by mistake.

10. Sky Tour: Activates the tour mode, which seeks out all

of the best objects in the sky and automatically slews
your telescope to those objects.

11. Scroll Keys: Used to scroll UP and DOWN within any of

the menu lists. A double arrow symbol on the right side
of the LCD indicates that the scroll keys can be used to
view additional information. The buttons have an angled
shape to make it easier to locate without looking.

1

8

2

3

4

5

6

7

15

14

9

4

10

11

12

13

Figure 11

14

Figure 11.2

12. Motor Speed: Similar to the Rate Button on the original

NexStar hand control, it allows you to change the motor’s
speed when the direction keys are pressed.

13. Object Info: Displays coordinates and valuable infor-

mation about objects selected from your telescope’s
database.

14. Mini Usb Port (cable not included): Links to PC to

control telescope with desktop or to perform firmware
updates.

15. Help Menu: In future firmware updates, this button will

offer troubleshooting tips. For your convenience, it
currently functions as a shortcut to the Messier Catalog.

14 | ENGLISH

Selecting an Object

Once the telescope is properly aligned, you can choose
an object from any of the catalogs in the NexStar+ hand
control’s database

. The hand control has a key designated
for each category of objects in its database; Solar System
objects, Stars and Deep Sky objects

• Solar System –

The Solar System catalog will display

.

all of the planets (and Moon) in our Solar System that
are currently visible in the sky

To allow the Sun to be

.
displayed as an option in the database, see Allow Sun
option in the Database Setup section of the manual

• Stars –

The Stars catalog displays custom lists of all

.

the brightest stars, double (binary) stars, variable stars,
constellations and selected asterisms

• Deep Sky –

The Deep Sky catalog displays a list of all

.

of the best Galaxies, Nebulae and Clusters, as well as
the complete Messier and select NGC objects

. There is

also an alphabetical list of all deep sky objects in order by

.

their common name

Use the S

CROLL keys to scroll through the catalogs to

find the object you wish to view

. When scrolling through
a long list of objects, holding down either the UP or
DOWN key will allow you to scroll through the catalog
at a rapid speed

.

Enter the catalog number for the object you want to view

.
Press ENTER to command the telescope to slew to the
object, or hold the OPTION button (the Celestron logo)
and press OBJECT INFO to see information about the
object you selected

.

CAUTION: Never slew the telescope when someone is
looking into the eyepiece. The telescope can move at fast
slew speeds and may hit an observer in the eye.

Motor Speed Button

The MOTOR SPEED button, similar to the Rate button on
the original NexStar hand control, allows you to instantly
change the speed rate of the motors from high speed slew
rate to precise guiding rate or anywhere in between

. Each
rate corresponds to a number on the hand control key
pad

. The number 9 button is the fastest rate (approxi­mately 3.5° per second, depending on the mount) and is
used for slewing between objects and locating alignment

. The number 1 button on the hand control is the

stars
slowest rate (half sidereal) and can be used for accurate
centering of objects in the eyepiece

.

To change the speed of the motors:

• Press the MOTOR SPEED key on the hand control.
he LCD will display the current motor speed.

T

Slewing to an Object

Once the desired object idisplayed on the hand control
screen, you have two options:

Press the OBJECT INFO Key. This will give you useful

•
information about the selected object such as magnitude,
constellation and extended information about the most
popular objects

.

- Use the UP/DOWN arrow buttons to scroll through

the displayed object info

.

- Use the BACK button to return to the object database.

• P

ress the ENTER Key. This will automatically slew the

telescope to the coordinates of the object displayed on
the hand control. While the telescope is slewing to the
object, the user can still access many of the hand control
functions (such as displaying information about the object).

NOTE: The Messier, NGC and SAO catalogs require
the user to enter a numeric designation. Once you have
selected the appropriate catalog button and selected the
Messier, NGC or SAO catalog, you will see a flashing
cursor indicating you are in numeric entry mode.

• Press the number on the hand control that corresponds
to the desired speed

T

he hand control has a “double button” feature that allows

.

you to instantly speed up the motors without having to
choose a speed

. 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 direction button. This will increase the
speed to the maximum slew rate.

When using the hand control’s up and down direction but­tons, the slower slew rates (6 and lower) move the motors
in the opposite direction than the faster slew rates (7- 9).
This is done so that an object will move in the appropriate
direction when looking into the eyepiece (i.e. pressing the
UP arrow button will move the star upwards in the field of
view of the eyepiece). However, if any of the slower slew
rates (rate 6 and below) are used to center an object in
the StarPointer, you may need to press the opposite
directional button to make the telescope move in the
correct direction.

ENGLISH | 15

The Hand Control Menu

Two Star Align

The “Hand Control” menu allows you to customize certain
features of the NexStar+ hand control

. To access this menu,
press the MENU button (#7 on the keypad) and use the
scroll buttons to select “Hand Control” and press ENTER

.

Use the scroll buttons to select from the following options:

Lights Control:

•

number keypad and the LCD

• Scrolling Menu:

face of the LCD

oggle Bold Font: Change the format of the font dis-

• T

played on the LCD from normal to boldface

Set Contrast: Use the scroll keys to adjust the contrast

•

of the LCD

Set Language:

•

Independently adjust the brightness of the

.

Adjust how fast words move across the

.

.

.

Change the displayed language on

the LCD.

NO

TE: The Set Language feature may also appear the

first time you use your new hand control. You may also
initiate it at any time by holding down the Option button
(the Celestron logo) for 10 seconds while powering up
the telescope.

