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2. Assembly
Carefully open all of the boxes in the shipping container. 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 telescope, you must use the original packaging.
Assembling the telescope should take only about 15 minutes. All
bolts should be tightened securely to eliminate flexing and wob-
bling, but only tighten them "finger tight." You will need a flat-head
screwdriver to keep bolts from turning while tightening the wing
nuts by hand. Be careful not to overtighten or the threads may
strip. Refer to Figure 1 during the assembly process.
During assembly (and anytime, for that matter), DO NOT
touch the surfaces of the telescope mirrors or the lenses of
the finder scope or eyepiece with your fingers. The optical
surfaces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be
damaged if touched inappropriately. NEVER remove any lens
assembly from its housing for any reason, or the product war-
ranty and return policy will be voided.
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 bolt into the hole in the mount and lightly tightening the
wing nut finger-tight. (Use a flat-head screwdriver on the
head of the bolt while tightening the wing nut.) Note that
the hinged accessory tray bracket on each leg should face
inward.
2. Secure the inner portion of each leg by tightening the two
leg lock bolts at the base of the legs. For now, keep the
legs at their shortest (fully retracted) length; you can
extend them to a more desirable length later, after the
scope is completely assembled.
3. With the equatorial mount attached, stand the tripod
upright and spread the legs apart enough to attach the
accessory tray to the three hinged tray brackets. The
brackets should be positioned underneath the tray. Use
the three small accessory tray screws and wing nuts pro-
vided. Do not tighten the wing nuts yet.
4. Now, with the accessory tray attached but not tightened,
spread the tripod legs apart as far as they will go, until the
accessory tray brackets are taut. Then tighten the wing
nuts of the accessory tray screws.
5. Tighten the wing nuts of the tripod leg bolts at the base of
the equatorial mount.
6. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, with
the latitude scale set at about a 40° angle. Tighten the lat-
itude adjustment knob, the declination (Dec.) and right
ascension (R.A.) lock knobs, and the azimuth lock knob all
finger-tight.
7. Slide the counterweight on to the counterweight shaft.
Make sure the screw that holds the retaining washer at the
bottom end of the shaft is tightened. This washer will pre-
vent the counterweight from slipping off the shaft and
possibly on to your foot if the counterweight lock knob
should come loose! Now, with the counterweight lock knob
loose, hold the counterweight in one hand and thread the
4
shaft into the equatorial mount (at the base of the declina-
tion axis) with the other hand. When it is threaded all the
way in, position the counterweight about halfway up the
shaft and tighten the counterweight lock knob.
8. Place the telescope tube assembly on the equatorial head
and secure with the two wing nuts.
9. Attach the two slow-motion cables to the R.A. and Dec.
slow-motion shafts of the equatorial mount by positioning
the setscrew on the end of the cable over the indented slot
on the shaft, then tightening the setscrew.
10.Install the finder scope bracket on the optical tube by
removing the round nuts from the two bolts near the
focuser and placing the bracket slots over the bolts. Then
replace the round nuts. Do not loosen the hex nut at the
base of either bolt.
11.If the finder scope is not already installed in the bracket,
install it now.
12.Insert an eyepiece into the focuser drawtube and secure it
in place with the thumbscrew.
3. Balancing the Telescope
To insure smooth movement of the telescope, it should be
properly balanced. This is done by positioning the counter-
weight on its shaft at a point where the telescope is balanced
on the R.A. axis.
Loosen the R.A. lock knob. The telescope should now be able
to rotate freely about the R.A. axis. Rotate it until the coun-
terweight shaft is parallel to the ground (i.e., horizontal).
Loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide the weight
along the shaft until it exactly counterbalances the telescope.
That's the point at which the shaft remains horizontal even
when you let go with both hands.
Retighten the counterweight lock knob. The telescope is now
balanced.
4. Aligning the Finder Scope
A finder scope has a wide field of view to facilitate the loca-
tion of objects for subsequent viewing through the main
telescope, which has a much narrower field of view. The find-
er scope and the main telescope must be aligned so they
point to exactly the same spot in the sky.
Alignment is easiest to do in daylight hours. First, insert the
eyepiece (your lowest-power eyepiece, if you have more than
one) into the focuser. Then loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock
knobs so the telescope can be moved freely.
Point the main telescope at a discrete object such as the top
of a telephone pole or a street sign that is at least a quarter-
mile away. Move the telescope so the target object appears in
the very center of the field of view when you look into the eye-
piece. Now tighten the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs. Use the
slow-motion control knobs to recenter the object in the field of
view if it moved off center when you tightened the lock knobs.
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