Paramount MX User Guide
30 |
P a g e
1.
Make sure the additional cable is long enough to go from the Instrument Panel (or from a device
mounted on the OTA), through the mount and to the its destination, then add an additional
eight to 10 inches to accommodate a loop in the declination axis (described below).
2.
Remove the cable conduit access cover (page 53).
3.
Place the declination axis three position switch in the balance position.
4.
Looking down the polar axis through the declination cable conduit access hole, rotate the
declination axis from hard stop to hard stop. Doing so reveals two sets of access holes
machined into the internal shaft. When aligned with the polar axis, the two larger holes allow
light to pass through the mount for polar scope alignment. The two smaller holes (slightly
further “up” the shaft) provide a separate passage for the through the mount cabling. Your goal
is to snake the cable through one of the two smaller holes (see green arrow in Figure 6).
5.
Rotate the declination axis until the unoccupied hole in the internal declination shaft is aligned
with the right ascension axis.
6.
Loop a 15-inch cable tie the “wrong way” (so the cable tie can be easily removed later) around
the end of the cable.
Figure 7: A 15-inch cable tie looped around the cable.
7.
Insert the cable tie into the RA Cable Conduit until the end is visible through the cable conduit
access cover. The cable tie (and cable)
must be threaded through the outside of the internal
shaft
and cannot pass directly through the lower access holes. Rotate the cable tie so that its
natural bend forces the tie toward the outside of the shaft. Use a pair of needle-nose pliers to
grab the end of the tie then pull the cable all the through the right ascension axis.
8.
Remove the cable tie, then poke the end up the declination shaft, through the upper access hole
until it appears at the top of the declination axis.
9.
Run the top end of the cable through the access shaft that is machined into the top of the
declination axis and the Versa-Plate, out to the left side of the Instrument Panel (page
Instrument Panel).
10.
Once the cable has been passed all the way through the mount, carefully make an 8-inch loop in
the cable and tuck this loop inside the declination assembly to allow the declination axis to
rotate completely without any interference from the cable itself. Rotating the declination axis
from hard stop to hard stop more or less does the work for you, but allowing some additional
slack in the cable is recommended.
A 24-inch flexible wire grabber can help pull stiffer cables through the mount and up
to the Instrument Panel, even when an OTA is in place.
