Meade ETX-70AT / Autostar

kenwood

Hi folks,


Good oul Santa brought the above telescope. Have been reading the posts here and seems it gets mixed views. Anyway am a real amateur so willing to learn and happy to start with this telescope.

As regards the software etc for automatically updating the Autostar, where do you guys recommend...........

Will keep a close eye on this thread.

mondeo

I got this for xmas also. I'm having trouble aligning it and getting a good focus on it. It's a grand entry level telescope though.

slade_x

I believe the following pages will be of use to you

http://www.meade.com/support/auto.html
http://www.weasner.com/etx/autostar/as_windows.html
http://www.weasner.com/etx/autostar/as_archive/download-info.html
http://staff.washington.edu/seymour/astro/patcher.html

Diamonddec

There are probably a fair few people with this telescope by now, so I thought I'd revive this old thread (last post, 2 years ago tomorrow) :eek: ... so that we can post any ETX 70 related stuff on here ...


Assembled the ETX 70 and the kids immediately showed an interest, scouring the surrounding hills for anything of "interest" :rolleyes: and I couldn't get anywhere near it for the rest of the day ...



Came in from a few drinks last night and there was just a 5 minute break in the clouds, so I had a quick look at the moon, using the 12mm lens... nice, clear image, then whammo ... the clouds obscured it again!:mad:

Hoping for better conditions tonight ... but it's not looking good! :rolleyes:

Ostrom

mondeo wrote: »

I got this for xmas also. I'm having trouble aligning it and getting a good focus on it. It's a grand entry level telescope though.

The two star align works well, and there are a good range available. I haven't used the goto much, the 25mm eyepiece gives a good enough range to browse and you can hop easily from the 14mm if you have a star chart. I'm finding the autotracking a bit off, planets tended to drift out of view at higher mags.

Diamonddec

Here's a link to a youtube video detailing the ETX60, but it covers everything for the ETX70, (except that the 70 has a separate Barlow lens, rather the built-in one on the 60) .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5kw8G-ZxOc

thecretinhop

goodman dimond dec great stuff:) thats mighty help for the 70, what a telescope! having problems getting it to allign need a compass! but anyhow amazing, we have a lake near by, swans due to ice fighting with mallard ducks, about 300 feet away, watched this christmas day in my back living room like it was in my back living room!! as said need to set up allign properly, had an amazing view of clear moon tonight, wow, 4mm lens wow...

Diamonddec

thecretinhop wrote: »

goodman dimond dec great stuff:) thats mighty help for the 70, what a telescope! having problems getting it to allign need a compass! but anyhow amazing, we have a lake near by, swans due to ice fighting with mallard ducks, about 300 feet away, watched this christmas day in my back living room like it was in my back living room!! as said need to set up allign properly, had an amazing view of clear moon tonight, wow, 4mm lens wow...

Yeah, I need a compass myself... although the constant cloud cover hasn't given me a chance to see anything yet (except a couple of minutes of the moon on Xmas night) let alone try an alignment! I just love the ultra compact size, so it can just sit permanently in the seating area of my kitchen (once the tree comes down) and we can view the surrounding countryside during the day as well.

I have noticed though, these last couple of nights, that my neighbour has decided to leave his outside lights on until quite late (after 1 am last night) and the moon travels right over his house, so quite a bit of pollution. Hopefully, he's only doing this over the holidays and he'll turn them off at a reasonable hour once he gets back to work.

Keep up the good work ... only don't feed the ducks and swans ... well not in your back living room, anyway! :eek:

mountain

Like others got this scope for christmas, on a beautiful clear night decided to check it out, following the youtube vid which was handy, set it up correctly, but goto says that the moon is below the horizon!!!!!

its right there in front of me, what am i doing wrong?

Diamonddec

mountain wrote: »

what am i doing wrong?

:eek: Dunno ... I'm gonna try for the first time myself later. Did you set the correct date and time in the handset?

but goto says that the moon is below the horizon!!!!!

Are you in Australia by any chance?

mountain

Are you in Australia by any chance? [/QUOTE]

not with the cold down here!

set time and date, it now thinks the moon is up, but is pointing well away from it!

let me know how you get on

Diamonddec

mountain wrote: »

let me know how you get on

Will do... I'm gonna give it a try at about 7.30 or so.

