Star alignment— Identify two bright stars that you can see ~60 degrees apart (do not use Polaris). If you don’t know the night sky very well, a simple star atlas will be needed as SV2 uses star names in the alignment process.
Lumicon Sky Vector II Alignment & Object Location Instructions for Dobsonian Telescopes:
Lumicon is now owned by
farpointastro.com but doesn’t appear to stock the
Sky Vector II (SV2) or provide any resources such as the
operating manual.
Download PDF version: Sky Vector II Instructions.pdf
Note: Some units have the Enter button labeled as Star, regardless it’s the second from the left of the four button row: Mode—Star/Enter—Up—Down. (see image below)
Star alignment—
Identify two bright stars that you can see ~60
degrees apart (do not use Polaris). If you don’t know the night sky
very well, a simple star atlas will be needed as SV2 uses star names
in the alignment process.
Powering
up SV2 with telescope pointing straight up vertically within the
mount will auto select Vertical,
press Star/Enter to
verify the scope is vertical. This gives the “home position” for
the optical encoders.
Note: just Enter
will be used in following instructions.
SV2 then auto advances to Star
Fix, press Enter.
A
list of alignment stars appears, scroll with Up/Down
to first desired star, for example Vega (don’t press any button),
then move scope so as to get first desired star centered in your
eyepiece, press Enter.
The alignment star list reappears automatically.
Scroll to alignment star #2 (don’t press any button), center in eyepiece, press Enter. This sequence of scrolling, centering in eyepiece, and then pressing Enter is critical. If done correctly, your ready to select your first object to view, but note that the SV2 doesn’t indicate this. But first…
Press Mode to go to Set-Up/Date (two digits for month/day/year) to verify it is correct and, if necessary, adjust to today’s date by changing numerical choice with Up/Down, then press Enter to set and advance to next digit. After the second digit of the year is set, selection auto advances to Scope AV--Scroll speed (which can be bypassed by pressing Mode).
Note: Mode selections include: Catalog, Guide, Timer, Align, SetUp, Encoder, Star Fix, and RA DEC.
Press Mode, scroll to Catalog press Enter. Scroll to desired catalog from:
ST (star #), M
(Messier or M Object List), NGC
(New General Catalog),
IC
(Index Catalog), NS
(Non-Stellar), New,
or Planets.
With the desired catalog displayed, press Enter
to go into that catalog to enter the object’s number, i.e., M057
for the Ring Nebula (You will need a star map, star atlas, or some
other reference to get the catalog numbers—there are many online
resources for planning a view session that will include catalog
numbers.). Use Up
and Down to change
each object’s catalog number digit by digit using Enter
to set and advance. If a particular digit is already what you want,
just press Enter to
advance.
Additionally, after setting the catalog number,
pressing Enter once
will display its RA/DEC location, a second press will give a brief
description of the object. Then…
Press Mode, one click of Up to Guide, and it will give you the number of degrees in RA (right ascension) and DEC (declination) that your scope is currently away from the desired object. Move your telescope while watching the changing values in the SV2 display which will guide you as you adjust your scope’s RA and Dec pointing (can do both at same time) until all values are zero and your object should be close to center in the eyepiece.
Should you find that objects aren’t centered very well or even in the eyepiece, search around manually to find the current one, center it in the eyepiece, select Mode/Align and press Enter. This will recalculate the alignment values of the SV2. Then select Mode/Catalog to resume your viewing session.
*In the first step of setting the Vertical, it assumes you have put the telescope’s optical tube assembly (OTA) in a 90 degree angle to the mount’s base plate or azimuth axis. This can be determined by using a large carpenter’s square with one leg on the base plate and moving the OTA to be 90 degrees by aligning to second leg of the carpenter’s square. I placed a mechanical stop on one of the side boards to easily place the OTA vertically up against during this Vertical step. Additionally, when you place the Dob scope on the ground, try to get it vertical to the ground--eyeball judgment is sufficient.
Comments
or share a copy of original instructions: Ed Stewart: stargazer( at )skymtn.com
Download PDF version: Sky Vector II Instructions.pdf