Meade LIGHTBRIDGE mini series Instruction Manual
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Meade LIGHTBRIDGE mini series Instruction Manual

Meade LIGHTBRIDGE mini series Instruction Manual

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LIGHTBRIDGE
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MINI SERIES
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Instruction Manual
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  • Page 1 LIGHTBRIDGE MINI SERIES Instruction Manual Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam nibh. Nunc varius facili- adipiscing elit. Nam nibh. Nunc varius facili- adipiscing elit. Nam nibh. Nunc varius facili- sis eros.

  • Page 2: Sun Warning

    Sun Warning WARNING! Never use a Meade Telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near the ® Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late.

  • Page 3: Quick Start

    Quick Start In order to get started observing night sky objects, you will need to do the following: 1) Attach the red dot viewfinder 3) Align the red-dot viewfinder 4) Balance the telescope 2) Insert the eyepiece (114mm & 130mm models only) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer...
  • Page 4 Table of Contents Introduction Specifications About Your Telescope Attaching The Accessories Balancing The Scope Aligning The Red Dot Viewfinder Adjusting The Azimuth Tension How To Use Your Telescope Observing Resources Tip and Tricks Calculating Magnification Collimation Viewfinder Battery Replacement Care and Maintenance Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer...
  • Page 5 Introduction Congrats on getting a LightBridge Mini Telescope! Now you can setup and share the stargazing experience in seconds. Whether you are camping in the outdoors or relaxing in your backyard, grab your Lightbridge Mini Dobsonian and take it wherever life takes you. Your telescope is already pre-assembled for you at our factory, so you only have to attach the accessories to start viewing galaxies, planets, stars and more! Each telescope contains the following parts:...
  • Page 6 Image A Image B FIGURE 1A 9 10 1. Mount Feet Accessories 2. Dobsonian Mount 3. Azimuth Tension Nut 4. Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) 5. Front Dust Cover (not shown) 6. Secondary Mirror Collimation Adjustments (not visible) 7. Red Dot Viewfinder (See Image B) 8.
  • Page 7 Image B Image A 19 20 & FIGURE 1B 10 13 1. Mount Feet 2. Dobsonian Mount Accessories 3. Azimuth Tension Nut 4. Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) 5. Front Dust Cover (not shown) 6. Secondary Mirror Collimation Adjustments (not visible) 7.

  • Page 8: Specifications

    Specifications 82 mm 1 14mm 130mm Optical tube design Reflector Reflector Reflector Optical tube focal length 300mm 450mm 650mm Primary mirror diameter 82mm (3.2 in.) 114mm (4.5 in.) 130mm (5.1 in.) f/3.7 Focal ratio Red dot Red dot Red dot Viewfinder Two(2) Two(2)
  • Page 9 About The Telescope The LightBridge Mini Series are Dobsonian tabletop telescopes. The word “Dobsonian” comes from it’s inventor John Dobson, who created this specialized mount. This mount style allows you to move the telescope both up/down (vertical) and left/right (horizontal). Because its height is fixed, use the telescope on a tabletop or stable elevated surface for comfortable viewing.
  • Page 10 Attaching your Accessories Red Dot Finder Step 1. An eyepiece (fig.1, #12) has a narrow field of view. A red dot viewfinder (fig.1, #7) has a wider field of view, which makes it easier to locate objects. Once the red dot viewfinder is aligned to the optical tube, the red dot can be used to locate and place objects more easily in the telescope’s eyepiece.
  • Page 11 Attaching your Accessories Inserting An Eyepiece Magnification, or power is based on eyepiece focal length. The higher power will present a larger, dimmer image, with smaller field of view. The lower the power, the brighter and smaller the image will be, with a wider field of view.
  • Page 12 Balancing the Scope *114mm and 130mm models ONLY* Balancing Sometimes when using heavy eyepieces or accessories, the optical tube can become out of balance. It is important to balance the optical tube so when you release the vertical lock (fig.1, 14), the telescope will not swing quickly or move uncontrollably.
  • Page 13 Balancing the Scope *114mm and 130mm models ONLY* STEP 3: Adjust until balance is achieved. Step 3. Loosen the dovetail locking knob (fig. 1b,#18) slightly and slide the optical tube (fig. 1b, #4) along the dovetail receiver (fig. 1b, 20) until the telescope remains in any given position without tending to drift up or down in the vertical axis.

