Meade DS-2000 MAK User Manual

Instruction Manual

DS-2000 Series Altazimuth Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescopes

MEADE.COM

Refracting Telescopes use a large objective lens as their primary light-collecting element. Meade refractors, in all models and apertures, include achromatic (2-element) objective lenses in order to reduce or virtually eliminate the false color (chromatic aberration) that results in the telescopic image when light passes through a lens. Reflecting Telescopes use a concave primary mirror to collect light and form an image. In the Newtonian type of reflector, light is reflected by a small, flat secondary mirror to the side of the main tube for observation of the image.

In the refracting telescope, light is collected by a 2-element objective lens and brought to a focus at F.

In contrast, the reflecting telescope uses a concave mirror for this purpose.

Refracting Telescope

Reflecting Telescope

WARNING!

Never use a Meade®DS2000™Telescope to look at the Sun!

Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late. Do not point the telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope

or SmartFinder

™

as it is moving.

Children should always have

adult supervision while observing.

Eyepiece

Secondary Mirror

Concave Mirror

Eyepiece

2-Element Objective Lens

Quick-Start Guide .......................................................... 4

Telescope Features ...................................................... 7

Autostar Features .......................................................... 9

Getting Started ..............................................................11

Packing List ..............................................................11

How to Assemble Your Telescope ............................11

Red Dot Viewfinder ..................................................12

Choosing an Eyepiece ............................................13

The Barlow Lens ......................................................13

Observing ......................................................................14

Observing by Moving the Telescope Manually ........14

Terrestrial Observing ................................................14

Observing Using Autostar's Arrow Keys ..................14

Slew Speeds ............................................................15

Observe the Moon ....................................................15

Astronomical Observing ............................................15

To Track an Object Automatically..............................15

Alt/az Home Position ..........................................16

Moving Through Autostar’s Menus......................16

Initializing Autostar ..............................................16

Observe a Star Using Automatic Tracking ..........17

Easy Two-Star Alignment..........................................17

Two-Star Alignment ..................................................19

One-Star Alignment ..................................................19

Go To Saturn ............................................................19

Take a Guided Tour ..................................................19

Basic Autostar Operation................................................20

Autostar Navigation Exercise ....................................20

Entering Numbers and Text into Autostar ................21

Navigating Autostar ..................................................21

Adjusting the Speed of a Scrolling Message ............21

Menus and Menu Options ..............................................22

Complete Autostar Menu Structure ..........................22

Object Menu..............................................................22

Event Menu ..............................................................23

Glossary Menu..........................................................24

Utilities Menu ............................................................24

Setup Menu ..............................................................25

Optional Accessories ......................................................28

Caring for Your Telescope ............................................29

Collimation ................................................................29

Meade Customer Service ........................................31

Specifications ............................................................32

Appendix A: Celestial Coordinates ................................34

Locating the Celestial Pole ......................................34

Appendix B: To Find Objects Not in the Database ........35

Appendix C: Observing Satellites ..................................36

Appendix D: Training the Drive ......................................37

Appendix E: Battery Replacement ................................38

Appendix F: How to Manually Set the Time and Date ..38 Appendix G: Electronic Controller

(DS-2000EC Users Only)..39

Optional #494 Autostar for DS-2000EC Users ........40

Basic Astronomy ............................................................41

CONTENTS

CAUTION:

Use care to install batteries as indicated by the battery compartment. Follow battery manufacturer's precautions. Do not install batteries backward or mix new and used batteries. Do not mix battery types. If these precautions are not followed, batteries may explode, catch fire, or leak. Improperly installed batteries void your Meade warranty.

If you are anxious to use your DS Astro Telescope for the first time, before a thorough reading of this instruction manual, see the QUICK-START GUIDE on page 4.

™ “LPI” and “Tonight’s Best” are trademarks of Meade Instruments Corporation.

Patents: US 6,392,799 Other Patent Pending

IMPORTANT NOTE: DS-2000EC users, see APPENDIX E, page 39,

for information about your supplied Electronic Controller. Autostar information does not apply.

DS-2000EC users may obtain the #494 Autostar handbox as an optional accessory. See page 40 for more information.

