Orion SpaceProbe II 76mm, 10277 Instruction Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Orion®

SpaceProbe™ II 76mm

Altazimuth Reflector

#10277

Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975

All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied,

modied or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.

®

Copyright © 2017 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars

Customer Support:

www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus

Corporate Offices:

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IN 579 04/17

Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion telescope. Your new SpaceProbe II 76mm Altazimuth

Reector is a terric starter instrument for exploring the exotic wonders of the night sky. Designed to be
lightweight and easy to use, it will provide many hours of enjoyment for the whole family.

If you have never owned a telescope before, we would like to welcome you to amateur astronomy. Take
some time to familiarize yourself with the night sky. Learn to recognize the patterns of stars in the major
constellations. With a little practice, a little patience, and a reasonably dark sky away from city lights, you’ll
nd your telescope to be a never-ending source of wonder, exploration, and relaxation.

These instructions will help you set up, properly use, and care for your telescope. Please read them over
thoroughly before getting started.

Table of Contents

1. Parts .......................................2

2. Assembly....................................2

3. Preparing the Telescope for Operation .............4

4. Astronomical Observing ........................5

5. Aligning the Mirrors (Collimation) .................9

6. Telescope Care and Maintenance ...............10

7. Worthwhile Optional Accessories ................ 11

8. Specications ............................... 11

WARNING: Never look directly at the Sun through
your telescope—even for an instant—without a
professionally made solar lter that completely
covers the front of the instrument, or permanent eye
damage could result. Young children should use this
telescope only with adult supervision.

1. Parts

Part Quantity

A – Tripod legs 3

B – Hex-head tripod mounting bolts 3

C – Washers 3

D – Wing nuts 3

E – Leg lock thumbscrew 3

F – Accessory tray 1

G – Altazimuth yoke mount 1

H – Azimuth lock knob 1*

I – Telescope optical tube 1

J – Altitude lock knob (same as H and E) 1

K – Tripod leg brace 1

L – Red dot nder scope 1

M – Dust cover 1

N – 25mm Kellner eyepiece 1

O – 10mm Kellner eyepiece 1

P – Yoke knobs 2

* May come pre-installed.

2. Assembly

Refer to Figures 1 and 2 and the parts list at left for identica-
tion of specic parts during assembly.

1. Thread a leg lock thumbscrew (E) into each tripod leg (A)
as shown in Figure 3, and tighten. Do not over-tighten

the leg lock thumbscrews or you may damage the col­lar they are attached to.

2. Now attach the tripod leg brace (K) to the three aluminum
tripod legs (A) using the screws in the brace attachment
brackets (Figure 4). Remove the nut and the screw from
the bracket, then insert one of the brace struts into the
bracket, lining up the holes to allow the screw to be insert­ed through the bracket and strut. Make sure the leg brace
is oriented so that the threaded hole in the center is facing
up. Then thread the nut on the exposed end of the screw
and tighten – nger tight should be good enough.

3. With the leg brace attached to all three tripod legs, attach
the tripod legs to the altazimuth yoke mount (G). Three
hex-head bolts (B) with washers (C) and wing nuts (D) are
provided for this purpose. Note that the bolts should be
inserted from the side of the leg that has the hex-shaped
hole, so that the bolt head seats in the hex-shaped hole
(Figure 5a). The washer, then the wing nut are placed on
the opposite side on the exposed end of the bolt (5b).

4. Now stand the tripod upright, spreading the legs apart so
the accessory tray can be installed.

5. Attach the accessory tray (F) to the tripod leg brace (K)
(Figure 6). Rotate the tray clockwise to thread the screw
on the underside of the tray into the threaded socket in the
center of the tripod leg brace.

The tripod and mount are now fully assembled (Figure 7).
Next you will attach the telescope optical tube to the altaz­imuth yoke mount.

