www.iOptron.com Manual SmartStarTM-G Series Refractor, Newtonian and Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescopes www . iOptron .
www.iOptron.com WARNING! NEVER USE A SMARTSTAR TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.
www.iOptron.com CONTENTS TIP: For beginner users without a lot of knowledge in astronomy please refer to the Quick Start Reference. It contains enough information to get you started so you can enjoy the night sky without knowing all the jargon and math. Chapter. 0 Quick Start Reference 0.1 Assembly 0.2 GoToNovaTM Features 0.3 Getting Started Chapter. 1 Set Up And Align 1.1 Basic Symbols 1.2 Set Up 1.3 Align Chapter. 2 Select And Slew 2.1 Planets, sun, moon 2.2 Deep Sky Objects 2.3 Comets 2.4 Asteroids 2.
www.iOptron.com For beginner users without a lot of knowledge in astronomy please refer to the Quick Start Menu. It contains enough information to get you started so you can enjoy the night sky without knowing all the jargon and math. TIP: Learn some astronomy basics For more serious users we assume that you know some astronomy basics in reading this manual. Please refer to Appendix A for a more detailed menu structure.
www.iOptron.com Chapter 0 Quick Start Reference 0.1 Assembly NOTE: Make sure that your telescope is not too heavy for your mount 1. 2. 3. 4. Telescope tube Dovetail lock Hand held controller Altitude lock FIG. 1 1. Unpack the package, take out all the parts. 2. Set up the tripod(6). 3. Put the mount(5) on the top of tripod(6), hold the mount with one hand, put the supporting rod(7) through the hole on the top of tripod with the other hand, screw and tighten the mount on the top of tripod(6). 4.
www.iOptron.com TIP: Alt-Az mode is easier to set up, and easier to operate. Adjust the tripod and the mount, check the bubble on the mount, make sure it is horizontal. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Mount Tripod Inner support Tray Tray lock NOTE: A-series can also work in equatorial mode FIG.2 TIP: If you are not using the AC adaptor, you need eight AA batteries. 5. Fit the tray (8) to the lower end of the rod (7), also fit the three indents to the three legs of tripod, tighten the tray lock (9).
www.iOptron.com 0.2 GoToNova TM Features: (8402) LCD Display Menu Back Up Left Right Enter Down Help Speed Light FIG.
www.iOptron.com The 8402 GoToNovaTM hand held controller controls TM SmartStar G series telescopes. Its user interface is simple and easy-to-learn, it can automatically move to any of the 50,000 objects stored in the database with the push of a button. LCD Display: 8-line big screen, it displays all the information Back Key: Moves back to the previous screen. Menu Key: Gets to the Main Menu. Enter Key: Confirms an input, goes to the next menu, selects a choice, slews the telescope to a selected object.
www.iOptron.com TIP: GPS module makes life a lot easier, it automatically sets the time and location for you. 0.3 Getting Started For most beginner users who may not need a lot of astronomical detail this chapter gives just enough information to set up the controller. After the easy-to-follow setup you will be ready to point your telescope to wherever you want in the night sky. After assembling the telescope [Refer to our Assembling Chart], you need to level the mount.
www.iOptron.com TIP: Spend some time familiarizing yourself with these bright stars in the night sky direct you to any location in the night sky (provided that the object is in the database and above the horizon). Simply choose any object in the menu and press ENTER. Although not required, we strongly suggest that you double check your initial alignment with additional bright objects in the night sky, For example, in the menu, select “Venus” (if it is indeed in the sky) and press ENTER.
www.iOptron.com Chapter.1 Set Up And Alignment 1.0 Basic Symbols Appendix: Check Appendix D for a brief introduction of celestial coordinate systems R Right ascension D Declination A Altitude Z Azimuth Cele Sidereal speed Sola Solar speed Moon Lunar speed Land Land mode nnX Slewing speed 1.1 Set Up By default, the mount works in Alt-az mode. Turn on the power button located on the mount. You will see the iOptron logo screen. Then you will see the zero position screen: TR.A. 1h36m 2s TDEC 90°0’ 0” R.A.
www.iOptron.com Alphard A 39°43.3′ Z 221°20.0′ Center the target then press “ENTER” 2X Use “UP” and “DOWN” arrow buttons to select a star and press ENTER. Use SPEED button to select a speed, and use arrow buttons to center the star in your telescope. Press ENTER when finished. 1.2.2 Two-Star Align If your mount is not horizontal one-star align is usually not accurate enough. You will need to do two-star align. Select “Two-star align” from the previous menu. Select one bright star from the menu.
www.iOptron.com Chapter. 2 Select And Slew After you have finished the set up and align steps in chapter 1 go to the main menu. Select “Select and slew.” Now you can select any celestial objects in the database and GoToNovaTM will take you there—whether it is a star, a planet, an asteroid, a comet or a galaxy. Appendix: Check Appendix B and Appendix C for names of galaxies and constellations Check astronomy books and magazines such as “Sky and Telescope.