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

QUICK-START GUIDE

2. Attach the mounting arm assembly: Place the

mounting arm assembly into the tripod base. Reach underneath and thread the mounting knob through the tripod base and into the mounting arm assembly. Tighten to a firm feel only, do not overtighten. While observing, you may wish to slightly loosen this knob and rotate the mounting arm assembly with attached optical tube (

see

step #6 below

) around the horizontal axis.

1. Open the tripod: Remove the tripod from the

giftbox and stand vertically. Gently pull the legs apart to a fully open position. Attach the tray to the tripod: Slide the bolts through the tray and struts. Thread the wingnuts onto the bolts.

Fasten wingnuts

4. Attach the optical tube: Place the base of the

optical tube (A) over the slot on the mounting plate (B). Thread the two lock knobs (C) through the slot on the mounting plate and into the screw holes in the base of the optical tube, so that they hold the optical tube loosely; do not tighten the lock knobs at this point. Slide the tube back and forth until you find a position where the tube remains horizontal (

i.e.,

without tipping up and

down). Then tighten the lock knobs to a firm feel.

3b. Next, attach the mounting plate to the

mounting arm. Line up the mounting plate with the mounting arm shaft. Replace the four screws you removed in step #3a into the mating threads as depicted in the diagram #3.

Mounting Plate

Mounting Arm Shaft

3a. Attach the Mounting Plate: If your telescope did

not come with the mounting plate already attached, remove 4 screws from the mounting arm shaft. Remove the screws using a "+" (Phillips head) screwdriver. Loosen the Altitude Lock (see Fig. 1a, page 6) and rotate the mount- ing arm shaft counter-clockwise until it stops. Retighten the Altitude lock.

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

9. Sight along the tube: Sight along the side of the

telescope's main tube to locate an object. Practice using the Autostar Arrow keys to center an object in the telescope's field of view.

6. Insert batteries: Open the battery compartment

by lifting the cover and pulling it away from the drive base.

Remove the battery holder from the compartment and carefully lift the 9v connector out from the compartment. Whenever you replace the batteries, to safeguard the wires, disconnect the 9v connector (I) from the battery holder before removing the batteries.

. Insert eight AA-size batteries into the battery

holder, oriented as shown on the diagram on the battery slots of the battery holder. Connect the 9v connector plug to the battery holder. Carefully replace the battery holder back into the battery compartment. Replace the cover.

7. Connect Autostar: Be certain that the power

switch (J) on the computer control panel is in the OFF position. Plug the coil cord of the Autostar Controller into the HBX port (K)

Turn on the computer panel; the red LED lights when power is supplied to the panel.

If you wish to attach the viewfinder, see page 11.

If you wish to initialize Autostar, see page 17.

If you wish to align the telescope, go to page 18.

If you wish to use Autostar to automatically view objects, go to page 20 for some examples.

5. Insert the eyepiece: Rear view for models with

red dot finder (H). Remove the supplied 26mm eyepiece (D) from its container and place it in the eyepiece holder (E) Tighten the thumbscrew (F) to a firm feel only. Use the focus knob (G) to bring view to sharp focus.

8. Change Speeds: You can now use the Arrow

keys (L) to move the telescope up, down, right, or left. To change one of the telescope's nine slew speeds, briefly press the SPEED/? key (M). Each press decreases the slew speed down one level, and then will cycle back to the fastest speed.

Slew Speed:

Fast

. . .

Medium

. . .

Slow

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Fig. 1: DS-2000 Series Telescope.

1. Focus Knob

2. Eyepiece Holder

3. Eyepiece Holder

Thumbscrew

4. Eyepiece

5. Viewfinder Alignment

Screws

6. Right-Angle Viewfinder

Viewfinder Bracket

Flip-Mirror Control

9. Altitude Setting Circle

and Lock

10. Optical Tube

11. Dust Cap

12. Mounting Arm and Shaft

13. Computer Control Panel

14. Autostar Handbox

15. Tripod Base

16. Base Lock Knob

17. Battery Compartment

18. Azimuth Setting Circle

19. Tripod Legs

20. Inner Support Struts

21. Mounting Lock Knobs

22. Accessory Tray

23. Accessory Tray

Attachment Bolts

24. Tripod Legs Locks

25. Mounting Plate

26.

Red Dot

Viewfinder

27. Compass/Bubble Level

Fig. 1c (Inset): Computer Control Panel. (A) Handbox port; (B) Power indicator light, (C)

switch; (D) Auxiliary port.

