Meade ETX 90

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:19 pm

I'm looking at getting a meade ETX 90 and would like to know if you can connect it up to a 12v battery to power the mount instead of useing the AA's size batterys
thank you

Ender Of Days · Post by **Ender Of Days** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:52 pm

I believe you can,

Have a look here .. http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html

JJ..

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:45 pm

The Meade ETX90 manual (as pdf)can be downloaded:

http://www.meade.com/manuals/TelescopeM ... EC_man.pdf

There is a 12v power port shown on the mounting's base.

ATB,

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:10 am

Brian wrote:The Meade ETX90 manual (as pdf)can be downloaded:

http://www.meade.com/manuals/TelescopeM ... EC_man.pdf

There is a 12v power port shown on the mounting's base.

ATB,

Hi yes I saw this but it only mentions using a 12v mains unit

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:11 am

Ender Of Days wrote:I believe you can,

Have a look here .. http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html

JJ..

thanks for the link I will have read through it cheers

Ender Of Days · Post by **Ender Of Days** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:00 pm

Ive been looking at that site for months now,and I can still find new stuff buried within

JJ..

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:35 pm

just had a look on that site but cant find any mention about the plug that goes in the mount if it has a positive or negative centere pin does anyone know

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:31 pm

Have a look at the FAQ here:
http://www.weasner.com/etx/faq.html#polarity

Quote " Q. I am making an AC Adapter for the ETX. What is the Polarity of the center pin?
A. The center pin is positive. " unquote

HTH,

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:15 pm

Brian wrote:Have a look at the FAQ here:
http://www.weasner.com/etx/faq.html#polarity

Quote " Q. I am making an AC Adapter for the ETX. What is the Polarity of the center pin?
A. The center pin is positive. " unquote

HTH,

Hi thanks thats perfect

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:04 pm

Another thing I am not sure about is the "HOME" position on the weasner's site it has=
. "The HOME position depends on the model and alignment mode you select. If you don't have a PE model (with the LNT), then there is only one Home position for the ETX-90/105/125: CCW to the hard stop and then back CW about 120 degrees to point the OTA to True North (the control panel will be on the west side). For the ETX-60/70/80, which don't have hard stops on the Azimuth axis, you just point the OTA to True North. For the PE model, if not using Auto Align, the Home position is the same as for the non-PE ETX-90/105/125. If using Auto Align on the PE models, then the Home position is CCW to the hard stop and leave it there (control panel still on the west side). For Alt/Az mounting, the OTA is always level. For Polar mounting, the OTA will be pointed at the North (or South) Celestial Pole. For more on the HOME position, see the "Alignment Tips" articles on the "AutoStar Information" page as well as the "Premier Edition / LNT Specific Tips" section on the Helpful Information: Telescope Tech Tips page"

if I'm reading it right is says for auto align you turn it fully CCW and leave it there but it also says after turning fully CCW to turn CW 120deg to point true north I'm not clear on which I should do can anyone tell me

thanks

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:55 pm

Wow! seems a little complicated

Looks to me as though you need to know which model you are getting to know which setup to use. Do you know the model/type number?

ATB,

hunterz · Post by **hunterz** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:21 pm

Hi yes its the ETX 90PE version

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:34 pm

Right, I've found the ETX90PE manual and had a quick look:

http://www.meade.com/manuals/TelescopeM ... dition.pdf

The PE model uses the Meade autostar controller handset, allowing tracking and GoTo capability.

In alt/az mode there are two possibilities for alignment, "auto" (manual page 17) and "advanced" (manual page 36). Depending on which one you choose to use, the home position setup is different. In auto setup mode the telescope selects alignment stars for you, and the home position is the fully counterclockwise position. For the advanced setup, where you can choose your alignment stars, you first move the telescope fully clockwise by hand, then turn the telescope clockwise by hand about a quarter of a turn until a forkarm is directly over the computer control panel. Then lock both axes.

You know, the more I read the manual, the more confusing things become. The next step in advanced alignment is then to put the telescope in the Auto - home position, against the stop... Doh! Have to admit I'm getting as confused as you probably are. You have my sympathies

Oh Dear!

Ender Of Days · Post by **Ender Of Days** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:43 pm

Meade aren't exactly too clear in the manuals,

Using my ETX 125,
you should ensure the scope is pointing as close to North as possible (I use the compass/bubble) and is leveled in between the mount arms,
Then (with r a lock undone) it has to be rotated anti clockwise until it stops rotating (hard stop) then turned back clockwise until the left (port) fork arm is above the control panel on the base (this is so the mount doesn't twist all the wiring in the base)
Then lock the r a lock,

I always use the manual 2 star align,the scope (at least mine) won't put the star in the eye piece all the time so I use the handset to centre it,then press accept,
the mount will have figured out the error and should go pretty much to the 2ND align star,if not use the handset to centre and press accept again,

That should be it

Its actually quite simple once you've done it a few times

JJ..

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:40 pm

Hooray, the Cavalry have arrived just in time

At last, somebody who knows what they are talking about (unlike me

).

From what you say. it looks like the alignment procedure is pretty close to the alt/az setup for my LX90 after all.

Thanks, JJ!

Regards,