5
III. Setting Up the
Telescope
Your new TableTop telescope arrives with the optical tube
already attached to the base. Carefully remove the assembled
telescope from the shipping box and set it upright on its base.
Remove the plastic bag from the telescope.
The telescope is packed with the optical tube oriented vertically
in the base, with a foam pad between the optical tube and the
base (
Figure 3A
). To rotate the tube into a “normal” position,
you may have to first loosen the tube ring clamp knob, then
pull the tube upward (
Figure 3B
). Then it should be possible to
remove the foam block and rotate the tube. Be sure to retighten
the clamp knob.
Install the EZ Finder II
Slide the foot of the EZ Finder’s bracket into the dovetail shoe
on the telescope tube (
Figure 4
). Make sure the EZ finder II is
oriented with the sight tube facing the front end of the telescope,
as shown.
Install and Eyepiece
The StarBlast 4.5 comes with two 4-element Bertele eyepieces:
one of 20mm focal length and the other of 10mm focal length.
More information about the eyepieces are provided later in this
manual.
Insert an eyepiece directly into the focuser (
Figure 5
). First
remove the cap from the focuser and loosen the two thumb-
screws to provide clearance for the eyepiece barrel. Then insert
the barrel of the eyepiece into the focuser and lightly retighten
the thumbscrews.
Using the EZ Finder II Reflex Sight
The included EZ Finder II reflex sight (
Figure 6
) makes point-
ing your telescope almost as easy as pointing your finger. It
permits easy object targeting prior to observation in the higher-
power main telescope. It superimposes a red dot generated by
an internal LED light on the sky, showing right where your tele-
scope is pointed (
Figure 7
).
Before you can use the red dot finder scope, you must remove
the small tab sticking out from the battery compartment. Doing
so will allow the pre-installed 3V CR-2032 button cell battery to
make contact with the EZ Finder II’s electronic circuitry to power
its red LED illuminator. The tab can then be discarded.
Turn the power knob clockwise until you hear the “click” indicat-
ing that power has been turned on. Look through the back of
the reflex sight with both eyes open to see the red dot inside the
sight tube. Position your eye at a comfortable distance from the
back of the unit. The brightness of the dot is adjusted by turn-
ing the power knob. For best results when stargazing, use the
dimmest possible setting that allows you to see the dot without
difficulty. Typically a dimmer setting is used under dark skies and
a bright setting is used under light-polluted skies or in daylight.
Aligning the EZ Finder II
To use the red dot finder scope properly, it must be aligned with
the main telescope. When the EZ Finder II is properly aligned
with the telescope, an object that is centered on reflex sight’s
red dot should also appear in the center of the field of view of
the telescope’s eyepiece. Alignment is easiest to do during day-
light hours, before observing at night. Follow this procedure:
Figure 3.
A)
The telescope comes with a foam block between the
optical tube and the base.
B)
To remove the block, loosen the tube
clamp knob a turn or two, then slide the tube upward. Then remove
the foam block.
Figure 4.
Slide the foot of the EZ Finder II bracket into the dovetail
shoe on the telescope tube, as shown. Then tighten the thumbscrew.
Foam block
Tube clamp
knob
Sight tube
A
B