A B

Fig. 1b (Inset): (A) Altitude Setting Circle; (B) Altitude Lock

(on opposite

side)

(not visible)

Fig. 1d (Inset): Back view of optical tube for models with a right-angle viewfinder.

Fig. 1e (Inset): Back view of optical tube for models with a red dot viewfinder.

Fig. 1f(Inset): Compass/Bubble Level.

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

An important array of features and manual controls facilitates operation of a DSX telescope.

Be sure to become acquainted with all of these controls before attempting observations through the telescope.

b Focus Knob:

Moves the telescope’s focus drawtube in a finely-controlled motion

to achieve focus. Rotate the focus knob clockwise to focus on distant objects, and counterclockwise to focus on nearby objects. There are two style focus knobs, but they operate identically.

c Eyepiece Holder: Holds the eyepiece in place. d Eyepiece Holder Thumbscrew: Tightens the eyepiece in place. Tighten to a firm feel only. e Eyepiece: Place the supplied eyepiece into the eyepiece holder and tighten in place with

thumbscrew (4, Fig.1d).

f Viewfinder Alignment Screws: Adjust these screws to align the viewfinder. See pages 12

and 13 for more information.

Viewfinder: Provides an easier way to initially sight objects than the main telescope eyepiece which has a narrower field of view.

See page 11 for more information. See Feature 26 for

alternate style.

h Viewfinder Alignment Bracket: Attaches the viewfinder to the telescope. i

Flip-Mirror Control Knobs:

DSX telescopes include an internal mirror. With the flip-mirror

control in the “up” position, as shown in Fig. 1d, light is diverted to the eyepiece. With the flip-mirror control in the “down” position, light proceeds straight out the photo port for photography.

j Altitude Setting Circle and Lock

A) Altitude Setting Circle: Displays Altitude (vertical) coordinates (A, Fig. Ib).

B) Altitude Lock: Controls the manual vertical movement of the telescope. Turning

the Altitude lock counterclockwise unlocks the telescope enabling it to be freely tilted by hand on the vertical axis. Turning the Altitude lock clockwise (to a firm feel only) prevents the telescope from being moved manually and engages the vertical motor drive clutch for Autostar operation (B, Fig. Ib).

1) Optical Tube: The main optical component that gathers the light from distant objects and

brings this light to a focus for observation with the eyepiece.

1! Dust Cap (not visible in photo): Pull to remove the dust cap from the front lens of the

telescope.

Note: The dust cap should be replaced and the power turned off to the telescope after each observing session. Verify that any dew that might have collected during the observing session has evaporated prior to replacing the dust cap.

1@ Mount, Mounting Arm and Shaft: Holds the optical tube assembly. Attaches to the tripod

base (15, Fig. 1a).

1# Computer Control Panel (Fig. 1c)

A. Handbox (HBX) Port: Plug the Autostar handbox into this port. B. LED: The red power indicator light illuminates when power is supplied to the con-

nected handbox and to the telescope’s motor drive.

C. ON Switch: Turns the Computer Control Panel and Autostar ON or OFF.

Note: Always remove the batteries if they are not to be used for a long period of

time.

D. Auxiliary (AUX) Port:

Provides connection for current and future Meade

accessories. See

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES, page 37.

1$ Autostar Handbox: See AUTOSTAR FEATURES, pages 8 - 10 for more information. 1% Tripod Base: Holds the mounting arm assembly (12, Fig. 1a) in place. 1^ Base Lock Knob (not visible in photo): Attaches mounting arm assembly to tripod base.

Loosen before moving the optical tube on the horizontal axis. See page 16 for more information.

1& Battery Compartment: Install eight user-supplied AA batteries in this compartment. See

page 11 for more information.

TELESCOPE FEATURES

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

1* Azimuth Setting Circle: Displays Azimuth (horizontal) coordinates. 1( Tripod Legs: Spread the legs out as far as they will open for a secure viewing platform.

2) Inner Support Struts (3): Make the tripod more secure and stable. 2! Mounting Lock Knobs (2): Secure the optical tube to the mounting plate (25, Fig. 1). 2@ Accessory Tray: Conveniently holds extra eyepieces, Autostar handbox, and other

accessories when not in use.

2# Accessory Tray Attachment Bolts: Attach to wing nuts (not shown) to fasten tray to the

tripod. See page 11 for more information.

