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Software Bisque Paramount OTA Ring Installation Instructions Manual

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Paramount OTA Ring and Paramount Taurus
OTA Installation Instructions
Revision 1.2, January 2018
© 2018 Software Bisque, Inc. All rights reserved.

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  • Page 1 Paramount OTA Ring and Paramount Taurus OTA Installation Instructions Revision 1.2, January 2018 © 2018 Software Bisque, Inc. All rights reserved.

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Introduction ..............................4 Getting Started ............................4 Type of OTA Mounting ..........................5 Scope Mounting Brackets and Scope Rail Instructions ................. 5 Packing List Scope Brackets ........................5 Bracket Installation ........................... 6 Front Bracket Installation.......................... 7 Rear Bracket Installation ......................... 10 Scope Rail Installation ..........................
  • Page 3 Balancing in Declination ........................37 Relieving Fork Stress ..........................38 P a g e...

  • Page 4: Introduction

    Introduction This document describes how to attach a variety of optical tube assemblies (OTAs) to the Paramount Taurus equatorial fork model mounts. Software Bisque also manufactures precision OTA mounting rings for: • 14-inch Celestron C14 Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT) OTAs • 14-inch Rowe-Ackerman Schmidt-Astrograph (RASA) OTAs •...

  • Page 5: Type Of Ota Mounting

    Type of OTA Mounting There are five types of OTA mounting mentioned in Table 1 for the listed telescope apertures and systems: 1. Standard Versa-Plate Dovetail a. All Paramount ME II mounts include the standard Versa-Plate with a dovetail that requires no extra mounting hardware.

  • Page 6: Bracket Installation

    Picture Part Description (side view) Rear mounting bracket (has no channel*, 2 pieces) (side view) * The Paramount Taurus 400 brackets are the same for the front and back rings. Scope rail plate. Socket Head Cap Screws (SHCS) (40) 5/16-18 x 1-1/8-inch SHCS (8) for Stainless Steel Rail/Mounting Thinner plate mounting component ¼-20 x 5/8-inch SHCS (6 pieces)

  • Page 7: Front Bracket Installation

    “Bracket Installation” on page 6 apply to both components. If more than one accessory plate will be installed, other mounting plates such as the Losmandy dovetail shown in Figure 1 must be removed before installing Software Bisque’s brackets. Front Bracket Installation The front bracket has a channel as shown in Figure 2.
  • Page 8 Figure 2: Front bracket mounted with channel highlighted in blue. Figure 3: Center ring of the OTA assembly highlighted in blue. There are four or eight 5/16-18 x 1-1/8-inch SHCSs depending on the OTA for each of the brackets. The threaded holes used for the 20-inch Officina Stellare 500 model OTA are shown in Figure 8, and for the 20-inch Planewave CDK20 OTA in Figure 5.
  • Page 9 Figure 6: Eight 5/16-18 threaded holes for Officina Stellare 600 OTA bracket (front on the left, rear on the right) Figure 7: Eight 5/16-18 threaded holes for Officina Stellare 400 OTA bracket (front and rear are the same) The plates are mounted in the orientation shown in Figure 8. Figure 8: Front bracket installed (Officina Stellare top, Planewave bottom) Install the second front plate on the opposite side of the scope (90 degrees from the first) as shown in Figure 1.

  • Page 10: Rear Bracket Installation

    Rear Bracket Installation The rear bracket which has no channel is mounted on the back ring of the telescope opposing the front bracket, see Figure 9 and Figure 10. Figure 9: Rear bracket mounted. Figure 10: Rear ring of OTA (highlighted in blue). The other four or eight 5/16-18 x 1-1/8-inch SHCSs for the rear bracket are the same as the front bracket as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5.

  • Page 11: Scope Rail Installation

    Figure 11: Rear bracket installed (Officina Stellare top, Planewave bottom). Scope Rail Installation There are two scope rails, and the orientation of the rail is critical for easy installation into the forks. As shown below in Figure 13, the U-Shape section of the scope rail needs to be installed facing toward the ground when the scope is in the position of 0 degrees altitude.
  • Page 12 accommodate the dimensions between the front and rear rings of the telescope (see Figure 15 and Figure 17). Figure 13: Scope rail 500 installed in further-back position (earlier model with circular holes shown). The three screws shown on the left of Figure 13 are installed in the thinner part of the plate and therefore require ¼-20 x 5/8-inch SHCSs;...
  • Page 13 Figure 15: Scope rail 600 (with slotted holes). Figure 16: Scope rail 500 (with slotted holes). Figure 17: Scope rail 400 (with slotted holes). P a g e | 13...