Alignment Procedures

In order for the telescope to accurately point to objects in the
sky, it must first be aligned with known positions (stars) in the

.

With this information, the telescope can create a model

sky
of the sky, which it uses to locate any object with known
coordinates

. There are many ways to align your telescope
with the sky depending on what information the user is able
to provide:

Two Star Align uses the entered time/location information

•

and allows the user to select which two alignment stars the
telescope will automatically slew to.

• One Star A

lign uses the same time/location information

but only uses one star for alignment.

• Solar System Align will display a list of visible daytime

objects (planets and the Moon) available to align the
telescope.

• Quick-Align will ask you to input all the same information

as you would for the Two Star Align procedure. However,
instead of slewing to the alignment stars for centering and
alignment, the telescope bypasses this step and simply
models the sky based on the information given.

• Last Alignment restores your last saved star alignment

and switch position. Last Alignment also serves as a good
safeguard in case the telescope should lose power.

Two-Star Align allows the user to select two stars on which
to align the telescope

. To align your telescope using the

Two-Star Align method:

1

Select T

.

wo-Star Align from the alignment choices given.
Based on the date and time information entered, the hand
control will automatically select and display a bright star
that is above the horizon

• Press E

• If for some reason the c

NTER to select this star as your first alignment

.

star

.

hosen star is not visible (perhaps
behind a tree or building), press BACK to have the
hand control automatically select the next brightest star

• Or you can use the Up/

Down keys to browse the entire

.

Named Star list and select any one of over two hundred
alignment stars

2. Once the telescope is finished slewing to your first

.

alignment star, the display will ask you to use the arrow
buttons to align the selected star with the cross hairs
in the center of the finderscope

. When centered in the
finder, press ENTER. The display will then instruct you to
center the star in the field of view of the eyepiece. When
the star is entered, press ALIGN to accept this star as
your first alignment star.

3. After the first alignment star has been entered, the hand
control will automatically select a second alignment star
and have you repeat this procedure for that star

. When
the telescope has been aligned on both stars, the display
will ask you if you wish to add additional calibration stars
Calibration st

ars are used to improve the pointing

.

accuracy of your telescope by compensating for subtle
opto-mechanical misalignments between the telescope
optics and the mount

. Therefore, it is usually a good idea
to add at least one additional calibration star to improve
the mount’s all-sky pointing accuracy.

4. Press ENTER to select a calibration star. Select a star the
same way you did with the first two alignment stars and
press ENTER. You will notice that all the calibration stars
displayed are located on the opposite side of the side of
the sky (Meridian) as the original alignment stars. This is
essential for an accurate calibration of the mount. Finally,
you can choose to continue to add additional calibration
stars or Press BACK to complete the alignment.

Note: East/West Filtering – In order to ensure the best
possible full-sky pointing accuracy, your computerized mount
automatically filters and chooses its initial alignment stars so
that the first two alignment stars are located on one side
of the Meridian and any calibration stars are on the op­posite side of the Meridian, as indicated by the “W” or “E”
displayed in the upper-right corner of the LCD. East/West
filtering can be changed simply by pressing the MENU
button at any time during the alignment process.

16 | ENGLISH

Tips for Adding Calibration Stars:

•

Although for casual observing it is not necess

ary to add
calibration stars, it is recommended that you add as many
as three calibration stars for optimal point accuracy.

• Choosing calibration stars that are near the celestial
equator offer the better results than stars near the
celestial poles

•

Although it is not necess

.

ary to use calibration stars if the
telescope mount has not been moved since its original
alignment/calibration, it may be necessary to recalibrate
the telescope if the optical tube has been removed for any
reason

.

Note: Meridian – The Meridian is an imaginary line in the
sky that starts at the North celestial pole and ends at the
South celestial pole and passes through the zenith. If you are
facing south, the meridian starts from your Southern horizon
and passes directly overhead to the North celestial pole.

Quick-Align

Quick-Align uses all the date and time information entered at
startup to align the telescope. However, instead of slewing to
the alignment stars for centering and alignment, the telescope
bypasses this step and simply models the sky based on the
information given. This will allow you to roughly slew to the
coordinates of bright objects like the Moon and planets and
provides the telescope with information needed to track
objects in any part of the sky (depending on accuracy of
polar alignment). Quick-Align is not meant to be used to
accurately locate small or faint deep-sky objects or to track
objects accurately for astroimaging.

Last Alignment

The Last Alignment method will automatically recall the last
stored index positions to continue using the alignment that
was saved when the telescope was last powered down.
This is a useful feature should your telescope accidentally
lose power or be powered down.

lignment

Re-A

The mount has a re-alignment feature which allows you to
replace any of the 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 stars are
moving at a rate of 15° every hour). Aligning on a new star
that is in the eastern part of the sky will improve your pointing
accuracy, especially on objects in that part of the sky

.

• If you have aligned your telescope using the Quick-Align
method, you can use Re-Align to align on actual objects
in the sky. This will improve the pointing accuracy of your
telescope without having to re-enter additional information.

• If you have used the computer-assisted polar alignment
method and have manually moved the mount, it may be
necessary to re-align the mount for improved pointing
accuracy.

T

o replace an existing alignment star with a new alignment star:

1. Select the desired star (or object) from the database and

slew to it.

2

Carefully center the object in the eyepiece

.

.

3. Once centered, press the BACK button until you are at

the main menu.

4. With CGX Ready displayed, press the ALIGN key on the

hand control to select Alignment Stars from the list of
options.

