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INSTRUCTION MANUAL

IN 596 11/17

Orion

® 

DC Motor Drive

For EQ-1C Mount

#7822

Figure 1. 

Parts included with the motor drive.

This motor drive is designed to provide electronic, hands-free 
tracking of celestial objects with the Orion EQ-1C equatorial 
mount. Electronic tracking makes objects appear to stand still in 
the telescope’s field of view, rather than drifting due to the Earth’s 
rotation. You won’t have to reposition the telescope to re-center an 
object in the eyepiece as the object moves across the sky—a wel-
come convenience! 
This motor drive is designed for use in the Northern Hemisphere only.

1. Included parts

A  

Motor

B   

Battery holder

C   

Gear wheel

D   

Gear wheel screw

E   

Anchor post

F  

Spring

G   

Clutch cord

Refer to 

Figure 1 and the parts list above to make sure all the 

parts are present. If anything is missing or damaged contact Orion 
Technical Support at www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus.

2. Assembly

You will need two tools to install the motor drive on the mount: an 
adjustable wrench or a 17mm crescent wrench and a small flat-
blade screwdriver. 

Installing the Batteries 

1.  The motor drive is powered by four AA alkaline batteries (not 

included), which you must place in the battery holder (B) prior 
to use (

Figure 2). Make sure the power switch on the bottom 

of the battery holder is in the OFF position. Remove the battery 
holder cover and insert the batteries as indicated inside the 
battery compartment. Then slide the cover back in place. 

2.  Remove the acorn nut adjacent to the latitude scale from the 

equatorial mount (

Figure 3). Leave the latitude scale and clear 

washer in place.

3.  Thread on the anchor post (E) until tight (

Figure 4). If the lati-

tude scale moved when the acorn nut was removed, rotate it 
to the proper orientation before tightening the anchor post. The 
proper orientation is with the 0 degree mark pointing straight 
up. 

4.  Place one end-loop of the spring (F) over the right ascension 

(RA) axle as shown in 

Figure 5

5.  Place the center hole of the gear wheel (C) on the axle (

Figure 

6A). Then insert the gear wheel screw (D) into the hole and 
tighten with a flat-blade screwdriver to secure the gear wheel 
on the axle (

Figure 6B). 

6.  Place the motor’s (A) coupler over the anchor post, then lightly 

tighten the thumbscrew on the coupler (

Figure 7). 

7.  Now hook the free end of the spring onto the end of the clutch 

tab (

Figure 8). By doing this, the small brass spur gear should 

contact and mesh with the larger gear wheel as shown.

8.  This step is optional, but if desired you can loop the clutch cord 

(G) around the clutch tab and tie a knot to make it a loop (see 
Figure 11B).

9.  Lastly, plug the cable from the battery holder (B) into the power 

jack on the motor (

Figure 9). 

The motor drive is now properly installed on the mount.

Figure 2.

 Install four 

AA alkaline batteries in 
the battery holder as 
shown.

A

C

B

D

E

F

G

Corporate Offices:

 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA

Toll Free USA & Canada:

 (800) 447-1001 

International:

 +1(831) 763-7000

Customer Support:

 [email protected]

Copyright © 2020 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars. All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents 

may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.

A N   E M P L O Y E E - O W N E D   C O M P A N Y

Summary of Contents for EQ-1CM

Page 1: ...mount Figure 3 Leave the latitude scale and clear washer in place 3 Thread on the anchor post E until tight Figure 4 If the lati tude scale moved when the acorn nut was removed rotate it to the proper orientation before tightening the anchor post The proper orientation is with the 0 degree mark pointing straight up 4 Place one end loop of the spring F over the right ascension RA axle as shown in F...

Page 2: ...g should begin to blink slowly and you should be able to hear the motor drive operating If these things don t happen then check that the battery pack cable is plugged properly into the motor drive If it is then you may have dead batteries in the pack that need to be replaced with fresh ones Using the Manual Slow Motion Control You can still use the R A slow motion cable for slewing the telescope e...

Page 3: ...ssipate as the gears turn against each other Those calculations result in minor moment to moment variations in the motor speed in order to maintain an average speed equivalent to the sidereal rate the Earth s rate of rotation Since absolutely constant speed is not required for this level of mount as would be needed to do deep sky astrophotog raphy for in stance the motor drive is well suited to ca...

Page 4: ...he original retail purchaser only During this warranty period Orion Telescopes Binoculars will repair or replace at Orion s option any warranted instrument that proves to be defec tive provided it is returned postage paid Proof of purchase such as a copy of the origi nal receipt is required This warranty is only valid in the country of purchase This warranty does not apply if in Orion s judgment t...

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