CGEM DX Computerized Mount INSTRUCTION MANUAL ENGLISH
Table of Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Goto R.A/ Dec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Identify. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Assembly.
Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron CGEM DX Series Mount! The CGEM DX series continues in Celestron’s proud tradition combining large aperture optics with the sophistication and ease of use of our computerized GoTo mount. to guide you through all the alignment procedures needed to have the telescope up and running in minutes. Use this manual in conjunction with the on-screen instructions provided by the hand control.
8 1 7 6 2 3 D E 4 5 A C B Figure 2-1 – CGEM DX Mount Mount 1. Equatorial Mount 2. Latitude Adjustment Knob Control Panel 5. Tripod Center Leg Brace/Accessory Tray 6. Counterweight(s) 3. Tripod 7. Counterweight Bar 4. Hand Control 8. Telescope Mounting Platform 2 A. On/Off Switch B. 12v Input Jack C. Hand Control Port D. AUX Port E.
Assembly The Celestron CGEM DX mount is shipped in three main boxes. In separate boxes are the following: To transport your tripod, remove the knob and lower the accessory tray far enough to rotate it until the three recesses line up with each leg. Collapse the legs so that each leg falls into one of the recesses. Secure the legs together with the nylon strap attached to the tripod leg.
5. Locate the azimuth adjustment screws on the equatorial mount (Fig 2-3). 4. Thread the counterweight bar into the opening until tight. 5. Tighten the counterweight bar lock nut fully for added support. 6. Retract the screws so they do not extend into the azimuth housing on the mount. Once the bar is securely in place you are ready to attach the counterweight. 7. Hold the equatorial mount over the tripod adapter so that the azimuth housing is above the metal peg.
Attaching the Hand Control Holder observe different objects. To make rough adjustments, loosen the R.A. and DEC clutch knobs slightly and move the telescope in the desired direction. The telescope comes with a hand control holder to place the computerized hand control. The hand control holder comes attached to the tripod leg and can be easily removed for convenient use. To use the hand control plug the phone jack connector into the hand control port labeled on the electronics control panel. Both the R.A.
imbalance is very slight. When taking astrophotographs, this balance process can be done for the specific area at which the telescope is pointing to further optimize tracking accuracy. It is best to always make final adjustments in latitude by moving the mount against gravity (i.e. using the rear latitude adjustment screw to raise the mount).
2. Align: Instructs the telescope to use a selected star or object as an alignment position. the LCD when there are sub-menus below the displayed menu. Using these keys will scroll through those sub-menus. 3. Direction Keys: Allows complete control of the telescope in any direction. Use the direction keys to move the telescope to the initial alignment stars or for centering objects in the eyepiece. 11. Rate: Instantly changes the rate of speed of the motors when the direction buttons are pressed. 12.
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. One Star Align uses the same time/ location information but only uses one star for alignment. 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 Auto Align procedure.
Solar System Align 2. Once the telescope is finished slewing to your first alignment star, the display will ask you to use the arrow buttons to align the selected star with the cross hairs in the center of the finderscope. When centered in the finder, press ENTER. Solar System Align is designed to provide excellent tracking and GoTo performance by using solar system objects (Sun, Moon and planets) to align the telescope with the sky.
Quick-Align alignment star to be replaced. It is usually best to replace the star closest to the new object. This will space out your alignment stars across the sky. Quick-Align uses all the date and time information entered at startup to align the telescope. 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.
Tour Mode telescope. While holding that button down, press the opposite directional button. This will increase the slew rate to the maximum slew rate. The telescopes include a tour feature which automatically allows the user to choose from a list of interesting objects based on the date and time in which you are observing. The automatic tour will display only those objects that are within your set filter limits (see Filter Limits in the Setup Procedures section of the manual).
the field of view of your eyepiece. Additionally, Identify Mode can be used to find other celestial objects that are close to the objects you are currently observing. For example, if your telescope is pointed at the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, choosing Identify and then searching the Named Star catalog will no doubt return the star Vega as the star you are observing.
horizon. As a result, when scrolling through the database lists (or selecting the Tour function), the hand control will display only those objects that are known to be above the horizon when you are observing. You can customize the object database by selecting altitude limits that are appropriate for your location and situation. For example, if you are observing from a mountainous location where the horizon is partially obscured, you can set your minimum altitude limit to read +20º.
OTA Orientation — Some users may wish to use an optional tandem bar adapter which allows you to attach to the mount two optical tubes at the same time. When most tandem bars are attached to a mount, the optical tubes are positioned at a 90 degree angle from the standard configuration. In order for the mount to be successfully aligned with the stars, it must know that a tandem bar is being used and in which direction the optical tube(s) are positioned (East or West) when beginning an alignment.