5. The display will then ask you which alignment star you

want to replace. Use the UP and Down scroll keys to
select the alignment star to be replaced. It is usually best
to replace the star closest to the new object. This will
space out your alignment stars across the sky.

6. Press ALIGN to make the change.

T

o use Quick-Align, simply select Quick Align from the
alignment options and press ENTER. The telescope will
automatically use the entered date/time parameters to align
itself with the sky and display Alignment Successful.

Note: Once a Quick-Align has been done, you can use
the Re-alignment feature (see below) to improve your
telescope’s pointing accuracy.

ENGLISH | 17

Object Catalog

Selecting an Object

Once the telescope is properly aligned, you can choose
an object from any of the catalogs in the NexStar+ hand
control’s database. The hand control has a key designated
for each category of objects in its database; Solar System
objects, Stars and Deep Sky objects.

to command the telescope to slew to the object or hold the
OPTION button (the Celestron logo) and press OBJECT
INFO to see information about the object you selected.

CAUTION: Never slew the telescope when someone
is looking into the eyepiece. The telescope can
move at fast slew speeds and may hit an observer
in the eye.

• Solar System

all the planets (and Moon) in our Solar System that are
currently visible in the sky
as a selectable object in the database, see the Sun Menu
option in Scope Setup Menu.

• Stars

– The Stars catalog displays custom lists of all
the brightest stars, double (Binary) stars, variable stars,
constellations and selected asterisms.

• Deep Sky
the best Galaxies, Nebulae and Clusters, as well as the
complete Messier and select NGC objects. There is also
an alphabetical list of all deep sky objects in order by their
common name.

Use the scroll keys to scroll through the cat
object you want to view.

hen scrolling through a long list of objects, holding down

W
either the UP or DOWN key will allow you to scroll through
the catalog rapidly

– The Solar System catalog will display

To allow the Sun to be displayed

.

– The Deep Sky catalog displays a list of all

alogs to find the

.

Slewing to an Object

Once the desired object is displayed on the hand control
screen, you have two options:

• Press the OBJECT INFO Key. This will give you useful
information about the selected object such as magnitude,
constellation and extended information about the most
popular objects.

• Use the
displayed object info.

• Use the

ress the ENTER Key. This will automatically slew the

• P
telescope to the coordinates of the object displayed on the
hand control. While the telescope is slewing to the object,
the user can still access many of the hand control functions
(such as displaying information about the object).

OTE: The Messier, NGC and SAO catalogs require the

N

user to enter a numeric designation. Once you have
selected the appropriate catalog button and selected the
Messier, NGC or SAO catalog, you will see a flashing
cursor indicating you are in numeric entry mode. Enter the
catalog number for the object you want to view. Press ENTER

UP/DOWN arrow buttons to scroll through the

BACK button to return to the object database.

SkyTour Button

The CGX mount includes a tour feature which allows
you to choose from a list of interesting objects
based on the date and time in which you are observing

he automatic tour will display only those objects that are

T
within your set catalog filters limits. To activate the Tour
feature, press the SKY TOUR key on the hand control.

. Press the SKY TOUR button on the hand control.

1

2. Use the SCROLL buttons to select Best of Tonight.

. The CGX mount will automatically slew in azimuth to its

3

starting position which will help minimize the chance of
wrapping the power cord during the tour

4. The hand control will display the best objects to observe
that are currently in the sky

• To see information and data about the displayed object,

press the OBJECT INFO key
the coordinates of the object. Press it again to display
the coordinates of the object. Press it again to display
the text description. Press BACK to return to the
previous screen.

o slew to the object displayed, press ENTER.

• T

o see the next tour object, press the DOWN key

• T

y Button

Identif

Pressing the IDENTIFY button will search the mount’s da-
tabase catalogs and display the name and angular distances
to the nearest matching objects from the telescope’s current
location. This feature can serve two purposes. First, it can be
used to identify an unknown object in the field of view of your
eyepiece. Additionally, Identify Mode can be used to find
other celestial objects that are close to the objects you are
currently observing.

or example, if your telescope is pointed at the brightest

F
star in the constellation Lyra, choosing Identify will no doubt
return the star Vega as the star you are observing. However,
the Identify feature will also search its NGC and Solar
System databases and display any planets or Deep Sky
objects that are close by
(M57) would display as being approximately 6° away

he brightness and proximity of the objects displayed

T
can be defined by the user using the Identify Filter under
Telescope Setup.

.

Press it once to display

.

In this example, the Ring Nebula

.

.

.

.

.

18 | ENGLISH

Direction Buttons

The hand control has four direction buttons in the center
of the hand control which control the telescope motion in
altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right)
telescope can be controlled at nine different speed rates

. The

.

1 = 2x 6 = .3° / sec
2 = 4x 7 = 1° / sec
3 = 8x 8 = 2° / sec
4 = 16x 9 = 4° / sec
5 = 32x

Motor Speed Button

Pressing the MOTOR SPEED button (12) allows you
to instantly change the speed rate of the motors from
high speed slew rate to precise guiding rate or anywhere
in between. Each rate corresponds to a number on the
hand controller key pad. The number 9 is the fastest rate
(approximately 4° per second, depending on power source)
and is used for slewing between objects and locating
alignment stars. The number 1 on the hand control is the
slowest rate (2x sidereal) and can be used for accurate
centering of objects in the eyepiece. To change the speed
rate of the motors:

Menu Button

The CGX mount contains many user-defined setup
functions designed to give the user control over the
telescopes many features. All of the setup and utility features
can be accessed by pressing the MENU key and scrolling
through the options below.

