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table of contents

1. Parts List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
2. Assembly  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
3. Using Your Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
4. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount . .  7
5. Collimation (Aligning the Mirrors) . . . . . . . . .  11
6. Astronomical Observing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
7. Astrophotography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
8. Care and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
9. Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18

1. Parts list

1 Optical tube assembly
1 German type equatorial mount
1 Counterweight shaft
1 Large counterweight
1 Small counterweight
3 Tripod legs with accessory tray bracket attached
3 Leg attachment screws with wingnuts and washers
3 Leg lock knobs
1 Accessory tray with mounting hardware
2 Slow-motion control cables
1 Polar axis finder scope
1 Plastic cover for polar axis finder scope
2 Optical tube mounting rings (one with piggyback mount)
1 6x30 achromatic crosshair finder scope
1 Finder scope bracket with O-ring
1 25mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece
1 10mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece
1 Dust cap
1 Collimation cap
4 Assembly tools (2 wrenches, Phillips screwdriver, flat-head 
screwdriver key)

2. assembly

After opening the box your telescope came in, make sure all 
the parts listed in part 1 are present and familiarize yourself 
with their features. Please keep the original shipping box and 
interior packaging! In the unlikely event that you should need 
to ship the original telescope back to Orion for warranty repair 
service, you must use the original packaging.
Assembling the telescope for the first time should take about 
30 minutes. No tools are needed other than the ones provid-
ed. All bolts 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, the lenses of the 
finder scope or eyepieces with your fingers. The optical sur-
faces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be dam-
aged if touched inappropriately.

1. 

Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs 

one at a time to the mount using the leg attachment screws. 
Line up the holes in the top of the leg with the holes in the 
base of the mount, and insert the screw so it passes through 
the leg and the mount. Tighten the wingnuts only finger-tight, 
for now. The washers go between the screw’s head and the 
leg, and between the wingnut and the leg.

2. 

Insert and tighten the leg lock knobs into the base of the tri-

pod legs. For now, keep the legs at their shortest (fully retract-
ed) length; you can extend them to a more desirable length 
later, after the scope is completely assembled.

3. 

With the tripod legs now attached to the equatorial mount, 

stand the tripod upright (be careful!) and spread the legs apart 
as far as they will go, until the accessory tray bracket is taut. 

4. 

Attach  the  accessory  tray  to  the  bracket  with  the  three 

wingnut-head screws already installed in the tray. Push the 
screws up through the holes in the bracket, then thread them 
into the holes in the tray.

Welcome to the exciting world of amateur astronomy! Your new AstroView 6 EQ Reflector is designed for 
high-resolution viewing of astronomical objects. With its precision optics and equatorial mount, you’ll be 
able to locate and enjoy hundreds of fascinating celestial denizens, including the planets, Moon, and a 
variety of deep-sky galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters.
These instructions will help you set up, properly use, and care for your telescope. Please read them thor-
oughly before getting started.

Warning:

 

Never look directly at the Sun 

through your telescope or its finder scope—even 

for an instant—without a professionally made 

solar filter that completely covers the front of 

the instrument, or permanent eye damage could 

result. Young children should use this telescope 

only with adult supervision.

Summary of Contents for ASTROVIEW 6 EQ

Page 1: ...oviding Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support 800 676 1343 E mail support telescope com Corporate Offices 831 763 7000 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 Orion AstroView 6...

Page 2: ...mall counterweight Toe Saver Counterweight lock knobs Tripod leg Accessory tray bracket Accessory tray Finder scope Finder scope bracket Eyepiece Focus knob Tube rings Optical tube Right ascension slo...

Page 3: ...s with your fingers The optical sur faces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be dam aged if touched inappropriately 1 Lay the equatorial mount on its side Attach the tripod legs one at a t...

Page 4: ...les to the R A and Dec worm gear shafts of the equatorial mount by positioning the small screw on the end of the cable over the indented slot on the worm gear shaft Then tighten the screw Use the shor...

Page 5: ...it should move without resistance and should not drift from where you point it 3 Using Your Telescope Focusing the Telescope You should now try to familiarize yourself with focusing the telescope Fir...

Page 6: ...the finder scope for your eyes Loosen the lock ring located behind the objective lens cell on the body of the finder scope see Figure 2a Back the lock ring off by a few turns for now Refocus the finde...

Page 7: ...Polaris in the sky look north and locate the pattern of the Big Dipper Figure 6 The two stars at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper point right to Polaris Observers in the Southern Hemisphere aren...

Page 8: ...done during the day before going out into the field at night Aligning the Polar Axis Finder Scope Aligning the polar axis finder scope so that it will accurately point at the true north pole is a two...

Page 9: ...cal longitude has a value greater than the closest standard time meridian you are west of the standard time meridian by the calculated amount For example if you are in Las Vegas which has a longitude...

Page 10: ...ng Circle 1 Identify a bright star in the sky near the celestial equator Dec 0 and look up its coordinates in a star atlas 2 Loosen the R A and Dec lock levers on the equatorial mount so the telescope...

Page 11: ...cen ter as in Figure 10b proceed with the following collimation procedure The Collimation Cap and Mirror Center Mark Your AstroView 6 EQ comes with a collimation cap This is a simple cap that fits on...

Page 12: ...ill need adjustment if as in Figure 10d the secondary mirror is cen tered under the focuser and the reflection of the primary mir ror is centered in the secondary mirror but the small reflection of th...

Page 13: ...n even though they may be perfectly aligned It is critical to keep the star centered so over time you will need to make slight corrections to the telescope s position in order to account for the sky s...

Page 14: ...l your eyes dark adaptation like white light does A flashlight with a red LED light is ideal or you can cover the front of a regular flashlight with red cellophane or paper Beware too that nearby porc...

Page 15: ...itan VENUS At its brightest Venus is the most luminous object in the sky excluding the Sun and the Moon It is so bright that sometimes it is visible to the naked eye during full daylight Ironically Ve...

Page 16: ...raphy can be success fully attempted with the AstroView 6 EQ Moon Photography This is perhaps the simplest form of astrophotography as no motor drive is required All that is needed is a T Ring for you...

Page 17: ...e eyepiece you re ready to shoot Deep sky objects are quite faint and typically require expo sures on the order of 10 minutes To hold the camera s shutter open this long you will need a locking shutte...

Page 18: ...in straight line across the mirror Use one ball for each wipe across the mirror Then rinse the mirror under a stream of lukewarm water Any particles on the sur face can be swabbed gently with a series...

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