Meade 70AZ-AR User Manual

MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL

70mm | 2.8" Altazimuth Refracting Telescope

70AZ-AR

www.meade.com

Tel70AZAR_5 3/28/07 10:09 AM Page 1

WARNING!

Never use a Meade®Telescope to look at the Sun!
Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and
irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often
painless, so there is no warning to the observer that
damage has occurred until it is too late. Do not point
the telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through
the telescope or SmartFinder™as it is moving. Children
should always have adult supervision while observing.

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1

INTRODUCTION

Your telescope is an excellent beginner’s
instrument, and is designed to observe
objects in the sky and also on land. It can be
your personal window on the universe or
allows you to intimately study the behavior of
nesting birds on a distant hillside.

The telescope is shipped with the following
parts:

• Optical tube

• Aluminum tripod with an accessory tray

• Two 1.25" eyepieces: MA25mm (28X),
MA9mm (78X)

• Diagonal mirror

• Red dot viewfinder with bracket

• Telescope mount

• Hardware used in the assembly:

3 bolts (2" long) with wing nuts and
washers
3 screws (1/2" long) with nuts

The tube has a focal length of 700mm, and
its objective lens has a diameter of 70mm.
The lens diameter is one of the most
important pieces of information about the
telescope. The size of the objective lens

determines how much detail you will be
able to see in your telescope. The focal
length information will help later on to
calculate magnification.

Setting up your telescope involves these
simple steps:

• Assemble your tripod

• Attach the accessory tray

• Attach the optical tube to the mount

• Attach the red dot viewfinder

• Attach the diagonal mirror and
eyepiece

• Align the red dot viewfinder

Study the the picture on the next page
and become acquainted with the parts
of your telescope. Then proceed to
“Assemble your Tripod.”

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Figure 1: Meade 70AZ-AR Altazimuth Refracting Telescope

Inset A: Accessory Tray Mounting Bolt Hole
Inset B: Tripod Leg
Inset C: Viewfinder Assembly

FIGURE 1

1. Eyepiece

2. Red dot viewfinder (see Inset C)

3. Red dot viewfinder alignment screws (see Inset C)

4. Optical tube assembly

5. Vertical lock knobs

6. Horizontal lock knob

7. Tripod legs

8. Leg brace supports

9. Leg brace

10. Mount base attachment

11. Tripod attachment bolts and wing nuts

12. Accessory tray mounting bolt hole (see Inset A)

13. Diagonal mirror

14. Objective lens cell

15. Focuser drawtube and thumbscrews

16. Altitude rod slow motion fine adjustment control

17. Altitude rod

18. Altazimuth mount

19. Adjustable sliding center leg extension
(see Inset B)

20. Tripod leg lock thumbscrew (see Inset B)

21. Dew shield/lens shade

22. Front lens cap

23. Focusing knob

24. Red dot viewfinder bracket (see Inset C)

25. Red dot viewfinder bracket mounting thumbscrews
(see Inset C)

26. Accessory tray

2

Inset B

Inset C

Inset A

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ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD

The tripod is the basic support for your
telescope. Its height may be adjusted so that
you can view comfortably.
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1. Make sure that as you attach the legs (7)

to the mount that the leg braces (9) are
facing inward.

2. Line up the holes at the top of one of the

legs with the holes in the mount (10).
See Fig. 2.

3. Thread one of the 2-inch bolts through

the holes.

4. Thread a wingnut over the bolt and hand-

tighten to a firm feel.

5. Attach the remaining two legs to the

mount in the same manner.

6. Spread the legs out evenly apart.

7. Set the height of your tripod:
a. Rotate and loosen the leg lock

thumbscrew (20) to unlock the leg lock.

b. Slide the inner portion of the leg (19) in

or out to the desired length. Repeat for
the other two legs.

c. Rotate and tighten the leg lock

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

thumbscrew to relock the leg lock.

d. Repeat for the other two legs.

ATTACH THE ACCESSORY TRAY

The tray helps stabilize the tripod and is also
a convenient holder of eyepieces and other
Meade accessories, such as the Barlow lens.

1. Line up the holes at the end of one of the
leg brace supports (8) with the holes in
one of the leg braces (9).

2. Thread one of the one-half inch bolts
through the holes.

3. Thread a hex nut over the end of the bolt.

4. Finger tighten the bolt and hex nut.
See Fig. 3.

5. Repeat with the two other
leg braces.

6. Thread the accessory tray (26)
over the center mounting bolt to
a firm feel.

ATTACH THE OPTICAL TUBE TO THE MOUNT

The optical tube gathers distant light which
is focused in the eyepiece.

1. Remove the two lock knobs (5) from the
optical tube mount.

2. Slide the altitude rod (17) into the hole in
the altitude adjustment control . Tighten
to a firm feel. See Fig. 4.

3. Place the optical tube (4) between the
forks of the mount, oriented as shown
in Fig. 4.

3

2” Screw

tripod
leg

mount

washer

wingnut

finger tighten the

hex nut

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Tel70AZAR_5 3/28/07 10:09 AM Page 5

2. Line up the two holes on the red dot
viewfinder bracket over the two bolts.
Slide the bracket over the bolts. See Fig.

1, inset C.

3. Replace the thumbscrews onto the bolts
and tighten to a firm feel.

ATTACH THE DIAGONAL MIRROR AND
EYEPIECE

The diagonal mirror reflects the light from
the optical tube to a more comfortable
viewing position.

1. Slide the diagonal mirror (13) into the
focuser drawtube (15).

2. Tighten the drawtube thumbscrew to hold
the diagonal mirror securely.

3. Slide the MA 25mm eyepiece (1) into
diagonal mirror.

4. Tighten the diagonal mirror thumbscrew
to hold the eyepiece securely.

ALIGN THE RED DOT VIEWFINDER

Perform the first part of this procedure
during the daytime and the last step at night.

1. Point the telescope at an easy-to-find
land object such as the top of a telephone
pole or a distant mountain or tower. Look

through the eyepiece in the diagonal
mirror and turn the focuser knob (23)
until the image is sharply focused. Center
the object precisely in the eyepiece’s field
of view.

2. Look through the red dot viewfinder. Turn
one or more of the viewfinder’s alignment
screws (3) until the red dot is precisely
over the same object as you centered in
the eyepiece.

3. Check this alignment at night on a
celestial object, such as the Moon or
a bright star, and use the viewfinder’s
alignment screws to make any
necessary refinements.

4. Thread a lock knob (5) through each
of the holes in the forks of the mount
and tighten to a firm feel.

ATTACH THE RED DOT VIEWFINDER

An eyepiece (1) has a narrow field of view. A
viewfinder (2) has a wider field of view, which
makes it easier to locate objects. The red dot
viewfinder has a red dot to make it easier to
line up more precisely with a target.

1. Note the two thumbscrews (25) threaded
onto two bolts on the optical tube. Remove
the thumbscrews from the tube.

4

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

Fig. 4

slide rod
through
hole

lock
knob

lock
knob

place tube between

forks

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