Hibernate — Hibernate allows the telescope to be completely powered down and still retain its alignment when turned back on. This not only saves power, but is ideal for those that have their telescopes permanently mounted or leave their telescope in one location for long periods of time. To place your telescope in Hibernate mode: takes to center an object can be changed. To change the telescopes slewing direction, see Goto Approach under the Scope Setup menu.
hand control database to find the coordinates of a celestial object for a future or past dates you would need to turn the RTC off in order to manually enter a time other than the present. the worm gear errors and improving the tracking accuracy of the drive. This feature is for advanced astrophotography and is used when your telescope is accurately polar aligned. For more information on using PEC, see the section on “Astrophotography.
LIST ALIGN MENU NAME STAR TRACKING MODE NGC ALIGNMENT STARS EQ NORTH SAO EQ SOUTH CALIB. STARS SOLAR SYSTEM RATE SIDEREAL TOUR POLAR ALIGN SOLAR VARIABLE STARS LUNAR ALIGN MOUNT VIEW TIME -SITE ABELL ASTERISM SCOPE SETUP DISPLAY ALIGN SETUP TIME -SITE ANTI -BACKLASH CCD OBJECTS SYNC FILT ER LIMITS CALDWELL CONSTELLATIONS DIRECTION BUTTONS UNDO SYNC GOTO APPROACH DOUBLE STARS AUTOGUIDE RATES IC OTA ORIENTATION MESSIER MERIDIAN MOUNT SETTINGS NAMED OBJECT R.A.
Astronomy Basics Up to this point, this manual covered the assembly and basic operation of your telescope. However, to understand your telescope more thoroughly, you need to know a little about the night sky. This section deals with observational astronomy in general and includes information on the night sky and polar alignment. the largest circles rising in the east and setting in the west.
The constant, mentioned above, is a relationship between your latitude and the angular distance the celestial pole is above the northern (or southern) horizon; The angular distance from the northern horizon to the north celestial pole is always equal to your latitude. To illustrate this, imagine that you are standing on the north pole, latitude +90°. The north celestial pole, which has a declination of +90°, would be directly overhead (i.e., 90 above the horizon).
the celestial pole, you can simply point the polar axis of your telescope at Polaris. Although this is by no means perfect alignment, it does get you within one degree and is suitable for visual observing and short exposure piggyback photography. This must be done in the dark when Polaris is visible and can be done using the hole in the polar axis or with the help of the optional polar axis finderscope. See Optional Accessory section. reside.
Optional Accessories PowerTank (#18774) — 12v 7Amp hour rechargeable power supply. Comes with two 12v output cigarette outlets, builtin red flash light , Halogen emergency spotlight. Switchable 110v/220v AC adapter and cigarette lighter adapter included. You will find that additional accessories enhance your viewing pleasure and expand the usefulness of your telescope. For ease of reference, all the accessories are listed in alphabetical order.
Appendix A – Technical Specifications CGEM DX Mount Hand Control Double line, 16 character Liquid Crystal Display; 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons Motor: Type DC Servo motors with encoders, both axes Max Slew Speed 5º/second Software Precision 24 bit, 0.
Aperture D– The diameter of a telescope’s primary lens or mirror; the larger the aperture, the greater the telescope’s light–gathering power. Apparent Magnitude A measure of the relative brightness of a star or other celestial object as perceived by an observer on Earth. Arc minute A unit of angular size equal to 1/60 of a degree. Arc second A unit of angular size equal to 1/3,600 of a degree (or 1/60 of an arc minute). Asterism A small unofficial grouping of stars in the night sky.
Messier A French astronomer in the late 1700’s who was primarily looking for comets. Comets are hazy diffuse objects and so Messier cataloged objects that were not comets to help his search. This catalog became the Messier Catalog, M1 through M110. Resolution Right The angular distance of a celestial Ascension: (RA) object measured in hours, minutes, and seconds along the Celestial Equator eastward from the Vernal Equinox. N– Nebula Interstellar cloud of gas and dust.
Appendix C - RS-232 Connection Description PC Command ASCII Hand Control Response Notes Echo Kx x# Useful to check communication # 10 characters sent. B=Command, 12AB=Azm, comma, 4000=Alt. If command conflicts with slew limits, there will be no action. Goto Azm-Alt B12AB, 4000 Goto Ra-Dec R34AB, 12CE # Scope must be aligned. If command conflicts with slew limits, there will be no action.
Additional RS232 Commands Send Any Track Rate Through RS232 To The Motor Control 2. Separate POSITION_24BIT into three bytes such that (POSITION_24BIT = PosHigh x 65536 + PosMed x 256 + PosLow). Exampe: PosHigh = 156, PosMed = 113, PosLow = 199 1. Multiply the desired tracking rate (arcseconds/second) by 4. Example: if the desired trackrate is 150 arcseconds/second, then TRACKRATE = 600 3. Send the following 8 bytes: a) Azm Slow Goto: 80, 4, 16, 23, PosHigh, PosMed, PosLow, 0 2.
Appendix D – Maps Of Time Zones 27
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Sky Maps 29
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Celestron Two Year Warranty A. Celestron warrants this telescope to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two years. Celestron will repair or replace such product or part thereof which, upon inspection by Celestron, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of Celestron to repair or replace such product, the product must be returned to Celestron together with proof-of-purchase satisfactory to Celestron.
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