Meade MAX-ACF User Manual

Instruction Manual

20" MAX-ACF Advanced Coma-Free Telescope on MAX Robotic

German Equatorial Mount

MEADE.COM

DANGER

Read this manual carefully before attempting to assemble the MAX-ACF mount and attaching the OTA. Follow steps as outlined in this manual in order to assemble the telescope safely.

Failure to follow steps may result in injury or death, and/or damage to the telescope and mount.

Telescope Features ...................................................... 4

Autostar II Features........................................................11

Assembly ........................................................................14

Tripod Assembly........................................................14

Pedestal Assembly and Adjusting Latitude ..............14

RA Assembly ............................................................16

Dec Saddle Assembly ..............................................16

Attach Counterweights..............................................18

Low Latitude Counterweights....................................18

Attach OTA to Dec Saddle ........................................20

Attach Autostar II ......................................................21

Electrical connections, Align Viewfinder with OTA ....22

Home Position and Balancing the OTA ..........................23

Balance RA Axis ......................................................23

Balance Dec Axis......................................................24

Getting Started ..............................................................25

Attach Handbox Holder ............................................25

Mounting, Focusing & Aligning the Viewfinder..........25

Focusing the Telescope ............................................25

To Change Focus Speed ....................................25

To Focus the Eyepiece ........................................26

Presets ................................................................26

To Define a Preset ............................................26

To Focus with a Microfocuser............................26

To Focus the MAX-ACF and a Microfocuser ....26

To Select a Preset ............................................27

To Sync on a Preset ..........................................27

Slew Speeds ..................................................................27

To Align for the First Time ..............................................28

Automatic Alignment ................................................28

Drift Align ..................................................................29

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

Align the OTA ............................................................30

Calibrate Home ........................................................31

Basic Autostar II Operation ............................................32

Autostar II Menus ........................................................34

Menu Tree ................................................................34

Objects Menu............................................................35

Event Menu ..............................................................36

Glossary Menu, Utilities Menu ..................................36

Setup Menu ..............................................................38

Hot Button Menus ....................................................41

Advanced Autostar II Features ......................................42

Adding Observing Sites ............................................42

Creating User Objects ..............................................43

Observing Satellites ..................................................44

Identify ......................................................................44

Browse ......................................................................45

Alternate Polar Alignment Methods ..........................46

To Download the Latest Autostar II Software............46

Periodic Error Correction ..........................................47

Optional Accessories......................................................48

Maintenance ..................................................................51

Specifications ................................................................52

Meade Consumer Solutions ..........................................53

Appendix A: Latitude Chart ............................................54

Appendix B: The Moon ..................................................55

Appendix C: Smart Mount ..............................................56

Appendix D: How to Read the Latitude Scale................58

CONTENTS

WARNING!

Never use a Meade®MAXACF

™

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 or its viewfinder at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope or its viewfinder as it is moving. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.

® The names "Autostar," "Meade" and the Meade logo are trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in principal countries throughout the world. "MAX-ACF" is a trademark of Meade Instruments Corporation.

Patents:

US 6,304,376 US 6,392,799 US 6,563,636 D 422,610 Patent Pending.

If you have never focused a MAX-ACF telescope before, go to pages 25 to 27 for detailed information.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

TELESCOPE FEATURES

Components of MAX

MAX features a unique modular design that allows a couple of individuals to assemble, either permanently or transportably, a mount twice the size of any other commercially available mount. The mount breaks down into a Portable Pier (tripod), Pedestal, RA Housing Assembly, and DEC Housing assembly. Together all of the components and an OTA assembly fit easily into a station wagon, SUV, minivan or small truck. When assembled, quick release, but rock solid, dovetail plates allow OTA and instrument packages up to 250 lbs to be quickly mounted and de-mounted.

