ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS SpaceProbe 4.5"" EQ 9036, 9036 Equatorial Reflecting Telescope Instruction Manual

IN 081 0998

Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975

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P.O. Box 1815, Santa Cruz, CA 95061

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Orion

®

SpaceProbe

™

4.5" EQ

#9036 Equatorial Reflecting Telescope

2

Figure 1. Space Probe 4.5" EQ Parts Diagram

Secondary mirror and
three-vane spider
(inside tube)

Spider vane
thumbscrew

Focuser
Focus knob
Declination slow-

motion control
Declination lock knob
Declination (Dec.) setting circle

Counterweight shaft
Counterweight

Counterweight lock knob
Retaining washer and knob
Right ascension lock knob
Right ascension

(R.A.) setting circle
Tripod leg

attachment bolt

Finder scope

Finder scope alignment screws

Finder scope bracket

Eyepiece

Tube Rings

Primary mirror cell

Collimation screws (3)

Right ascension

slow-motion control

Azimuth lock knob
Latitude lock knob

Accessory tray

Accessory tray bracket

Leg lock bolts

Tripod leg

3

1. Parts List

Qty. Description
1 Optical tube assembly
1 6x30 crosshair finder scope
1 Finder scope bracket
2 Kellner eyepieces (1.25"): 25mm and 9mm
1 German-type equatorial mount
2 Slow-motion control cables
1 Tube ring assembly
1 Counterweight
1 Counterweight shaft
1 Tripod accessory tray and hardware
3 Tripod legs

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 should take only about 15 minutes. All

bolts should be tightened securely to eliminate flexing and wob­bling, but only tighten them “finger-tight.” Y ou will need a flat-head
screwdriver to keep bolts from turning while tightening the wing
nuts by hand. Be careful not to overtighten 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 mirrors or the lenses of
the finder scope or eyepiece 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.

C

ongratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion telescope!

Your new SpaceProbe 4.5" 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.

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; 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.............................................................................................................................. 3

3. Balancing the Telescope ...................................................................................................... 4

4. Aligning the Finder Scope.................................................................................................... 5

5. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount ......................................................................... 5

6. Collimating the Optics .......................................................................................................... 6

7. Using the Telescope—Astronomical Observing ..................................................................... 7

8. Care and Maintenance........................................................................................................... 9

9. Specifications........................................................................................................................ 10

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. Be sure to also cover
the front of the finder scope with aluminum
foil or another opaque material to prevent
physical damage to the internal components
of the scope itself as well as to your eye.
Young children should use this telescope
only with adult supervision.

4

1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs,
one at a time, to the base of the mount by sliding the tripod leg
bolt into the slot in the mount and lightly tightening the wing
nut finger-tight. (Use a flat-blade screwdriver on the head of
the bolt while tightening the wing nut.) Note that the hinged
accessory tray bracket on each leg should face inward.

2. Secure the inner portion of each leg by tightening the two
leg lock bolts at the base of the 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 with the equatorial mount attached
upright, and spread the legs apart enough to attach the
accessory tray to the three hinged tray brackets on the
legs. The brackets should be positioned underneath the
tray. Use the three small accessory tray screws and wing
nuts provided. Do not tighten the wing nuts yet.

4. With the accessory tray attached but not tightened,
spread the tripod legs apart as far as they will go, until the
accessory tray brackets are taut. Then tighten the wing
nuts of the accessory tray screws.

5. Next, tighten the wing nuts of the tripod leg bolts at the
base of the equatorial mount.

6. Remove the two hex-head bolts from the base of the tube ring
assembly. Place the assembly on the equatorial head and
secure with the two bolts (threading them from underneath).

7. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, with the
latitude scale set at about a 40° angle. Tighten the latitude
adjustment knob, the declination (Dec.) and right ascension
(R.A.) lock knobs, and the azimuth lock knob all finger-tight.

8. Slide the counterweight on to the counterweight shaft.
Make sure the screw that holds the retaining washer at the
bottom end of the shaft is tightened. This washer will pre­vent the counterweight from slipping off the shaft and
possibly onto your foot if the counterweight lock knob
should come loose! Now, with the counterweight lock knob
loose, hold the counterweight in one hand and thread the
shaft into the equatorial mount (at the base of the declina­tion axis) with the other hand. When it is threaded all the
way in, position the counterweight about halfway up the
shaft and tighten the counterweight lock knob.

9. Lay the telescope optical tube in the (open) tube rings at
about the midpoint of the tube’s length, as in Figure 1.
Now close the rings over the optical tube and tighten the
tube ring knobs finger-tight to secure the telescope.

10. Attach the two slow-motion cables to the R.A. and Dec.
slow-motion shafts of the equatorial mount by positioning
the setscrew on the end of the cable over the indented slot
on the shaft, then tighten the setscrew.

11.To install the finder scope bracket on the optical tube (adja­cent to the focuser), position the optical tube horizontally.
Before loosening the nuts on the two mounting screws,
place one hand inside the telescope tube and hold the
small bar that anchors the screws. You don’t want the bar
to drop off, as it could damage the primary or secondary

mirror. Holding the bar with one hand, remove the two nuts
with the other and install the bracket, then replace the nuts.

12.Lastly, install the finder scope in the bracket. To do this, we
recommend first removing the two spring-tensioned align­ment screws (the top screw on each ring) and loosening the
other four screws so the finder scope can be inserted
through the rings—eyepiece end first—without resistance.
The larger objective lens of the finder scope should point
forward. Now, reinsert the two spring-tensioned alignment
screws. Then thread in the other four alignment screws until
the finder scope tube is roughly centered in the rings.

13. Insert an eyepiece into the focuser drawtube and secure
it in place with the thumbscrew.

3. Balancing the Telescope

To insure smooth movement of the telescope on both axes of
the equatorial mount, it is imperative that the optical tube be
properly balanced. We will first balance the telescope on the
R.A. axis, then on the Dec. axis.

1. Keeping one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen
the R.A. lock knob. 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. That’s the point at which the shaft remains hor­izontal even when you let go with both hands.

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

4. To balance the telescope on the Dec. axis, first tighten the
R.A. lock knob, with the counterweight shaft still in the hori­zontal position.

5. With one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen the
Dec. lock knob. The telescope should now be able to
rotate freely about the Dec. axis. Loosen the tube ring lock
knobs two or three turns, until you can slide the telescope
tube forward and back inside the rings (this can be aided
by using a slight back-and-forth twisting motion on the
optical tube while you push or pull on it).

6. Position the telescope so it remains horizontal when you
carefully let go with both hands. This is the balance point.
Before clamping the rings tight again, rotate the telescope
so the eyepiece is at a convenient angle for viewing.
When you are actually observing with the telescope, you
can adjust the eyepiece position by loosening the rings
and rotating the scope.

7. Retighten the tube ring lock knobs.

The telescope is now balanced on both axes. Now when you
loosen the lock knobs on the axes and manually point the tel­escope, it should move without resistance and should not drift
from where you point it.