ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS Atlas EQ Mount 9830 Instruction Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

IN 177 Rev. A 11/02

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

®

Atlas

™

EQ Mount

#9830

2

Figure 1. The Atlas EQ Mount.

Tube ring mounting plate
Tube ring mounting plate

lock knobs (2)
Dec. lock lever
Dec. setting circle
Front opening

Counterweight shaft
lock lever

Counterweight shaft
Counterweights

Counterweight
lock knobs

“Toe Saver”

Tripod leg

Leg lock levers

Power indicator light
Power cord jack
Hand controller jack
R.A. setting circle
R.A. lock lever
Latitude scale

Latitude adjustment L-bolts

Center support shaft
(not shown)

Hand controller

Tripod support tray

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Table of Contents

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

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

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

4. Attaching a Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

5. Balancing a Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

6. Setting Up and Using the

Equatorial Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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

1. Unpacking

The entire mount will arrive in two boxes, one containing the
tripod, the other containing the equatorial mount. Be careful
unpacking the boxes.We recommend keeping the boxes and
original packaging. In the event that the mount needs to be
shipped to another location, or returned to Orion for warranty
repair, having the proper packaging will 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 suppor [e-mail] for
assistance.

2. Parts List

1 Tripod
1 Equatorial mount
1 Tube ring mounting plate
2 Counterweights
1 Tripod support tray
1 Hand controller (with control cable)
1 Battery pack (with power cord)

3. Assembly

1. Stand the tripod legs upright and spread the legs out as far
as they will go. Make certain that the leg lock levers are
tightened. Keep the tripod legs at their shortest (fully
retracted) length, for now;you can extend them to a more
desirable length later, after the scope is fully assembled.

2. Place the base of the equatorial mount onto the tripod
head. Orient the equator ial mount so that the post on the
tripod head lines up with the azimuth adjustment knobs on
the equatorial mount (Figure 2).You may need to loosen
the azimuth adjustment knobs on the equatorial mount in
order to fit the mount onto the tripod head.

3. Remove the knob and washer from the bottom of the cen­ter support shaft. Slide the tripod support tray up the bot­tom of the central support shaft until the three tray arms
are touching the legs of the tripod.The flat side of the sup­port tray should be facing up. Make sure the “V” of each
tray arm is against a tripod leg. Place the knob washer on
the center support shaft against the tray, and follow it by
threading the securing knob all the way up the center sup­port shaft until it is tight against the tray.The tripod support
tray provides additional stability f or the tripod, and holds up
to five 1.25" eyepieces and two 2" eyepieces.

4. Loosen the counterweight shaft lock lever and fully extend
the counterweight shaft.Retighten the lock lever.

5. 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 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 at the end of the bar.The toe saver

Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion mount.Your new Atlas Equatorial Mount works with

many different telescope optical tubes.Designed for astronomical use, this precision mount allows con­venient “tracking” of celestial objects with its built-in motor drives.The setting circles built into the mount
will assist you in locating hundreds of fascinating celestial deniz ens, including galaxies , nebulas , and star
clusters, from their catalogued coordinates. With a little practice, you’ll find that the Atlas Equatorial
Mount is an invaluable 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.

Warning: Never look at the sun with your telescope
or its finderscope—even for an instant—without
a professionally made solar filter that completely
covers the front of the instrument, or permanent
eye damage could result.

®

prevents the counterweights from falling on your foot if the
lock knobs happen to come loose.

6. Inser t the plug on the end of the hand controller’s cable
into the jack on the side of the EQ mount.

7. Insert eight D-cell batteries into the battery pack. Insert the
plug on the end of the the battery pack’s cord into its jack
on the mount.

Your Atlas EQ mount is now fully assembled and should
resemble Figure 1.

Note about the Atlas EQ mount Weight: The Atlas EQ
mount is very heavy. Alone it weighs 54 lbs.With a large opti­cal tube and counterweights it can easily weigh over 100 lbs.
Keep this in mind when moving the telescope even small dis­tances, and use assistance when needed.It is best to remove
the optical tube and counterweights when moving the mount.

4. Attaching a Telescope

The Atlas equatorial mount is designed to hold telescope
tubes weighing up to approximately 40 lbs.For heavier tele­scopes, the mount may not provide sufficient stability for
steady imaging.Any type of telescope can be mounted on the
Atlas, including refractors, Newtonian reflectors, and cata­diotropics, provided a set of tube rings is available to couple
the tube to the mount. Orion sells a variety of telescope tube
rings. Please visit our website at telescope.com for details.

1. Attach the tube mounting r ings to the tube mounting plate
using the attachment screws that come with the tube rings.
The screws should go through the holes in the outer ends
of the mounting plate and rethread into the tube rings.
Note that the side of the mounting plate with the central
“groove” will be facing up. Use a small wrench to secure
the tube rings to the mounting plate.

2. Loosen the black mounting plate securing knobs on the
top of the equatorial mount. Place the mounting plate, with
the tube rings attached, in the slot on top of the equatorial
mount.Position the mounting plate so that it is centered on
the slot.Re-tighten the mounting plate securing knobs until
the plate is secure.

3. Open the tube rings and lay the telescope optical tube in
the rings at about the midpoint of the tube’s length.Rotate
the tube so that the focuser is at a convenient height for
viewing.Close the tube rings and tighten them.

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 right ascension (R.A.) axis, then the declination
(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 right ascension 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 3a). That’s the point at which the
shaft remains horizontal even when you let go with both
hands (Figure 3b).If the telescope refuses to balance than
you have either too much or too little counterweight.
Remove a counterweight, or add optional counterweights
if needed.

3. Retighten the counterweight lock knobs.The telescope is
now balanced on the right ascension axis.

Figure 2.

Orient the equatorial head so that the post on the tripod

lines up with the azimuth adjustment knobs on the equatorial mount.

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Azimuth
adjustment
knobs

Post

Figure 3a-d. Proper operation of the equatorial mount requires

that the telescope tube be balanced on the R.A. and Dec. axes. (a)
With the R.A. lock lever released, slide the counterweights down the
counterweight shaft until they just counterbalance the telescope
tube. (b) When you let go with both hands, the tube should not drift
up or down. (c) With the Dec. lock lever released, loosen the tube
ring lock clamps a few turns and slide the telescope forward or back
in the tube rings. (d) When the tube is balanced about the Dec. axis,
it will not move when you let go.

a. b.

c.

d.