Tripod

Counterweight Assembly

Low Latitude Counterweight Assembly [Optional: Required if within 20° of the Equator]

Declination Housing Assembly

RA Housing Assembly

Eyepiece Assembly

Pedestal Assembly

Viewfinder Assembly

Optical Tube Assembly (OTA)

Note: Your telescope and mount may look slightly different from the one shown in some of the images in this manual. However, your telescope will still operate as the one described in this manual.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Pedestal Assembly

MAX's Pedestal assembly can be configured to cover three latitude ranges without the need of disassembly. Together, the three ranges allow the mount to operate anywhere on the planet.

PEDESTAL (WEDGE) ASSEMBLY

RA Lock Knob

Latitude Lock Knobs (x4)

Dovetail Ejector Knob

Azimuth Lock Knobs (x5)

Azimuth Adjustment Knob

Latitude Range Bolts (8x)

Latitude Scale

Azimuth Adjust Knob

Latitude Adjust Knob

Dovetail Ejector Knobs (2)

RA Female Dovetail

Tripod/Pier Interface Plate

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Right Ascension Housing Assembly

The RA Housing mates to the Pedestal easily, sliding firmly into a dovetail block that measures over 100 square inches. When locked in place, this broad footprint assures that your mount will operate as a single rigid block delivering accurate and repeatable pointing and tracking performance. The RA Housing contains Meade's patented Autostar II telescope control system, a massive 13.625" pitch diameter worm gear attached to a 3.84” diameter 6061-T6511 aluminum alloy main shaft supported by one 6020 Ball bearing (5.9055 OD x 3.9370 ID x 0.9449 wide) & one 6013 ball bearing (3.9370 OD x

2.5591 ID x 0.7090 wide) .

THE RA ASSEMBLY

Declination Lock Knobs

Declination Safety Lock

Declination Female Dovetail

(not visible, on bottom side) DB-25 connector

RA Male Dovetail

Control Panel (see page 10)

Low Latitude Counterweight plug

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Declination Housing Assembly

The Dec Housing mates to the RA Housing using another huge dovetail block. The RA Housing, DEC Housing and Pedestal are all designed to allow you to track more than 6 degrees past meridian without interference. This mount will let you cover the whole sky. In addition to accepting quick change dovetail plates, MAX has two generous wing mount platforms that will allow you to attach guide scopes, piggy back cameras, short focal length refractors and a wide variety of secondary instruments without interfering with Max's "all sky" design.

DEC ASSEMBLY

DB-25 connector

Accessory Wings (2x)

OTA Lock Knobs (2x)

OTA Safety Lock

OTA Female Dovetail

Dec Balance Hard Stop Bolt

Saddle Panel

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Counterweights

The MAX counterweights are beautifully crafted with sure locking, but quick release, buttons. They allow you to quickly locate balance so you can get back to work.

MAX Tripod

The MAX-ACF tripod can be transported or permanently installed. It provides a wide stance to assure that it can safely carry MAX's massive payload in all orientations, but still collapses down to a size that is easy to handle. Its design assures that despite its wide stance, it will not interfere with optical systems observing on the meridian. Like Max, it sets up, knocks down, and adjusts without the need of tools.

THE TRIPOD

THE COUNTERWEIGHTS

course adjustment lock lever

Safety Cap

Adjustable Counterweights

Fixed Counterweights (2)

Matching Slots

Fixed Counterweight Knobs (8)

Counterweight Shaft

Counterweight Quick Release Buttons

fine adjustment turnbuckle

pedestal attachment lever

Optical Tube Assembly

MAX-ACF is delivered with a 20” Advanced Coma-Free™ Optical Tube Assemblie. Its 20” OTA integrates seamlessly with MAX-ACF German Equatorial Mount. Together you get pinpoint stars from Meade's unique Advanced Coma-Free optical system:

• Zero expansion carbon fiber body

• Advanced Coma-Free optics

• Electronic Collimation

• Integrated Dew Heater

• OTA fan for quick cool down

• Digital Electronic Focus with Presets

THE OTA

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Dust Cover

2" Star Diagonal

2" Eyepiece

2" Accessory Adapter

OTA Alignment Bolts (concentric)