6. With the optical tube (I) oriented relative to the yoke mount
(G) as shown in Figure 8, slide the altitude micro-motion
rod into its receptacle on the side of the yoke (Figure 8a).
Then place the optical tube into the yoke so that the alti­tude castings on the side of the optical tube slide into the
grooves of the yoke (8b). To secure the optical tube to the
mount, insert the yoke knobs (P) through the holes on
each side of the yoke and thread them into the altitude

2

I

M

L

K

A

E

L

I

Figure 1.

HG

The parts of the SpaceProbe II 76mm Altazimuth Reector telescope.

Altitude

Azimuth

PPBCDJ

ON

F

N

J

G

F

E

Figure 2. The SpaceProbe II 76mm Altazimuth Reector telescope fully assembled.

A

3

castings on the optical tube (8c). They should be reason­ably tight but still allow movement of the telescope up and
down with gentle force.

7. Thread the altitude lock knob (J) into its receptacle on the
side of the yoke mount and tighten it (Figure 9).

8. Install the red dot nder scope (L) on the optical tube. Do
this by orienting the nder scope as shown in Figure 10
and sliding the bracket foot into the nder scope base until
it clicks. (To remove the nder scope, press the small tab
at the back of the base and slide the bracket out.)

9. Finally, insert the 25mm eyepiece (N) into the focuser (take
the dust cap off the focuser rst) and secure it by lightly
tightening the thumbscrew on the focuser (Figure 11).

The telescope is now completely assembled! Before it can be
effectively used, however, there are a couple of things to do to
prepare the telescope for operation.

Tripod leg

Bracket

Tripod leg brace

Leg lock knob

Figure 3. Thread a leg

lock thumbscrew onto
each tripod leg as shown,
being careful not to
overtighten.

3. Preparing the Telescope

for Operation

Aligning and Using the Red Dot Finder Scope

The included red dot nder scope (L) (Figure 12) makes
pointing your telescope almost as easy as pointing your n­ger! It’s a non-magnifying aiming device that superimposes
a tiny LED red dot on the sky, showing exactly where the
telescope is pointed. It permits easy object targeting prior to
observation in the higher-power main telescope.

Before you can use the red dot nder scope, you must remove
the small plastic tab sticking out from the battery compart­ment (Figure 12). Doing so will allow the pre-installed 3V
CR-2032 button cell battery to make contact with the nder
scope’s electronic circuitry to power the nder’s red LED illu­minator. The tab can then be discarded.

To use the red dot nder scope properly, it must be aligned
with the main telescope. This is easiest to do during daylight

Figure 4.

hours, before observing at night. Follow this procedure:

1. First, remove the dust cover (M) from the front of the tele-

2. With the 25mm eyepiece already in the focuser from step

3. Center the target in the eyepiece.

Note: The image in the eyepiece will appear rotated or
upside down. This is normal for reector telescopes, and is
why they are not recommended for daytime terrestrial use.

4. Turn on the red dot nder scope by sliding the power

5. You’ll want to center the target object on the red dot. To do

6. When the red dot is centered on the distant object, check

Attach the tripod leg brace to the bracket on each tripod leg.

scope.

9 above, point the telescope at a well-dened land target
(e.g., the top of a telephone pole) that’s at least a quar­ter mile away. When pointing the telescope, be sure to
loosen the azimuth lock knob and micro-motion lock knob
(for coarse movement in altitude) to allow the telescope to
rotate freely about both axes.

switch to ON (refer to Figure 12). The “1” position provides
dim illumination while the “2” position provides brighter illu­mination. Typically the dimmer setting is used under dark
skies and the brighter setting is used under light-polluted
skies or in daylight. Position your eye at a comfortable dis­tance from the rear of the unit. Look through the rear of the
nder scope with both eyes open to see the illuminated
red dot. The target object should appear in the eld of view
somewhere near the red dot.

so, without moving the telescope, use the nder scope’s
vertical and horizontal adjustment knobs (shown in Figure

12) to position the red dot on the object.

to make sure the object is still centered in the telescope’s
eyepiece. If it isn’t, re-center it then adjust the finder
scope’s alignment again. When the object is centered in
the telescope eyepiece and on the nder scope’s red dot,

4

Washer

Yoke Mount

Hex-shaped hole

Tripod
leg

Figure 5.

making sure the bolt’s hex-shaped head seats in the hex-shaped
recess of the tripod leg. b) Place a washer and wing nut on the
exposed end of the bolt.

a) Attach the three tripod legs to the yoke mount,

b.a.

