User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS 09007

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ ® Equatorial Newtonian Reflector Telescope #9007 Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope. com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 P. O. Box 1815, Santa Cruz, CA 95061 Alignment thumb screws(2) Finder scope Dovetail slot Eyepiece Spring-loaded tensioner Finder scope bracket Piggyback adapter Tube mounting rings Focuser Dec. setting circle Tube ring clamps Primary mirror cell Collimation screws(6) R. A. setting circle Latitude adjustment t-bolt Azimuth lock knob Counterweight lock knob Counterweight shaft R. A. [. . . ] lock knob and rotate the telescope on the R. A. axis until the counterweight shaft is horizontal (parallel to the ground). lock knob and rotate the telescope until it is pointing straight overhead. The counterweight shaft is still horizontal. Similarly, to point the telescope directly south, the counterweight shaft should again be horizontal. Then you simply rotate the scope on the Dec. axis until it points in the south direction. What if you need to aim the telescope directly north, but at an object that is nearer to the horizon than Polaris?You can't do it with the counterweight down as pictured in Figure 1. Again, you have to rotate the scope in R. A. so the counterweight shaft is positioned horizontally. so it points to where you want it near the horizon. To point the telescope to the east or west, or in other directions, you rotate the telescope on its R. A. Depending on the altitude of the object you want to observe, the counterweight shaft will be oriented somewhere between vertical and horizontal. Figure 7 illustrates how the telescope will look pointed at the four cardinal directions -- north, south, east, and west The key things to remember when pointing the telescope is that a) you only move it in R. A. and Dec. , not in azimuth or latitude (altitude), and b) the counterweight and shaft will not always appear as it does in Figure 1. Collimating the Optics (Aligning the Mirrors) Collimation is the process of adjusting the mirrors so they are precisely aligned with each other. Your telescope's optics were aligned at the factory, and should not need much adjustment unless the telescope was roughly handled during shipment. Accurate collimation is important to insuring the peak performance of your telescope, so it should be checked before each observing session. Collimation is easy to do, and should be done in daylight. To check the collimation, remove the eyepiece and look down the focuser drawtube. You should see the secondary mirror centered under the drawtube, the reflection of the primary mirror centered in the secondary mirror, and the reflection of the secondary mirror (and your eye) centered in the reflection of the primary mirror, as in Figure 8a. [. . . ] Cleaning Mirrors You should not have to clean your telescope's mirrors very often; normally once every year or so. Covering your telescope when it is not in use will prevent dust from accumulating on the mirrors. Improper cleaning can scratch mirror coatings, so the fewer times you have to clean the mirrors, the better. Small specks of dust or flecks of paint have virtually no effect on the visual performance of the telescope. [. . . ]