One Star Align
Introduced with NexStar hand control version 4 (first included with the
CPC) and available in all newer versions, One Star Align is
available in alt-az mode (scope mounted directly on the tripod) and
equatorial mode (scope mounted on a wedge). One Star Align is not
designed to provide accurate GoTo or tracking, but rather allows you to quickly setup
the scope to start approximate tracking. This is most useful when you
don't care to have precise tracking and will manually find objects rather
than using GoTo. That said, it does quite good on a permanently
wedge-mounted scope, and if you add a second star later with the
Re-Alignment feature, even an alt-az mounted scope will exhibit good GoTo
and tracking.
Procedure:
- Power up the scope.
- Press ENTER to begin, use the Up and Down buttons (6 and 9 on the
keypad) to scroll to One Star Align and then ENTER again.
- The hand control will show either the current time or the time when
you last used the scope. The top line of the display will cycle
through the messages, "Enter if OK", and "UNDO to edit". If your
scope has a GPS module, the GPS receiver will shortly lock onto 3 GPS
satellites and update the date, time, and location. If you become
impatient waiting for a GPS link, or if you don't have a GPS module in
your scope, use the Up and Down buttons (6 and 9 on the keypad) to scroll
through the date, time, and location settings. If they are all correct,
press Enter to accept and proceed with the alignment. If they need
adjusted, press Undo and make any necessary corrections.
- The display will now prompt to Select Star 1. Decide which star
you will use, use the Up and Down buttons (6 and 9 on the keypad) to
scroll to that star and then press ENTER.
- Use the arrow buttons to slew (move) to the star you selected.
Center the object in the finderscope and press ENTER. Then center
the object in the eyepiece and press ALIGN.
- To provide GoTo and tracking of nearly the same performance as one of
the full alignment routines, you may later use the NexStar Re-Alignment feature to replace
the "Unassigned" star with a real star.
Additional details:
- As with all the new NexStar alignment methods, One Star
Align does not care where the optical tube is pointed at the beginning
of the alignment.
- To get better tracking be sure to level the
tripod before you start.
- If you do not have a GPS-equipped telescope, be accurate to within a
couple of minutes when entering the time. Also, either select a city
within 50 miles or enter your longitude and latitude to within a degree or
two.
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