Was actually looking at the moon earlier... got some nice images, but after letting the wife have a view, she's finally come round to what I've been telling her for years ... that length isn't everything! :eek: ... focal length that is!
I was initially going all out to get the biggest image I could, by putting the 6mm and barlow in at the same time! :eek: but of course, quickly realised that a smaller, better resolved image is better than a very hard to focus, blur! ... I hope the wife takes my new findings on board ... "Length isn't everything"

Diamonddec

Oh crap! ... I can see the moon fine, as there are no clouds around it. I would say it's probably about south-east, but look further north and it's cloudy. I am a complete novice in naming the stars, but I'm trying to find the big dipper and get to Polaris from there, as my reference to true north. I MUST GET A COMPASS ... I MUST GET A COMPASS ... Adding to that, it's freezing, and the snow (ice) around the house is something that Torvill and Dean would be happy to perform their "Bolero" on! ... Let alone me wobbling about on it with my new telescope! I'll have another look at the cloud cover to the north in a while and see if I can see any more stars!....

scrubber72

spent the last hour outside the back of house with my etx 70 looking at the moon and even managed to see Jupiter and 3 of its moons. I am also having trouble with the autostar but i reckon its cause I am to impatient to set up properly. I did download stellarium so that helps with id-ing any planets. I am just waiting to jump into the car when there are no clouds and no moon so I can see much clearer.

Diamonddec

scrubber72 wrote: »

spent the last hour outside the back of house with my etx 70 looking at the moon and even managed to see Jupiter and 3 of its moons. I am also having trouble with the autostar but i reckon its cause I am to impatient to set up properly..

Nice one! I know what you mean about being impatient! ... It's not easy to faff about outside in extremely cold temperatures when all the while, the wife is shouting through the window, telling you to stop larking about and come on in for a Baileys! ... and I haven't even got my telescope out! :eek: ... I'm just out looking at the stars, still trying to lacate the flipping Big Dipper ....

Ostrom

re alignment -

I noticed on my own that the azimuth graduations on the scope are free to move about (the piece of paper used for the scale is not fixed in position and can be moved about by touching). Zeroing the scope on this axis (for me anyway, but I would imagine it happens on a few if mine moved so easily) is inaccurate.

Shouldn't really matter as it has to be aligned manually anyway, it just throws it out of whack if you're relying on the auto for a ballpark direction to find your star

Diamonddec

Thanks for that efla ... definitely something to bear in mind! ...

Diamonddec

Another totally cloudy night up here in County Derry! :rolleyes: ... Very hazy moon and no stars visible. There was one solitary thing to look at for a little while ... it was roughly east ... but just a very small, light orange dot! ... I was thinking that maybe it was mars, but, even through the telescope, it was still very small.

Sykk

Argh same down here in Westmeath. Really wanted to browse around the stars tonight

dbran

Diamonddec wrote: »

Another totally cloudy night up here in County Derry! :rolleyes: ... Very hazy moon and no stars visible. There was one solitary thing to look at for a little while ... it was roughly east ... but just a very small, light orange dot! ... I was thinking that maybe it was mars, but, even through the telescope, it was still very small.

yep that would be Mars

Diamonddec

Thanks dbran ... I wasn't 100% sure! ... but after looking at the Cartes du Ciel chart, I knew that mars should have been in that locale!
I still haven't managed to do an "alignment", though I got a compass today, so, if the overhead conditions permit tonight, I may give it a whirl ... although the outside of our house is still like a skating rink! ... I just wish we would have a downpour for a half hour and wash it all away! :mad:

dbran

Hi Diamonddec

No problem.

Its not so much a compass that you need. Finding North is easy just find polaris. As you know "magnetic north" is not true north but is offset by a few hundred kilometers so it is no good. I dont think you have to be deadly accurate with it anyway.

What you really need more then anything is to level the tube. Turn the scope anticlockwise until it hits the hard stop, then back a 1/4 turn so the tube is over the computer pannel. Then lift the scope up and place it down so it faces north. Scope is now in the "Home Position". Level the tube with a bubble level. Switch on the autustar, pick two star allignment or easy align. It will ask for two stars which you centre using the autostar controls only. (do not centre manually). It should then give you successful allignment and you are good to go.

If it dosent work check the date and time are correct, also check the batteries are fully charged. Make sure you are in astronomical tracking mode.

Hope this works

dbran

Diamonddec

dbran wrote: »

Finding North is easy just find polaris.

