Orion Observer 80ST, 10273 Instruction Manual
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Orion® Observer™ 80ST
Equatorial Refractor
#10273
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,
modied or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.
®
Copyright © 2017 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Customer Support:
www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus
Corporate Offices:
89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 – USA
IN 582 05/17
Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion telescope. Your new Observer 80ST Equatorial Refractor is
a terric starter instrument for exploring the exotic wonders of the night sky. Designed to be compact 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 List .................................2
2. Assembly .................................4
3. Preparing the Telescope for Operation ...........5
4. Understanding and Using the Equartorial Mount ...7
5. Astronomical Observing .....................10
6. Worthwhile Optional Accessories .............12
7. Telescope Care and Maintenance .............13
8. Specications .............................13
1. Parts List
Part. Quantity
A – Tripod legs 3
B – Hex head tripod mounting bolts (3”) 3
C – Washers (5/8”) 3
D – Wing nuts 3
E – Leg lock thumbscrews 3
F – Accessory tray 1
G – Screws 3
H – Washers (3/8”) 3
I – Wing nuts (small) 3
J – Equatorial mount 1
K – Azimuth lock knob (and washer) 1
L – Latitude adjustment bolt 1
M – Counterweight shaft 1
N – Counterweight lock knob 1
O – Counterweight 1
P – Slow-motion cables 2
Q – Mounting platform 1
R – Telescope optical tube 1
S – Red dot nder scope 1
T – Dust cover 1
U – 25mm Kellner eyepiece 1
V- 10mm Kellner eyepiece 1
W – Star diagonal 1
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.
2
Q
A
R
T
L
O
B
N
P
C
K
D
JIHGFMVSUWE
Figure 1. The parts of the Observer 80ST EQ telescope .
3
2. Assembly
R
S
J
R.A. Axis
(R.A.)
P
N
O
U
P
W
Q
(Dec)
M
L
K
A
F
Dec. Axis
A
E
E
A
E
Figure 2. The Observer 80ST EQ telescope fully assembled, with
key parts identied.
Wingnut
Washer
Figure 3. a) Attach the three tripod legs to the mount platform,
b) making sure the bolt’s hex-shaped head seats in the hex-shaped
recess of the tripod leg.
1. Attach the three aluminum tripod legs (A) to the mounting
platform (Q) (Figure 3a) with the three hinged leg braces
facing inward. Three hex-head bolts (B) each about 3" long,
with 5/8” 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 3b).
The washer then the wing nut are placed on the opposite
side on the exposed end of the bolt.
2. Attach a leg lock thumbscrew (E) to each leg as shown
(Figure 4). Extend the sliding inner portion of the adjustable-height tripod leg to the desired length for all three
legs. Lock in place by tightening the leg lock thumbscrews.
Do not over-tighten the leg lock thumbscrews or you
may damage the collar they are attached to.
3. Now stand the tripod upright, spreading the legs evenly
apart so the accessory tray can be positioned to attach to
the three leg braces.
4. Attach the accessory tray (F) to the leg brace supports
(Figure 5) with the three short screws (G), small (3/8”)
washers (H), and small wing nuts (I) provided. Place a
washer on the screw. Then place the accessory tray on
top of one of the leg braces so that the mounting screw
passes through the hole at one of the corners of the
accessory tray, and through the slot in the leg brace. Then
place another small washer on the screw and thread on
and tighten the wing nut. Repeat this procedure until the
tray is attached to all three leg braces.
The tripod is now fully assembled (Figure 6)
install the equatorial mount onto the tripod.
5. Locate the equatorial (EQ) mount (J) and place its base
into the hole in the center of the mounting platform (Q)
(Figure 7a). Then secure it in place with the azimuth lock
knob and washer (K) (Figure 7b).
6. Thread the latitude adjustment bolt (L) into the threaded
socket (Figure 8) until it contacts metal inside the housing.
7. Next, thread the counterweight shaft (M) into the base of
the Declination axis of the mount (Figure 9).
8. Thread the counterweight lock knob (N) into the counterweight (O) a few turns.
9. To slide the counterweight onto the counterweight shaft,
rst remove the Philips screw and washer from the end
of the shaft. Make sure the counterweight lock knob (N) is
loosened enough so that the metal pin inside the counterweight is clear of the shaft hole. Slide the counterweight
about 2 inches from the bottom of the counterweight shaft
and secure it in place with the lock knob (Figure 10). Then
replace the washer and screw at the end of the counterweight shaft.
10. Attach the slow motion cables (P) to the gear shafts as
shown in Figure 11. The longer cable should be attached
to the declination gear shaft; the shorter cable to the right
ascension gear shaft. Orient the cable so that the thumb-
. Next you will
4
Accessory tray
Screw head
Washer
Washer
Wing nut
Leg
Figure 4.
shown, being careful not to overtighten.
Now the mount is properly attached to the tripod and outtted
for use (Figure 13). Next, you’ll attach the telescope optical
tube to the mount.
11. Remove the wing nuts and washers from the optical tube
12. To attach the red dot nder scope (S) to the optical tube,
13. Insert the star diagonal (W) into the focuser drawtube and
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.
Thread a leg lock thumbscrew onto each tripod leg as
screw seats in the groove of the gear shaft, as shown in
Figure 12, then rmly tighten the thumbscrew. If there is
a small rubber ball on the end of the shaft, you will have
to remove it in order to attach the cable. Also note that,
depending on your preference, you can attach the cable to
either the left or right side of the right ascension gear shaft.
mounting bolts that are pre-installed on the underside
of the telescope optical tube (R). Then lay the telescope
optical tube assembly onto the saddle plate (Figure 14),
passing the mounting bolts through the holes in the saddle
plate. Then place a washer on each bolt and re-attach the
wing nuts until tight. Be sure the focuser portion of the
optical tube is on the same side of the saddle as the slowmotion control cable in Declination, as in Figure 14.
orient the nder scope as shown in Figure 15 and slide
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.)
tighten the two thumbscrews on the drawtube collar (Figure
16). Then insert the 25mm eyepiece (U) into the diagonal
and secure it by lightly tightening the thumbscrew on the
diagonal.
Figure 5. Attach the accessory tray to each of the tripod three
leg brace supports using the provided hardware.
The included red dot nder scope (Figure 17) makes pointing
your telescope almost as easy as pointing your nger! It’s a nonmagnifying 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 higherpower 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 17). Doing so will allow the pre-installed 3V CR-2032
3. Preparing the Telescope
for Operation
Aligning and Using the Red Dot Finder Scope
Figure 6. The fully assembled tripod.
5
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