ds-2114

Hi all,
I'm new here and I have just recived a Meade DS-2114 with autostar. I got this for my 12 yr. old daughter to "dabble" with.

I did the setup by the book, but when I do the two-star alignment it always seems to be off when going to these two stars.
I know that it will be a few degrees off because I don't live in the closest city that I picked during setup of the controller, I live about 10 miles from it.

Is the normal? Oh yeah, I did level the tripod and the scope and pointed the scope north. Would it be better to use the computer hook-up and update autostar, or just continue to pan the scope until I get the star that I need?

Thanks for the help
Doug

you are doing good and no need to really change a lot.

with the meade auto star you point the scope to north, make sure the tripod is level.
when you enter the date and time (dont forget the daylight savings time option) and then tell it to do the 2 star alignment, its ALWAYS going to be off on the first star by severl degrees. you will move the scope using the hand controller to center the star in the eye piece, then hit the ENTER key to "Sync" on that star. it will display "calculating" then move to the next star, it should be a little closer, but dont hold your breath. Then when it gets over to the second star center that one in the eye piece and then hit ENTER to sync. then it should say "Allignment Successful". THen you can begin your goto fun. the GOTO's will be close, but usually not dead center in the eye peice. Sometimes it will be dead on and other it wil be way off. this is just how it works.

now when you do a goto that will take you to the oposite side of the sky (going from east to west) you wil notice the "goto" is a bit off, hit the enter key to tell autostar you are adjusting the alignment and then just center the object in the center of the eye piece using the hand controller and hit enter to sync.

the meade manuals really dont explan this well at all. but once you get the hang of it its pretty easy to set up, align and star your observing

James