Wing nut

the nder scope is properly aligned with the telescope.
The red dot nder scope’s alignment should be checked
before every observing session.

At the end of your observing session, be sure to slide the
power switch on the red dot nder scope to OFF to preserve
battery life.

Understanding the “Altazimuth” Mount

The SpaceProbe II 76mm Altazimuth Reector features an
“altazimuth” mount, which permits motion along two perpen­dicular axes: altitude (up/down) and azimuth (left/right) (see
Figure 2). This makes pointing the telescope easy and intui­tive. To move the telescope in the azimuth direction, loosen
the azimuth lock knob, take hold of the telescope and gently
rotate it to the desired position. Then re-tighten the azimuth
lock knob. To move the telescope in the altitude direction,
loosen the altitude lock knob then move the tube up or down
to the desired position. Then retighten the altitude lock knob. If
the telescope moves too freely in the in the altitude direction,
then tighten up the yoke knobs a bit. Of course, you can move
the telescope in altitude and azimuth simultaneously by loos­ening both of the lock knobs.

Because making ne-adjustments in the altitude of the tele­scope can be difficult, the SpaceProbe II 76mm comes equipped
with an altitude micro-motion rod and thumbwheel (Figure 13).
After making coarse altitude adjustments by moving the tube
by hand, you can then move the telescope incrementally by
turning the micro-motion rod’s thumbwheel (the altitude lock
knob must be tightened for this). The telescope will move a
very small amount either up or down, depending on which
direction you turn the thumbwheel. Fine motion can be helpful
when centering an object in the eyepiece

4. Astronomical Observing

For many, this will be your rst foray into the exciting world of
amateur astronomy. The following information and observing
tips will help get you started.

Choosing an Observing Site

When selecting a location for observing, get as far away as
possible from direct articial light such as street lights, porch
lights, and automobile headlights. The glare from these lights
will greatly impair your dark-adapted night vision. Set up on
a grass or dirt surface, not asphalt, because asphalt radiates
more heat. Heat disturbs the surrounding air and degrades
the images seen through the telescope. Avoid viewing over
rooftops and chimneys, as they often have warm air currents
rising from them. Similarly, avoid observing from indoors
through an open (or closed) window, because the tempera­ture difference between the indoor and outdoor air will cause
image blurring and distortion.

If at all possible, escape the light-polluted city sky and head
for darker country skies. You’ll be amazed at how many more
stars and deep-sky objects are visible in a dark sky!

“Seeing” and Transparency

Atmospheric conditions vary signicantly from night to night.
“Seeing” refers to the steadiness of the Earth’s atmosphere at
a given time. In conditions of poor seeing, atmospheric turbu­lence causes objects viewed through the telescope to “boil.”
If you look up at the sky and stars are twinkling noticeably,
the seeing is poor and you will be limited to viewing at lower
magnications. At higher magnications, images will not focus
clearly. Fine details on the planets and Moon will likely not be
visible.

In conditions of good seeing, star twinkling is minimal and
images appear steady in the eyepiece. Seeing is best over­head, worst at the horizon. Also, seeing generally gets better
after midnight, when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth
during the day has radiated off into space.

Especially important for observing faint objects is good
“transparency”—air free of moisture, smoke, and dust. All
tend to scatter light, which reduces an object’s brightness.
Transparency is judged by the magnitude of the faintest stars
you can see with the unaided eye (5th or 6th magnitude is
desirable).