Tracking Menu
Tracking Mode – This allows you to change the way the

telescope tracks depending on the type of mount being used
to support the telescope. The telescope has three different
tracking modes:

• EQ North – Used to track the sky when the telescope is

polar aligned in the Northern Hemisphere.

Q South – Used to track the sky when the telescope

• E

is polar aligned in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Off – When using the telescope for terrestrial (land)

observation, the tracking can be turned off so that the
telescope never moves.

T

racking Rate – In addition to being able to move the

telescope with the hand control buttons, your telescope
will continually track a celestial object as it moves across

.

the night sky

The tracking rate can be changed depending

on what type of object is being observed:

Press the M

•
T

he LCD will display the current speed rate.

OTOR SPEED key on the hand control.

• 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 will increase the
speed to the maximum slew rate

hen using the UP and DOWN buttons on the hand control,

W

.

the slower slew rates (6 and lower) move the motors in the
opposite direction than the faster slew rates (7- 9)

. This is
done so that an object will move in the appropriate direction
when looking into the eyepiece (i

.e., pressing the up arrow
button will move the star upwards in the field of view of the
eyepiece)

. However, if any of the slower slew rates (rate 6
and below) are used to center an object in the starpointer,
you may need to press the opposite directional button to
make the telescope move in the correct direction

.

Help Button

In future firmware updates, this button will offer troubleshooting
tips. For your convenience, it currently functions as a shortcut
to the Messier Catalog.

Sidereal

•

– This rate compensates for the rotation of the
Earth by moving the telescope at the same rate as the
rotation of the Earth, but in the opposite direction. When
the telescope is polar aligned, this can be accomplished
by moving the telescope in right ascension only.

• Lunar – Used for tracking the Moon when observing the

lunar landscape.

• Solar – Used for tracking the Sun when solar observing

with the proper filter

iew Time-Site Menu

V

.

This menu displays the current time and longitude/latitude
downloaded from the optional SkySync GPS receiver
It will also display other relevant time-site information like
time zone, daylight saving and local sidereal time

.

. Local
sidereal time (LST) is useful for knowing the right ascension
of celestial objects that are located on the Meridian at that

. View Time-Site will always display the last saved time

time
and location entered while it is linking with the GPS. Once
current information has been received, it will update the
displayed information

. If GPS is switched off or not present, the

hand control will only display the last saved time and location.

The Hand Control Menu

The “Hand Control” menu allows you to customize certain
features of the NexStar+ hand control

. To access this menu,

press the MENU button (#7 on the keypad) and use the
scroll buttons to select “Hand Control” and press ENTER

.

ENGLISH | 19

Use the scroll buttons to select from the following options:

Lights Control: Independently adjust the brightness of

•
the number keypad and the LCD

• Scrolling Menu:
face of the LCD

Adjust how fast words move across the

.

.

• Toggle Bold Font: Change the format of the font
displayed on the LCD from normal to boldface

• Set Contrast:
of the LCD

• Set Language:

Use the scroll keys to adjust the contrast

.

Change the displayed language on

.

the LCD.

NO

TE: The Set Language feature may also appear the first

time you use your new hand control. You may also initi­ate it at any time by holding down the Option button (the
Celestron logo) for 10 seconds while powering up the
telescope.

Scope Setup Menu
Setup Time-Site – Allows the user to customize the

telescope’s 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
eyepiece when the hand control arrow buttons are pressed
(especially when changing directions). The CGX
anti-backlash feature allows the user to compensate for
backlash by inputting a value which quickly rewinds the
motors just enough to eliminate the play between gears

.
The amount of compensation needed depends on the
slewing rate selected; the slower the slewing rate the longer
it will take for the star to appear to move in the eyepiece

.

There are two values for each axis, positive and negative:

• Positive is the amount of compensation applied when you

press the button in order to get the gears moving quickly
without a long pause.

• Negative is the amount of compensation applied when you

release the button, winding the motors back in the other
direction to resume tracking.

Normally

, both values should be the same. You will need to
experiment with different values (from 0-99); a value between
20 and 50 is usually best for most visual observing, whereas
a higher value may be necessary for photographic guiding.

To set the anti-backlash value, scroll down to the anti-backlash
option and press ENTER. While viewing an object in the
eyepiece, observe the responsiveness of each of the four
arrow buttons. Note which directions you see a pause in the
star movement after the button has been pressed. Working
one axis at a time, adjust the backlash settings high enough

to cause immediate movement without resulting in a
pronounced jump when pressing or releasing the button
Now

, enter the same values for both positive and negative

directions

. If you notice a jump when releasing the button but

.

setting the values lower results in a pause when pressing
the button, use the higher value for positive, but use the
lower value for negative. T

he telescope will remember these
values and use them each time it is turned on until they are
changed

Filter Limits

.

– When an alignment is complete, the telescope

automatically knows which celestial objects are above the

. As a result, when scrolling through the database

horizon
lists (or selecting the Tour function), the hand control will
display only those objects that are known to be above the
horizon when you are observing. You can customize the
object database by selecting altitude limits that are appropriate
for your location and situation. For example, if you are
observing from a mountainous location where the horizon
is partially obscured, you can set your minimum altitude limit
to read +20°. This will make sure that the hand control only
displays objects that are higher in altitude than 20°.

