4
2. Assembly
Carefully open all of the boxes in the shipping container. Make
sure all the parts listed in Section 1 are present. Save the boxes
and packaging material. In the unlikely event that you need to
return the telescope, you must use the original packaging.
Assembling the telescope for the first time should take about
20 minutes. No tools are needed. All bolts should be tightened
securely to eliminate flexing and wobbling, but only tighten
them “finger tight.” Be careful not to over-tighten or the threads
may strip. Refer to Figure 1 during the assembly process.
During assembly (and anytime, for that matter), DO NOT
touch the surfaces of the telescope objective lens or the
lenses of the finder scope or eyepieces with your fingers. The
optical surfaces have delicate coatings on them that can eas-
ily be damaged if touched inappropriately. NEVER remove
any lens assembly from its housing for any reason, or the
product warranty and return policy will be voided.
1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs
one at a time to the base of the mount by sliding the tripod
leg attachment bolt into the slot in the mount and lightly
tightening the knob finger-tight. Note that the hinged
accessory tray bracket on each leg should face inward.
2. Tighten the leg lock bolts at the base of the legs. For now,
keep the legs at their shortest (fully retracted) length; you
can extend them to a more desirable length later, after the
scope is completely assembled.
3. With the tripod legs now attached to the equatorial mount,
stand the tripod upright (be careful!) and spread the legs
apart enough to attach the accessory tray to the three
hinged tray brackets on the legs. The brackets should be
positioned underneath the tray. Use the three small acces-
sory tray screws and wing nuts provided. Do not tighten
the wing nuts yet.
4. Now, with the accessory tray attached loosely, spread the
tripod legs apart as far as they will go, until the accessory
tray brackets are taut. Then tighten the wing nuts.
5. Next, tighten the tripod leg attachment bolts at the base of
the equatorial mount, so the legs are securely fastened.
6. Remove the retaining knob and washers from the bottom
end of the counterweight shaft. Slide the counterweight
onto the shaft, then replace the washers and the retaining
knob. The washers and knob will prevent the counter-
weight from slipping off the shaft and possibly onto your
foot if the counterweight lock knob should come loose!
7. At the top end of the counterweight shaft, note the knurled
shaft collar. Rotate it so as much of the threaded end of the
shaft as possible is visible. Now, with the counterweight
lock knob loose, grip the counterweight with one hand and
thread the shaft into the equatorial mount (at the base of
the declination axis) with the other hand. When it is thread-
ed as far in as it will go, twist the shaft collar clockwise to
secure the shaft. Position the counterweight about halfway
up the shaft and tighten the counterweight lock knob.
8. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, at a
latitude of about 40°, i.e., so the pointer next to the gold-
colored latitude scale is pointing to the hash mark at “40.”
To do this, loosen the latitude lock lever (on the side of the
mount opposite the gold latitude scale), and turn the lati-
tude adjustment knob until the pointer and the “40” line up.
Then tighten the latitude lock lever. Also tighten the decli-
nation (Dec.) and right ascension (R.A.) lock levers.
9. Remove the caps from the narrow end of the polar scope
and the polar scope port in the equatorial mount. Insert
the narrow end of the polar scope into the open port. While
gripping the wide end of the polar scope (but not the eye-
piece at the very end), thread it clockwise into the port
until it is secure.
10. Attach the two tube rings to the equatorial head, using the
captive tube ring bolts preinstalled in the equatorial head.
Open the tube rings.
11. Lay the telescope optical tube in the tube rings at about
the midpoint of the tube’s length. Rotate the tube in the
rings so the focus knobs are on the underside of the tele-
scope. Close the rings over the tube and tighten the
knurled ring clamps finger-tight to secure the telescope in
position.
12. Now attach the two slow-motion cables to the R.A. and
Dec. worm gear shafts of the equatorial mount by position-
ing the setscrew on the end of the cable over the indented
slot on the worm gear shaft, then tightening the setscrew.
The cables can be attached to either end of the shafts,
which ever is most convenient for you. But we recommend
that the Dec. cable extend toward the back end of the
telescope (as in the picture), since that’s where you’ll be
standing.
13. To install the finder scope bracket on the optical tube (adja-
cent to the focus knobs), first remove the two knurled
mounting screws from the optical tube. Position the finder
scope bracket over the two holes in the telescope tube.
The bracket should be oriented so that the rings extend
toward the front of the telescope tube. Replace the knurled
mounting screws and tighten finger-tight.
14. Place the finder scope in the finder bracket by first backing
off all six alignment screws until the screw tips are flush
with the inside diameter of the finder bracket. Slide the
finder scope through the finder bracket rings with the
larger (objective) end pointing in the same direction as the
open end of the main telescope. Line up the groove on the
eyepiece end of the finder scope with the rear ring of the
finder bracket. Tighten the six alignment screws equally to
secure the finder scope in place.
15. Insert the chrome barrel of the star diagonal into the focuser
drawtube and secure with the thumbscrew on the drawtube.
16. Then insert an eyepiece into the star diagonal and secure
it in place with the thumbscrew on the diagonal. (Always
loosen the thumbscrews before rotating or removing the
diagonal or an eyepiece.)
