Meade Video mySKY Plus User manual

InstructIon Manual
mySKY™PLUS
YOUR PERSONAL GUIDE FOR SKY EXPLORATION

mySKY™is an easy-to-use, multimedia tool that will guide
you through the night sky. It’s like having your own personal
astronomer pointing out the wonders of the universe.
Quick Start
Follow the Quick Start Guide on the back cover to insert
the batteries, plug in the earbuds and turn on mySKY. When
mySKY starts up, a screen displays which offers the choice:
“Instructions” or “SkyMap.”
Introduction & Quick Instruction Video
If you are using mySKY for the rst time, press the up arrow
to select “Instructions”— you will see a brief introductory
video that explains how to get started using mySKY.
The instruction video will teach you how to use the keys,
what the trigger is for, how to use the identify function and
how to take a guided tour.
During the video, the three keys just below the screen
have the following functions: The Left Key is BACK. When
pressed, it will take you back to the beginning of the video
or to the previous video. The Center Key is PAUSE/PLAY.
When pressed, it will pause the video. When pressed again,
the video will resume. The Right Key is NEXT. It will advance
the video to the next segment.
Important Note About Your mySKY
Your mySKY uses very sensitive magnetic sensors to
determine where you are pointing it in the sky. The magnetic
lines of force that are detected by these sensors are bent
and distorted by any magnetic materials or large metal
objects such as cars, metal fences or steel reinforced
buildings. In order for your mySKY to work accurately,
you must be about 10 yards or meters from the average car.
The larger the metal object, the farther you should be from
it to get the best performance from your mySKY.
mySKY Keys
The TRIGGER The TRIGGER is located on the hand grip.
When the TRIGGER is pushed, you tell mySKY that you are
pointing at an object in the sky that you wish to identify and
learn about.
Three Lights on the Top of mySKY: The three small lights
on the top of mySKY are the sights to line up the celestial
object you wish to identify and learn about.
First, line up the light on the front between the two lights on
the back. Then line up the object you wish to identify just
above the front light. Pull the TRIGGER and mySKY will
identify the object you were pointing at.
ARROW KEYS: Use the four arrow keys shown in the gure
to the left to select options on the display screen. Press one
of the arrow keys to select the item you want. For example,
if you press the UP ARROW, the option at the top of the
screen is selected and so forth. In most cases, when you
press an arrow key, that option is automatically selected.
When moving through a list, use the up and down arrows to
move one item at a time. In a long list you can use the LEFT
or RIGHT ARROW keys to move a page up or down quickly
to nd the item you want.
ENTER: The ENTER key is the round key in the center of the
arrow keys. When entering numbers or selecting from a list
of items, rst move through the items using the arrow keys.
InstructIons
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Press ENTER to select a highlighted choice.
VOLUME: Press the + or – side of the volume control to get
a comfortable level when using the ear buds or
external speakers.
BRIGHTNESS: Press the + or – side of the brightness key
to brighten or dim both the sights on top of mySKY and
the display.
POWER Button: Press and hold the power to turn mySKY
on. Press and hold it again to turn the mySKY off.
Soft Keys
The three keys just below the screen are called soft keys.
The labels on the lower part of the screen show the actions
that will be performed by the soft keys. In the picture above,
the left key is labeled BACK, the center key is labeled MORE
and the right key is labeled SKYMAP. Some of the most
common labels for the soft keys are:
BACK: The BACK key lets you go to the previous screen.
NEXT: The NEXT key moves you forward to the next step or
screen.
MORE: The MORE key takes you to another screen with
more choices.
OBJECT: The OBJECT key takes you to a series of menus
where you can choose an object to nd and learn about.
OPTIONS: The OPTIONS key takes you to a menu of
various settings for your mySKY.
TOURS: The TOURS key takes you to a menu of available
guided tours you can take to explore the night sky.
SKYMAP: The SKYMAP key displays the SkyMap on
the screen.
The labels for the soft keys will change from screen to
screen. Many of the labels are shortcuts that will take you to
other menus or screens.
Location, Time and Date
When the instruction video ends or when you select
“SkyMap”, mySKY needs to know your location, date and
time. The Time and Location screen displays the following
three choices:
• Accept the current Location, Time and Date displayed.
•Enter new Location, Time and Date
•Demonstration Mode.
If you have used your mySKY before, it remembers your last
location and the internal clock keeps track of the time and
date as long as your batteries are good.
If the current time, date and location is correct, select
the top choice and press ENTER.
To enter a new location, time and date, use the arrows to
Brightness Control
Volume Control
Enter
Soft Keys
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Power ON/OFF
“Identify” Trigger
SD Card Slot
Arrow Keys
Illuminated Sights