  • Page 14: Aligning The Red Dot Viewfinder

    Aligning the Red Dot Viewfinder Aligning the red dot viewfinder allows you to accurately point at the same location as the telescope. It is recommended that you perform steps 1 and 2 during the day and step 3 during nighttime. STEP 1: Step 2.
  • Page 15 Aligning the Red Dot Viewfinder STEP 4: Look through the red dot viewfinder. Turn Step 4. one or both of the viewfinder’s alignment screws (fig 1. #16) until the red dot is precisely over the same object as you centered in the eyepiece. The side alignment screw controls the horizontal, while the rear alignment screw controls the vertical.
  • Page 16 (fig. 1, #14). The tension for the horizontal motion is adjusted at the Meade factory. If the adjustment is not to your liking, it is easy to adjust by tightening/loosening one screw (fig. BASE TOP 1, #3).

  • Page 17: How To Use Your Telescope

    How to use your Telescope Step 1 Pick an object in the sky that you want to view, and make sure you are using the 26mm eyepiece. Step 2 Turn the red dot finder on. Adjust the vertical lock knob as needed and take aim at the object using your red dot viewfinder.
  • Page 18 Observing We have one very important rule that you should always follow when using your telescope: Have Fun! Have a good time when you’re observing. You may not know everything that there is to know about a telescope or what all the sights in the universe are, but that’s OK. Just point and observe at first. You will enjoy your telescope the you practice and learn more about it.

  • Page 19: Observing The Moon

    Observing the Moon The Moon is the best object to observe the first time you go out at night. Pick a night when the Moon is a crescent. No shadows are seen during a full Moon, making it appear flat and uninteresting.
  • Page 20 Observing the Solar System Venus is seen before dawn or after sunset, because it is close to the Sun. You can observe Venus going through crescent phases. But you cannot see any surface detail on Venus because it has a very thick atmosphere of gas. When Mars is close to the Earth, you can see some details on Mars, and sometimes even Mars’...
  • Page 21 Observing the Beyond Once you have observed our own system of planets, it’s time to really travel far from home and look at stars and other objects. You can observe thousands of stars with your telescope. At first, you may think stars are just pinpoints of light and aren’t very interesting.

  • Page 22: Star Charts

    • Astronomy: magazines, on the internet, apps and http://www.astronomy.com CD Roms. Meade offers AutoStar SuiteTM software • Astronomy Picture of the Day: (contact your local dealer or visit Meade.com). http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.goc/apod • Photographic Atlas of the Moon: Astronomy and Sky and Telescope magazines print http://www.lpi.ursa.edu/research/lunar_orbiter...

  • Page 23: Tips And Tricks

    Tips and Tricks Let your eyes “dark-adapt”: Allow five or ten minutes for your eyes to become “dark adapted” before observing. Use a red filtered flashlight to protect your night vision when reading star maps, or inspecting the telescope. Stay away from bright lights too. Do not use a regular flash-light or turn on other lights when observing with a group of other astronomers.

  • Page 24: Light Pollution

    Tips and Tricks THINGS THAT AFFECT VIEWING VIBRATIONS: Avoid touching the eyepiece while observing through the telescope. Vibrations resulting from such contact will cause the image to move. Avoid observing sites where vibrations cause image movement. LIGHT POLLUTION: Light pollution is excessive, misdirected, or artificial outdoor light. Too much light pollution has consequences: it washes out starlight in the night sky, interferes with astronomical research, disrupts ecosystems, has adverse health effects and wastes energy.

  • Page 25: Calculating Magnification

    Calculating Magnification The power of a telescope is how much it magnifies objects. Each telescope has its own set of focal lengths and, therefore, different magnifications when used with various eyepieces. For example, the LightBridge Mini 130mm used with the 26mm eyepiece magnifies an object 25 times.
  • Page 26 Collimation Figure 3 What is collimation? All Meade LightBridge Mini Reflecting telescopes are optically aligned at the factory prior to shipment. It is unlikely that you will need to align, or collimate, the optics after receipt of the instrument. However, if the telescope received unusually rough handling in shipment, it is possible that the optics must be re-aligned for best optical performance.

