2
Figure 2.
Included parts of the VersaGo E-Series Mount.
A
C
D
B
Figure 3. A)
Hook the tray corner over the screw in the leg collar,
B)
Repeat for the other two legs, then
C)
Tighten all three tray lock knobs
in the tripod’s mounting platform. Then replace the wash-
er and azimuth tension knob to secure the arm in place
(
Figure 4).
4. Attach the two micro-motion cables (D). The shorter of the
two is usually preferred for the altitude axis and the longer
one for the azimuth axis. Loosen the thumbscrew at the
end of the cable, then line up the cable end so that the
thumbscrew is over the flat side of the axle on each axis
(
Figure 5). Press the cable end over the axle, then tighten
the thumbscrew to secure the cable in place. The thumb-
screw should protrude down into the dimple in the axle, to
insure that the cable will not slip off the axle.
The mount is now fully assembled and should look like
Figure 1.
Attaching an Instrument to the VersaGo E-Series
Mount
The E-Series Altazimuth Mount features a dovetail mounting
saddle (
Figure 6) that accommodates Vixen-style mounting
bars. Slide the dovetail bar attached to your instrument into
the saddle, then secure it in place by tightening the saddle
lock knob. Since the saddle is perpendicular to the ground,
some instruments may require that you purchase an option-
al L-bracket such as the Orion #5052 Dovetail L-Bracket for
VersaGo Telescope Mount to allow a more convenient upright
orientation of the instrument.
Using the VersaGo E-Series Mount
The VersaGo E-Series mount allows motion in two axes: altitude
(up and down) and azimuth (left and right). Hence, the VersaGo
E-Series is an “altazimuth” mount. To make coarse movements
of your instrument, loosen the azimuth tension knob and/or the
altitude tension knob (
Figure 7) to slew the instrument to your
target. Then lightly retighten the knob(s). When set to the proper
tension – not too tight and not too loose -- you should be able to
move the instrument without having to adjust the tension knobs
each time. The friction will be sufficient to allow the instrument
to move but also to stay put when you let go of it to observe.
To make finer directional adjustments to the instrument, turn the
hand knobs on the micro-motion cables.
The azimuth axis is rotatable 360 degrees and the altitude axis
has 180 degrees of motion.
Tripod Height Adjustment
There is a leg extension segment on each tripod leg to allow
quick height adjustment. Simply loosen the winged leg lock
knobs half a turn or so, extend the leg to the desired length,
then retighten the winged knobs.
Tripod Feet
Note that at the bottom of each tripod leg is a rubber foot. If
desired, the foot can be retracted by rotating it clockwise to
expose a metal spike, when needed for extra grip on slippery
surfaces (
Figure 8). If the spikes are not needed, rotate the
rubber foot counterclockwise until the spike is recessed in the
foot and no longer protruding.
Accessory Tray
The triangular accessory tray acts as a tripod leg brace as
well as a storage rack for 1.25" telescope eyepieces or acces-
sories. The four holes in the tray accommodate the barrels of
1.25" accessories.
Care and Maintenance
If you give your VersaGo E-Series mount reasonable care, it
will last a lifetime. Store it in a clean, dry, dust-free place. Do
A
B
C
Leg
collar
Lock
knob
Hooked tab
Screw
Accessory
tray