Visual Back

OTA Panel

OTA Male Dovetail

Viewfinder

Optical Tube Assembly (OTA)

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Off/On

USB Port

AUX port

12vDC In

12VDC Switched

12VDC Switched Out

HBX port (Handbox port)

Serial port

USB Ports

Reticle Port

Focuser

HBX port

Auto Guider

Smart Accessory Ports

CONTROL PANELS AND PORTS

RA ASSEMBLY CONTROL

PANEL

SADDLE CONTROL

PANEL

RA TO DEC JUMPER CABLE

JUMPER CABLE BETWEEN OTA AND SADDLE PANEL (may use either of the Smart Accessory ports)

Fig. 2: The Autostar II Handbox.

Tour the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button

Control of MAX-ACF telescope is through the operation of the standard Autostar II system. Nearly all functions of the telescope are accomplished with just a few pushes of Autostar II’s buttons.

Because the Autostar II system uses flash (rewritable) memory, your system will be able to grow when new features and enhancements become available. Download the latest satellite data, star and object catalogs, tours, serial commands list, and software revisions, directly from the Meade website (www.meade.com).

Some of the major features of the Autostar II system are:

쩦 Automatically move the telescope to any of the more than 180,000 objects stored

in the object library, including:

Library # of Objects

New General Catalog (NGC): 7,840 Index Catalog (IC): 5,386 Messier Catalog (M): 110 Caldwell Catalog: 109 Named Objects: 227 Herschel Catalog: 400 Abell Catalog of Galaxy Clusters: 2,712 Arp Catalog of Irregular Galaxies: 645 Uppsala Galaxy Catalog: 12,940 Morphological Catalog of Galaxies: 12,939 General Catalog of Variable Stars: 28,484 SAO: 17,191 Hipparcos Star Catalog: 17,325

....plus more than 10,000 other objects from the Lunar 100, the Washington Star,

Gliese, Hickson, PK, Landolt, Lunar Features, and other catalogs!

AUTOSTAR II FEATURES











쐅









쐈

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

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 Autostar II system provides control of virtually every telescope function. The Autostar II handbox has soft-touch keys designed to have a positive feel. The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is backlit with red LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for easy viewing in the dark. The backlit display, key arrangement, and sequential menu structure make Autostar II extremely user friendly.

B 2-Line LCD Display: This screen displays Autostar II's menus and information

about the telescope.

• Top line: Lists the primary menu.

• Bottom line: Displays other menus that may be chosen, menu options, telescope status, or information about a function that is being performed.

c ENTER Key: Press to go to the next menu level or to choose an option in a menu.

The ENTER key is similar to the RETURN or ENTER key on a computer.

d MODE Key: Press to return to the previous menu or data level. The top menu

level is “Select Item." The MODE key is similar to the ESCAPE key on a computer.

Note: Pressing MODE repeatedly while in the “Select Item” level moves Autostar II to the topmost screen: “Select Item: Object.”

Note: If MODE is pressed and held for two seconds or more, information about the telescope's status displays. When the status displays, press the Scroll keys (7, Fig. 2) to display the following information:

• Right Ascension and Declination (astronomical) coordinates

• Altitude (vertical) and Azimuth (horizontal) coordinates

• Local Time and Local Sidereal Time (LST)

• Timer and Alarm Status

• Date

• Site coordinates

• Battery status Press MODE again to return to the previous menu.

e GO TO Key: Press to slew (move) the telescope to the coordinates of the cur-

rently selected object. While the 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. Also, press during the alignment or GO TO procedures to activate a "spiral search."

f Arrow Keys: The Arrow keys have several functions. Press an Arrow key to slew

the telescope in a specific direction (up, down, left, and right), at any one of nine different speeds. See

SLEW SPEEDS, page 26. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys

to move the telescope vertically up and down. The Left Arrow key rotates the telescope horizontally counterclockwise, while the Right Arrow key rotates it clockwise (unless reversed for Southern Hemisphere use). Also, use the Arrow keys to scroll through numbers 0 through 9 and the alphabet. The Down Arrow key begins with the letter "A;" the Up Arrow key begins with digit "9."

