Meade 2045 - Telescope Operation: Your First Observations; Focusing

TELESCOPE OPERATION: YOUR FIRST OBSERVATIONS
With the telescope standing upright on its drive base (i.e. without the 3 tripod legs attached), the
eyepiece-holder/diagonal prism attached, and with the MA 25mm eyepiece inserted into the diagonal
prism, you are ready to make observations through the telescope.
WARNING ! NEVER POINT THE TELESCOPE DIRECTLY AT OR NEAR THE SUN, OR ATTEMPT TO
OBSERVE THE SUN, EITHER THROUGH THE MAIN TELESCOPE OR THE VIEWFINDER, WITHOUT
A PROPER PROFESSIONAL QUALITY SOLAR FILTER! INSTANT AND IRREVERSIBLE INJURY TO
YOUR EYE MAY OTHERWISE RESULT!
By unlocking the R.A. lock (7), Fig. 1, the telecope may be turned rapidly through wide angles in Right
Ascension (R.A.) The reason for the terminology "Right Ascension" and its complementary term
"Declination" will be made clear further on in this manual. For now, "Right Ascension" simply means
"horizontal" and "Declination" means "vertical."
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE THE TELESCOPE MANUALLY IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION WHEN
THE R.A. LOCK IS IN THE FULLY "LOCKED" POSITION, AS SUCH OPERATION MAY RESULT IN
DAMAGE TO THE INTERNAL GEAR SYSTEM.
Release the Declination lock (2), Fig. 1, by rotating the control lever in a counterclockwise direction. This
permits sweeping the telescope through wide angles in Declination.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE THE TELESCOPE MANUALLY IN A VERTICAL DIRECTION WHEN
THE DECLINATION LOCK IS IN THE "LOCKED" POSITION.
To use the Declination fine-adjust, or slow-motion control, lock the telescope in Declination using the
Declination lock (2) Fig. 1, and turn the Declination slow-motion knob (5), Fig. 1.
NOTE THAT THIS DECLINATION SLOW-MOTION CONTROL HAS A FIXED TRAVEL LENGTH,
LIMITED BY THE MOTION OF A TANGENT ARM (LOCATED INSIDE THE FORK TINE). DO NOT
FORCE THE DECLINATION SLOW-MOTION KNOB WHEN THE TANGENT ARM HAS REACHED THE
END OF ITS TRAVEL. IN THIS CASE, TURN THE DEC. KNOB TO RETURN THE TANGENT ARM TO
THE MID POINT IN ITS TRAVEL RANGE, UNLOCK THE DECLINATION LOCK AND RE-CENTER THE
TELESCOPE MANUALLY.
With the above mechanical operations in mind, select an easy-to-find terrestrial object as your first subject
— for example a house or building perhaps one-half mile distant. Unlock the Dec. lock (2), Fig. 1, and
R.A. lock (7), Fig. 1, center the object in the telescopic field of view and then re-lock the Dec. and R.A.
locks. Precise image centering is accomplished by using the Dec. and R.A. slow motion controls (5) and
(9), Fig. 1.
FOCUSING
The focusing kob is located at the "4 o’clock" position as you face the rear cell of the telescope. Focusing
is accomplsihed internally by a precise motion of the telescope primary mirror, so that as you turn the
focus knob, there are no externally moving parts.
Focusing the telescope from its nearest possible focus point (on an object about 15 ft. away) to an object
at infinity requires a fairly large number of rotations of the focus knob. The focuser is designed to provide
an extremely sensitive means of bringing an object into precise, sharp focus. After a specific object has
been brought into focus, closer objects require turning the focus knob clockwise; more distant objects
require turning the focus knob counterclockwise.
It is possible that you may notice a very slight shifting of the image as you focus, particularly at high