4
5.
Next, tighten the wingnuts at the top of the tripod legs, so
the legs are securely fastened to the equatorial mount. Use
the larger wrench and your fingers to do this.
6.
Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, at
a latitude of about 40°, i.e., so the pointer next to the lati-
tude scale is pointing to the line at “40”. To do this, loosen one
of the latitude adjustment T-bolts and then tighten the other
latitude adjustment T-bolt until the pointer and the “40” line up.
The declination (Dec.) and right ascension (R.A.) axes many
need re-positioning (rotation) as well. Be sure to loosen the
RA and Dec. lock levers before doing this. Retighten them
once the equatorial mount is properly oriented.
7.
Thread the counterweight shaft into the equatorial mount at
the base of the declination axis until tight. Make sure the cast-
ing at the top of the bar is threaded clockwise as far as it will
go before attaching the shaft.
8.
Remove the knurled “toe saver” retaining screw on the bot-
tom of the counterweight shaft and slide both counterweights
onto the shaft. Make sure the counterweight lock knobs are
adequately loosened so the metal pin inside the counter-
weight is recessed enough to allow the counterweight shaft
to pass through the hole. Position the counterweights about
halfway up the shaft and tighten the lock knobs. Replace the
toe saver on the end of the bar. The toe saver prevents the
counterweights from falling on your foot if the lock knobs hap-
pen to come loose.
9.
Attach the two tube rings to the equatorial head using the
hex head screws that come installed in the rings. Remove
the screws, then push them, with the washers still attached,
up through the holes in the top of the equatorial mount and
rethread them into the bottom of the tube rings. Tighten the
screws securely with the smaller wrench. Open the tube rings
by loosening the knurled ring clamps.
10.
Lay the telescope optical tube in the tube rings at about
the midpoint of the tube’s length. Rotate the tube in the rings
until the focuser is at a convenient level for you to view. Close
the rings over the tube and tighten the knurled ring clamps
finger-tight to secure the telescope in position.
11.
Now attach the two slow-motion control cables 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 short slow-motion control for the R.A. axis, it will stick
out sideways from the mount. The longer slow-motion control
is for the Dec. axis; attach it to the Dec. worm gear shaft so
that it extends toward the front of the optical tube as shown
in Figure 1.
12.
Install the polar axis finder scope into its housing inside
the R.A. axis of the equatorial mount. First loosen the three
thumbscrews on the housing, which is located at the rear of
the R.A. axis (see Figures 5 and 8). Insert the front end of the
polar finder (the end without the eyeguard) into the housing so
only about 1" of the polar finder extends from the back of the
housing. Do this slowly and with a twisting motion to prevent
the internal O-ring from becoming unseated. If it does become
unseated, you can remove the entire housing from the mount
to locate the O-ring and reseat it. This is done by rotating the
entire housing counterclockwise. Once the polar axis finder
scope is in the housing, tighten the three thumbscrews. These
thumbscrews will be used later to align the finder with the
mount’s R.A. axis.
installing the Finder scope
To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket, first
unthread the two black nylon screws until the screw ends are
flush with the inside diameter of the bracket. Place the O-ring
that comes on the base of the bracket over the body of the
finder scope until it seats into the slot on the middle of the
finder scope. Slide the eyepiece end (narrow end) of the finder
scope into the end of the bracket’s cylinder that does not have
the adjustment screws while pulling the chrome, spring-loaded
tensioner on the bracket with your fingers (Figure 2b). Push
the finder scope through the bracket until the O-ring seats just
inside the front opening of the bracket cylinder. Now, release
the tensioner and tighten the two black nylon screws a couple
of turns each to secure the finder scope in place. Insert the
base of the finder scope bracket into the dovetail holder on the
Finder scope
Finder scope
bracket
Nylon
thumbscrews
Focusing lock ring
Figure 2b:
Pull-back on the
tensioner and slide
the finder scope
into its bracket
until the O-ring
is seated in the
bracket ring
Figure 2a:
The 6x26 Correct-Image finder scope
Tensioner