Cooling the Telescope

All optical instruments need time to reach “thermal equilibri­um.” The bigger the instrument and the larger the temperature
change, the more time is needed. Allow at least 30 minutes
for your telescope to acclimate to the temperature outdoors
before you start observing with it.

Let Your Eyes Dark-Adapt

Don’t expect to go from a lighted house into the darkness of
the outdoors at night and immediately see faint nebulas, gal­axies, and star clusters—or even very many stars, for that mat­ter. Your eyes take about 30 minutes to reach perhaps 80% of
their full dark-adapted sensitivity. As your eyes become dark­adapted, more stars will glimmer into view and you’ll be able
to see fainter details in objects you view in your telescope.

To see what you’re doing in the darkness, use a red-ltered
ashlight rather than a white light. Red light does not spoil
your eyes’ dark adaptation like white light does. A ashlight

5

Turn to tighten

Figure 6. Thread the accessory tray onto the tripod leg brace;

the screw on the underside of the tray threads into the socket in the
center of the brace.

with a red LED light is ideal. Beware, too, that nearby porch,
streetlights, and car headlights will ruin your night vision.

Eyepiece Selection

Magnication, or power, is determined by the focal length of
the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece being used.
Therefore, by using eyepieces of different focal lengths, the
resultant magnication can be varied. It is quite common for
an observer to own ve or more eyepieces to access a wide
range of magnications. This allows the observer to choose
the best eyepiece to use depending on the object being
viewed and viewing conditions. Your SpaceProbe II 76mm

Figure 7. The
assembled altaz­imuth mount and
tripod.

reector comes with 25mm (N) and 10mm (O) Kellner eye­pieces, which will suffice nicely to begin with. You can pur­chase additional eyepieces later if you wish to have more
magnication options.

Magnication is calculated as follows:

Telescope Focal Length (mm) / Eyepiece Focal Length
(mm) = Magnication

For example, the SpaceProbe II 76mm reector has a focal
length of 700mm, which when used with the supplied 25mm
eyepiece yields:

700mm / 25mm = 28x

The magnication provided by the 10mm eyepiece is:

700mm / 10mm = 70x

Micro-motion rod

Grooves

Yoke Mount

a. b. c.

Receptacle

Figure 8. Installing the optical tube on the mount. a) Slide the micro-motion rod into the metal receptacle. b) Place the altitude castings on

the optical tube in the grooves of the yoke. c) Install the yoke knobs.

6

Altitude casting

Groove

Yoke Knob

The maximum attainable magnification for a telescope is
directly related to how much light it can gather. The larger the
aperture, the more magnication is possible. In general, a g­ure of 50x per inch of aperture is the maximum attainable for
most telescopes. Going beyond that will yield simply blurry,
unsatisfactory views. Your SpaceProbe II 76mm reector has
an aperture (primary mirror diameter) of 76mm, or 3.0 inches,
so the maximum magnication would be about 150x (3 x 50).
This level of magnication assumes you have ideal atmo-

Altitude lock knob

Figure 9.

Thread in the altitude lock knob.

What to Expect

So what will you see with your telescope? You should be able
to see bands on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, craters on the
Moon, the waxing and waning phases of Venus, and many
bright deep-sky objects. Do not expect to see color in nebu­las and galaxies as you do in astrophotographs, though. Our
eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in faint deep-sky
objects. But as you become more experienced and your
observing skills get sharper, you will be able to ferret out more
and more subtle details and structure from dim objects.

As mentioned previously (but it’s worth repeating), the
SpaceProbe II 76mm reector is not suitable for daytime ter­restrial viewing because the image seen in the eyepiece will
be rotated – which is normal for reector type telescopes. But
in space there is no right-side-up!)

Objects to Observe

Now that you are all set up and ready to go, what is there to
look at in the night sky?