scroll down to the “New Location/Time” line and press
DONE. Next, choose your state or country: Press the UP or
DOWN ARROWS to scroll through the list one line at a time.
Press the right or left arrows to scroll through the list one
page at a time. Once your country or state is highlighted,
press ENTER and the City list displays.
Scroll through the list of cities and choose the city nearest
to your location (the city can be as far away as 100 miles
or 160km). Once your choice is highlighted press ENTER.
Enter the date in the format: mm/dd/20yy. For example, if
you wish to enter March 6, 2008, press the following keys:
0 (zero), ENTER, 3, ENTER (mm)
0, ENTER, 6, ENTER (dd)
0, ENTER, 8, ENTER (20yy)
Press DONE after you have entered the date.
Next enter the time: Enter the hour and minutes, as correct
to the minute as possible, in 12 hour AM/PM format. For
example, if you wish to enter 9:20 p.m. press the
following keys:
0, ENTER, 9, ENTER (hour)
2 ENTER, 0, ENTER (minutes)
0 ENTER, 0, ENTER (seconds)
Select PM. If you make a mistake, press the DEL key.
mySKY compensates for Daylight Savings automatically.
When you are nished entering the time, press DONE.
Your location, time and date are now stored in memory
until you change the batteries or they run down. The next
time you turn on mySKY, the Time and Location screen will
display current time and day with your last location as the
rst choice. If the information is correct, select the top line
and press DONE.
Select the Demonstration mode if you wish to get
a demonstration of mySKY’s operation during the daytime
or when you are inside.
Sensor Calibration
When mySKY has your time and location, you will be
asked to place mySKY on a stable surface while it adjusts
its sensors. This usually takes about 30 to 45 seconds.
If it takes longer, make sure the mySKY is not setting on
any operating machinery, speaker or other surface that is
moving or vibrating. When the mySKY is done adjusting the
sensors, the sights on the top of the unit will light up and
the screen will display the SkyMap screen. You are now in
the default “Identify” mode and you can immediately begin
identifying night sky objects and use other mySKY features.
Identify Mode
mySKY has several modes of operation. The most
important mode is “Identify” – this is the default mode.
mySKY is ready to identify celestial objects, such as
stars, constellations, planets and so forth. The SkyMap
on the screen shows the area of the sky where you are
pointing mySKY. Center an object in the sights and pull the
TRIGGER. mySKY will tell you what the object is.
Important Note: Once you have pressed the TRIGGER, you
no longer need to point mySKY at the object (you can relax
your arm and hold mySKY in a comfortable position to see
the display).
In many cases, an image of the selected object appears on
the screen. Press PLAY (if it is displayed) to see and hear a
multimedia description of the object. Pressing the INFO key
displays text about the object.
Take a Tour
Another mode is “Tour.” When you select the “Tonight’s
Best™Tour”, for example, mySKY will guide you to the best
objects in the sky for your time, date and location. When the
rst object of the Tour displays, you have several choices.
If this is an object you wish to learn more about, press the
UP ARROW key for “More”. If you wish to skip this object,
press the NEXT key. If you want to return to the last object,
press the BACK key. If you select “More”, press PLAY for
audio and video presentations or INFO for on-screen text
data about the object. If you wish to skip this object, press
the RIGHT ARROW to choose “Next” and proceed to the
next object on the Tour. If you wish to have mySKY nd the
object in the sky for you, press the UP ARROW to
select “GoTo”.
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