Note: It is not necessary to remove the tray each time you collapse the tripod. The tray is designed to be collapsed with the legs.

2$ Tripod Legs Locks (3): Lift the lock up to loosen inner section of a tripod leg and

extend the inner leg to desired height. Press the lock down to lock in place again.

2% Mounting Plate (3): Attaches to optical tube (10, Fig. 1a) and mounting arm (12, Fig.

1a).

2^ Red Dot Finder: Alternate style of viewfinder (6, Fig. 1d). See Appendix A, page 40, for

more information. Models with the red dot finder also have an alternate style of focus knob (5, Fig. 1e).

2& Compass Bubble Level: Compass will assist you in finding North. Bubble level can be

used to level the optical tube when setting the Home Position.

Fig. 2: #494 Autostar Handbox.

1. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

2. ENTER Key

3. MODE Key

4. GOTO Key

5. Arrow Keys

6, 7. Scroll Keys

Speed/? Key

Coil Cord

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

The #494 Autostar controls the DS-2000AT Series Telescopes. Nearly all telescope operations are accomplished with just a few pushes of Autostar’s buttons. Some of the major features of Autostar are:

 Automatically move the telescope to any of the 1400 objects stored in the database or

manually enter the astronomical coordinates of any celestial object.

 Take a guided tour of the best celestial objects to view on any given night of the year.

 Access a glossary of astronomical terms.

 Calculate which eyepiece to use for optimum viewing of a celestial object.

The Autostar Computer Controller provides control of virtually every telescope operation. Autostar has soft-touch keys designed to have a positive feel. The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is backlit with a red LED (Light Emitting Diode) for easy viewing in the dark. The backlit display, key arrangement, and sequential database make Autostar extremely user friendly.

NOTE: Autostar does not require batteries; the telescope’s batteries supply power to Autostar.

 2-Line LCD Display - Provides an visual interface between Autostar and the telescope.

• Top line: Displays a menu.

• Bottom line: Displays a menu option or information about an object or subject,

depending on what operation is being performed.

 ENTER Key - Selects a choice or accesses the next menu or level. This is similar to a

Return key on a computer. See

MOVING THROUGH AUTOSTAR'S MENUS, page 16 and

MENUS AND MENU OPTIONS, page 22.

NOTE: If ENTER is pressed and held for two seconds or more and then released,

Autostar emits a beep and “ENTER to Sync” is displayed. "ENTER to Sync" can only be used after the telescope has been aligned and is pointing at an object. If the "ENTER to Sync" feature is accessed by mistake, press MODE to return to the previous screen. See

HIGH PRECISION

, page 27, for more

details about this feature.

 MODE Key - Returns to the previous

menu or level. The MODE key is similar to the ESCAPE key on a computer.

NOTE: Pressing MODE while in the “Select Item” level moves Autostar to the topmost screen: “Select Item:

Object.”

NOTE: If MODE is pressed and held for two seconds or more, the following information displays :

• Azimuth and Altitude (astronomical) coordinates

• Altitude (vertical) and Azimuth (horizontal) coordinates

• Local Time and Local Sidereal Time (LST)

• Timer and Alarm Status

Press MODE again to return to the previous menu.

 GO TO Key - Slews (moves) the tele-

scope to a selected object. While the

AUTOSTAR FEATURES

DS-2000 TIPS

Join an Astronomy Club

Attend a Star Party

A fun way to learn more about astronomy is to join an astronomy club. Check your local newspaper, school, library, or telescope dealer to find out if there’s a club in your area.

At club meetings, you will meet other astronomy enthusiasts with whom you will be able to share your discoveries. Clubs are an excellent way to learn more about observing the sky, to find out where the best observing sites are, and to compare notes about telescopes, eyepieces, filters, tripods, and so forth.

Often, club members are excellent astrophotographers. Not only will you be able to see examples of their art, but you may even be able to pick up some “tricks of the trade” to try out on your DS-2000 telescope.

Many groups also hold regularly scheduled Star Parties at which you can check out and observe with many different telescopes and other pieces of astronomical equipment. Magazines such as

Sky & Telescope

and

Astronomy

print schedules for many popular Star Parties around the United States and Canada.

NOTE: DS-2000EC users,

see

APPENDIX E

, page 39, for information about your supplied Electronic Controller. Autostar information does not apply.