A. The Moon

With its rocky surface, the Moon is one of the easiest and
most interesting objects to view with your telescope. Lunar
craters, maria, and even mountain ranges can all be clearly
seen from a distance of 238,000 miles away! With its ever­changing phases, you’ll get a new view of the Moon every
night. The best time to observe our one and only natural sat­ellite is during a partial phase, that is, when the Moon is not
full. During partial phases, shadows are cast on the surface,
which reveal more detail, especially right along the border
between the dark and light portions of the disk (called the
“terminator”). A full Moon is too bright and devoid of surface
shadows to yield a pleasing view. Make sure to observe the

spheric conditions for observing (which is seldom the case).

Keep in mind that as you increase magnication, the bright­ness of the object viewed will decrease; this is an inherent
principle of the laws of physics and cannot be avoided. If mag­nication is doubled, an image appears four times dimmer.
If magnication is tripled, image brightness is reduced by a
factor of nine!

So start by using the 25mm eyepiece, then try switching to the
10mm eyepiece later if you want to boost the magnication.

Focusing the Telescope

To focus the telescope, turn the focus wheels (see Figure 11)
forward or back until you see your target object (e.g., stars,
the Moon, etc.) in the eyepiece. Then make ner adjustments
until the image is sharp. If you’re having trouble achieving ini­tial focus, rack the focuser drawtube all the way in using the
focus wheels, then while looking into the eyepiece microly
turn the focus wheels so that the drawtube extends outward.
Keep going until you see your target object come into focus.
Note that when you change eyepieces you may have to adjust
the focus a bit to get a sharp image with the newly inserted
eyepiece.

Finderscope base

Foot

Figure 10. Insert the red dot nder scope’s bracket foot into the

base near the focuser as shown.

7

Thumbscrew

Focuser

Eyepiece

Focus
wheel

Figure 11. Eyepiece is shown installed in the focuser.

Power switch

Plastic
tab

Horizontal knob

Vertical knob

Figure 12. The red dot nder scope has vertical and (inset)

horizontal adjustment knobs for aligning it with the telescope.

Moon when it is well above the horizon to get the sharpest
images.

Use an optional Moon lter to dim the Moon when it is very
bright. It simply threads onto the bottom of the eyepieces (you
must rst remove the eyepiece from the focuser to attach a l­ter). You’ll nd that the Moon lter improves viewing comfort,
and helps to bring out subtle features on the lunar surface.

B. The Planets

The planets don’t stay put like the stars, so to nd them you
should refer to the monthly star charts at OrionTelescopes.
com, or to charts published monthly in Astronomy, Sky &
Telescope, or other astronomy magazines. Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after

Thumbwheel

Micro-motion
rod

Yoke knob

Altitude
lock knob

Figure 13. The micro-motion rod and thumbwheel allow ne

altitude pointing control.

the Sun and the Moon. Other planets may be visible but will
likely appear star-like. Because planets are quite small in
apparent size, optional higher-power eyepieces or a Barlow
lens are recommended and often needed for detailed obser­vations.

C. The Sun

You can change your nighttime telescope into a daytime Sun
viewer by installing an optional full-aperture solar lter over
the front opening of the telescope. The primary attraction is
sunspots, which change shape, appearance, and location
daily. Sunspots are directly related to magnetic activity in the
Sun. Many observers like to make drawings of sunspots to
monitor how the Sun is changing from day to day.

Note: Do not look at the Sun with any optical instrument
without a professionally made solar lter, or permanent
eye damage could result.

D. The Stars

Stars will appear like twinkling points of light. Even powerful
telescopes cannot magnify stars to appear as more than a
point of light. You can, however, enjoy the different colors of
the stars and locate many pretty double and multiple stars.
The famous “Double-Double” in the constellation Lyra and the
gorgeous two-color double star Albireo in Cygnus are favor­ites. Defocusing a star slightly can help bring out its color.