  • Page 27: Correct Collimation

    CORRECT COLLIMATION: The properly collimated (aligned) mirror system in the Figure 5 Meade LightBridge Mini telescope assures the sharpest images possible. This occurs when the primary mirror and secondary mirror are tilted so that the focused image falls directly through the center of the focuser draw tube.
  • Page 28 Collimation SECONDARY MIRROR HOLDER ADJUSTMENTS: If the secondary mirror (fig. 6, #1) is centered in the draw Figure 6 tube (fig. 6, #2), but the primary mirror is only partially visible in the reflection (fig. 6, #3), one or more of the 3 secondary mirror collimation screws need adjusting.

  • Page 29: Primary Mirror Adjustments

    Collimation PRIMARY MIRROR ADJUSTMENTS (114mm & 130mm Models Only): If the secondary mirror (fig. 7 , #1) and the reflection of the Figure 7 primary mirror (fig. 7 , #2) appear centered within the draw tube (fig. 7 , #3), but the reflection of your eye and the reflection of the secondary mirror (fig.
  • Page 30 Collimation Figure 8 With the collimation performed, you will want to test the accuracy of the alignment on a star. Use the 26mm eyepiece and point the telescope at a moderately bright (second or third magnitude) star, then center the star image in the telescope’s field-of-view.
  • Page 31 • With the star testing of the collimation complete, tighten the 3 slotted-head primary mirror locking screws (fig. 3, #2) Meade also sells a Laser Collimator accessory that will simplify collimation of the optics. This Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer...
  • Page 32 Viewfinder Battery If the viewfinder red dot does not illuminate, verify Figure 11 the viewfinder is on by rotating the power switch (fig 1, #15) below the viewfinder lens clockwise. If the red dot does not illuminate, the battery may need replacing.

  • Page 33: Care And Maintenence

    Care and Maintenence Your telescope is a precision optical instrument designed for a lifetime of rewarding viewing. It will rarely, if ever, require factory servicing or maintenance. Follow these guidelines to keep your telescope in the best condition: As with any quality instrument, lens or mirror surfaces should be cleaned as infrequently as possible.
  • Page 34 Accessories For an up-to-date list of compatible Meade accessories, contact your Meade Dealer or see the Meade online catalog for more information. Visit us on the web at www. meade.com. ADDITIONAL EYEPIECES: (1.25” barrel diameter only): For higher or lower viewing magnifications, Meade’s eyepieces are available in a wide...

  • Page 35: Correct Disposal Of This Product

    Recycling CORRECT DISPOSAL OF THIS PRODUCT (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equiptment) This marking shown on the product or its literature indicates that it must not be disposed of in unsorted municipal waste at the end of its working life. To prevent possible harm to the environment or human health from uncontrolled waste disposal, please separate this from other types of wastes and recycle it as required by law.

  • Page 36: Customer Service And Warranty

    ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U.S.A. Meade will repair or replace a product, or part thereof, found by Meade to be defective, provided the defective part...
  • Page 37 Meade specifically disclaims special, indirect, or consequential damages or lost profit which may result from a breach of this warranty. Any implied warranties which cannot be disclaimed are hereby limited to a term of one year from the date of original retail purchase.
  • Page 38 OBSERVATION LOG OBSERVER: OBJECT NAME: DATE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLATION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMAGE...
  • Page 39 OBSERVATION LOG OBSERVER: OBJECT NAME: DATE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLATION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMAGE...
  • Page 40 OBSERVATION LOG OBSERVER: OBJECT NAME: DATE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLATION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMAGE...
  • Page 41 We appreciate your business. Keep in touch! Let’s Get Social: @MeadeInstrument @MeadeInstruments @MeadeInstruments Share your photos with us: #MeadePhotos Social@meade.com For special offers and other products, visit our website: www. meade.com...
  • Page 42 ASTRONOMY FOR ALL 1-800-626-3233 Meade Instruments 27 Hubble Irvine, CA 92618...

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