DS-2000EC users may obtain the #494 Autostar handbox as an optional accessory. See page 40 for more information.

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

DEFINITION:

Throughout this manual, you will notice the term "Alt/Az." Alt/Az (short for altazimuth) just means that your telescope moves up and down and from side to side. Alt/Az is one of many methods used by amateur astronomers to locate celestial objects.

telescope is slewing, the operation may be aborted at any time by pressing any key except GO TO. Pressing GO TO again resumes the slew to the object.

The GO TO key also allows you to perform a "spiral search." A spiral search is useful during alignment after the telescope slews to an alignment star, but the star is not visible in the eyepiece when the telescope finishes its search. Press GO TO when the slew is finished 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.

 Arrow Keys - Move the telescope in a specific direction (up, down, left, and right), at any

one of nine different speeds. Speed selection is explained in

SLEW SPEEDS, page 15. The

following operations are also available with the Arrow keys:

• Data Entry - Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll through the letters of the

alphabet and numerical digits. The Down Arrow key starts with the letter "A" and the Up Arrow key starts with the digit "9." The Left and Right Arrow keys are used to move the cursor left and right across the LCD display.

• Alt/Az Alignment - Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move the telescope ver-

tically up and down. The Left Arrow key moves the telescope horizontally counterclockwise, while the Right Arrow key moves it clockwise.

, Scroll Keys - Allows you to scroll through menu options. The menu is displayed on the

top line of the screen and the options within the menu are displayed, one at a time, on the second line. Press and hold a Scroll key to move quickly through the options.

The Scroll keys also scroll through the letters of the alphabet and numerical digits.

NOTE: The Scroll Down key and the Down Arrow key move forward through the alphabet & digits (A to Z, 0 to 9). The Scroll Up key and the Up Arrow key move backward (Z to A, 9 to 0). Common symbols are also available in the list.

Tip: When a message is scrolling across the display, press and hold the Up Scroll key to increase the scrolling speed or press and hold the Down Scroll key to decrease the scrolling speed.

 Speed/? Key - Pressing the Speed/? key cycles through the nine slew speeds that move

the telescope. Each time the Speed/? key is pressed briefly, the current slew speed is shown for about two seconds on the display. See

SLEW SPEEDS, page 15.

The Speed/? key also accesses the "Help" file. "Help" provides on-screen information on how to accomplish whatever task is currently active.

NOTE: Pressing the Speed/? key very briefly changes the slew speed. Holding down the Speed/? key longer (one to two seconds) accesses the Help function.

If you have a question about an Autostar operation,

e.g.

, INITIALIZATION, ALIGNMENT,

etc.,

hold down the Speed/? key and follow the directions that scroll on the second line of

the LCD screen.

When a word appears in [brackets], press ENTER to access the Autostar Glossary. A definition or more detailed information is displayed. Press MODE to return to the scrolling Autostar Help display.

When satisfied with the Help provided, press MODE to return to the original screen and continue with the chosen procedure.

 Coil Cord (not shown) - Plug the Autostar coil cord into the HBX port (A, Fig. 1c) of the

telescope computer control panel.

Fasten wingnuts

Fig. 3 Attach Tray to the tripod: Thread the wingnuts to the bolts (bottom view).

Fig. 5: Attach the mounting arm to the tripod base.

Fig. 4: Pads allow the mount to move smoothly.

Packing List

Getting the telescope ready for first observations requires only a few minutes. When first opening the packing box, note carefully the parts listed on your giftbox.

How to Assemble Your Telescope

The telescope attaches directly to the tripod. The telescope in this way is mounted in an “Altazimuth” (“Altitude-Azimuth,” or “vertical-horizontal”) format. The telescope in this configuration moves along the vertical and horizontal axes, corresponding respectively to the Altitude (vertical) and Azimuth (horizontal) axes in the astronomical observing mode.

1. Open the tripod: After removing the field tripod from its shipping carton, stand the tripod

vertically, with the tripod feet down and with the tripod still fully collapsed. Gently pull the legs apart to a fully open position.

2. Attach the tray to the tripod: Place the tray (22, Fig. 1) over the inner support strut that

contains two bolt holes. Line up the bolts holes on the tray with the bolt holes on the strut. Slide the two included bolts through the top of bolt holes (23, Fig. 1) and tighten the bolts with the included wing nuts on the bottom side of the tray (Fig. 3). Tighten to a firm feel only.