T

If y

IP:

ou want to explore the entire object database, set
the maximum altitude limit to 90° and the minimum limit to
–90°. This will display every object in the database lists re­gardless of whether it is visible in the sky from your location.

Direction Buttons – The direction a star appears to move
in the eyepiece changes depending on which side of the
Meridian the telescope tube is on. This can create confusion
especially when guiding on a star when doing astroimaging

.
To compensate for this, the direction of the drive control keys
can be changed. To reverse the button logic of the hand
control, press the MENU button and select Direction
Buttons from the Utilities menu

. Use the Up/Down arrow

keys (10) to select either the azimuth (right ascension) or

.

altitude (declination) button direction and press ENTER
Select either positive or negative for both axes and press
ENTER to save. Setting the azimuth button direction to
positive will move the telescope in the same direction that
the telescope tracks (i.e., towards the west). Setting the
altitude buttons to positive will move the telescope counter­clockwise along the DECLINATION axis.

GoTo Approach – Lets the user define the direction that
the telescope will approach when slewing to an object. This
allows the user the ability to minimize the effects of backlash
when slewing from object to object. Just like with Direction
Buttons, setting GoTo Approach to positive will make the
telescope approach an object from the same direction
as tracking (west) for azimuth and counterclockwise in dec­lination. Declination GoTo approach will only apply while the
telescope tube is on one side of the Meridian. Once the tube
passes over to the other side of the Meridian, the GoTo
approach will need to be reversed.

20 | ENGLISH

To change the GoTo approach direction, simply choose
GoTo Approach from the Scope Setup menu, select either
Altitude or Azimuth approach, choose positive or negative
and press ENTER

H

INT: In order to minimize the affect of gear backlash on

.

pointing accuracy, the settings for Button Direction should
ideally match the settings for GoTo Approach. By default,
using the up and right direction buttons to center alignment
stars will automatically eliminate much of the backlash in the
gears. If you change the GoTo approach of your telescope,
it is not necessary to change the Button Direction as well.
Simply take notice of the direction the telescope moves when
completing its final GoTo approach. If the telescope ap­proaches its alignment star from the west (negative azimuth)
and clockwise (negative altitude) then make sure that the
buttons used to center the alignment stars also move the
telescope in the same directions.

Autoguide Rate – Allows the user to set an autoguide
rate as a percentage of sidereal rate

. This is helpful when
calibrating your telescope to a CCD autoguider for long
exposure astroimaging

O

TA Orientation – Some users may wish to use an optional

.

tandem bar adapter which allows you to attach two optical
tubes to the mount at the same time

. When most tandem
bars are attached to a mount, the optical tubes are positioned
at a 90° angle from the standard configuration

. In order for
the mount to be successfully aligned with the stars, it must
know that a tandem bar is being used and in which direction
the optical tube(s) are positioned (East or West) when
beginning an alignment. The tandem option must be set before
beginning any of the initial star alignments. To set this option,
go to the Scope Setup menu, select the Tandem option and
press ENTER

. Then select from one of the

following options:

– If the attached optical tubes are facing towards

East

•

the east when the declination index makers are align,
select East.

• West – If the attached optical tubes are facing towards

the west when the declination index makers are align,
select West.

• Normal – If the tandem bar is no longer being used,

select “normal” to turn off this feature.

Meridian – This feature instructs the mount on how to
respond when it is slewing to objects that are accessible
from both sides of the Meridian. The Meridian feature allows
the telescope tube to remain on a desired side of the mount
when slewing, and continue to track according to the R.A.
slew limits the user has set. See R.A. Limits below. The
Meridian feature allows for four choices:

• Favor Current – Allows the mount to favor whatever side

of the mount that it is currently on when slewing to objects

close to the Meridian. For example, if your R.A. slew limits
are set to allow the mount to track 10° past the meridian,
then the telescope will continue to stay on its current side
of the Meridian when slewing to objects that are as far as
10° beyond your Meridian

.

• Favor West – If the target object is accessible from both

sides of the mount, selecting “Favor West” instructs the
mount to point to the object as if it were on the west side
of the meridian
the east side of the mount and pointing west

. The optical tube will then be positioned on

.

• Favor East – If the target object is accessible from both

sides of the mount, selecting “Favor East” instructs the
mount to point to the object as if it were on the east side
of the meridian
the west side of the mount and pointing east

. The optical tube will then be positioned on

.

• Disable – This is the default setting, which instructs the

mount to always swing around to the other side of the pier
as required to view objects on the opposite side of the
Meridian

. However, once at the desired object, the mount
will continue to track past the Meridian according to the
R

.A. slew limits that have been set.

Mount Settings

– Once the mount settings have been
calibrated (see Utilities section below) the values are stored
and displayed in the hand control
that the calibration values be changed

. It is not recommended

. However each setting
can be changed if necessary to improve the performance of
the telescope.

• Cone Value – This is the cone error value set when

Utilities/Calibrate Mount/DEC Switch – Cone is carried out

EC Index – This is the declination index error value that

• D

is stored when calibration stars are added after your initial
star alignment.

• R.A. Index – This is the R.A. index error value set when

Utilities/Calibrate Mount/R

R.A. Limits

– Sets the limits that the telescope can slew or

.A. Switch is carried out.

track in Right Ascension (R.A.) before stopping. The slew
limits are represented in degrees and by default set to 0°,
being the position of the telescope when the counterweight
bar is extended out horizontally.

