10
tude 36.95 N you would enter a latitude of 36°57’ N
[.95x60=57].
Time – Enter the current time for your area.You can enter
either the local time (i.e., 8:00), or you can enter military
time (i.e., 20:00).
• Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand
control will bypass this step.
• Choose between Standard time or Daylight Saving
time. Use the Up and Down scroll buttons to toggle
between options.
• Select the time zone that you are observing from.
Again, use the Up and Down buttons to scroll through
the choices. For time zone information, refer to the
Time Zone map in the appendices of this manual.
Date – Enter the month, day and year of your observing
session. The display will read: mm/dd/yy.
• If the wrong information has been input into the hand
controller, the BACK button will act as a backspace
allowing the user to re-enter information.
• The next time that your StarSeeker is aligned, the
hand controller will automatically display the last
location (either a city or longitude/latitude) that was
entered. Press ENTER to accept these parameters if
they still apply. Pressing the BACK button will allow you
to go back and select a new city location or longitude/
latitude.
SkyAlign
SkyAlign is the easiest way to get your StarSeeker aligned and
ready to observe. Even if you do not know a single star in the
sky, the StarSeeker will have you aligned in minutes by asking
for basic information like the date, time and location. Then you
simply need to aim the telescope to any three bright celes-
tial objects in the sky. Since SkyAlign requires no knowledge
of the night sky it is not necessary to know the name of the
objects at which you are aiming.You may even select a planet
or the Moon. The StarSeeker is then ready to start finding and
tracking any of the objects in its 4,033 object database. Before
the telescope is ready to be aligned, it should be set up in an
outside location with all accessories (eyepiece, diagonal, and
finder scope) attached and lens cover removed as described
in the Assembly section of the manual. To begin SkyAlign:
1. Choose your first target and use the arrow buttons on the
hand controller to slew (move) the telescope toward the
selected object in the sky. Align the object with the red
dot of the finder scope and press ENTER.
2. If the finder scope has been properly aligned with
the telescope tube, the alignment star should now be
visible inside the field of view of the eyepiece. The hand
controller will ask that you center the bright alignment
star in the center of the eyepiece and press the ALIGN
button. This will accept the star as the first alignment
position. (There is no need to adjust the slewing rate of
the motors after each alignment step. The StarSeeker
automatically selects the best slewing rate for aligning
objects in both the finder scope and the eyepiece).
3. For the second alignment object, choose a bright star or
planet as far as possible from the first alignment object.
Use the directional buttons on the hand controller to
move the scope to it. Then use the buttons to center the
object in the finder scope and press ENTER. Then once
centered in the eyepiece press the ALIGN button.
4. Repeat the process for the third alignment star. When the
telescope has been aligned to the final star, the display
will read Match Confirmed! Press BACK to display the
names of the three bright objects you aligned to, or press
ENTER to accept these three objects for alignment. You
are now ready to find your first object.
Note: If the message “Alignment Failed” appears on the
display it means the computer was unable to identify the
three objects chosen and you will need to re-do the align-
ment procedure. One common cause is inaccurate time/
site information input into the hand controller. Confirm
that you have all the correct information before proceed-
ing. It could also be that the objects chosen were not
accurately centered in the eyepiece before pressing the
ALIGN button. It can be helpful to use an illuminated ret-
icle eyepiece (see oriontelescopes.com for more details)
or switch to a higher power eyepiece after centering the
object in a low power eyepiece. This will help you achieve
greater accuracy.
Tips for Using SkyAlign
Remember the following alignment guidelines to make using
SkyAlign as simple and accurate as possible.
• Be sure to level the tripod before you begin alignment.
Accurate time/site information along with a level tripod will
help the telescope better predict the available bright stars
and planets that are above the horizon.
• Remember to select alignment stars that are as far apart
in the sky as possible. For best results make sure that the
third alignment star does not lie in a straight line between
the first two stars. This may result in a failed alignment.
• Don’t worry about confusing planets for stars when
selecting alignment objects. SkyAlign works with the four
brightest planets (Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars) as well
as the Moon. In addition to the planets, the hand controller
has over 80 bright alignment stars to choose from (down to
magnitude 2.5).
• On rare occasions SkyAlign will not be able to determine
what three alignment objects were centered. This sometime
happens when a bright planet or the Moon passes near
one of the brighter stars. In situations like these it is best to
try to avoid aligning to either object if possible.
• Be sure to center the objects with the same final
movements as the direction of the GoTo approach. For
example, if the scope normally finishes a GoTo with the
front of the scope moving right and up, you should center
all three alignment objects in the eyepiece using the right
