O
f all the many and varied telescopes
available for use by the amateur
astronomers, the mountings that sup-
port them fall into two types - the alt-azimuth
and the equatorial. The 'Using your telescope'
section of this booklet that follows will tell you
more about these terms and the actual use of
your instrument, so we will concentrate on
the actual initial assembly and adjustments of
your telescope here.
The initial assembly of your telescope is best
undertaken in daylight with plenty of room to
lay out the components and to familiarise with
the accompanying images to see how the
assembled instrument should look.
The three legs should be attached to the tripod
head one by one by the three bolts and wing
nuts provided. They should not be overtight-
ened, but just made finger tight. Pay part i c u l a r
attention to the orientation of each leg prior to
assembly such that the tripod tray bracket is
facing inward. The tripod may now be placed
on the ground with the legs splayed enough
for the accessory tray to be attached. Adjust
the height of each leg so that the tripod head
is initially kept low for maximum rigidity,
taking note that the thumb screws holding the
legs in place are securely tightened prior to
the next stage.
Next, attach the alt-azimuth/equatorial mount
(depending on your particular model: see the
ALT-AZ or EQ label with the accompanying
photographs) to the tripod head, followed by
the accessory tray between the tripod legs if
you haven't already done so.
If your telescope mount is fitted with flexible
slow motion controls (e.g. AZ-3, EQ-1, EQ2
and EQ3-2) these may now be attached to the
two small chrome shafts on the mounting via
the thumb screws on the ends of the cables,
taking care to locate the screw in the
machined 'notch' on each shaft.
4
Telescopes & Mounts...
ALT-AZ
EQ-5
ALT-AZ