www.iOptron.com 2.7 User Objects User defined objects, user can define up to 128 objects TIP: By specifying R.A. and DEC numbers (or A and Z ) , you can point your telescope to anywhere on the celestial sphere. 2.8 Enter R.A. DEC. In Equatorial mode the user can target a location by specifying its RA (Right Ascension) and DEC (Declination). Use the arrow buttons to move the cursor and adjust the values. Press ENTER.
www.iOptron.com Chapter. 3 Other Functions 3.1 Sync To Target Matches the telescope's current equatorial coordinates to Target Right Ascension and Declination. 3.2 Electric Focuser If you have an electric focuser in your system, use this option to adjust the focuser. Appendix: Check Appendix A for complete menu structures 3.3 PEC option If you telescope is equipped with Periodic Error Correction, use this option to adjust Periodic Error Correction. 3.4 Set up tracking Set up tracking speed. 3.
www.iOptron.com Chapter. 4 How to Observe TIP: The earth’s axis of rotation is tipped over about 23.5° from the vertical. TIP: People usually use alt-zi mode to observe land objects. TIP: People usually use optics that produces normal images (not revered, or up-sidedown images) to observe land objects. 4.1 Land Objects If you want to observe land objects, such as a mountain top or a bird, you should use “Land” mode. Simply point the telescope to your target and look through the eye piece.
www.iOptron.com TIP: A Full Moon is not the best time to watch the Moon. 4.3 The Moon The Moon, when visible in the night sky, is most likely the first celestial object you want to watch with your new telescope. It is also the most convenient object in the sky to test some of the GoToNovaTM functions. You can even use the Moon to align your telescope. There are a lot to explore on the surface of the Moon, such as craters, mountain ranges and fault lines, etc.
www.iOptron.com APPENDIX A MENU STRUCTURE MENU Select and slew Planets,sun,moon Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Sum Moon Deep sky objects Named deepsky objects Messier Catalog Comets Asteroids Stars Name stars Constellations Double stars SAO bright stars User objects Enter position Watch list Land Objects Goto Land mark Record now land mark Add a new Land Mark Edit one data Sync .
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www.iOptron.com APPENDIX D Celestial Coordinates Celestial North Pole Zenith Median of the location East Altitude North South Azimuth Observer’s horizon West Celestial South Pole Nadir FIG.
www.iOptron.com Celestial North Pole Zenith median of location δ, declination t, hour angle M, midpoint East North South Observer’s horizon axis of rotation Celestial Equator star hour circle West Celestial South Pole Nadir FIG.
www.iOptron.com Celestial North Pole Zenith median of location hour circle Celestial Equator δ, declination α, right ascension East North South Observer’s horizon axis of rotation γ gamma point star hour circle West Celestial South Pole Nadir FIG.
www.iOptron.com To understand the celestial coordinate systems there are several concepts that should be clarified. TIP: Celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere of infinite radius. The Celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere of infinite radius concentric with the earth on which all celestial bodies are assumed to be projected. Celestial coordinates are used to define a point on the celestial sphere. A great circle, a.k.a., orthodrome, is the intersection of a sphere and a plane through its center.
www.iOptron.com TIP: Don’t be intimidated by the geometry. Hands-on experience will help you understand the concepts better. Since the celestial sphere completes a full rotation in 24 hours, it follows that: 24 h = 360°, 1 h = 15°, 1 min = 15’, and 1 sec = 15”. The declination (δ, DEC, or D) is measured along the hour circle (perpendicular to the equator, passing through the celestial poles) passing through the star from the point it intersects the equator, it is in degrees.
www.iOptron.com Appendix E SPECIFICATIONS A-Series Specifications LCD Display…………………………8-line Mount….…………………………….The Cube Alignment……………………………Altazimuth/Equatorial GPS………………………………….32-channel GPS included CPU………………………………….32 bit USB Port…………………………….Yes RS232 Port………………………….Yes Slewing Speeds…………………….9-Speed (1x, 2x, 8x, 16x, 64x, 128x, 256x, 512x, MAX) Tripod………………………………..Stainless Steel(6.0 lbs) Batteries(User-Supplied)…………..8 x AA TM GoToNova Version………………8402 Objects in database………………..
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Appendix G Alignment Stars Stars for Alignment (iOptron SmartStar, GoToNova) www.iOptron.com StarName Achernar Acrux Al Na'ir Albireo Aldebaran Alphard Alphecca Alpheratz Altair Antares Arcturus Betelgeuse Canopus Capella Deneb Denebola Deneb Kaitos Dubhe Fomalhaut Hamal Markab Constellation RA DEC Eri 1.6285685 -57.2367575 TYC 8478-1395-1 PPM 331199 SAO 232481 HD 10144 CPD -57 00334 Cru 12.443056 -63.098611 TYC 8979-3464-1 PPM 359410 SAO 251904 HD 108248 CPD -62 02745 Gru 22.136944 -46.
www.iOptron.com IOPTRON TWO YEAR TELESCOPE, MOUNT, AND CONTROLLER WARRANTY A. iOptron warrants your telescope, mount, or controller to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two years. iOptron will repair or replace such product or part which, upon inspection by iOptron, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship.