E. Deep-Sky Objects

Under dark skies, you can observe a wealth of fascinating
deep-sky objects, including gaseous nebulas, open and
globular star clusters, and different types of galaxies. Most
deep-sky objects are very faint, so it is important you nd an
observing site well away from light pollution.

To nd deep-sky objects with your telescope, you rst need
to become reasonably familiar with the night sky. Unless you
know how to recognize the constellation Orion, for instance,
you won’t have much luck locating the Orion Nebula. A simple

8

planisphere, or star wheel, can be a valuable tool for learning

Reection of
secondary
mirror

the constellations and seeing which ones are visible in the sky
on a given night. Once you have identied a few constellations,
a good star chart, atlas, or astronomy app will come in handy
for helping locate interesting deep-sky objects to view within
the constellations.

5. Aligning the Mirrors
(Collimation)

Collimation is the process of adjusting the optics of a tele­scope so they are precisely aligned with one another and with
the telescope tube. For this reector telescope, the primary
and secondary mirrors must be in precise alignment. Your
telescope’s optics were aligned at the factory, and should not
need much or any adjustment unless the telescope is handled
roughly. Accurate mirror alignment is important to ensure the
peak performance of your telescope, so it should be checked
occasionally. With practice, collimating is relatively easy to do
and can be done in daylight.

It helps to perform the collimation procedure in a brightly lit
room with the telescope pointed toward a bright surface, such
as a light-colored wall. Placing a piece of white paper in the
telescope tube opposite the focuser (i.e., on the other side of
the secondary mirror from the focuser) will also be helpful. You
will need a Phillips screwdriver to adjust the mirrors.

To check your telescope’s collimation, remove the eyepiece
and look down the focuser. You should see the secondary mir­ror centered in the focuser, as well as the reection of the pri­mary mirror centered in the secondary mirror, and the reec-

tion of the secondary mirror (and your eye) centered in the
reection of the primary mirror, as in Figure 14a. Got all that?
Review it again carefully, and compare what you see to Figure
14a. If anything is off-center, proceed with the following col­limation procedure.

Note: Precise collimation is best achieved by using an option­al collimating tool, such as a quick-collimation cap, a Cheshire
eyepiece, or a laser collimator. Check our website for available
collimating tools. Figures 14b through 14d assume that you
have an optional Cheshire eyepiece or collimation cap in the
focuser.

Primary Mirror Center Mark

You may have noticed that your SpaceProbe II 76mm reector
has a tiny ring (sticker) in the exact center of the primary mir­ror. This “center mark” allows you to achieve a very precise col­limation of the primary mirror; you don’t have to guess where
the center of the mirror is, which is important in the collimation
process. This center mark is especially useful when using an
optional collimating device, such as Orion’s LaserMate Deluxe
II laser collimator.

NOTE: The center ring sticker should not be removed from
the primary mirror. Because it lies directly in the shadow of the
secondary mirror, its presence in no way adversely affects the
optical performance of the telescope or the image quality. That
might seem counter - intuitive, but it’s true! Leave it in place.

Aligning the Secondary Mirror

Align the secondary mirror rst. Look down the focuser at
the secondary (diagonal) mirror. If the entire primary mirror

a.

Figure 14. Collimating the optics. a) When the mirrors are properly aligned, the view down the focuser drawtube should
look like this. b) If the optics are out of alignment, the view might look something like this (with a collimation cap or Cheshire
eyepiece in place). Here, only part of the primary mirror is visible in the secondary mirror, so the secondary mirror needs
to be adjusted (tilted). c) Here the secondary mirror is correctly aligned because the entire primary mirror is visible in it. But
the reection of the secondary mirror is off-center. So the primary mirror still needs adjustment. d) Now the primary mirror is
correctly aligned, so the secondary mirror is centered.

c.

b.

d.