  • Page 14: Bracket Dovetail Accessory Plate Installation

    Bracket Dovetail Accessory Plate Installation The optional scope rail dovetail accessory plate has a smaller dovetail to mount additional telescopes, or other accessories. Since the length between the front and rear rings of OTAs is different for each scope, adapter plates are needed to mount the accessory plate. The adaptor plate is attached the same way as the scope plate, but has no specific orientation.

  • Page 15: Mounting Rings And Scope Rail Installation

    Thicker part of plate mounting ¼-20 x 1-1/8-inch SHCS (12 pcs) Ring Installation The following section describes how to attach the Software Bisque OTA mounting rings for use with a Paramount German equatorial mount, and a Paramount Taurus equatorial fork mount. German Equatorial Mounts Before mounting the rings, evaluate to make sure there is enough room for the telescope to travel forward or backward to achieve balance when all the instruments are installed.
  • Page 16 Figure 20: Ring installation holes on bottom of Versa-Plate. Figure 21: Versa-Plate with first two ring segments installed. Place the scope inside the mounted rings (see Figure 22) and assemble the rest of the three ring segments around the telescope using eight ¼-20 x ½-inch SHCS (Figure 23) without tightening them down all the way.
  • Page 17 Figure 22: Meade 16-inch with two OTA mounting rings segments attached. Figure 23: Ring Segment assembled and 1/4-20 holes. Removing/Re-Attaching the Versa-Plate As described in the Paramount User Guide, there are two positions that the Versa-Plate can be mounted in depending on your system’s setup. The standard mounting position is shown in Figure 24 and Figure 25.
  • Page 18 the payload can be more easily balanced. The “balance” mounting position depends on your equipment, so there may be a bit of trial and error to find the optimal spot. Figure 24: Standard Versa-Plate orientation. Figure 25: Standard Versa-Plate mounting holes (top view). Lock the declination axis (see Figure 26) using one or two bolts found in a red velvet bag in the accessory kit.
  • Page 19 Figure 26: Dec axis locking (with already mounted Versa-Plate). Snake the cables that are coming out of the declination tube through the hole in the Versa-Plate, and orient them so that they run along the channel cutout shown in Figure 27 and Figure 28 below. See Figure 24 to be sure the Instrument Panel (10-32 tapped holes for the Instrument Panel are circled in yellow in Figure 27) is in the correct position with respect to the direction of light “star and arrow”...
  • Page 20 Figure 27: Versa-plate cable channel and instrument panel holes (bottom view). Figure 28: Declination gear cable channel. Ensure the cables run along the channel underneath the Versa-Plate, as well as in the cutout of the Instrument Panel shown in Figure 29. Install the four 10-32x1/2 in. SHCSs and screw them in most of the way.

  • Page 21: Equatorial Fork Mounts

    Figure 29: Instrument panel cable cutout. Equatorial Fork Mounts Attach the first two rings on the scope rail plate as shown in Figure 30 and Figure 31 using the ¼-20 x 1- 1/8-inch SHCS and ¼-20 x ½-inch SHCS. The holes in Figure 30 highlighted in blue use the 1-1/8-inch length and the holes in white use the ½-inch length.
  • Page 22 Figure 30: Scope Rail and rings (U shape highlighted in blue) The second scope rail needs to be installed on the opposite side as the first rail as shown in Figure 31. Both scope rails must have the U shape (shown in blue in Figure 30) oriented in the same direction as shown in Figure 30 Figure 32...

  • Page 23: Ring Use

    Figure 31: Scope rail and rings (installation screw holes highlighted in blue). Ring Use Once the rings are installed around the OTA with the two scope rails attached, each segment has two set screws located underneath each of the cutouts. These set screws ensure the fit around the tube is snug, and should be adjusted as equally to ensure the tension between the two is even.
  • Page 24 Figure 32: Scope rails installed. Figure 33: Meade 16-inch with two OTA mounting rings attached. P a g e | 24...

  • Page 25: Scope Rail Installation

    There are two ¼-20 x 1/2-inch SHCS for each connection between ring segments. Install both screws but do not tighten them completely. This allows ring adjustment so that the telescope can be oriented properly, and the flats on the rings can be aligned as shown in Figure 33. Scope Rail Installation There are two scope rails, and the orientation of the rail is critical for installation into the forks.