:eek: Mate, if I could find Polaris that would be a major achievement! ... TBH, I've now kinda worked out where it should be, using a house a couple of miles from me, as a reference point and Google Earth! ... Apparently, if I go to the next field 300 yards right of the house and go straight up ... then Polaris should be there!

Seriously though, it's another fully overcast night and there is not a single star visible! :mad: ... So another inactive night.

Thanks for the setup/home position info... much appreciated. I'll keep you posted about my success (or not):( as soon as the conditions allow an attempt at it.

lochdara

I find with my compass, which is digital, its fairly bang on. Well used with stellarium.
It told me Mars was at 80 deg the other night and i moved to 80 as marked on my compass and there it was.

I guess my compass (dive computer) is better than my scope.

dbran

Diamonddec wrote: »

:eek: Mate, if I could find Polaris that would be a major achievement! ... TBH, I've now kinda worked out where it should be, using a house a couple of miles from me, as a reference point and Google Earth! ... Apparently, if I go to the next field 300 yards right of the house and go straight up ... then Polaris should be there!

Seriously though, it's another fully overcast night and there is not a single star visible! :mad: ... So another inactive night.

Thanks for the setup/home position info... much appreciated. I'll keep you posted about my success (or not):( as soon as the conditions allow an attempt at it.

Methinks you need to learn the sky first.:D Even with goto you will need a basic knowledge of the main constellations. How will you be able to pick the correct allignment stars otherwise

dbran

Diamonddec wrote: »

Seriously though, it's another fully overcast night and there is not a single star visible! :mad: ... So another inactive night.
.

Ye see another example of all these new scopes affecting the weather!!!!

Diamonddec

dbran wrote: »

Methinks you need to learn the sky first.:D Even with goto you will need a basic knowledge of the main constellations. How will you be able to pick the correct allignment stars otherwise

I think you're right though! ... I should actually be spending these overcast nights swotting up on my constellations! ... There isn't a test on Friday, is there?

Cheers!

scrubber72

I have been out for the last few nights looking a various different objects with my meade etx-70. I saw jupiter every night and its moons but i was wondering what type of telescope would i need to be able to make out colours of the planets. I have been able to find most things the autostar has on when its night and they are above the horizon. I am presently in my back garden and yes there is some light polution so will it make an enormous difference going into the countryside on a moonless night.
Thanks

Diamonddec

Am out tonight for the first time and decided to use Autostar to get me going. However, all around my drive is still like a skating rink, with just a few clear patches, so I cant venture too far away from the house, so have a limited view of the sky ... although this is uninterupted from south to north east. It is a fairly clear night and for the first time, I had no difficulty in finding Polaris using the Big Dipper. I pointed the telescope north, leveled the tube, turned Autostar on, put in the date and time and chose the easy 2 star alignment. Unfortunately, the stars it chose were on the other side of my house, out of sight. So I started again and chose the one star alignment. I named the Big Dipper "pointer star" Dubhe. However, the telescope slewed too low and pointed more towards the direction of Mizar (although not directly at it!)

It only had to move a few of inches, FFS and still couldn't manage it! :mad:

Any advice would be gratefully accepted! ... I must be doing something wrong!

Diamonddec

My 2 young sons are clubbing together their pocket money to buy me a birthday present. For their budget, they can afford THESE two ITEMS

Anyone got or used them? ... worth having?

djhaxman

Diamonddec wrote: »

Am out tonight for the first time and decided to use Autostar to get me going. However, all around my drive is still like a skating rink, with just a few clear patches, so I cant venture too far away from the house, so have a limited view of the sky ... although this is uninterupted from south to north east. It is a fairly clear night and for the first time, I had no difficulty in finding Polaris using the Big Dipper. I pointed the telescope north, leveled the tube, turned Autostar on, put in the date and time and chose the easy 2 star alignment. Unfortunately, the stars it chose were on the other side of my house, out of sight. So I started again and chose the one star alignment. I named the Big Dipper "pointer star" Dubhe. However, the telescope slewed too low and pointed more towards the direction of Mizar (although not directly at it!)

It only had to move a few of inches, FFS and still couldn't manage it! :mad:

Any advice would be gratefully accepted! ... I must be doing something wrong!

If it gives you the option make sure and select daylight savings - no when you switch on Autostar and are about to aligning the scope. I made that mistake at the start and it threw the alignment off by a good bit.

Diamonddec

djhaxman wrote: »

If it gives you the option make sure and select daylight savings - no when you switch on Autostar and are about to aligning the scope.

