on the worm gear shaft. Then tighten the screw.
12. To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket
(Figure 3), first unthread the two black nylon thumbscrews
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 groove 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 alignment
thumbscrews while pulling the chrome, spring-loaded ten-
sioner on the bracket with your fingers. 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 thumbscrews a
couple of turns each to secure the finder scope in place.
13. Insert the base of the finder scope bracket into the dove-
tail slot on the top of the focuser. Lock the bracket into
position by tightening the knurled thumbscrew on the
dovetail slot.
14. Remove the cover cap on the end of the focuser. Insert the
chrome barrel of the star diagonal into the focuser and
secure with the thumbscrew on the drawtube.
15. Then insert an eyepiece into the star diagonal and secure
it in place with the thumbscrews on the diagonal. (Always
loosen the thumbscrews before rotating or removing the
diagonal or an eyepiece.)
16. Install the polar axis finder scope into its housing inside
the R.A. axis of the equatorial mount (Figure 4). First
loosen the three thumbscrews on the housing, which is
located at the rear of the R.A. axis. 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 coun-
terclockwise. Once the polar axis finder scope is in the
housing, tighten the three thumbscrews. These thumb-
screws will be used later to align the finder with the
mount’s R.A. axis.
17. Remove the objective lens dust cover.
The AstroView 120ST is now assembled and should appear
as pictured in Figure 1.
5
Pointer
R.A. setting circle
Meridian
offset scale
Polar scope
housing
Polar axis
finder scope
Figure 4.
The polar axis finder scope installed in the right
ascension (R.A.) axis of the mount.
Date circle
Ring with engraved
time meridian indi-
cator mark
Polar scope
alignment
thumbscrew (3)
Figure 3.
The 6x30 finder scope and bracket.
Black nylon
alignment
thumbscrews
Eyepiece
Objective
lens cell
Lock ring
Spring-loaded tensioner
Dovetail base