4
3. Assembly
Assembling the telescope for the first time should take about
30 minutes. No tools are needed other than the ones provided.
All screws should be tightened securely to eliminate flexing
and wobbling, but be careful not to over-tighten 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 eyepieces 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 altazimuth mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs,
one at a time, to the base of the mount by sliding a tripod
attachment screw through the top of a leg and through the
holes in the base of the mount. The washers should be on
the outside of the tripod legs. Secure the wing nuts finger-
tight. Note that the accessory tray bracket attachment
point on each leg should face inward.
2. Install and tighten the leg lock knobs on the bottom braces
of the tripod legs. For now, keep the legs at their shortest
(fully retracted) length; you can extend them to a more desir-
able length later, after the tripod is completely assembled.
3. With the tripod legs now attached to the mount, stand the
tripod upright (be careful!) and spread the legs apart
enough to connect each end of the accessory tray bracket
to the attachment point on each leg. Use the screw and
lock nut that come installed in each attachment point to do
this. First remove the screw using the supplied screwdriver
and triangular assembly tool; hold the lock nut with the tri-
angular assembly tool while turning the screw with the
screwdriver. Then, line up one of the ends of the bracket
with the attachment point and reinstall the screw. Make
sure the end of the accessory tray bracket is oriented so
that its flat side is facing up.
4. Stand the tripod and mount upright and spread the tripod
legs apart as far as they will go, until the bracket is taut.
Connect the accessory tray to the accessory tray bracket
with the three wing screws already installed in the tray. Do
this by pushing the wing screws up through the holes in the
accessory tray bracket and threading them into the holes in
the accessory tray.
5. Tighten the screws at the tops of the tripod legs, so the legs
are securely fastened to the mount. Use the Phillips head
screwdriver and your fingers to do this.
6. Attach the altitude micro-motion rod to the optical tube
assembly by first removing the flat head screw from the
micro-motion rod attachment post on the side of the optical
tube Use the flattened corner of the triangular assembly tool
to do this. Slide the screw through the hole at the end of the
micro-motion rod and rethread the screw into the attachment
post. Make sure the screw is securely tightened.
7. To install the optical tube in the “yoke” of the altazimuth
mount, first slide the altitude micro-motion rod into its recep-
tacle on the side of the yoke. Make sure the altitude lock
knob is adequetely loosened. Then, with the rod in place in
the receptacle, place the optical tube assembly into the yoke
so that the metal altitude castings on the side of the optical
tube slide into the grooves in the top of the yoke. (Figure 2).
To secure the optical tube to the mount, slide the yoke knobs
through the holes in the top of the mount and thread them
into the altitude castings on the optical tube. Tighten the alti-
tude lock knob.
8. Place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket. Do this by
loosening the three alignment thumbscrews until the are
flush with the inside of the bracket. Then insert the small end
(the eyepiece end) of the finder scope into the end of the
bracket that does not have the alignment thumbscrews next
to it. Bring the finder scope through the bracket until an inch
of finder scope's tube is through the bracket. Secure the find-
er scope in the finder scope bracket by tightening the three
finder scope alignment thumbscrews evenly until it is secure.
Micro-motion
rod attachment
post
“Yoke”
Altitude
casting
Altitude lock knob
Altitude
micro-motion rod
Altitude
Azimuth
Figure 3.
Figure 2.