9

reection is not visible in the secondary mirror, as in Figure

Out of collimation Collimated

14b, you will need to adjust the tilt of the secondary mirror.
This is done by alternately loosening one of the three
secondary mirror alignment screws with a Phillips screwdriver
then tightening the other two (Figure 15). The goal is to
center the primary mirror reection in the secondary mirror, as
in Figure 14c. Don’t worry that the reection of the secondary
mirror (the smallest circle) is off-center. You will x that in the
next step. It will take some trial and error to determine which
screws to loosen and tighten to move the reection of the
primary mirror to the center of the secondary mirror. But be
patient and you’ll get it.

Aligning the Primary Mirror

The nal adjustment is made to the primary mirror. It will need
adjustment if, as in Figure 14c, the reection of the primary

Figure 15. Adjust the tilt of the secondary mirror by adjusting the

three alignment screws with a Phillips screwdriver.

mirror is centered in the secondary mirror, but the small reec­tion of the secondary mirror is off-center. The tilt of the pri­mary mirror is adjusted using the three pairs of collimation
screws on the back end of the optical tube (Figure 16).

Adjusting the tilt of the mirror requires a “push-pull” tech­nique involving adjustment of one or more pairs of collimation
screws. With a Phillips screwdriver, loosen one of the screws
one full turn, and then tighten the adjacent screw (the one
right next to it) until it is tight. Look into the focuser and see if
the secondary mirror reection has moved closer to the center
of the primary. You can tell this easily by simply watching to
see if the “dot” of the Cheshire eyepiece or collimation cap is
moving closer or farther away from the ring on the center of
the primary mirror. Repeat this process on the other two sets
of collimation screws, if necessary. Again, it will take a little
trial and error to get a feel for how to tilt the mirror in this way.
When you have the dot centered as much as possible in the
ring, your primary mirror is collimated. The view through the
collimation cap should resemble Figure 14d. Make sure all
the collimation screws are tight (but do not overtighten), to
secure the mirror tilt. A simple star test will tell you whether the
optics are accurately collimated.

Star-Testing the Telescope

When it is dark, point the telescope at a bright star and accu­rately center it in the eyepiece’s eld of view. Slowly de-focus
the image with the focusing knob. If the telescope is correct­ly collimated, the expanding disk should be a perfect circle
(Figure 17). If the image is unsymmetrical, the scope is out
of collimation. The dark shadow cast by the secondary mir­ror should appear in the very center of the out-of-focus circle,
like the hole in a donut. If the “hole” appears off-center, the
telescope is out of collimation. If you try the star test and the
bright star you have selected is not accurately centered in
the eyepiece, the optics will always appear out of collimation,
even though they may be perfectly aligned. It is critical to keep
the star centered, so over time you will need to make slight
corrections to the telescope’s position in order to account for
the sky’s apparent motion.

Figure 16. Align the primary mirror by adjusting the three pairs

of “push/pull” screws on the back end of the optical tube.

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6. Telescope Care and
Maintenance

If you give your telescope reasonable care, it will last a lifetime.
Store it in a clean, dry, dust-free place, safe from rapid changes

Figure 17. A star test will determine if the telescope's optics are

properly collimated.

Figure 18

accept optional Orion 1.25” lters. A Moon lter is useful for cutting
glare and revealing more detail on the lunar surface.

in temperature and humidity. Do not store the telescope out­doors, although storage in a garage or shed is OK. Small com­ponents like eyepieces and other accessories should be kept in
a protective box or storage case. Keep the dust cover (M) on the
front of the telescope when it is not in use.

Your reector telescope requires very little mechanical mainte­nance. The optical tube has a smooth painted nish that is fairly
scratch-resistant. If a scratch does appear on the tube, it will not
harm the telescope. If you wish, you may apply some auto touch­up paint to the scratch. Smudges on the tube can be wiped off
with a soft cloth and household cleaning uid.

