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 eyepiece with your fingers. The optical sur-
faces 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 a tripod
leg 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 fin-
ger-tight. Note that the accessory tray bracket attachment
point on each leg must 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 tri-
pod upright (be careful!) and spread the legs apart enough to
connect each end of the accessory tray bracket to the attach-
4
ment 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 assem-
bly tool; hold the lock nut with the triangular assembly tool
while turning the screw with the screwdriver. Then, line up one
of the ends of the bracket with the attachment point and rein-
stall 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. Next, 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. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 2, at a
latitude of about 40° i.e., so the pointer next to the latitude
scale is pointing to the mark at “40.” To do this, loosen the
latitude lock t-bolt, and turn the latitude adjustment t-bolt
until the pointer and the “40” line up. Then retighten the lat-
itude lock t-bolt. The declination (Dec.) and right ascension
(R.A.) axes may need re-positioning (rotation) as well. Be
sure to loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs before doing
this. Retighten the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs once the
equatorial mount is properly oriented.
R.A. setting circle
Latitude scale
Latitude adjustment
T-bolt
Azimuth lock knob
Declination lock knob (not shown)
Declination setting circle
R.A. lock knob
Right Ascension axis
Declination axis
Latitude
lock T-bolt
Figure 2.