2
C
ongratulations! Your Orion Sky Wizard Model 2 will put the fun back in your telescope observing. It pro-
vides a digital readout of celestial coordinates, a database of more than 2,000 of the most interesting deep
sky subjects and the ability to guide the observer to astronomical objects. It’s designed to work with both
Altazimuth (including Dobsonian) and Equatorial type telescope mounts. The catalog information is stored
in permanent internal memory. The celestial subjects are organized by catalog: Messier (M), NGC and IC.
Many interesting stars are in the ST (Star) list. You can add up to 27 objects in your own NEW catalog.
Sky Wizard is designed for ease of use. Simply turn
it on, sight two stars, and let it guide you to celestial
objects. No need to polar align the telescope, no
need to input latitude, longitude, date or time (date
needed for planets). It provides virtually any tele-
scope with a continuous digital display of celestial
coordinates. The unique method of alignment by two
star sightings provides good pointing accuracy over
the entire sky.
Finding an object is easy. Just select any subject
from one of the catalogs and tell the instrument to
find it by using the
FIND function. The display will
then give pointing instructions on how to move your
telescope.
At the beginning of each observing session, you
align Sky Wizard with the current sky by selecting
a star from the
SETUP section (a list of the bright-
est navigational stars), pointing the telescope at
that star, and then signaling that the star is cen-
tered in the eyepiece. The procedure requires
sighting on only one star for a polar aligned equa-
torial mount, but sighting a second star will improve
accuracy. An Altazimuth telescope requires two
star sightings for alignment. Additional sightings
made during the observing session reduce cumu-
lative errors. Sky Wizard weighs only 5 ounces,
including the internal battery, and may be conve-
niently mounted near the eyepiece. Sky Wizard
connects to the optical encoders with a plug-in
connecting cable. The red LED display is easy to
read and does not interfere with night adapted
vision. A dimming button adjusts the brightness of
the display. Sky Wizard is especially useful under
light polluted skies where few visible stars are
available to guide you to deep sky objects.
Sky Wizard is connected to your telescope with
optical encoders. The encoders sense the rotation
of the telescope within 0.09° (precise enough to
bring any object into a low power field of view), and
can track telescope motion at rates as high as 100°
per second. The encoders are attached by various
methods depending on your telescope model.
Installation kits and encoders are sold separately
from Sky Wizard to allow for this variation in attach-
ment method.
Encoder mechanical installation
instructions and encoder ratios are provided
with the installation kits.
Powered by a single 9-volt alkaline battery, Sky
Wizard provides over 24 hours of operation with the
display fully dimmed. It can also operate from an
external 12-volt DC power supply connected to the
battery snap.
table of contents
1. Installation ............................................................................................................................. 4
2. Operation .............................................................................................................................. 6
3. Sample Observing Session .................................................................................................. 9
4. Specifications ...................................................................................................................... 10
5. Catalog Listings .................................................................................................................. 11
6. Setup Star List .................................................................................................................... 14
7. Troubleshooting your Sky Wizard ......................................................................................... 14
8. Quick Reference ................................................................................................................... 15
