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C
ongratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion product. Your new Orion Equatorial Mount with
Hardwood Tripod offers solid stability, mechanical precision, and the versatility to accommodate a vari-
ety of different small to medium-sized telescope tubes. It features a heavy-duty equatorial head, and
dual slow-motion cables for effortless star-tracking. The setting circles will enable you to locate objects
by their cataloged celestial coordinates. We're sure this mount will make your observing sessions both
easy and productive.
These instructions will help you set up and properly use your equatorial mount. Please read them over
thoroughly before getting started.
Table of Contents
1. Parts List................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Assembly ................................................................................................................................ 3
3. Attaching a Telescope............................................................................................................. 4
4. Balancing the Telescope......................................................................................................... 4
5. Using the Equatorial Mount .................................................................................................... 4
6. Suggested Accessories .......................................................................................................... 6
1. Parts List
Qty.
Description
1
German-type equatorial mount
2
Slow-motion control cables
1
Counterweight
1
Counterweight shaft
3
Tripod legs
1
Tripod accessory tray
2
Accessory tray screws and wing nuts
1
Crescent wrench (1/2")
2. Assembly
Carefully open all of the boxes in the shipping container.
(Some of the boxes will be empty; they are included for pack-
ing.) Make sure all the parts listed in section 1 are present.
Save the boxes and packaging material. In the unlikely event
that you need to return the equatorial mount during the war-
ranty period, you must use the original packaging.
Assembling the mount for the first time should take only about
10 minutes. All knobs and nuts should be tightened securely to
eliminate flexing and wobbling, but only tighten them
"finger tight." Be careful not to over-tighten so as not to strip the
threads. Refer to Figures 1 and 2 during the assembly process.
1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs
one at a time to the base of the mount by sliding the tripod
leg attachment bolt into the slot in the mount and tighten-
ing the wing nut finger-tight. Use the crescent wrench
provided to hold the hexagonal head of the bolt still while
you turn the wing nut. Note that the hinged accessory tray
bracket on each leg should face inward.
2. Extend the inner portion of each tripod leg to the same
length and then tighten the leg lock bolts to secure them
at that length. You can adjust the legs to a more desirable
length later, once the mount is fully assembled and your
telescope is in place.
3. With the tripod legs now attached to the equatorial mount,
stand the tripod upright (be careful!) and spread the legs
apart enough to attach the accessory tray to the three
hinged tray brackets on the legs. The brackets should be
positioned underneath the tray. Use the three small acces-
sory tray screws and wing nuts provided. Do not tighten
the wing nuts yet.
4. Now, with the accessory tray attached loosely, spread the
tripod legs apart as far as they will go, until the accessory
tray brackets are taut. Then tighten the wing nuts.
5. Next, tighten the wing nuts of the tripod leg attachment
bolts at the base of the equatorial mount, so the legs are
securely fastened.
6. Slide the counterweight onto the counterweight shaft,
making sure the retaining washer and screw are in place
on the end of the shaft. They will prevent the counter-
weight from sliding off the shaft and possibly onto your foot
if the counterweight lock knob should loosen!
3
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