Cheers for your reply. Just to clarify ... when you enter date and time into handset, it asks if you want daylight savings... I have been selecting NO ... should I be selecting YES?

djhaxman

Diamonddec wrote: »

Cheers for your reply. Just to clarify ... when you enter date and time into handset, it asks if you want daylight savings... I have been selecting NO ... should I be selecting YES?

No is right, I think when the time changes in the spring that's when you select yes.

dbran

Hi

Daylight saving should be "no".

Have you also checked your location is correctly entered in the autostar?

If the star chosen by the autostar is unavailable you can get it to pick another by using the scroll down key. Alternatively you if you want to pick your own alignmnent stars, use just two star allignment. This will require some knowledge of the sky though. The one star allignment is the least accurate method.

It is not unusual for it to be a bit out and dont expect the allignment star to be in the same field of view. It is just important that you centre it using the autostar direction keys.

Hope this helps

dbran

Diamonddec

Hi dbran. Autostar didn't ask me for my location!
Mate, I thought it would be just pointnshoot! I really wasn't expecting to learn about the sky before I could start exploring.

It was way out last night when I nominated Dubhe as my alignment star. Then when it settled somewhere else, it wouldn't let me move/centre on Dubhe, but instead made some constant noises that I took to be tracking .. on some distant group of stars that I have no chance of knowing! It would have been fine if it had let me use Dubhe, since I now know where it is ... and it is now my friend! ...

I'll try again tonight if all is clear.

Thanks again for your input ... much appreciated!

djhaxman

I would use one of the stars in Ursa Major and one in Orion, they're probably the best known and the easiest constellations to find, and are well placed in the sky at around 10:00pm these nights.

Diamonddec

Thanks djhaxman!

I would have thought that it would be handier if I picked 2 stars either side of and near to Polaris .. so that the telescope didn't have too far to travel! ... and I could see exactly what I was doing!

I'll look up Ursa Major and Orion as you suggest and familiarise myself with a couple of stars.

Cheers

Diamonddec

OK ... I'm just having a play indoors. I can see Jupiter out of the frontroom window (it's sort of southwest) and pointed the telescope north and levelled tube. I bypassed the star alignment and set for jupiter. It slewed around and actually wasn't too far out, i.e just outside telescope view... so I centred it in the viewfinder, but it doesn't let me set it as an alignment, so after a few seconds, it adjusts its tracking and throws it just out of the view and continues tracking, so it doesn't stay in the view for long without me adjusting it. I am not gonna blame the telescope, because I just approximated north without being able to see any stars at the back of my house. I have the 12mm and 3x barlow lens in and can just about make out 3 moons ... (I hope the're moons) :eek: ... one at about 7 0'clock to jupiter, and two going out from 1 o'clock. They are tiny though, and I can just about see them!

... still, it's a result from last night!

dbran

Hi

These are just teething problems u know

You cannot use a planet as an allignmnet. You can only use the stars in the database of bright stars.

It is also very important that you set your correct location as otherwise your allignment will not work. Go to <Setup> <site> and enter your current location using your lat and longtitude. Check with google earth to get it as exact as you can.

djhaxman is right. You are best using allignment stars which are as far apart as possible. The stars of Orion and Ursa Major would be perfect.

Hope this helps

dbran

Diamonddec

Thanks guys! ... as usual, I'm cutting corners and looking for the easiest way out! :rolleyes: ... sorry!

Because autostar didn't prompt me, I didn't realise that I had to set my location, as you asked me before dbran. I have followed your instructions and found out my coordinates from Google Earth and tried to put them in, but the handset is in a different format, so I am unsure how to enter it. For example, for latitude, the handset says --*-- , whereas my (made-up) latitude is 54*23'19.25 N
and autostar says longitude is ---*-- , whereas my longitude is 6*23'10.33 W (star is degrees).

Could you please let me know how I should enter it please.

Again guys, apologies for being such a dork!

lisbon_lions

Hi Folks,

Was wondering if anyone can help with an issue im having. Got the ETX 70AT for christmas and loved using over the hols. One issue I seem to be having is the altitude directional up arrow does not result in the scope going up. All other 3 directional arrows work, left right and down. I have tightened the altitude wheel pretty tight. Anyone experience this?
Thanks.

dbran

Diamonddec wrote: »

Thanks guys! ... as usual, I'm cutting corners and looking for the easiest way out! :rolleyes: ... sorry!

