14 | ENGLISH
The Hand Control Menu
The “Hand Control” menu allows you to customize certain
features of the NexStar+ hand control. To access this menu,
press the MENU button (#7 on the keypad) and use the
scroll buttons to select “Hand Control” and press ENTER.
Use the scroll buttons to select from the following options:
• Lights Control: Independently adjust the brightness of the
number keypad and the LCD.
• Scrolling Menu: Adjust how fast words move across the
face of the LCD.
• Toggle Bold Font: Change the format of the font displayed
on the LCD from normal to boldface.
• Set Contrast: Use the scroll keys to adjust the contrast
of the LCD.
• Set Language: Change the displayed language on
the LCD.
NOTE: The Set Language feature may also appear the
first time you use your new hand control. You may also
initiate it at any time by holding down the Option button (the
Celestron logo) for 10 seconds while powering up
the telescope.
Alignment Procedures
In order for the telescope to accurately point to objects in the
sky, it must first be aligned with known positions (stars) in the
sky. With this information, the telescope can create a model
of the sky, which it uses to locate any object with known
coordinates. There are many ways to align your telescope
with the sky depending on what information the user is able
to provide:
• Two Star Align uses the entered time/location information
and allows the user to select which two alignment stars the
telescope will automatically slew to.
• One Star Align uses the same time/location information
but only uses one star for alignment.
• Solar System Align will display a list of visible
daytime objects (planets and the Moon) available to
align the telescope.
• Quick-Align will ask you to input all the same information
as you would for the Two Star Align procedure. However,
instead of slewing to the alignment stars for centering and
alignment, the telescope bypasses this step and simply
models the sky based on the information given.
• Last Alignment restores your last saved star alignment
and switch position. Last Alignment also serves as a good
safeguard in case the telescope should lose power.
Two Star Align
Two-Star Align allows the user to select two stars on which
to align the telescope. To align your telescope using the
Two-Star Align method:
1. Select Two-Star Align from the alignment choices given.
Based on the date and time information entered, the hand
control will automatically select and display a bright star
that is above the horizon.
• Press ENTER to select this star as your first alignment star.
• If for some reason the chosen star is not visible (perhaps
behind a tree or building), press BACK to have the hand
control automatically select the next brightest star.
• Or you can use the Up/Down keys to browse the entire
Named Star list and select any one of over two hundred
alignment stars.
2. Once the telescope is finished slewing to your first
alignment star, the display will ask you to use the arrow
buttons to align the selected star with the cross hairs in
the center of the finderscope. When centered in the finder,
press ENTER. The display will then instruct you to center
the star in the field of view of the eyepiece. When the star
is entered, press ALIGN to accept this star as your first
alignment star.
3. After the first alignment star has been entered, the hand
control will automatically select a second alignment star
and have you repeat this procedure for that star. When
the telescope has been aligned on both stars, the display
will ask you if you wish to add additional calibration stars.
Calibration stars are used to improve the pointing
accuracy of your telescope by compensating for subtle
opto-mechanical misalignments between the telescope
optics and the mount. Therefore, it is usually a good idea
to add at least one additional calibration star to improve
the mount’s all-sky pointing accuracy.
4. Press ENTER to select a calibration star. Select a star the
same way you did with the first two alignment stars and
press ENTER. You will notice that all the calibration stars
displayed are located on the opposite side of the side of
the sky (Meridian) as the original alignment stars. This is
essential for an accurate calibration of the mount. Finally,
you can choose to continue to add additional calibration
stars or Press BACK to complete the alignment.
Note: East/West Filtering – In order to ensure the best
possible full-sky pointing accuracy, your computerized mount
automatically filters and chooses its initial alignment stars so
that the first two alignment stars are located on one side of
the Meridian and any calibration stars are on the opposite
side of the Meridian, as indicated by the “W” or “E”
displayed in the upper-right corner of the LCD. East/West
filtering can be changed simply by pressing the MENU
button at any time during the alignment process.
