www.meade.com MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL 80mm | 3.1” 90mm | 3.5” Alt-azimuth Refracting Telescope 102mm | 4.
WARNING! Never use a Meade® telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at 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 at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope or viewfinder as it is moving. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.
INTRODUCTION Your telescope is an excellent beginner’s instrument, and is designed to observe objects in the sky and also on land. It can be your personal window on the universe or allows you to intimately study the behavior of nesting birds on a distant hillside. The telescope is shipped with the following parts: • Optical tube • Alt-azimuth mount with slow motion controls • Stainless Steel tripod with accessory tray • Three 1.25” eyepieces: MA26mm, MA9mm, MA6.
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SETTING UP YOUR TRIPOD The tripod is the basic support for your telescope and comes pre-assembled from the factory; except for the accessory tray. The tripod height may be adjusted so that you can view comfortably. Note: Number in brackets, e.g., (3), refer to the item numbers in Fig. 1. 1. To setup the tripod, spread the legs out evenly and place it on a solid surface. 2. Set the height of your tripod: a. Rotate and loosen the leg lock thumbscrew (18) to unlock the leg lock. b.
4 ATTACH THE OPTICAL TUBE TO THE MOUNT The optical tube gathers distant light which is focused in the eyepiece. It attaches to the mount using the optical tube attaching knob (24) and dovetail mounting rail (6). 1. To attach the optical tube, first locate the threaded hole on the bottom side of the dovetail mounting rail(6) (Fig 4). 2. Using the optical tube attaching knob (24), place the dovetail onto the top of the mount, lining up the threaded Fig.
SUN WARNING phone pole or a distant mountain or tower. Look through the eyepiece in and turn the NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE focuser knob (21) until the image is sharpTO LOOK AT THE SUN! ly focused. Center the object precisely in LOOKING AT OR NEAR THE SUN WILL CAUSE the eyepiece’s field of view. INSTANT AND IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO YOUR 2. Turn on the red-dot viewfinder by rotating EYE. EYE DAMAGE IS OFTEN PAINLESS, SO the large knob under the viewfinder lens clockwise (10).
Have a good time when you’re observYou may not know everything that 6 ing. there is to know about a telescope or what all the sights in the universe are, but that’s OK. Just point and observe at first. You will enjoy your telescope even more as you learn more about it. But don’t be scared off by difficult terms or complicated procedures. Don’t panic! Just relax and enjoy your scope. You will begin to grow and learn more about astronomy the more you observe.
first time you go out at night. Pick a night when the Moon is a crescent. No shadows are seen during a full Moon, making it appear flat and uninteresting. Look for different features on the Moon. The most obvious features are craters. In fact you can see craters within craters. Some craters have bright lines about them. These are called rays and are the result of material thrown out of the crater when it was struck by a colliding object.
8 had grown much bigger, they may have become stars. Pluto is made mostly of ice. Jupiter is quite interesting to observe. You can see bands across the face of Jupiter. The more time you spend observing these bands, the more details you will be able to see. One of the most fascinating sights of Jupiter are its moons. The four largest moons are called the Galilean moons, after the astronomer Galileo, who observed them for the first time.
What’s Next? Beyond the Solar System: Once you have observed our own system of planets, it’s time to really travel far from home and look at stars and other objects. You can observe thousands of stars with your telescope. At first, you may think stars are just pinpoints of light and aren’t very interesting. But look again. There is much information that is revealed in stars. The first thing you will notice is that not all stars are the same colors.
in your eyepiece inside the circle. The best exercise for drawing is to observe 10 the moons of Jupiter every night or so. Try to make Jupiter and the moons approximately the same size as they look in your eyepiece. You will see that the moons are in a different position every night. As you get better at drawing, try more challenging sights, like a crater system on the moon or even a nebula. Go your library or check out the internet for more information about astronomy.
placed at the edge of the field, ready to be further observed. Vibrations: Avoid touching the eyepiece while observing through the telescope. Vibrations resulting from such contact will cause the image to move. Avoid observing sites where vibrations cause image movement (for example, near railroad tracks). Viewing from the upper floors of a building may also cause image movement. Let your eyes “dark-adapt:” Allow five or ten minutes for your eyes to become “dark adapted” before observing.
HAVE A GOOD TIME, 12 ASTRONOMY IS FUN! SPECIFICATIONS Infinity 80 model: Objective lens diameter Optical tube focal length Focal ratio Mounting type Viewfinder 80mm(3.2”) 400mm f/5 Alt-azimuth Red-dot Infinity 90 model: Objective lens diameter Optical tube focal length 90mm(3.5”) 600mm Focal ratio Mounting type Viewfinder Infinity 102 model: Objective lens diameter Optical tube focal length Focal ratio Mounting type Viewfinder f/6.7 Alt-azimuth Red-dot 102mm(4.0”) 600mm f/5.
times. The 9mm eyepiece magnifies objects 66.7 times. If you obtain other eyepieces, you can calculate how much magnification they have with your telescope. Just divide the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece. Focal Length of the Telescope ÷ Focal Length of the Eyepiece = Magnification Look at the specifications. For the Infinity 90, you will see that the focal length of this scope is 600mm. Let’s say that you have obtained a 13mm eyepiece.
• Fingerprints and organic materials on the front lens may be removed with a solution of 3 parts distilled water to 1 part isopropyl alcohol. You may also add 1 drop of biodegradable dishwashing soap per pint of solution. Use soft, white facial tissues and make short, gentle strokes. Change tissues often. 14 CAUTION: Do not use scented or lotioned tissues or damage could result to the optics. DO NOT use a commercial photographic lens cleaner.
into the viewfinder and power on. OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES Additional Eyepieces (1.25” barrel diameter): For higher or lower magnifications with the telescopes that accommodate 1.25” eyepieces, Meade Series 4000 Super Plössl eyepieces, Fig. 7 Push side here to open battery compartment 15 OBSERVING TIPS • • • CR2032 battery Battery compartment available in a wide variety of sizes, provide a high level of image resolution and color correction at an economical price.
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OBSERVATION LOG OBSERVER: OBJECT NAME: DATE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLATION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMAGE photocopy this page
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