ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS AstroView 9822 Instruction Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

IN 192 Rev. A 05/02

Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975

Customer Support [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Corporate Offices [phone]
P.O. Box 1815, Santa Cruz, CA 95061

Orion

®

AstroView

™

Equatorial Mount

#9822 AstroView Equatorial Mount

Right ascension slow-motion

control cable

Right ascension lock lever

Polar axis finder scope

Latitude scale

Latitude adjustment T-bolts

2

Figure 1.

The AstroView Equatorial Mount.

Declination slow-motion
control cable

Declination lock lever

Large counterweight
Small counterweight
Counterweight lock knobs
Counterweight shaft

“Toe saver”

Tripod leg

Accessory tray bracket
Accessory tray

Leg lock knob

3

Table of Contents

1. Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

2. Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

3. Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

4. Attaching a telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

5. Balancing the telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

6. Setting up and using the

equatorial mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

7. Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

1. Unpacking

The entire mount will arrive in one box.Be careful unpack­ing the box.We recommend keeping the box and the pack­aging material. In the event that the mount needs to be
shipped to another location, or returned to Orion for war­ranty repair, having the original packaging will help ensure
that your mount will survive the journey intact.

Make sure all the parts in the Parts List are present. Be
sure to check box carefully, as some parts are small. If
anything appears to be missing or broken, immediately
call Orion Customer Support (800-676-1343) or email
[e-mail] for assistance.

2. Parts List

Qty. Description

1 German-type equatorial mount
3 Tripod legs attached accessory tray bracket
2 Slow-motion control cables
1 Large counterweight
1 Small counterweight
1 Counterweight shaft
1 Accessory tray with mounting wing screws
3 Leg attachment screws with wingnuts and washers
3 Leg lock knobs
1 Polar axis finder scope
1 Polar axis cover

3. Assembly

Assembling the mount for the first time should take about 20
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.

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 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. Install and 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 mount is completely assembled.

3. With the tripod legs now attached to the equatorial mount,
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
wing 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.

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 adjustment T-bolts and then tighten the other
latitude adjustment T-bolt until the pointer and the “40” 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.

6. Thread the counterweight shaft into the equatorial mount
at the base of the declination axis until tight.Make sure the
metal casting at the top of the bar is threaded clockwise as
far as it will go before attaching the shaft.

Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion mount. Your new AstroView Equatorial Mount was

developed to w ork with many different telescope optical tubes.Designed for astronomical use, this preci­sion mount allows convenient “tracking” of celestial objects as they move slowly across the sky, so they
remain within your eyepiece’s field of view.The setting circles will assist you in locating hundreds of fas­cinating celestial denizens, including galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters, from their catalogued coordi­nates.With a little practice, you’ll find that the AstroVie w Equatorial Mount is an in v aluab le tool for getting
the most out of your astronomical observing sessions.

These instructions will help you set up and properly use your equatorial mount. Please read them over
thoroughly before getting started.

4

7. Remove the knurled “toe sav er”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 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.The toe saver
prevents the counterweights from falling on your foot if the
lock knobs happen to come loose.

8. 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 on either end of the worm gear shaft.Then tighten the
screw. We recommend using the shorter control cable for
the R.A. axis.

9. Install the polar axis finder scope into its housing inside the
R.A. axis of the equator ial mount (Figure 3). 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.
Should the O-ring become unseated, remove the entire
housing from the mount to locate the O-ring and reseat it
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.

4. Attaching a Telescope

The AstroView equatorial mount is designed to hold telescope
tubes weighing up to approximately 12lbs. For heavier tele­scopes, the mount may not provide sufficient stability for
steady imaging.Any type of telescope can be mounted on the
AstroView, including refractors, Newtonian reflectors, and

catadiotropics, provided a set of tube rings is availab le to cou­ple the tube to the mount. Orion sells a variety of telescope
tube rings, please visit our website at telescope.com for
details.To attach the tube rings to the mount, you will need to
line up the holes in the tube rings with the holes in the top of
the mount. Push a mounting screw up through the hole in the
top of the mount and thread it into the tube ring. Use a wrench
to tighten the screw and secure the tube ring.

5. Balancing a Telescope

To ensure smooth movement of a 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, then the Dec. 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 both counterweight lock knobs and slide the
weights along the shaft until they exactly counterbalance
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 knobs.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 lever, with the counterweight shaft still in the hor­izontal position.

5. With one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen the
Dec.lock lev er.The telescope should now be able to rotate
freely about the Dec. axis. Loosen the tube ring clamps a
few turns, until you can slide the telescope tube forward
and back inside the rings. Its often helpful to use a slight
twisting motion on the optical tube while you push or pull
on it. (Figure 4c).

Figure 2. To adjust the latitude angle of the equatorial mount,

loosen one of the two latitude adjustment T-bolts, then tighten the
other.

Figure 3. The polar axis finder scope installed in the right

ascension (R.A.) axis of the mount.

R.A.setting circle

lock thumbscrew

Pointer

R.A. setting circle

Meridian

offset scale

Polar scope

housing

Polar axis

finder scope

Date circle

Ring with
engraved time
meridian indicator
mark

Polar scope
alignment
thumbscrew (3)