Meade MYSKY Instruction Manual

InstructIon Manual

mySKY

™

YOUR PERSONAL GUIDE FOR SKY EXPLORATION

InstructIons

mySKY™ is an easy-to-use, multimedia tool that will guide
you through the night sky. It’s like having your own personal
astronomer pointing out the wonders of the universe.

Quick Start

Follow the Quick Start Guide on the back cover to insert
the batteries, plug in the earbuds and turn on mySKY. When
mySKY starts up, a screen displays which offers the choice:
“Instructions” or “SkyMap.”

Instruction Video

If you are using mySKY for the rst time, press the up arrow

to select “Instructions”— a brief introductory video that
explains how to get started using mySKY.

Important Note about your mySKY

Your mySKY uses very sensitive magnetic sensors to
determine where you are pointing it in the sky. The magnetic
lines of force that are detected by these sensors are bent
and distorted by any magnetic materials or large metal
objects such as cars, metal fences or steel reinforced
buildings. In order for your mySKY to work accurately,
you must be about 10 yards or meters from the average car.
The larger the metal object, the farther you should be from
it to get the best performance from your mySKY.

Time, Date, and Location

When the instruction video ends or when you select
“SkyMap,” mySKY needs to know your location, date and
time. The Time and Location screen displays. You will be

presented with three choices the rst time you use mySKY:

• Get From GPS

• Enter Manually

• Demonstration Mode. You can select GPS x or you can

manually enter your location, date and time.

The GPS x will automatically enter the location, time
and date, but because of anomalies and interference
in different geographic locations, GPS acquisition can
take up to several minutes. Manually entering your location,
time and date is the faster method and typically takes less
than a minute.

The instruction video will teach you how to use the buttons,
what the trigger is for, how to use the identify function and
how to take a guided tour. If you wish to exit the instruction
video at any time, press the button labeled “Back” or “Exit.”

You can use the four arrow buttons shown in the second
gure to select options on the display screen. Press one
of the arrow keys to select the item you want. For example,
if you press the up arrow, the option at the top of the screen
is selected and so forth. In most cases, when you press an
arrow key, that option is automatically selected.

To select GPS x, use the Up or Down arrows to select

the “Get from GPS” line (the radio circle will be checked),
and press Done. The unit will attempt to get a GPS x.
After mySKY acquires a GPS signal, you will now be in the

default mode, which is “Identify.” You will learn more about

this mode in the “Identify an Object” section (page 4).

To enter your location time and date manually, use

the arrows to scroll down to the Enter Manually line and
press Done.

First, enter the date: Use the arrow keys to move
the highlight across the number pad. Once the desired
number is highlighted, press Enter. Enter the date
in the format: mm/dd/yy.

For example, if you wish to enter March 6, 2008, press the
following keys:

0 (zero), Enter, Three, Enter (mm)
0, Enter, 6, Enter (dd)
0, Enter, 8, Enter (yy)

Press Done after you have entered the date.

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Soft Buttons

Illuminated Sights

SD Card Slot

Arrow Buttons

Brightness Control

Volume Control

Next, choose your state or country: Press the up or down
arrows to scroll through the list one line at a time. Press the

right or left arrows to scroll through the list one page at a
time. Once your country or state is highlighted, press Enter
and the City list displays.

Scroll through the list of cities and choose the city nearest to
your location. Once your choice is highlighted press Enter.

Next enter the time: Enter the hour and minutes, as correct

to the minute as possible, in military (24 hour) time. Military

Time is the same as 12 hour a.m. times, but for p.m. times,
it is the p.m. time plus 12 hours. Enter the time in the same
manner that you entered the date. For example, if you wish

to enter 9:20 p.m. (9:20 p.m. + 12:00 = 21:20 in military
time), press the following keys:

2, Enter, 1, Enter (hour)
2 Enter, 0, Enter (minutes)

If you’re unused to military time values, for all times past
12 noon, add 12 plus the hour. For example, if the time
is 6:00 pm, add 12 plus 6 and the time is 18:00. Likewise,
2:15 a.m. is 02:15.

mySKY compensates for Daylight Savings automatically.

When you are nished entering the time, press Done. A

“Skymap” screen displays. You are now in the default mode,
which is “Identify.” You will learn more about this mode in

the “Identify an Object” section (page 4).

Your location, time and date are now stored in memory until
you change the batteries. The next time you turn on mySKY,
the Time and Location screen will display four choices:

• [your time, date and last location]

• Get from GPS

Enter

Power ON/OFF

“Identify” Trigger

• Enter manually

• Demonstration mode

If the displayed time, date and location are correct, select
the time, date and location line and press Done to go
directly to the Skymap screen and you can immediately
begin identifying stars and use other mySKY features.

Select the Demonstration mode if you wish to get

a demonstration of mySKY’s operation during the daytime
or when you are inside.

Sensor Calibration

When mySKY has your time and location, you may be
asked to place mySKY on a stable surface while it adjusts

its sensors. This usually takes about 30 to 45 seconds.

If it takes longer, make sure the mySKY is not setting on
any operating machinery, speaker or other surface that is
moving or vibrating. When the mySKY is done adjusting the
sensors, the sights will light up and the screen will display
the SkyMap.

Demo Mode

If you wish to explore mySKY while indoors where

GPS signals are not available, wait for the GPS satellite
acquisition screen to appear, then press the top right button

just below the screen labeled “Abort.” Then press the down
arrow button twice to select “Demo Mode” and then press
the button in the center of the four arrow buttons. This will
put mySKY in the demo mode so you can get a feel how
mySKY works while you’re indoors and in the light.

Note that whenever a star map is displayed and you press
the trigger, mySKY will attempt to identify the object and

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