Celestron NexStar Evolution 6 NexStar Evolution Manual - Page 8

Getting Started - Using the NexStar+ Control This section of the manual can be skipped if you are using a smart device with WiFi instead of the NexStar+ controller. The NexStar Evolution includes a computerized hand control to operate the telescope directly without the use of the WiFi connection to Celestron SkyPortal. The hand control can be plugged into any of the 4 AUX ports on the mount. 1 8 2 9 3 4 4 5 11 10 6 11 7 12 13 15 14 14 I 1. L iquid Crystal Display (LC D) Window: Has a four-line, 18 character display screen that has red backlighting for comfortable viewing of telescope information and scrolling text. 2. A lign: Instructs the hand control to begin the process of aligning your telescope. 3. D irection Keys: Allows complete control of the mount in any direction. Use the direction keys to center objects in the eyepiece or manually slew telescope. 4. C atalog Keys: The mount has a key on the hand control to allow direct access to each of the main catalogs in its 40,000+ object database. Your mount contains the following catalogs in its database: • Solar System - A ll 7 planets in our Solar System plus the Moon, Sun and Pluto. • Stars - C ustom lists of all the brightest stars, double stars, variable stars and asterisms. • Deep Sky - C ustom lists of all the best galaxies, nebulae and clusters as well as the complete Messier and select NGC objects. 5. Identify: Searches the databases and displays the name and offset distances to the nearest matching objects. 6. M enu: Displays the many setup and utilities functions, such as tracking rate and user defined objects and many others. 7. Option (Celestron Logo): Can be used in combination with other keys to access more advanced features and functions. 8. E nter: Pressing ENTER allows you to select any of the functions, accept entered parameters and slew the telescope to displayed objects. 9. B ack: Pressing BACK will take you out of the current menu and display the previous level of the menu path. Press BACK repeatedly to get back to a main menu or use to erase data entered by mistake. 10. S ky Tour: Activates the tour mode, which seeks out all the best objects in the sky and automatically slews the telescope to those objects. 11. S croll Keys: Scrolls up and down within any of the menu lists. A double arrow symbol on the right side of the LCD indicates that the scroll keys can be used to view additional information. 12. M otor Speed: Slews the telescope faster or slower when the direction buttons are pressed. 13. O bject Info: Displays coordinates and useful information about objects selected from the database. 14. R S-232 Jack: Allows you to connect your telescope to a computer, for use with software programs for point-and click slewing capability and updating firmware via PC. Alignment Procedures For the telescope to accurately point to objects in the sky, it must first be aligned with known positions (stars). With this information, the telescope can create a model of the sky, which it uses to locate any object with known coordinates. There are many ways to align your telescope with the sky depending on what information the user is able to provide: • S kyAlign works by aligning on any three bright stars or planets in the sky. • One Star Align uses the entered time/location information and allows the user to select one alignment star. Provides a fast alignment, at the expense of less pointing accuracy. • Two Star Align uses the entered time/location information and allows the user to select which two alignment stars the telescope will automatically slew to. • Auto Two Star Align will display a list of visible daytime objects (planets and the Moon) available to align the telescope. • Solar System Align will display a list of visible daytime objects (planets and the Moon) available to align the telescope. • Quick-Align will ask you to input all the same information as you would for the Two Star Align procedure. However, instead of slewing to the alignment stars for centering and alignment, the telescope bypasses this step and simply models the sky based on the information given. • Last Alignment restores your last saved star alignment and switch position. Last Alignment also serves as a good safeguard in case the telescope loses power. • EQ North / EQ South Alignment is used when polar aligned on an optional equatorial wedge. Similar to the altazimuth alignments described earlier, the EQ alignments gives you the choice of performing an AutoAlign, Two-Star alignment, One-Star alignment or Solar System alignment. Overview of Two Popular Alignment Methods Aligning with SkyAlign 1. F lip the NexStar Evolution's power switch on. The hand control will display "Verifying Packages..." After a few seconds, it will display "Evolution." Press ENTER to choose SkyAlign or use the UP/DOWN scroll keys (10) to select a different method of alignment. 2. P ress ENTER. You will be prompted to enter the local time in 24-hour format. Ex. 21:00 for 9PM. 3. S elect Daylight Savings or Standard Time, toggle the 6 & 9 (up and down scrolling keys) to change. 4. S elect time zone, then enter the date. 5. P ress ENTER to begin SkyAlign. Use the arrow buttons on the hand control to slew (move) the telescope towards any bright celestial object in the sky. Center the object in the crosshairs of the finderscope and press ENTER. 6. If the finderscope has been properly aligned with the telescope tube, the alignment star should now be visible inside the field of view of the eyepiece. Center the star in I 15