Note: The tray does not have to be removed when you collapse the tripod at the end of a viewing session.

3. Secure the tripod: Turn the center tripod lock knob (Fig. 4) to help stabilize and secure

the tripod.

Caution: Make sure that you loosen the tripod lock knob before collapsing the tripod.

4. Attach the mounting arm assembly to the tripod base: First note the three pads in the tripod base (15, Fig. 1) and three pads on the mounting arm assembly (12, Fig. 1). These pads allow the mounting arm assembly to move more easily inside the base.

Place the mounting arm assembly into the tripod base and continue to hold onto the arm assembly. With your other hand, reach underneath the base and thread the mounting lock knob (16, Fig. 1) through the tripod base and into the mounting arm assembly. See Fig. 5. Tighten to a firm feel only; do not overtighten. While observing, you may wish to loosen this knob and rotate the mounting arm assembly and optical tube on the horizontal axis.

5. Attach the Mounting Plate: If your telescope did not come with the mounting plate already attached, remove 4 screws from the mounting arm shaft. Remove the screws using a "+" (Phillips head) screwdriver. Loosen the Altitude Lock (B Fig. 1a) and rotate the mounting arm shaft counter-clockwise until it stops. Retighten the Altitude lock.

Next, attach the mounting plate to the mounting arm. Line up the mounting plate with the mounting arm shaft. Replace the four screws you removed into the mating threads. See Fig. 6.

6. Attach the optical tube: Place the base of the optical tube (A, Fig. 7) over the slot on the mounting plate (B, Fig. 7). Thread the two lock knobs (C, Fig. 7) through the slot on the mounting plate and into the screw holes in the base of the optical tube, so that they hold the optical tube loosely; do not tighten the lock knobs at this point. Slide the tube back and forth until you find a position where the tube remains horizontal (

i.e.,

without tipping up and

down). Then tighten the lock knobs to a firm feel.

7. Insert the eyepiece: Remove the supplied 26mm eyepiece from its container and place it in the eyepiece holder (2, Fig. 1d). Tighten the thumbscrew (3, Fig. 1d) to a firm feel only. Use the focus knob (1, Fig. 1d) to bring objects into focus.

8. Attach the red dot viewfinder: Slide the viewfinder into the bracket . Tighten the thumbscrew to secure the viewfinder in place. See Figs. 8 and 9.

9. Insert batteries: The telescope’s battery compartment (1, Fig. 11) is located on top of the drive base. Open the battery compartment by lifting the cover and pulling it away from the drive base.

GETTING STARTED

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Fig. 6: Attach the mounting plate.

Fig. 9: Tighten the thumbscrew to secure the viewfinder in the bracket.

Fig. 8a: Slide viewfinder into the bracket.

Fig. 7: Secure optical tube to the mounting plate using the mounting lock knobs.

thumbscrew

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Remove the battery holder from the compartment and carefully lift the 9v connector out from the compartment. Take care not to accidentally detach the wires of the battery connector from the base. Whenever you replace the batteries, to safeguard the wires, disconnect the 9v connector from the battery holder before removing the batteries.

Insert eight AA-size batteries into the battery holder, oriented as shown on the diagram on the battery slots of the battery holder. Connect the 9v connector plug to the battery holder. Carefully replace the battery holder back into the battery compartment. Replace the cover.

CAUTION: Use care to install batteries as indicated by the battery compartment. Follow battery manufacturer's precautions. Do not install batteries backwards or mix new and used batteries. Do not mix battery types. If these precautions are not followed, batteries may explode, catch fire, or leak. Improperly installed batteries void your Meade warranty. Always remove the batteries if they are not to be used for a long period of time.

14. Connect Autostar: Be certain that the power switch on the computer control panel is in the OFF position. Plug the coil cord of the Autostar Controller into the HBX port

Turn on

the power switch; the red LED lights when power is supplied to the panel. See Fig. 12.

NOTE: The Autostar handbox does not require batteries; the telescope’s batteries supply power to Autostar.

15. Remove the dust cover: Pull out the dust cover (12, Fig. 1) from the optical tube assembly (13, Fig. 1).

Assembly of the basic telescope is now complete.

