Meade RCX400 User Manual 2

Instruction Manual

16", 20" RCX400™Advanced Ritchey-Chrétien Telescopes

with The Max Mount

MEADE.COM

DANGER

Read this manual carefully before attempting to assemble the MAX 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.

WARNING!

Never use a Meade RCX400 look at the Sun!

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.

If you have never focused an RCX telescope before, go to pages 24 to 26 for detailed information.

® 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. "RCX400 " is a trademark of Meade Instruments

ation.

por

Cor

atents:

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

™

Telescope to

Looking at

CONTENTS

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

utostar II Features ........................................................11

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

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

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

RA Assemb

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

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

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

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

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

Align Viewfinder with OTA ........................................21

Home Position and Balancing the OTA ..........................22

Balance RA Axis ......................................................20

Balance Dec Axis......................................................21

Getting Star

Attach Handbox Holder ............................................24

Mounting, Focusing & Aligning the Viewfinder..........24

Focusing the Telescope ............................................24

To Change Focus Speed ....................................24

To Focus the Eyepiece ........................................25

Presets ................................................................25

Slew Speeds ..................................................................26

To Align for the First Time ..............................................27

Automatic Alignment ................................................27

Drift Align ..................................................................28

Collimation ................................................................28

Align the OTA............................................................29

Calibrate Home ........................................................30

Basic Autostar II Operation ............................................31

Autostar II Menus ........................................................33

Menu Tree ................................................................33

Objects Menu............................................................34

ent Men

Glossary Menu, Utilities Menu ..................................35

Setup Menu ..............................................................37

Hot Button Menus ....................................................40

Advanced Autostar II Features ......................................41

Adding Observing Sites ............................................41

Creating User Objects

Observing Satellites ..................................................43

Identify ......................................................................43

wse

Bro

Alternate Polar Alignment Methods ..........................45

To Download the Latest Autostar II Software............45

Periodic Error Correction ..........................................46

Optional Accessor

Maintenance ..................................................................50

Specifications ................................................................51

Meade Consumer Solutions ..........................................52

Appendix A: Latitude Chart ............................................53

Appendix B:

Appendix C: Smart Mount ..............................................55

ly ............................................................16

ted ..............................................................24

To Define a Preset ............................................25

To Focus with a Microfocuser ............................25

To Focus with an RCX and a Microfocuser ......25

To Select a Preset ............................................26

To Sync on a Preset ..........................................26

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

..............................................42

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

......................................................47

ies

The Moon

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

TELESCOPE FEATURES

Components of MAX

eatures a unique modular design that allows a couple of

MAX f 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.

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.

wfinder

Vie Assembly

Counterweight Assembly

Tripod

Declination Housing Assembly

RA Housing Assembly

Pedestal

Assemb

Low Latitude Counterweight Assemb [Optional: Required if within

of the

20 Equator]

Eyepiece Assembly

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

RA Loc Knob

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.

Latitude Scale

uth

Azim Adjustment Knob

Latitude Range Bolts (8x)

Azim Lock Knobs (x5)

Latitude Lock Knobs (x4)

Dovetail Ejector Knob

uth

Tripod/Pier Interface Plate

PEDESTAL (WEDGE) ASSEMBLY

Azimuth Adjust Knob

RA Female Dovetail

Latitude Adjust Knob

vetail

Do Ejector Knobs (2)

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 fir

mly 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 accu-

ate and repeatable pointing and tracking per-

r formance. 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) .

Declination Safety

Loc

Declination Lock Knobs

THE RA

ASSEMBLY

Control Panel (see page 10)

Declination Female Dovetail

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

Low Latitude Counterweight plug

RA Male Dovetail

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 quic

k change dovetail

plates, MAX has two generous wing mount plat-

orms that will allow you to attach guide scopes,

f piggy back cameras, short focal length refractors and a wide variety of secondary instruments without interfering with Max's "all sky" design.

OTA Lock Knobs (2x)

DEC ASSEMBLY

TA Safety Lock

O Female

vetail

Dec Balance Hard Stop Bolt

Accessory Wings (2x)

Saddle

anel

DB-25 connector

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.

ver

course adjustment lock lever

pedestal attachment le

fine adjustment turnbuckle

THE TRIPOD

MAX Tripod

The MAX mount 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.

Matching Slots

Counterweight Quick Release Buttons

Safety Cap

Adjustab

Counterweight Shaft

Counterweights

THE COUNTER-

Fixed Counterw (2)

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.

Fixed Counterweight Knobs (8)

eights

WEIGHTS

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.

