Focusing The Telescope; Aligning The Finder Scope - Orion ARISTOCRAT 9800 Manual

Focusing the telescope

With the 25mm eyepiece securely inserted into the correct-
image diagonal, aim the optical tube so the front (open) end is
pointing in the general direction of an object at least 1/4 mile
away. With your fingers, slowly rotate the focus wheel until the
object comes into sharp focus. Go a little bit beyond sharp
focus until the image starts to blur again, then reverse the
rotation of the knob, just to make sure you've hit the exact
focus point.

aligning the Finder scope

The finder scope is used to aid in aiming the telescope. It is a
small, lower-powered telescope that sits on top of the main
telescope. Without it, it would be very difficult to aim your
Aristocrat 60mm.
The finder scope (Figure 6) must be aligned accurately with
the telescope for proper use. To align it, first aim the main tele-
scope in the general direction of an object at least 1/4 mile
away–the top of a telephone pole, tree, etc. Position that
object in the center of the telescope's eyepiece.
Now, look in the finder scope. Is the object visible? Ideally, it
should be somewhere in the field of view. If it is not, some
coarse adjustments of the six finder scope alignment thumb-
screws will be needed to get the finder scope roughly parallel
to the main tube.
With the image in the finder scope's field of view, you will now
use the six alignment thumbscrews to center the object on the
intersection of the crosshairs.
By loosening one alignment thumbscrew and tightening
another, you change the line-of-sight of the finder scope.
Continue making adjustments to the various alignment thumb-
screws until the image in the eyepiece is exactly centered in
both the finder scope and telescope's eyepiece.
Check the alignment by moving the telescope to another
object and fixing the finder scope's crosshairs on the exact
point you want to view. Then look through the telescope's eye-
piece to see if that point is centered in the field of view. If it is,
the job is done. If not, make necessary adjustments until the
two images match.
Once aligned, the finder scope should not need realignment
unless the telescope is roughly handled or jostled.
Focusing the Finder scope
If, when looking through the finder scope, the images appear
somewhat out of focus, you will need to refocus the finder
scope for your own eyes. Loosen the lock ring located behind
the objective lens cell on the body of the finder scope (Figure
6). Back the lock ring off a few turns, for now. Refocus the
finder scope on a distant object by threading the objective lens
cell in or out on the finder scope body. Once the image appears
sharp, lock the ring behind the objective lens cell. The finder
scope's focus should not need to be adjusted again.
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Altitude
Eyepieces and Magnification
The Aristocrat has two axes of motion: Altitude (up/down) and
Azimuth (left/right).
Finder scope bracket
Alignment
thumbscrews (6)
Figure 6.
The 6x30 correct-image finder scope.
Azimuth
Figure 5.
Focus lock ring
Objective lens
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