JMI Telescopes MAX Computer ユーザーズマニュアル

 

Page 11 

 

 
The timer is started by pressing the ENTER button, which 
will temporarily cause the display to show the following: 
 
 

START 

 
The elapsed time from the moment you pressed the ENTER 
button will then be displayed until you press ENTER to stop 
the timer or MODE to exit the timer mode. 
 
 

 
This mode is primarily used for verifying proper operation of 
the encoders.  The encoder angles (in whole degrees) 
relative to their startup positions is shown.  For equatorial 
mounts, the first axis is Right Ascension and the second 
Declination; for Alt/Az mounts, the first axis is Azimuth, the 
second Altitude. 
 
For more information on using this mode to test the 
performance of your encoders, see the Encoder Test 
section beginning on page 4. 
 
 

 (NGC-miniMAX and NGC-MAX)

 

 
Although the MAX computer can be used without it, having 
your telescope polar aligned is desirable in many cases.  
The accuracy of a clock drive depends upon this alignment 
for visual and especially photographic purposes.  The 

POLAR

 mode is used to achieve a highly accurate polar 

alignment. 
 
Before using this mode, you must change your setup to 
reflect either an EP (Equatorial - Polar aligned), or GP 
(German - Polar aligned) mount.  See SETUP, below, for 
help on doing this.  If you do not do so, upon attempting to 
enter this mode nothing will happen or you will see: 
 
 
 

ONLY FOR EP GP 

 
Once you have ENTERed the 

POLAR ALIGN

 mode, use 

the UP and DOWN buttons to choose a reference star by 
name from the list of 30 to 40.  The star you choose should 
be between 60º and 120º from the pole — with those near 
the celestial equator being best.  Do not press any more 
buttons yet. 
 
With your mount at least roughly on the pole (the closer you 
are to begin with, the faster the process), point the 
telescope at your chosen star and press ENTER once it is 
in the center of your eyepiece.  A bright asterisk (*) may 
momentarily appear, followed by a display similar to the 
following: 
 
 

POLARIS  77

←

 83

↓

 

This indicates the direction and distance to Polaris.  You 
should now move your telescope to the indicated position 
just like under GUIDE mode.  When you have zeroed both 
angles, your display should look like this: 
 
 

POLARIS  0

♦

0 0

♦

0 

 
If your mount is polar aligned, Polaris will appear near the 
center of a moderately powered eyepiece.  (Don't worry 
about the offset of Polaris from the actual pole — the MAX 
computer is accounting for this.*)  If Polaris is not near the 
center of your eyepiece, you will need to adjust the altitude 
and azimuth adjustments of your mount until Polaris is 
centered in your eyepiece.  Be sure not to move your 
telescope relative to your mount — the computer's display 
should remain as shown above.  If you should accidentally 
move the telescope itself, you can zero the angles again so 
that the display does match that above. 
 
Now press the ENTER button, and you will briefly see a 
reminder to adjust your altitude and azimuth, then a display 
similar to this: 
 
 

SIGHT PROCYON 

 
You should now point your telescope back at your reference 
star and center it in the eyepiece.  Press ENTER and you 
will be instructed to guide back to Polaris.  Repeat the 
above process from this point as many times as desired.  
With each iteration of the process, your telescope's polar 
alignment should become more and more accurate.  Two or 
three iterations should be sufficient for most visual work, 
while up to five or six iterations may be required for long-
exposure photographic work. 
 
Users installing a mount permanently will find this procedure 
helpful for obtaining an accurate polar alignment, however 
one of the more time-consuming methods (star drift or 
photographic) should be used for fine tuning. 
 
* While your telescope's optical tube is being aligned on 
Polaris, the mount's polar axis is actually being aligned on 
the pole, not Polaris. 
 
 

SETUP or INSTALL 

 
This mode is used to tell the MAX computer some 
characteristics of your mount.  The meaning of each of the 
setup parameters is defined here.  The first display, 
showing the selected mount type, will be similar to the 
following: 
 
 

SCOPE EQ 

 

  This setting informs the MAX computer of the 

type of mount your telescope is on.  The six types to choose 
from are AZ, AV, EQ, EP, GQ, and GP (the NGC-