Optical Tube Assembly

MAX is sold stand alone, or it is available bundled with Meade's 16” RCX400

™ or 20” RCX400™ Optical Tube Assemblies. RCX OTA's integrate seamlessly with MAX. Together you get pinpoint stars from Meade's unique Adv

anced Ritchey-Chrétien optical system:

• Zero expansion carbon fiber body

• Advanced Ritchey-Chrétien optics

•

Electronic Collimation

• Integrated Dew Heater

• OTA fan for quick cool down

• Digital Electronic Focus with Presets

Viewfinder

Optical

ube

Assemb (OTA)

Dust Cover

2" Accessory Adapter

A Alignment

O Bolts (concentric)

THE OTA

2" Star Diagonal

Visual

Bac

2" Eyepiece

OTA Panel

OTA Male Dovetail

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.

CONTROL PANELS AND PORTS

Off/On

12vDC In

12VDC Switched Out

USB Port

AUX port

RA ASSEMBLY CONTROL

PANEL

SADDLE CONTROL

PANEL

Reticle Port

12VDC Switched

Focuser

HBX port (Handbox port)

RA TO DEC JUMPER CABLE

Smart Accessory Ports

Serial port

JUMPER CABLE BETWEEN OTA AND SADDLE PANEL (use one of the Saddle panel Smart Accessory ports)

USB Ports

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.

uto Guider

HBX por

AUTOSTAR II FEATURES

6 7

Fig. 2: The Autostar II Handbox.

Tour the Cosmos with Just the Push of a Button

Control of Max and RCX400 telescope models 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 (

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

J 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: Herschel Catalog: Abell Catalog of Galaxy Clusters:

p Catalog of Irregular Galaxies:

Ar Uppsala Galaxy Catalog: 12,940

phological Catalog of Galaxies:

Mor

le Stars: 28,484

iab

al Catalog of

Gener

SA Hipparcos Star Catalog: 17,325

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

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

www.meade.com).

227 400

2,712

645

12,939

17,191

ashington Star,

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.

utostar II system provides control of virtually every telescope function. The

The A 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

e Autostar II extremely user friendly.

mak

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 formed.

, or information about a function that is being per-

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 (

• 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.

7, Fig. 2) to display the following information:

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 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 ( in the display.

ys:

g Number K

ic function, which is pr tons"—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.

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

5, Fig. 2) to move the cursor from one number to the next

y also has a specif

Press to

inted on each k

input digits 0 to 9.

y (these are commonly known as "hot but-

Each Number k

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.

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 f

5 SS: Press to display the Solar System library. 6 STAR: Press to display the Star library. 7 RET (Reticle): 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.

Press to display the Reticle Control menu.

ocus.

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 ? K

ey: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, ALIGNMENT, ond line. When satisfied with the Help provided, press MODE to return to the original screen and continue with the chosen procedure.

etc., press the ? key and follow the directions that scroll on the sec-

e.g., INITIALIZATION,

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.

ASSEMBLY

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

A Phillips screwdriver will be useful during assembly.

Pointing to ± 5° of the pole

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 #24.

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.

Extend the legs outward.

Pedestal Assembly and Adjusting Latitude Position

Mount Pedestal onto the tripod...

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

...Place the Pedestal over three Pedestal lock pins. Note

that these pins are spring-loaded and are self-locating.

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.

Tighten (rotate) the lock knobs below the Pedestal to a "tight" feel.

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.

"Porthole"

Move and line up latitude tick mark with indicator

Latitude Range Bolts

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 telescope comes set for mid-range latitudes (30° to 60°). If you need to set for low range or high range, remove the 4 latitude bolts from each side of the

pedestal (8 total) using a supplied hex wrench (see photo above). The pedestal should now be able to 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.

Fine tune the latitude adjustment using the Latitude Adjust knob.

Latitude Adjust Knob

THE RA ASSEMBLY

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 assembly lock knob..

THE DEC SADDLE ASSEMBLY

Back off Dec clamp knob. Note, in the photos, the Dec

assembly is already shown as attached. However, back off this knob before you attach the assembly.

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.

Retighten the Dec clamp knob.

Plug in the RA to Dec jumper cable. Hint: You may

wish to plug into the RA connector before attaching the DEC Assembly. Then attach the jumper cable to the Dec assembly after it is attached. Some users may find it difficult to reach in below the Dec assembly.

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.

ATTACH 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 lined up in a vertical orientation.

Slide the bolts into the threaded holes and tighten each securing knob by hand until it reaches the top. Then use a 1/4" shaft, such as a Phillips screwdriver to turn the

knob very tight.

Screw in counterweight shaft until it reaches the hard stop.

Using a Phillips screwdriver, tighten the screw in the

head of counterweight shaft to secure it 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.

+ 42 hidden pages