However, the slew limits can
be customized depending on your needs. For example, if
you are using CCD imaging equipment that has cables that
are not long enough to move with the telescope as it slews
across the sky, you can adjust the slew limit on the side of
the mount that is restricted by the cables, and command the
mount the stop slewing before it reaches this point. Or if you
are taking an image of an object that has just crossed the
Meridian, you can set the limit to allow the mount to continue
tracking in the same direction past the Meridian without the
need to “flip” the telescope around to the opposite side of
the mount (see Meridian feature above). Using the first example
above, the user could slew the telescope in R.A. (azimuth)
until it reaches the point that the cables are extended to their

.

ENGLISH | 21

maximum. Then by displaying the telescope’s azimuth in this
position (by looking at Get Axis Position under the Utilities
menu) you can determine the telescope’s azimuth at its most
extended position

. Enter this azimuth reading for either the
maximum or minimum azimuth slew limit to ensure that the
telescope will not slew beyond this point

. The telescope slew
limits can be set to automatically stop anywhere between
40° above level to 20° below level

. To set the R.A. slew limit

select the following:

R.A. East Limit

•

– Enter a number between +40° to -20°
to define the slew limit when the tube is on the east side of
the mount

• R.A. W

.

est Limit – Enter a number between +40° to -20°

to define the slew limit when the tube is on the west side
of the mount

.

• Disable Limits – This disables any pre-defined values

that have been entered and allows the mount to track the
maximum amount pass the Meridian (i

.e., -20° on both

sides)

Calibrate Mount – In order to optimize the performance
and pointing accuracy of the telescope, the mount has built-in
calibration routines allowing it to compensate for mechanical
variation inherent in every German equatorial mount

. Each
calibration is completely automatic and in most cases only
needs to be performed once

. It is highly recommended that
you take a few minutes to go through the mount calibration
procedures

• R.A. Switc

.

h – This procedure records the offset error

when the right ascension index mark is aligned at start-up.
Calibrating the R

.A. Index will improve the accuracy of your
initial star alignments when aligning the telescope in the
future.

o Calibration – GoTo Calibration is a useful tool

• GoT
when attaching heavy visual or photographic accessories
to the telescope. GoTo Calibration calculates the amount
of distance and time it takes for the mount to complete
its final slow GoTo when slewing to an object. Changing
the balance of the telescope can prolong the time it takes
to complete the final slew. GoTo Calibration takes into
account any slight imbalances and changes the final GoTo
distance to compensate.

Home Position – The telescope’s “home” position is a
user-definable position that is used to store the telescope
when not in use. The home position is useful when storing
the telescope in a permanent observatory facility. By default
the Home position is the same as the index position used
when aligning the mount.

WARNING: In order for the telescope to be able to slew
to a star from the direction that minimizes the amount of
backlash in the gears, it may be necessary for the telescope
to slew beyond the specified slew limit in order to approach
the star from the correct direction. This can limit your ability
to slew to an object by as much as 6° from the R.A. slew
limit set in the hand control. If this proves to be a problem,
the direction that the telescope takes to center an object can
be changed. To change the telescopes slewing direction, see
GoTo Approach under the Scope Setup menu.

Custom Rate 9 – This allows you to customize the speed at
which the mount slews to a target. You can set the R.A. and
Dec axes individually.

Utilities Menu

Scrolling through the MENU (9) options will also provide
access to several advanced utility functions within the
telescope such as; Calibrate Mount, Hibernate as well as
many others.

To set the Home position for your mount, simply use the
arrow buttons on the hand control to move the telescope
mount to the desired position. Select the Set option and
press Enter

.

Select the GoTo option to slew the telescope back to the
Home position at any time.

Factory Settings – Returns the hand control to its original
factory settings. Parameters such as backlash compensation
values, initial date and time, longitude/latitude, along with
slew and filter limits will be reset. However, stored parameters
such as user defined objects will remain saved even when
Factory Settings is selected. The hand control will ask you
to press the “0” key before returning to the factory default
setting.

ersion – Selecting this option will allow you to see the

V

current version number of the hand control and motor
control. The first set of numbers indicate the hand control
software version. For the motor control, the hand control
will display two sets of numbers; the first numbers are for
azimuth and the second set are for altitude.

Get Axis Position – Displays the relative altitude and
azimuth for the current position of the telescope.

22 | ENGLISH

GoTo Axis Position – Allows you to enter a specific relative

.

altitude and azimuth position and slew to it

Hibernate

– Hibernate allows the telescope to be completely
powered down and still retain its alignment when turned
back on

. This not only saves power, but is ideal for those
that have their telescope permanently mounted or leave their
telescope in one location for long periods of time

. To place

your telescope in Hibernate mode:

1

. Select Hibernate from the Utility Menu.
.

2

Move the telescope to a desire position and
press ENTER.

3

. Power off the telescope. Remember to never move

your telescope manually while in Hibernate mode.

Once the telescope is powered on again, the display will
read Wake Up

. After pressing Enter, you have the option of
scrolling through the time/site information to confirm the
current setting. Press ENTER to wake up the telescope.

H

INT: Pressing BACK at the Wake Up screen allows

you to explore many of the features of the hand control
without waking the telescope up from hibernate mode.
To wake up the telescope after BACK has been pressed,
select Hibernate from the Utility menu and press ENTER.
Do not use the direction buttons to move the telescope
while in hibernate mode.