The Red Dot Viewfinder

Because the main telescope has a fairly narrow field of view, locating objects directly in the main telescope can sometimes be difficult. The red dot viewfinder (Fig. 13) projects a small red dot that permits you to more easily locate objects. When the red dot viewfinder and optical tube are aligned to each other, both point to the same position in the sky. An object located in the viewfinder is therefore in the eyepiece of the main telescope.

Aligning the Red Dot Viewfinder:

It is recommended that you perform steps 1 through 4 of this procedure during the daytime and step 5 at night.

1. Loosen the tripod base lock knob (26, Fig. 1) and the Altitude lock (10, Fig. 1), so that the telescope can move freely.

2. If you have not already done so, place a low-power (

e.g.,

25mm) eyepiece in the diagonal

prism of the main telescope (3, Fig. 1) and point the telescope at an easy-to-find land object (

e.g.,

the top of a telephone pole or sign). Turn the focuser knob (1, Fig. 1) to focus

the image in the eyepiece. Center the object precisely.

3. Re-tighten the tripod base lock knob (26, Fig. 1) and the Altitude lock (10, Fig. 1) so that the telescope does not move during the procedure.

4. Rotate the intensity knob to turn the red dot viewfinder On (rotate the knob to change the intensity of the red dot; see Fig. 13). Looking through the viewfinder. Turn the viewfinder’s two alignment screws (8, Fig. 1) until the viewfinder’s red dot points precisely at the same object as centered in the eyepiece. The red dot viewfinder is now aligned to the main telescope.

5. Check this alignment on a celestial object, such as the Moon or a bright star, and make any necessary refinements.

Fig. 11: Insert eight AA-size batteries inside the battery compartment: (1) Battery compartment (2) Battery holder (3) 9v connector

Fig. 12: Connect Autostar to the HBX port.

Fig. 10: Insert the eyepiece (1) into the eyepiece holder (2), tighten eyepiece thumbscrew (3) (Reflector models).

Choosing an Eyepiece

A telescope’s eyepiece magnifies the light gathered by the optical tube. Each eyepiece has a focal length, expressed in millimeters, or “mm.” The smaller the focal length, the higher the magnification. For example, an eyepiece with a focal length of 9mm has a higher magnification than an eyepiece with a focal length of 25mm.

Your telescope comes supplied with a low-powered 25mm or 26mm eyepiece which gives a wide, comfortable field of view with high image resolution. Always begin your observations with this eyepiece.

Low power eyepieces offer a wide field of view, bright, high-contrast images, and eye relief during long observing sessions. After an object is located and centered in the eyepiece, try switching to a higher power eyepiece to enlarge the image.

NOTE:

Viewing conditions vary from night-to-night and from site-to-site. Turbulence in the air, even on an apparently clear night, can distort images. If an image appears fuzzy and ill-defined, return to a lower power eyepiece for a more well-resolved image.

The power, or magnification of a telescope is determined by the focal length of the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece being used. To calculate eyepiece power, divide the telescope's focal length by the eyepiece's focal length. For example, you may wish to use a 25mm eyepiece with the DS-2000 model DS-2114S. Look up the focal length of the DS-2114S under

SPECIFICATIONS: DS-2114S, page 32. The focal length is listed as 1000mm.

Telescope focal length divided by Eyepiece focal length = Eyepiece power

1000  25 = 40

The eyepiece power, or magnification is therefore 40X (approximately).

The Barlow Lens

Some Meade telescopes include a power multiplier called a Barlow lens. Consisting of a lens mounted in a 4"-long (10cm) tube, the Barlow doubles or triples the power obtained when an eyepiece is used alone. In the example above, a 25mm eyepiece results in 40X magnification with the DS2114S telescope; when this same eyepiece is used in conjunction with a 2x Barlow lens, power is doubled to 80X. To use the Barlow, insert it into the diagonal prism (

refractor

models only

) or eyepiece holder, followed

by the eyepiece.

NEVER point the telescope

directly at or near the Sun at any time! Observing the Sun, even for the smallest fraction of a second, will result in instant and irreversible eye damage, as well as physical damage to the telescope itself.

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

DS-2000 TIPS

Too Much Power?

Can you ever have too much power? If you’re referring to eyepiece power (magnification), yes, you can! The most common beginner’s mistake is to “overpower” a telescope by using too high of a magnification, which the telescope’s aperture and atmospheric conditions cannot reasonably support. Keep in mind that a smaller, but bright and wellresolved image is far superior to one that is larger, but dim and poorly resolved (see below). Powers above 200X should be employed only under the steadiest atmospheric conditions.