Additionally, use the Arrow keys to move the cursor across the display: Use the Right or Left Arrow key (5, Fig. 2) to move the cursor from one number to the next in the display.

g Number Keys: Press to input digits 0 to 9. Each Number key also has a specif-

ic function, which is printed on each key (these are commonly known as "hot buttons"—see page 40):

1 SPEED: Changes the slew speeds. To operate, press Speed and then a

Number key (1 is the slowest speed, 9 is highest speed).

2 CALD (Caldwell): Press to display the Caldwell catalog on the Autostar II

handbox.

3 M (Messier): Press to display the Messier catalog library.

4 FOCUS: Toggles between two functions. The first press allows you to

change the focus and focus speed. The next press allows you to create presets that tell the telescope where to focus.

5 SS: Press to display the Solar System library. 6 STAR: Press to display the Star library. 7 RET (Reticle): Press to display the Reticle Control menu. 8 IC: Press to display the Index Catalog library. 9 NGC (New General Catalog): Press to display the NGC catalog library. 0 LIGHT: Press to turn on and off the red utility light on the top of the hand-

box.

h Scroll Keys: Press to access options within a selected menu. The menu is dis-

played on the first line of the screen. Options in the menu are displayed, one at a time, on the second line. Press the Scroll keys to move through the options. Press and hold a Scroll key to move quickly through the options.

The Scroll keys also control the speed of text scrolling on the Autostar II display. When text is scrolling, press and hold the Up Scroll key for a faster display speed and the Down Scroll key for a slower display speed.

i ? Key: Press to access the "Help" file. "Help" provides on-screen information on

how to accomplish whatever task is currently active.

Press the ? key and then follow the prompts on the display to access details of Autostar II functions in the Help feature. The Help system is essentially an onscreen instruction manual.

If you have a question about an Autostar II operation,

e.g.

, INITIALIZATION,

ALIGNMENT,

etc.,

press the ? key and follow the directions that scroll on the second line. When satisfied with the Help provided, press MODE to return to the original screen and continue with the chosen procedure.

j Coil Cord Port: Plug one end of the Autostar II coil cord (10, Fig. 2) into this port

located at the bottom of the Autostar II handbox.

1) Coil Cord: Plug one end of the Autostar II coil cord into the HBX port (F, Fig. 1d)

of the computer control panel of the telescope and the other end into the Autostar II coil cord port. See

j above.

1! Utility Light: Use this built-in red light to illuminate star charts and accessories

without disturbing your eye's adaptation to darkness. Press "0" to turn the light on and off.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

A screwdriver or other 1/4" shaft that can be used as a lever will be useful during assembly.

Refer to images pages 4 to 10 for location of various telescope features.

Tripod Assembly

Before you pull legs out of collapsed tripod, notice the pattern of the pins on top of the tripod (photo). Set the legs so the leg opposite the single pin is pointing North. Above 20° latitude (or South in Southern hemisphere)— if less than 20°, use the Low Latitude kit; see step #26.

Set up on a surface of concrete, or if on the ground, must be a solid surface (such as granite).

CAUTION: AVOID GRASS AND DIRT. THE MAX ASSEMBLY WILL SINK INTO GROUND, NOT REMAIN

LEVEL AND TIP OVER, CAUSING SERIOUS INJURY TO THE ASSEMBLY AND OBSERVERS.

Turn the three coarse adjustment leg lock levers to unlock the legs of the tripod. See Photo 5 for a close up of a lock lever.

Extend the legs outward. Note that the legs need not be extended fully. Extend them so that the base of the tripod coarsely level with the horizon.You can make fine leveling adjustments later.

Pedestal Assembly and Adjusting Latitude Position

Mount Pedestal onto the tripod...

CAUTION: THE PEDESTAL REQUIRES TWO PEOPLE TO LIFT THE ASSEMBLY.

...Using the 3 lock pins on the base of the tripod as a guide, place the Pedestal over the lock pins. Note that these pins are spring-loaded and are self-locating.

