> > Slew the scope to hour angle 0 (RA = current sidereal time), dec 0, and
> > then enter 'guide east' mode. This stops the scope at the position it
> > assumes it's in at power up. Then, just turn off the power.
> >
>
> it appears to me I missed something. Why do you have to do this pro-
> cedure? What is wrong by just switching the LX200 off? Am I going to break
> mine by doing so?

You only have to do this if you:

A) have a permanently mounted LX200, or don't move it between power-offs

and

b) don't want to do a one or two star alignment when you power up.

You won't hurt anything by not doing it.

When the LX200 is turned on, it assumes it's at dec 0, HA 0. So, if that's
where you left it when the power was turned off, (theoretically) no alignment
is needed after power on.

In practice, the internal clock has some cumulative drift, so you do have
to realign periodically. However, you'll usually only be off by a few minutes
of RA, which makes alignment a snap.

There is also some small accumulated error caused by the resolution of the
encoders, tube flexure, etc., but I've found this to be quite minor.

_______________________
| Bill Ezell |
| www.duckpond.mv.com |
-----------------------

The box said 'Win95, NT, or better', so I used Linux

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