Autostar can calculate the best eyepiece for you to use. Try out the “Eyepiece Calc” feature in the Utilities menu.

Most observers should have three or four additional eyepieces to achieve the full range of reasonable magnifications possible with the DS-2000 telescopes. See “OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES,” page 28.

Fig. 14a & 14b: Jupiter; example of too much magnification.

Fig. 13: To change the red dot's brightness intensity, rotate the intensity knob.

Fig. 15: 25mm and 9mm eyepieces.

Intensity Slider

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

OBSERVING

Observing by Moving the Telescope Manually

If you wish to observe a distant land object, such as a mountain top or a bird, you can observe by merely pointing the telescope and looking through the eyepiece.

1. Loosen the telescope’s tripod base lock knob (26, Fig. 1) and Altitude lock (6, Fig. 1), so

that the telescope can move freely.

2. Point your telescope at distant street signs, mountains, trees, and other structures. Use your red dot viewfinder to help site-in on an object.

3. Center the object using the red dot viewfinder and then in the telescope eyepiece. When the object is centered in your eyepiece, re-tighten the base and Altitude locks.

4. Practice focusing objects with the focus knob (1, Fig. 1).

5. Once you get a feel for how your telescope moves and focuses, try to view something more challenging, like a bird or a distant moving train.

You can also observe stars and objects in the night sky using this method, but note that objects begin to slowly drift across the eyepiece field. This motion is caused by the rotation of the Earth. As you become familiar with the Autostar handbox operation, you can counteract the drift using the automatic tracking feature in the Autostar Setup menu (see

TO TRACK AN OBJECT AUTO-

MATICALLY, page 15), or by using Autostar's GO TO capabilities (see GO TO SATURN, page 19).

Terrestrial Observing

DS-2000 refracting telescopes are excellent high-resolution, terrestrial (land) telescopes (reflecting telescopes are designed primarily for astronomical observations). Viewing terrestrial objects requires looking along the Earth's surface through heat waves. These heat waves often cause degradation of image quality. Lower power eyepieces, such as a 25mm eyepiece, magnify these heat waves less than higher power eyepieces. Therefore, lower power eyepieces provide a steadier, higher quality image. If the image is fuzzy or ill-defined, reduce to a lower power eyepiece, where the heat waves do not have such an effect on image quality. Observing in early morning hours, before the ground has built up internal heat, produces better viewing conditions than during late afternoon hours.

Observing Using Autostar's Arrow Keys

You may observe land and astronomical objects using Autostar's Arrow keys to move the telescope.

1. Tighten the Altitude lock (10, Fig. 1) and tripod base lock knob (26, Fig. 1).

2. Make sure the telescope power switch is in the OFF position. Plug Autostar into the HBX port of the Control Panel.

3. Flip the telescope power switch to the ON position.

Autostar is activated and a copyright message displays briefly, followed by a short beep. Then Autostar takes a few moments to start up the system.

4. A message displays that warns not to look at the Sun. At the end of this message, press the key prompted by Autostar to signify that the message has been read and understood.

5. The Arrow keys are now activated. Press the Arrow keys (5, Fig. 2) to slew (move) the telescope up, down, right, or left.

6. Press the SPEED/? key (8, Fig. 2) to change the telescope’s slew speed. Each time you press this key, the speed will change. See

SLEW SPEEDS, page 15, for more information.

7. Use the red dot viewfinder (7, Fig. 1) to locate an object and practice using the Autostar’s Arrow keys to center the object in the telescope eyepiece's field of view.

8. Use the telescope’s focus knob (1, Fig. 1) to bring the object into focus.

Important Note: When you look through your telescope’s eyepiece, the image might look strange at first.

If you have a refracting telescope, objects will appear right-side-up, but reversed left-for-right. This will not make a difference when observing astronomical objects, and in fact, all astronomical telescopes present inverted images.

During terrestrial observing, when a corrected image (rightside up and correct leftfor-right) is desirable, an optional Meade 45° Erecting Prism is available. See

OPTIONAL

ACCESSORIES,

page 28, or consult the Meade Telescope Catalog.

No means of correcting the image is available for reflecting telescopes— the image will appear upside down and reversed left-for-right.

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