Sun Menu

For safety purposes, the Sun will not be displayed as a
database object unless it is first enabled. To enable the Sun,
go to the Sun Menu and press ENTER. The Sun will now
be displayed in the Planets catalog and can be used as an
alignment object when using the Solar System Alignment

. To remove the Sun from displaying on the hand

method
control, once again select the Sun Menu from the Utilities
Menu and press ENTER.

Set Mount Position

The Set Mount Position menu can be used to maintain
your alignment in cases where you wish to disengage the
clutches or similar situation. For instance, you might use this
feature if you needed to rebalance the mount after having
completed an alignment. To set the mount position, simply
slew to a bright star in the named star list and select Set
Mount Position. The hand control will sync on the star by
asking you to center the star in the eyepiece and pressing
the Align button. Once synced on the star, you are free to
manually move the mount in both axes in order to rebalance.
When you are ready to slew the telescope to your next object,
just remember to manually return the tube to the same bright
star and carefully center it in the eyepiece. Using this tool will
invalidate the PEC index.

T

urn On/Off GPS – If using your telescope with the

optional SkySync GPS accessory, you will need to turn the
GPS on the first time you use the accessory

.

If you want to
use the telescope’s database to find the coordinates of a
celestial object for a future or past dates, you will need to
turn the GPS off in order to manually enter a time other than
the present

T

urn On/Off RTC – Allows you to turn off the telescope’s

internal real time clock
receives time information from the RTC

.

. When aligning, the telescope still

. If you want to use
the hand control database to find the coordinates of a
celestial object for a future or past dates, you will need to
turn the RTC off in order to manually enter a time other than

.

the present

eriodic Error Correction (PEC) – PEC is designed to

P

improve photographic quality by reducing the amplitude of
the worm gear errors and improving the tracking accuracy of
the drive

. This feature is for advanced astrophotography and
is used when your telescope is accurately polar aligned
more information on using PEC, refer to the section of the
manual on “Astroimaging

.”

User Objects Menu

Y

our telescope can store up to 400 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 are several
ways to save an object to memory depending on what type
of object it is:

GoTo Object: To go to any of the user defined-objects
stored in the database, scroll down to either “GoTo Sky Obj”
or “GoTo Land Obj” and enter the number of the object
you wish to select and press ENTER. The telescope will
automatically retrieve and display the coordinates before
slewing to the object.

Save Sky Object:

Your telescope stores celestial objects
to its database by saving its right ascension and declination
coordinates in the sky

.

This way the same object can be
found each time the telescope is aligned. Once a desired
object is centered in the eyepiece, simply scroll to the “Save
Sky Obj” command and press ENTER. The display will ask
you to enter a number between 1 and 200 to identify the
object. Press ENTER again to save this object to the database.

Save Database (Db)

Object:

•

This feature allows you to create your own custom
tour of database objects by allowing you to record the
current position of the telescope and save the name of the
object by selecting it from any one of the database catalogs.
These objects then can be accessed by selecting GoTo
Sky Object.

. For

ENGLISH | 23

• Enter R.A. - Dec: You can also store a specific set of

coordinates for an object just by entering the R
declination for that object
command and press ENTER
you to enter first the R
desired object

• Save Land Object:
a spotting scope on terrestrial objects
can be stored by saving their altitude and azimuth relative
to the location of the telescope at the time of observing
Since these objects are relative to the location of the
telescope, they are only valid for that exact location. To
save land objects, once again center the desired object in
the eyepiece
and press ENTER
number between 1 and 200 to identify the object. Press
ENTER again to save this object to the database.

T

o replace the contents of any of the user defined-objects,
simply save a new object using one of the existing
identification numbers; the telescope will replace the
previous user-defined object with the current one

Get R.A./

for the current position of the telescope.

Goto R.A./Dec - Allows you to input a specific R.A. and
declination and slew to it

Hint: To store a set of coordinates (R.A./Dec) permanently
into the database, save it as a User-Defined Object as
described above

Identify

Identify Mode will search any of the mount’s database
catalogs or lists and display the name and offset distances
to the nearest matching objects
purposes. First, it can be used to identify an unknown object
in the field of view of your eyepiece. Additionally, Identify
Mode can be used to find other celestial objects that are
close to the objects you are currently observing. For example,
if your telescope is pointed at the brightest star in the
constellation Lyra, choosing Identify and then searching the
Named Star catalog will no doubt return the star Vega as
the star you are observing. However, by selecting Identify
and searching by the Named Object or Messier catalogs,
the hand control will let you know that the Ring Nebula (M57)
is approximately 6° from your current position. Searching the
Double Star catalog will reveal that Epsilon Lyrae is only 1°
away from Vega. To use the Identify feature:

• Press the Menu button and select the Identify option.

• Use the Up/Down scroll keys to select the catalog

that you would like to search.

• Press ENTER to begin the search.

.

. Scroll down to the “Save Land Obj” command

DEC - Displays the right ascension and declination

.

. Scroll to the “Enter RA-DEC”

. The display will then ask

.A. and then the declination of the

The telescope can also be used as

. Fixed land objects

. The display will ask you to enter a

.

. This feature can serve two

.A. and

.

.

N

OTE: Some of the databases contain thousands of

objects and can therefore take several minutes to return the
closest objects.

Precise GoTo

The mount has a Precise Goto function that can assist in
finding extremely faint objects and centering objects closer
to the center of the field of view for astroimaging
GoTo automatically searches out the closest bright star to
the desired object and asks the user to carefully center the
star in the eyepiece
small difference between its GoTo position and its centered
position. Using this offset, the mount will then slew to the
desired object with enhanced accuracy

o use Precise GoTo:

T

Press the M

1.
to select Precise GoTo.

