Meade RB-70 User Manual

www.meade.com

MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL

70mm | 2.75" Altazimuth Refracting Telescope

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

RB-70

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.

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: SP26mm (27X), SP9.7mm (78X)

• Diagonal mirror

• Red dot viewfinder with bracket

• Telescope mount

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 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.”

FIGURE 1

1. Eyepiece

2. Red dot viewfinder (see Inset A)

3. Red dot viewfinder alignment screws

(see Inset A)

4. Optical tube assembly

5. Vertical locking lever

6. Horizontal lock knob

7. Tripod legs

8. Leg brace supports (See Inset C)

9. Leg brace (See Inset C)

10. Mount base attachment

11. Optical tube lock knobs

12. Horizontal slow motion controll (See Inset B)

13. Diagonal mirror

14. Objective lens cell

15. Focuser drawtube

16. Vertical slow motion control (See Inset B)

17. Accessory tray (Inset C)

18. Red dot viewfinder bracket (see Inset A)

19. Adjustable sliding leg extension (see Inset C)

20. Tripod leg lock (see Inset C)

21. Dew shield/lens shade

22. Front lens cap (removed)

23. Focusing knob

24. Mount base attachment

25. Horizontal slow motion control

Figure 1: Meade 70-RB Altazimuth Refracting Telescope

Inset A: Red Dot Viewfinder Assembly Inset B: Tripod Legs and Accessory Tray Inset C: Altaz or Azimuth Mount

Inset A

Inset B

Inset C

ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD

Fig. 2

The tripod is the basic support for your telescope. Its height may be adjusted so that you can view comfortably.

Note: Number in brackets, e.g., (3), refer to Fig. 1.

1. Spread the legs out evenly apart.

2. Set the height of your tripod unlock the leg lock (20).

3. Slide leg (19) in or out to the desired length

4. Tighten the leg

Inset B

lock (20) to relock the leg lock.

5. 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. Place the accessory tray (17) over the center of the leg brace supports (8).

2. Rotate the tray so it fits onto the central

3. Rotate the tray, locking the corners of the tray in place on the leg brace supports.

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 (11) from the optical tube.

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

3. Place the optical tube (4) onto the mounting bracket Fig. 2.

4. Thread a lock knob (11) onto each of the mounting screws and tighten to a firm feel. See Fig. 2.

lock. See Inset B.

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

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 red dot viewfinder (2) has a quick release mounting bracket (18).

2. Slide the red dot viewfinder (2) into the

mounting bracket as shown on Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Note: To

detach the bracket press the bracket quick release button and slide the bracket out.

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 SP 26mm eyepiece (1) into diagonal mirror (13).

4.Tighten the diagonal mirror thumbscrew (26) 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

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

alignment screws to make any necessary refinements.

TO MOVE THE TELESCOPE

Your telescope is altazimuth mounted. Altazimuth is just a complicated way of saying that your telescope moves up and down and from side to side. Other telescopes may be mounted in different ways.

1. Slightly loosen the vertical locking lever (5). Loosening this lever allows you to move the telescope up and down.

2. Slightly loosen the horizontal lock knob (6). Loosening this lock allows the telescope to be moved from side to side.

3. Once an object is found, re-tighten the knob. You can then use the slow motion controls to make smooth and precise movements as you follow (or “track”) an object as it moves in the eyepiece.

You will enjoy your telescope even more as you learn more about it. But don’t be scared off by difficult terms or complicated procedures. Don’t panic! Just relax and enjoy your scope.

THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE

We have one very important rule that you should always follow when using your telescope:

Have Fun!

Have a good time when you’re observing. You may not know everything that there is to know about a telescope or what all the sights in the universe are, but that’s OK. Just point and observe at first.

You will begin to grow and learn more about astronomy the more you observe. Go to the library and read some books about the

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