Orion 9005, 120ST EQ User Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Orion®
AstroView
#9005 Equatorial Refracting Telescope
120ST EQ
Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975
Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com
Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000
89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076
IN 155 Rev. B 02/09
Tube rings Objective lens cell Dew cap/lens shade
Declination lock lever
Large counterweight
Small counterweight
Counterweight lock knobs Counterweight shaft
“Toe saver”
Tripod leg
Accessory tray attachment point
Finder scope
Finder bracket
Focus knob
Eyepiece
Star diagonal
Right Ascension slow-motion control
Declination slow-motion control
Right Ascension lock lever
Polar axis finder scope
Latitude adjustment T-bolts
Accessory tray bracket Accessory tray
Leg lock knob
Figure 1. The AstroView 120ST EQ Refractor
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Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion telescope! Your new AstroView 120ST EQ Refractor
is designed for high-resolution viewing of astronomical objects. With its precision optics and equatorial mount, you’ll be able to locate and enjoy hundreds of fascinating celestial denizens, including the plan­ets, Moon, and a variety of deep-sky galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters.
If you have never owned a telescope, we are pleased 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; a star wheel, or planisphere, available from Orion or from your local telescope shop, will greatly help. With a little practice, a little patience, and a reasonably dark sky away from city lights, you’ll find 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 List .............................................................................................................................. 3
2. Assembly ............................................................................................................................. 4
3. Balancing the Telescope ...................................................................................................... 6
4. Aligning the Finder Scope ................................................................................................... 7
5. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount ........................................................................ 7
6. Using Your Telescope–Astronomical Observing .................................................................. 11
7. Astrophotography ................................................................................................................. 14
8. Terrestrial Viewing ................................................................................................................ 15
9. Care and Maintenance ........................................................................................................ 15
10. Specifications ....................................................................................................................... 16
1. Parts List
Qty. Description
1 Optical tube assembly
1 German-type equatorial mount
1 Large counterweight
1 Small counterweight
1 Counterweight shaft
3 Tripod Legs with mounting hardware
1 Accessory tray with mounting hardware
1 Accessory tray bracket
2 Slow-motion control cables
1 Polar axis finder scope
1 Plastic cover for polar axis finder scope
2 Optical tube mounting rings
1 6x30 achromatic crosshair finder scope
1 Finder scope bracket with O-ring
1 Mirror star diagonal (1.25")
1 25mm (40x) Plössl eyepiece (1.25")
1 10mm (100x) Plössl eyepiece (1.25")
1 Dust cap
4 Assembly Tools (2 wrenches, Phillips screwdriver, flat-head screwdriver key)
WARNING: Never look directly at the Sun
through your telescope or its finder scope— even for an instant—without a professionally made solar filter that completely covers the front of the instrument, or permanent eye damage could result. Young children should use this telescope only with adult supervision.
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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 30 minutes. No tools are needed, other than the ones pro­vided. All bolts should be tightened securely to eliminate flexing and wobbling, but 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 eas­ily 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 mount using the bolts installed in the tops of the tripod legs. Remove the bolt from the leg, line up the holes in the top of the leg with the holes in the base of the mount, and reinstall the bolt so it passes through the leg and the mount. Tighten the wingnuts only finger­tight, for now. Note that the accessory tray bracket attachment point on each leg should face inward.
2. Tighten the leg lock knobs at the base of the tripod 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 connect each end of the accessory tray bracket to the attachment point on each leg. Use the screw that comes installed in each attachment point to do this. First remove the screw using the supplied screw­driver, then line up one of the ends of the bracket with the attachment point and reinstall the screw. Make sure the smooth side of the accessory tray bracket faces up.
4. Now, with the accessory tray bracket attached, spread the tripod legs apart as far as they will go, until the bracket is taut. Attach the accessory tray to the brackets with the three wingnut-head screws already installed in the tray. Push the screws up through the holes in the bracket, then thread them into the holes in the tray.
5. Next, tighten the wingnuts at the top of the tripod legs, so the legs are securely fastened to the equatorial mount. Use the larger wrench and your fingers to do this.
6. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, at a latitude of about 40°, i.e., so the pointer next to the latitude scale (located directly above the Orion logo on one side of the mount) is pointing to the line at “40.” To do this, loosen one of the latitude adjusting T-bolts and then tighten the other latitude adjusting T-bolt until the pointer and the “40”
Figure 2: To adjust the latitude angle of the equatorial mount, loosen one of the two latitude adjustment T-bolts, then tighten the other.
line up (Figure 2). The declination (Dec.) and right ascen­sion (R.A.) axes many need re-positioning (rotation) as well. Be sure to loosen the RA and Dec. lock levers before doing this. Retighten them once the equatorial mount is properly oriented.
7. Thread the counterweight shaft into the equatorial mount at the base of the declination axis until tight. Make sure the casting at the top of the bar is threaded clockwise as far as it will go before attaching the shaft.
8. Remove the knurled “toe saver” retaining screw on the bottom of the counterweight shaft and slide both counter­weights onto the shaft. Make sure the counterweight lock knobs are adequately loosened so the metal pin inside the counterweight is recessed enough to allow the counter­weight shaft to pass through the hole. Position the counterweights about halfway up the shaft and tighten the lock knobs. Replace the toe saver on the end of the bar. It prevents the counterweights from falling on your foot if the lock knobs happen to come loose.
9. Attach the two tube rings to the equatorial head using the bolts that come installed in the rings. Remove the bolts, then push them, with the washers still attached, up through the holes in the tube ring mounting plate (on the top of the equa­torial mount) and rethread them into the bottom of the tube rings. Tighten the bolts securely with the smaller wrench. Open the tube rings by loosening the knurled ring clamps.
10. 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 telescope. Close the rings over the tube and tighten the knurled ring clamps finger-tight to secure the telescope in position.
11. Now attach the two slow-motion cables to the R.A. and Dec. worm gear shafts of the equatorial mount by positioning the small screw on the end of the cable over the indented slot
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on the worm gear shaft. Then tighten the screw.
12. To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket (Figure 3), first unthread the two black nylon thumbscrews until the screw ends are flush with the inside diameter of the bracket. Place the O-ring that comes on the base of the bracket over the body of the finder scope until it seats into the groove on the middle of the finder scope. Slide the eyepiece end (narrow end) of the finder scope into the end of the bracket’s cylinder that does not have the alignment thumbscrews while pulling the chrome, spring-loaded ten­sioner on the bracket with your fingers. Push the finder scope through the bracket until the O-ring seats just inside the front opening of the bracket cylinder. Now, release the tensioner and tighten the two black nylon thumbscrews a couple of turns each to secure the finder scope in place.
13. Insert the base of the finder scope bracket into the dove­tail slot on the top of the focuser. Lock the bracket into position by tightening the knurled thumbscrew on the dovetail slot.
14. Remove the cover cap on the end of the focuser. Insert the chrome barrel of the star diagonal into the focuser and secure with the thumbscrew on the drawtube.
15. Then insert an eyepiece into the star diagonal and secure it in place with the thumbscrews on the diagonal. (Always loosen the thumbscrews before rotating or removing the diagonal or an eyepiece.)
16. Install the polar axis finder scope into its housing inside the R.A. axis of the equatorial mount (Figure 4). First loosen the three thumbscrews on the housing, which is located at the rear of the R.A. axis. Insert the front end of the polar finder (the end without the eyeguard) into the housing so only about 1" of the polar finder extends from the back of the housing. Do this slowly and with a twisting motion to prevent the internal O-ring from becoming unseated. If it does become unseated, you can remove the entire housing from the mount to locate the O-ring and reseat it. This is done by rotating the entire housing coun­terclockwise. Once the polar axis finder scope is in the housing, tighten the three thumbscrews. These thumb­screws will be used later to align the finder with the mount’s R.A. axis.
17. Remove the objective lens dust cover.
The AstroView 120ST is now assembled and should appear as pictured in Figure 1.
Objective lens cell
Lock ring
Spring-loaded tensioner
Dovetail base
Figure 3. The 6x30 finder scope and bracket.
Date circle
Ring with engraved time meridian indi­cator mark
Polar scope alignment thumbscrew (3)
Figure 4. The polar axis finder scope installed in the right ascension (R.A.) axis of the mount.
R.A. setting circle
offset scale
Polar scope
finder scope
Black nylon
alignment
thumbscrews
Eyepiece
Pointer
Meridian
housing
Polar axis
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