Orion 9862 User Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Orion®

AstroView 100 EQ

#9862 100mm Equatorial Refracting Telescope

™

Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975

Customer Support (800)-676-1343
E-mail: [e-mail]

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89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076

IN 191 Rev. B 02/09

Finder scope

Objective lens

Tube ring
attachment knobs

Counterweight shaft

Counterweight

Counterweight lock knob

“Toe saver”

Tripod leg

Tube mounting rings

Finder scope bracket

Eyepiece

Star diagonal

Focus knob

Declination slow-motion control cable

Right Ascension (R.A.)

slow-motion control cable

Polar axis finder scope

Latitude scale

Latitude adjustment T-bolts

Accessory tray bracket

Accessory tray

Figure 1.

Leg lock knob

The AstroView 100 EQ Reflector.

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Welcome to the exciting world of amateur astronomy! Your new AstroView 100 EQ Reflector 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.

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

Table of Contents

1. Parts list ......................... 3

2. Assembly ........................3

3. Getting Started .................... 5

4. Setting up and Using the

Equatorial Mount................... 7

5. Astronomical Observing ............ 11

6. Terrestrial Observing ..............14

7. Photography .....................15

8. Collimation ...................... 15

9. Care and maintenance .............16

10. Specifications .................... 16

1. Parts List

1 Optical tube assembly

1 German equatorial mount

1 Counterweight shaft

1 Counterweight

3 Tripod legs with attached accessory tray bracket

3 Leg attachment screws with wingnuts and washers

3 Leg lock knobs

1 Accessory tray with mounting hardware

2 Slow-motion control cables

1 Polar axis finder scope

1 Plastic cover for polar axis

2 Tube mounting rings

2 Tube ring attachment knobs with washers

1 6x30 Achromatic crosshair finder scope

1 Finder scope bracket with O-ring

1 90° Star diagonal

1 25mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece

1 10mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece

1 Dust cap

1 Collimation tool

2. Assembly

Make sure all the parts listed in the Parts List are present and
familiarize yourself with their features. Please keep the origi­nal shipping box and interior packaging. In the unlikely event
that you should need to ship the original telescope back to
Orion, you should 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 screws 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, the lenses of the
finder scope, or eyepiece lenses with your fingers. The optical
surfaces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be
damaged if touched inappropriately.

1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod
legs one at a time to the mount using the leg attachment
screws. line up the holes in the top of the tripod leg with
the holes in the base of the mount, and install the screw so
it passes through the leg and the mount with one washer
on both sides of the tripod leg. Tighten the wingnuts only
finger-tight, for now.

2. Insert and tighten the leg lock knobs into 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. Stand the tripod upright and spread the tripod legs apart
as far as they will go, until the accessory tray bracket is
taut. Attach the accessory tray to the bracket with the
three wingnut 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.

4. Next, tighten the wingnuts at the top of the tripod legs, so
the legs are securely fastened to the equatorial mount.
Use the wrench and your fingers to do this.

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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Finder scope bracket Nylon

thumbscrews

Finder scope

Tensioner

Focusing lock ring

Figure 2a. The 6x30 finder scope

5. 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 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”
line up. 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.

6. 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.

7. Remove the knurled “toe saver” retaining screw on the bot­tom of the counterweight shaft and slide the counterweight
onto the shaft. Make sure the counterweight lock knob is
adequately loosened so the metal pin inside the counter­weight is recessed enough to allow the counterweight shaft
to pass through the hole. Position the counterweight about
halfway up the shaft and tighten the lock knob. Replace
the toe saver on the end of the bar. The toe saver prevents
the counterweight from falling on your foot if the lock knob
happens to come loose.

8. Attach the two tube rings to the equatorial mount using the
mounting ring attachment knobs. Place a lock washer, then
a flat washer, on the shaft of each knob. With the washers
attached, push the knob up through the holes in the top of
the equatorial mount and rethread them into the bottom of
the tube rings. Tighten the knobs securely. Open the tube
rings by loosening the knurled ring clamps.

9. Lay the telescope optical tube in the tube rings. Position
the optical tube in the rings so that the 1/4"-20 mounting
block on the underside of the tube is centered relative to

Figure 2b. Pull-back on the tensioner and slide the finder scope

into its bracket until the O-ring is seated in the bracket ring

Focus lock thumbscrew

Eyepiece

90° star diagonal

Figure 3. The Focuser of the AstroView 100

the rings. Close the rings over the tube and tighten the
knurled ring clamps finger-tight to secure the telescope.

10. Attach the two slow-motion control 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 on the worm gear shaft. Then tighten the
screw. Use the short slow-motion control for the R.A. axis,
it will stick out sideways from the mount. The longer slow­motion control moves the telescope on its Dec. axis and
goes just under the optical tube, towards the focus wheels.
See Part 4 for more information about the R.A. and decli­nation axes.

11. Install the polar axis finder scope into its housing inside
the R.A. axis of the equatorial mount. First loosen the three

Camera T-ring

attachment threads

2" adapter

1.25" adapter

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Figure 4a. Figure 4b.

Proper operation of the equatorial mount requires that the telescope tube be balanced on the R.A. axis. (a) With the R.A. lock lever released,
slide the counterweight along the counterweight shaft until it just counterbalances the tube. (b) When you let go with both hands, the tube
should not drift up or down. The telescope should be balanced in the Dec. axis already if you have properly centered the 1/4"-20 mounting
block on the optical tube relative to the tube rings.

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.

Installing the Finder Scope

To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket, first
unthread the two black nylon screws 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 slot 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 opposite the
adjustment screws while pulling the chrome, spring-loaded
tensioner on the bracket with your fingers (Figure 2b). 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 screws a couple
of turns each to secure the finder scope in place. 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.

Inserting the Eyepiece

Loosen the thumbscrew on the 1.25" eyepiece adapter (Figure

3) and insert the chrome barrel of the star diagonal into the
adapter. Then, loosen the thumbscrews on the star diagonal

and remove the small dust cap. Then insert the 25mm Sirius
Plössl eyepiece into the focuser and secure it with the thumb­screws.

Your telescope is now completely assembled and should
appear as shown in Figure 1.

3. Getting Started

Balancing the Telescope

To ensure smooth movement of the telescope on both axes
of the equatorial mount, it is imperative that the optical tube
is properly balanced. We will first balance the telescope with
respect to the R.A. axis.

1. Keeping one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen
the R.A. lock lever. Make sure the Dec. lock lever is locked,
for now. The telescope should now be able to rotate freely
about the R.A. axis. Rotate it until the counterweight shaft
is parallel to the ground (i.e., horizontal).

2. Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide the
weight along the shaft until it exactly counterbalances the
telescope (Figure 4a). That’s the point at which the shaft
remains horizontal even when you let go with both hands
(Figure 4b).

3. Retighten the counterweight lock knob. The telescope is
now balanced on the R.A. axis.

The telescope should be balanced in the Dec. axis already if
you have properly centered the 1/4"-20 mounting block on the
optical tube relative to the tube rings.

Now when you loosen the lock lever on one or both axes and
manually point the telescope, it should move without resis­tance and should not drift from where you point it.

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