Setup Procedure for Polar Alignment

  1. Orient the tripod roughly N/S.
  2. Place anti-vibration pads under each tripod foot.
  3. Level the tripod.
  4. Mount wedge and center the azimuth adjustment.
  5. Make sure the wedge elevation adjustment is set for roughly the correct latitude.
  6. Insert the three Tripod/Wedge support bolts but do not tighten.
  7. Mount LX200GPS on the wedge.
  8. Insert and tighten two additional LX200/Wedge support bolts.
  9. Ensure that a diagonal is being used (required for sign conventions in drift alignment).
  10. Insert widest field of view eyepiece.
  11. Put the telescope into its "Polar Home" position
    • Find one of the stops on the RA axis and then rotate RA axis approximately 360° back.
    • Set the RA axis to 0° with the forks horizontally opposed and pointing north.
    • Set the DEC axis to 90° with the OTA parallel to the forks and the corrector pointing north.
    • Finder scope should be on the bottom of the OTA.
    • Ensure that both axis locks are tightened.
  12. Turn on the LX200GPS.
  13. Check that the SETUP-TELESCOPE-MOUNT is set to POLAR.
  14. Select SETUP-ALIGN-2STAR and hit ENTER.
    • HBX will begin scrolling text. Hit ENTER again.
    • LX200GPS will take a GPS fix which may take some time.
    • Then it will slew to the first star on its list.
    • If star is obstructed, hit the lower down arrow to choose a new star.
    • SPEED-9 and use cursor buttons to center star in finder scope.
    • SPEED-4 and use cursor buttons to center star in eyepiece.
    • Switch eyepieces to illuminated reticle.
    • SPEED-2 and use cursor buttons to center star on linear reticle scale.
    • Hit ENTER to indicate the star is centered.
    • Replace large FOV eyepiece and repeat this method for the second star.
    • When synched on both stars, HBX should indicate successful alignment
  15. Save current location in memory if not already there.
  16. Center the microfocuser.
  17. STAR-NAMED-Polaris-ENTER, GOTO.
  18. Use wedge knobs to get Polaris roughly centered in large FOV eyepiece.
  19. Use HBX to set RA to 0° and DEC to +20°.
  20. Find nearest bright star and center using HBX.
  21. Switch to illuminated reticle eyepiece and refine the centering.
  22. Rotate the eyepiece until panning in RA with the HBX doesn't bring the star off the linear scale.
  23. Center the star on the linear reticle such that the star is split by one of the horizontal lines.
  24. Let the telescope track and watch for drift in DEC.
    • If the star drifts up, turn the wedge AZ knob that makes the star move right.
    • If the star drifts down, turn the wedge AZ knob that makes the star move left.
    • Recenter the star using the hand controller.
  25. Repeat previous step until there is no DEC drift after 5 minutes.
  26. Use HBX to set DEC to 0° and RA to a point about 15 degrees from the horizon.
  27. Find nearest bright star and center using HBX.
  28. Re-align the linear reticle to the RA axis.
  29. Recenter the star such that it is split by a horizontal line.
  30. Let the telescope track and watch for drift in DEC.
  31. If looking at the Eastern horizon:
    • If the star drifts up, adjust the elevation to move the star down.
    • If the star drifts down, adjust the elevation to move the star up.
    If looking at the Western horizon:
    • If the star drifts up, adjust the elevation to move the star up.
    • If the star drifts down, adjust the elevation to move the star down.
  32. Repeat previous step until there is no DEC drift after 5 minutes.
  33. If the overall correction to elevation was several degrees or more, recheck azimuth.
  34. Tighten the three Tripod/Wedge support bolts.
  35. Turn off the LX200GPS (the wedge is now correctly polar-aligned).
  36. Return the telescope to its "Polar Home" position, as above.
  37. Turn on the LX200GPS.
  38. Go through the 2-star alignment procedure again, as above.
  39. The computer is now aware of its position. Scope is ready to go.