•

Choose Dat
to observe from any of the database catalogs listed or;

• Choose R

that you wish to slew to.

2

Once the desired object is selected, the hand control

.

will search out and display the closest bright star to
your desired object
alignment star

3. Use the direction buttons to carefully center the alignment
star in the eyepiece.

.

4

NTER to slew to the desired object.

Press E

. The hand control then calculates the

.

ENU button and use the Up/Down keys

abase to select the object that you want

.A./DEC to enter a set of celestial coordinates

. Press ENTER to slew to the bright

.

. Precise

Appendix A:
Upgrading the Firmware in Your
Mount and Hand Control

To check for new firmware updates, refer to this URL:
http://software.celestron.com/updates/CFM/CFM/

1. Plug your NexStar+ hand control into the AUX1 or

AUX2 port.

2.

Plug a st
your PC.

3. Plug power into the CGX and power it on.

.

4

Open Celestron Firmware Manager (C

. CFM will check your hardware and scan for updates.

5

CFM will automatically determine which components
will require updating.

.

6

Proceed to clic
to complete.

andard USB B cable from your mount to

FM).

k “Update” in CFM and allow updates

24 | ENGLISH

Appendix B:
Care and Maintenance

The CGX mount is sturdy and will last many years when
properly cared for

Storage

Although the mount and electronics are designed for
outdoor us
unless it’s sheltered by an observatory or storage shelter
of some kind (such as a garage). Constant hot, cold, and
humidity extremes can eventually cause wear to the elec­tronics, mechanical lubrication and the finish quality of the
mount. Store in a sheltered area away from the Sun. Keep
in a dry place if possible.

.

age, you should not store the mount outside

ENGLISH | 25

CELESTRON TWO YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY

A. Celestron warrants your telescope mount to be free from defects
in materials and workmanship for two years. Celestron will repair
or replace such product or part thereof which, upon inspection by
Celestron, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship. As
a condition to the obligation of Celestron to repair or replace such
product, the product must be returned to Celestron together with
proof-of-purchase satisfactory to Celestron.

B

. The Proper Return Authorization Number must be obtained from
Celestron in advance of return. Call Celestron at [phone] to
receive the number to be displayed on the outside of your shipping
container.

All returns must be accompanied by a written st
the name, address, and daytime telephone number of the owner,
together with a brief description of any claimed defects. Parts or
product for which replacement is made shall become the property of
Celestron.

T

he customer shall be responsible for all costs of transportation and
insurance, both to and from the factory of Celestron, and shall be
required to prepay such costs.

atement setting forth

If warranty problems arise, or if you need assist
telescope mount contact:

Celestron
Customer Service Department
2835 Columbia Street
Torrance, CA 90503

Tel. [phone]

ance in using your

Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM PST

NOTE: This warranty is valid to U.S.A. and Canadian
customers who have purchased this product from an
authorized Celestron dealer in the U.S.A. or Canada.
Warranty outside the U.S.A. and Canada is valid only to
customers who purchased from a Celestron’s International
Distributor or Authorized Celestron Dealer in the specific

.

Please contact them for any warranty service.

country

Celestron shall use reasonable efforts to repair or replace any
telescope mount covered by this warranty within thirty days of
receipt. In the event repair or replacement shall require more
than thirty days, Celestron shall notify the customer accordingly
Celestron reserves the right to replace any product which has been
discontinued from its product line with a new product of comparable
value and function

T

his warranty shall be void and of no force of effect in the event
a covered product has been modified in design or function, or
subjected to abuse, misuse, mishandling or unauthorized repair
Further

, product malfunction or deterioration due to normal wear is

not covered by this warranty

C

ELESTRON DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, WHETHER OF MERCHANTABILITY OF FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR USE, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET
FORTH HEREIN. THE SOLE OBLIGATION OF CELESTRON
UNDER THIS LIMITED WARRANTY SHALL BE TO REPAIR OR
REPLACE THE COVERED PRODUCT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE TERMS SET FORTH HEREIN
DISCLAIMS ANY LOST PROFITS, GENERAL, SPECIAL,
INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHICH MAY
RESULT FROM BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY, OR ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE ANY CELESTRON
PRODUCT. ANY WARRANTIES WHICH ARE IMPLIED AND
WHICH CANNOT BE DISCLAIMED SHALL BE LIMITED IN
DURATION TO A TERM OF TWO YEARS FROM THE DATE OF
ORIGINAL RETAIL PURCHASE

Some st

ates do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or
consequential damages or limitation on how long an implied warranty
lasts, so the above limitations and exclusions may not apply to you

T

his warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have

other rights which vary from state to state

.

.

. CELESTRON EXPRESSLY

.

.

.

.

.

FCC Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply
with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of
the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur

However
in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined
by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to
correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

•

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from
that to which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Product design and specifications are subject to c
prior notification.

This product is designed and intended for use by those 14 years of
age and older

.

.

hange without

www.celestron.com
2835 Columbia Street • Torrance, CA 90503 U.S.A.

elephone: 800.421.9649

T
©2017 Celestron • All rights reserved.

Celestron reserves the right to modify or discontinue, without prior
notice to you, any model or style telescope

26 | ENGLISH

.

ENGLISH | 27

MONTURE POUR TÉLESCOPES GAMME ÉQUATORIALE ALLEMANDE

MODE D’EMPLOI

Modèle #91530-1

2 | FRANÇAIS