ASSEMBLY

Pointing to ± 5° of the pole

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

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 A

Tighten (rotate) the lock knobs below the Pedestal to a "tight" feel. First loosely tighten all three knobs, then tighten all three securely.

Back off the ejector knobs on the Pedestal.

Adjust legs until they are level. Adjust the turnbuckle for fine adjustment of level.

The bubble levels will assist you. in determining level.

Latitude Adjustment

The telescope comes set for mid-range latitudes (30° to 60°).

If you need to set for low range or high range

, loosen all four latitude lock knobs (2 on each side) remove the 4 latitude bolts from each side of the pedestal (8 total) using a supplied hex wrench (see photo above). The pedestal will now swing freely.

Swing the pedestal so that the bolt portholes match up with another set of bolt holes on the underneath plate (there are three sets of bolt holes, one for each latitude range).

Move the pedestal until it lines up your latitude tick mark with the indicator on the latitude scale.

Replace and tighten the latitude bolts. Note: If you are setting for low-range latitude, you will need to replace only three bolts on each side. There isn't a fourth hole on either side. Relock latitude locks knobs.

Latitude Range Bolts

Latitude Lock Knob

"Porthole"

Move and line up latitude tick mark with indicator

Latitude Lock Knob

Slide the RA assembly onto the Pedestal dovetail.

CAUTION: MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FINGERS ARE CLEAR OF THE TRACK BEFORE YOU SLIDE THE RA ASSEMBLY INTO THE PEDESTAL TRACK. THE RA ASSEMBLY REQUIRES TWO PEOPLE TO LIFT.

Tighten the RA lock knob on the pedestal assembly to help secure the RA assembly in place.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Fine tune the latitude adjustment using the Latitude Adjust knob. See A

PPENDIX D if you need help reading

the latitude scale.

Is your telescope pointing North? Is your telescope level? Make sure you are pointing North and are level before proceeding.

9 B

Latitude Adjust Knob

THE RA ASSEMBLY

Turn the Dec Lock knobs on the RA assembly until there is NO a gap in the clamps.

no gap

THE DEC SADDLE ASSEMBLY

Turn the Dec lock knob so there is no gap (see step

10). Note, in the photos, the Dec assembly is already shown as attached. However, adjust this knob before you attach the assembly.

CAUTION: MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FINGERS ARE CLEAR OF THE TRACK BEFORE YOU SLIDE THE RA ASSEMBLY INTO THE PEDESTAL TRACK. THE RA ASSEMBLY REQUIRES TWO PEOPLE TO LIFT.

With a person on each side of the assembly, lift and slide the DEC assembly in from the top...

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

...Slide down to the hard stop.

Slide safety pin into the hole.

ATTACH COUNTERWEIGHT ASSEMBLY

Note that there are two types of counterweights used with Max. One is the typical round counterweight you're probably used with other telescopes; this is the adjustable counterweight. The other type is uncommon and is called a fixed counterweight. See photo at left.

Looking at or near the

Sun

will cause

irreversible

damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the

Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

CAUTION: DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE FIXED COUNTERWEIGHTS, ATTACHING THESE PIECES REQUIRES TWO PEOPLE. ONE PERSON MUST HOLD THE FIXED COUNTERWEIGHT WHILE THE OTHER PERSON TIGHTENS IT IN PLACE.

Retighten the Dec clamp knob.

Plug in the RA to Dec jumper cables; there are two (2) such cables. The first being a 25 pin to 25 pin cable and the second a USB to USB cable. Hint: You may wish to plug into the RA connector before attaching the counterweights. Then attach the jumper cable to the Dec assembly after the weights are attached. Some users may find it difficult to reach in below the Dec assembly to connect the cable after the counterweights are attached.

adjustable counterweights

fixed counterweights

Line up a fixed counterweight's 4 bolts with the four threaded holes in the Dec assembly base. The weights can only be positioned with indentations facing the front and back of the assembly (see photos 21A and 21B).

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