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Mount
attachment
knob
Tray
arm
Knob
Washer
Figure 4.
Install the accessory tray, flat side up, as shown. The
three tray arms should press against the tripod legs.
up. Make sure the "V" of each tray arm is buttressed
against a tripod leg (Figure 4). Place the washer on the
center support shaft and follow it by threading the knob
all the way up the shaft until the knob is tight against the
tray. The tripod support tray provides additional stability
for the tripod, and holds up to five 1.25" eyepieces and
two 2" eyepieces.
6.
Loosen the counterweight shaft lock lever and fully
extend the counterweight shaft. Retighten the lock lever.
7.
Remove the knurled "toe saver" retaining screw on
the bottom of the counterweight shaft and slide one
counterweight or both counterweights onto the shaft.
Make sure the counterweight lock knob is adequately
loosened to allow the counterweight shaft to pass through
the hole. Position the counterweights about halfway
up the shaft and tighten the lock knob. Replace the toe
saver at the end of the bar. The toe saver prevents a
counterweight from falling on your foot if the lock knob
happens to come loose.
8.
Fasten the hand controller bracket to one of the legs
between the accessory tray and the upper casting of
the tripod leg. Use the hook-and-loop strap to fasten the
bracket snugly to the leg (Figure 5).
Your Sirius EQ-G mount is now fully assembled and should
resemble Figure 1 except for the hand controller, which will be
installed later.
4
4. Attaching
a Telescope
The Sirius EQ-G equatorial
mount is designed to hold
telescope tubes weighing
up to approximately 30 lbs.
(including all accessories).
For astronomical imaging
an equipment load some-
Center
support
what less than that weight
shaft
is recommended to insure
consistently steady images.
The mount has recently
been upgraded to include
a spring-loaded, dual-width dovetail saddle, which is capable
of accommodating either a narrow Vixen-style dovetail mount-
Tray
ing plate or a wide Losmandy-style dovetail plate (Figure 6). A
telescope optical tube can be attached to the dovetail plate via
tube rings (not included). A Vixen-style dovetail plate is includ-
ed with the mount. Alternatively, a telescope with an integrated
dovetail adapter or plate can be attached directly to the saddle
in one of the two slots.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Balancing the Telescope
To ensure smooth movement of a telescope on both axes of
the equatorial mount, and to avoid putting undue stress on the
motors, it is imperative that the optical tube be properly bal-
anced on both axes.
We will first balance the telescope on the right ascension (RA)
axis.
1.
2.
3.
To install a telescope on the mount, first ensure that the
counterweight is installed as in step 7 above, and that the
RA lock lever is locked.
Loosen the Dec lock lever and orient the saddle so it
runs side-to-side as shown in Figure 7. Then retighten
the Dec lock lever.
Now loosen the two saddle lock knobs to widen the
grooves sufficiently to accept the dovetail plate to be
installed.
Place the dovetail mounting plate, with optical tube
attached, in the saddle so that the plate is roughly
centered lengthwise in the slot. While still holding the
optical tube with one hand, re-tighten the saddle lock
knobs with your other hand until the plate is secure.
Unlock both the RA and Dec lock levers and rotate the
telescope until both the telescope and the counterweight
shaft are parallel to the ground.
Retighten the Dec lock lever.
Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide
the weight along the shaft until it counterbalances the
telescope. That's the point at which the shaft remains
horizontal when released. If the telescope can't be
Figure 5.
Wrap the hand
controller bracket strap snugly
around a tripod leg.
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