Cleaning Optics

You should not have to clean the telescope’s mirrors. Covering
the telescope with the dust cap when it is not in use will help pre­vent dust from accumulating on the mirrors. Even a little dust on
the mirror surfaces will not affect the optical performance in any
way. If you feel the mirrors need to be cleaned, please contact
Orion Customer Service at 800-676-1343 for guidance.

To clean the eyepiece lenses, any quality optical lens cleaning
tissue and optical lens cleaning uid specically designed for
multi-coated optics can be used. Never use regular glass clean­er or cleaning uid designed for eyeglasses. Before cleaning,
remove any loose particles or dust from the lens with a blower
bulb or soft brush. Then apply some cleaning uid to a tissue,
never directly on the optics. Wipe the lens gently in a circular
motion, then remove any excess uid with a fresh lens tissue.
Oily ngerprints and smudges may be removed using this meth­od. Use caution; rubbing too hard may scratch the lens. On larger
lenses, clean only a small area at a time, using a fresh lens tis­sue on each area. Never reuse tissues.

When bringing the telescope inside after an evening’s viewing
it is normal for moisture to accumulate on the optics due to the
change in temperature. We suggest leaving the telescope and

. The Kellner eyepieces have barrels threaded to

eyepieces uncovered overnight to allow the condensation to
evaporate.

7. Worthwhile Optional
Accessories

• Moon Filter – A 1.25” Moon lter will cut down the strong
glare of sunlight reected from the Moon, making Moon
viewing more comfortable and revealing more surface
detail. The lter threads into the bottom of the Kellner eye­pieces that came with your telescope (Figure 18).

• Barlow Lens – A 2x Barlow lens doubles the magnify­ing power of any eyepiece it’s used with, giving you a big
power boost to get in closer to your target object. You just
insert it between the diagonal and the eyepiece.

• Planisphere – A nifty “star wheel” that shows what stars
and constellations are visible in the sky at any time of any
night. Just set the date and time see a mini representation
of your local night sky. Great for identifying what you see
and planning an evening’s observing session.

• Star Map – More detailed than a planisphere, a star
map is essential for locating interesting celestial objects
to observe with your telescope. Nowadays many mobile
astronomy apps feature customizable star maps that you
can access on your smartphone or tablet while you’re at
the telescope.

Orion carries these and many other useful accessories to
help enhance your viewing experience with your telescope.
Visit our website at www.OrionTelescopes.com.

8. Specifications

Optical tube material: Rolled steel

Primary mirror diameter: 76mm (3.0”)

Primary mirror coating: Aluminum with silicon dioxide

(SiO2) overcoat

Secondary mirror minor axis diameter: 19.9mm

Focal length: 700mm

Focal ratio: f/9.2

Focuser: Rack-and-pinion, accepts 1.25" accessories

Eyepieces: 25mm and 10mm Kellner, antireection coated,

1.25" barrel diameter, threaded for Orion lters

Eyepiece magnication: 28x (with 25mm eyepiece) and

70x (with 10mm eyepiece)

Finder scope: Red dot nder scope

Mount: Altazimuth yoke

Tripod: Aluminum

Total instrument weight: 7.0 lbs.

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One-Year Limited Warranty

This Orion product is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date

of purchase. This warranty is for the benet of the original retail purchaser only. During this warranty period Orion
Telescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace, at Orion’s option, any warranted instrument that proves to be defec­tive, provided it is returned postage paid. Proof of purchase (such as a copy of the original receipt) is required. This

This warranty does not apply if, in Orion’s judgment, the instrument has been abused, mishandled, or modied, nor

does it apply to normal wear and tear. This warranty gives you specic legal rights. It is not intended to remove or

restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law; your state or national statutory consumer rights

For further warranty information, please visit www.OrionTelescopes.com/warranty.

Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA

Customer Support: www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus

All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior

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warranty is only valid in the country of purchase.

governing the sale of consumer goods remain fully applicable.

Orion® Telescopes & Binoculars

Copyright © 2017 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars

written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.