Because autostar didn't prompt me, I didn't realise that I had to set my location, as you asked me before dbran. I have followed your instructions and found out my coordinates from Google Earth and tried to put them in, but the handset is in a different format, so I am unsure how to enter it. For example, for latitude, the handset says --*-- , whereas my (made-up) latitude is 54*23'19.25 N
and autostar says longitude is ---*-- , whereas my longitude is 6*23'10.33 W (star is degrees).

Could you please let me know how I should enter it please.

Again guys, apologies for being such a dork!

So it looks like the Autostar only needs it to the nearest minute and not second of you location.

Diamonddec

dbran wrote: »

So it looks like the Autostar only needs it to the nearest minute and not second of you location.

Rightio ... so do I just enter 54*23 and 006*23

Cheers!

dbran

lisbon_lions wrote: »

Hi Folks,

Was wondering if anyone can help with an issue im having. Got the ETX 70AT for christmas and loved using over the hols. One issue I seem to be having is the altitude directional up arrow does not result in the scope going up. All other 3 directional arrows work, left right and down. I have tightened the altitude wheel pretty tight. Anyone experience this?
Thanks.

Did it ever work at all? Have you tried new batteries? If you are using goto, does the scope then slew upwards to a target?

Also I believe the autostar does not particularly like the cold and may become less responsive in subzero temperetures. So you might try setting it up inside and see if the problem goes away. I know at times I have had to press my autostar quiet hard in the cold to make it move when it is cold.

Also do not overtighten the altitude wheel as you will damage the clutch mechanisim. It should just be tightened to a firm feel only.

Hope this helps

dbran

dbran

Diamonddec wrote: »

Rightio ... so do I just enter 54*23 and 006*23/

Cheers!

Yes that should be fine.:)

Diamonddec

dbran wrote: »

Yes that should be fine.:)

OK, I'll give it a whirl ASAP!

Thanks for all your help ... it is much appreciated!

Diamonddec

More snow during the night! :mad:... that's over 2 weeks and it still hasn't cleared. Forecast up here is for more of the same for the rest of the week....



Sad, forlorn little telescope just itching to get outside and play!

dbran

Wow

Do you live in the country? You must get some nice dark skies there.


dbran

lisbon_lions

dbran wrote: »

Did it ever work at all? Have you tried new batteries? If you are using goto, does the scope then slew upwards to a target?

Also I believe the autostar does not particularly like the cold and may become less responsive in subzero temperetures. So you might try setting it up inside and see if the problem goes away. I know at times I have had to press my autostar quiet hard in the cold to make it move when it is cold.

Also do not overtighten the altitude wheel as you will damage the clutch mechanisim. It should just be tightened to a firm feel only.

Hope this helps

dbran

Yeah it worked at the start, and does even now from time to time, its very odd. Must see if I can troubleshoot it a bit more, using the GOTO will not slew upward when it does not via the up arrows but will when it does - if you know what i mean. Must be a dodgy motor?

dbran

Hi

Hmmmmm strange indeed.

If it was a fault with the motor it would display a "motor fault" on the autostar controller. Can you hear the motor trying to move or is it just nothing but dead when it is moving up? Have you tried CALIBRATE MOTORS?

The fact that it moves when it is moving "goto" also is significant as it means it is probably not an autostar keypad problem.

I wonder is it the connection cable has become frayed and is not making proper contact with the autostar or the computer panel.

You should check the connection cable between the autostar and the scope for wear or loose connections. Blow into the connector in case dust is causing a misconnection.

You can also try putting the question to http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html who seem to know everything.

Hope this helps

dbran

Diamonddec

dbran wrote: »

Do you live in the country? You must get some nice dark skies there.

Yes, in the countryside, 1/2 mile from a village to the east, where there is some light pollution. The nearest town is about 7 miles away further east. The telescope is actually facing due north in the picture, over the mountains...





To the west, we have mountains also, and very few houses (except my next door neighbour 70 metres away, who has taken to leave his outside lights on until the early hours of the morning!) :mad:

I am lucky enough to have pretty dark skies, but until I got this telescope, never really gave it a thought, or appreciated it ... apart from looking out for Orion's belt from time to time (don't know why)!

I suppose it's a natural thing for you stargazers, but I never appreciated how few clear nights we have until now ... that I'm looking out for them!

Cheers dbran!