Transcript
Iowa County Astronomers Wolkomir Telescope Quick Start Guide •
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Carefully wheel the telescope out to the field. If possible, immediately plug the telescope into the outlet located on the light pole. Bring along the eyepiece box which includes the telescope collimation tool and stepladder to reach the eyepiece when necessary. Remove primary and secondary mirror covers from the telescope. Turn on the ‘fan’ button on the base of the telescope to begin cooling the Figure 1 mirror (see figure 1) If the scope is plugged into power, turn on the dew heater switch. If you are running on batteries, leave this off.
Collimate the telescope: • Lower the telescope into a near-horizontal position to prevent anything from accidentally falling onto the primary mirror. • Insert the laser collimator into the eyepiece socket (see figure 2) Face the ‘window’ in the collimator towards the primary mirror. • Look at the red dot on the primary mirror (see figure 3) Adjust the 3 secondary mirror screws (using the hex Figure 2 screwdriver in the eyepiece case) until the laser is pointing near the white circle in the middle of the primary mirror. It should be at least touching the white circle. Perfectly centering the laser can be challenging and is not required. Note: all 3 screws should be fairly tight when you are finished. To make adjustments, loosen 2 screws and tighten the 3rd to adjust the secondary mirror. You may find this step difficult- adjusting the 3 screws is challenging. Keep with it and you’ll soon understand the pattern of screw tightening required. Figure 3 • Once the laser is touching the primary mirror’s center mark, your secondary mirror is collimated. • To collimate the primary mirror, position yourself behind the primary mirror and look through the viewport of the collimator (see figure 2). If the bolts are not visible, rotate the access panel until the bolts are available (see figure 4). Adjust the 3 large bolts on the back of the primary mirror using the spark-plug wrench until the laser dot is centered in Figure 4 the viewport. If the red dot is not visible at all in the viewport, you should be able to at least detect a brighter area of red in the viewport. When adjusting the bolts, try to get that bright spot to become brighter until the laser dot appears. Note that these bolts can be very difficult to turn. • Continue to adjust the 3 bolts until the laser dot ‘disappears’ in the hole in the middle of the collimation window. • Rotate the access panel to re-open to allow ventilation of the primary mirror. • Congratulation- the scope is now collimated! Turn off the collimator and put it away.
Working with the computer controller • Turn on the computer locator using the small black button on the side of the unit, then set the date to the current date. This is needed for locating planets. • Choose 2 stars which are not too close to zenith or the horizon and which are fairly far apart. 90 degrees of separation or more is best. • The controller should display ‘Sight 1st Star’ in the display. Press Enter on the controller (see figure 5). Polaris should be displayed. Move the scope to Polaris, focus and center Polaris in Figure 5 the eyepiece. Polaris makes a very good 1st star because it won’t try to run away from you while you’re focusing and centering the telescope. Press Enter to let the controller know you have Polaris centered. • The display should now show ‘Sight 2nd Star’. Press Enter and choose the 2nd star you want to align on using the up and down buttons on the controller. Center your second star, then press Enter once more on the controller. The controller will now be in operating mode. Choosing a target with the controller • Once the scope is aligned, you may now select any target in the computer to view. • To choose which target you wish to find, use the arrow keys on the controller to move the cursor until it is over the object name. If the cursor is over the catalog name, you can use the up and down arrows to choose a different catalog- such as Messier, NGC or Planets. Once you have selected the catalog you want, move the cursor to the number to the right of the catalog. Use the up and down arrows to change the number to select your object such as Mes 0042. • The upper line of the display has 2 modes- absolute and relative. Absolute will display an objects coordinates, but in order to move the telescope to locate an object, you need the relative mode. • To change between modes, press Enter, then press the Up arrow. The display will show an asterisk on the 1st line of the display when it is in relative mode. It will also now display the distance in degrees of altitude and azimuth you need to move the telescope in order to locate the object. • While watching the controller, slowly move the telescope in altitude and azimuth until the readout goes to 0 and 0 in alt and az. • Using a low-power eyepiece, your object should now be in the eyepiece of the telescope. If it is not visible, try slowly scanning in a circular direction while looking through the eyepiece- sometimes the object will be just outside the field of view of the eyepiece. Most of the time it should be in the view, but it’s fairly common for it to be just outside the field- especially if you have a mid to high power eyepiece inserted. • Enjoy the view! Using the controller at the eyepiece • You may use the controller either with the plug at the primary mirror box or with the plug near the eyepiece. If you use the plug near the eyepiece, it is necessary to insert the plug in the primary mirror box into the receptacle on the side of the primary mirror box. Shutdown Checklist • Turn off all the switches to the telescope • Unplug the telescope from power • Turn off the computer locator • Turn off the Telrad • Cover both mirrors unless they are dewed up. If they have dew, leave the covers off. • Return all equipment to the eyepiece case • Wheel the telescope back inside