  • Page 26: Set Screw Adjustment

    Figure 36: U-Shape section highlighted in blue Place the rings on a flat surface to help level and orient both. Once the ring flats are aligned, attach the scope rails to the rings. There are six ¼-20 screws required to attach the plates to the rings on each side. The thick part of the plate (through holes on the outside of the U-shape shown in Figure 36) will use ¼- 20 x 1-1/8-inch SHCS, while the through holes inside of the U-shape will accept ¼-20 x 5/8-inch SHCS.

  • Page 27: Ring Dovetail Accessory Plate Installation

    Cage Array Installation The Software Bisque-designed cage array assembly can be used to attach an array of two, three, four, six or nine 11-inch or 14-inch OTAs to the Paramount Taurus. The OTAs can be adjusted to point all at one object or a wide-field “mosaic”...

  • Page 28: Array Assembly Instructions

    The instructions below describe how to install and align the telescopes in the array and then how to install them in to a Paramount Taurus. Array Assembly Instructions To be completed. Scope Installation Instructions To be completed. Scope Adjustments To be completed. Scope Rail Installation To be completed.

  • Page 29: Scope Assembly Installation For A Paramount Taurus

    Scope Assembly Installation for a Paramount Taurus Scope Rail Installation The scope rail installation hardware is unique to each telescope that is attached to Taurus Equatorial Fork Mount, but the rail’s mechanics work identically for all telescopes. Before trying to install the telescope, confirm the pier and Taurus mount are bolted securely to the ground and pier respectively.

  • Page 30: Telescope Scope Rails

    Telescope Scope Rails The Software Bisque telescope scope rails have eight 5/16-18 x 1-1/8-inch SHCS that must be inserted into the rails (Figure 43) to hold the telescope in place. Each scope rail needs to be mounted on to the telescope (see the specific section above for your system).

  • Page 31: Telescope Installation

    in a specific way for maximum amount of travel (that is, to achieve lowest altitude to the south) as shown in Figure 44. Figure 43: Scope rail, top rail for 5/16-18 x 1-1/8-inch SHCS. Telescope Installation After the Taurus is assembled, and the scope rails are attached to the telescope, the telescope can be mounted to the fork arms.

  • Page 32: Adjusting The Cylinder Assembly During Telescope Installation

    Figure 45: Truss OTA orientation. Adjusting the Cylinder Assembly During Telescope Installation The side of the fork opposite the declination gear incorporates a sliding cylindrical assembly that can adjusted to match the width of the telescope. Ideally, the distance between the two mounting plates attached to the fork is identical to the distance between the two scope plates that are mounted on the telescope.
  • Page 33 Figure 47: Lateral cylinder assembly adjustment when the setscrew is loose. Figure 46: Location of the clamp setscrew on the bottom of the fork arm. Figure 48: The distances shown with yellow arrows need to match from flat surface to flat surface. The most effective way to measure this distance is to orient the telescope (ideally, by placing it on a roller cart or small table) to the correct height shown in Figure 49.

  • Page 34: Telescope Balancing

    Figure 49: Scope installation position. Figure 50: Dovetail mating (top view). Telescope Balancing To balance the telescope, the “pinching” on the scope needs checked, before the balance of the telescope can be adjusted. P a g e | 34...

  • Page 35: Balancing In Right Ascension

    Figure 51: Elevated altitude adjuster. Balancing in Right Ascension Carefully and cautiously remove the RA locking bolt. The forks arms may need to be rotated slightly back and forth to free the bolt, as the RA axis will not be in balance at this point. The fork arm with the Dec gear is usually the heavier side, so be prepared to stop the natural rotation of the RA axis in the heavy direction.
  • Page 36 Figure 52: Fork arms oriented vertically, Dec gear side down. Attach the counterweight shaft by screwing it in to the end of the cylinder assembly adjustment (also shown by the arrow in Figure 52). This counterweight shaft can be screwed in and out as far as needed to balance the RA axis while also keep a low profile.
  • Page 37 Balancing in Declination With the scope balanced in RA, re-install the locking bolt so RA axis cannot rotate. The declination axis should be balanced only after all other instruments are attached to the back of the telescope (camera, focuser, etc.). When balancing the declination axis, the scope rails should be as close to horizontal as possible so that when the rails are freed there is not tendency for the telescope to slide in either direction.
  • Page 38 Relieving Fork Stress During the process of bolting the OTA to the forks, and balancing the payload, small misalignments between the OTA and the forks could introduce unwanted stresses. These stresses may adversely affect the behavior of the declination axis as the mount slews to different parts of the sky. The following procedure can help relieve them to achieve optical mount performance.

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