ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS ShortTube 80 9386 Instruction Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Orion®

ShortTube

80mm Rich-Field Refracting Telescope

#9386

™

80

Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975

Customer Support ( 80 0) 676-1343
E-mail: suppor t@ te le sc op e. co m

Corpo rate Off ices (831) 763-700 0

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

IN 121 Rev. B 04/02

Welcome to a new world of adventure! -Your Orion ShortTube 80 is a fine-quality instrument designed for both daytime ter-

restrial viewing and nighttime stargazing. Compact, portable, and easy to use, this versatile scope will provide many hours of
enjoyment for the whole family.

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

Finder scope bracket

Correct-image
finder scope

Dovetail
mount

Focus lock
set-screw

Dew/Glare
shield

Eyepiece

45° Correct­image
diagonal

Focus wheel

Figure 1. The Shor tTube 80 refractor

WARNING: Never look at the sun with your telescope

(or even with just your eyes) without a professionally
made solar filter. Permanent eye damage or blindness
could result. Young children should use this telescope
only with adult supervision.

Avoid using the type of solar filter that screws into an
eyepiece. They are susceptible to cracking under the
intense heat that builds up near the focus point, and
could cause severe retinal damage. Use only the type of
solar filter that covers the front of the telescope. Be sure
also to 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 eyes.

1/4"-20
Mounting
block

Parts List

Qty. Description

1 Optical tube assembly

1 25mm Sirius Plössl 1.25” eyepiece (16x)

1 10mm Sirius Plössl 1.25” eyepiece (40x)

1 45° correct-image diagonal, 1.25”

1 6x26 correct-image finder scope

1 Objective lens cap

1 Finderscope bracket with O-ring

2

Focus
lock-ring

Alignment thumbscrews

Tensioner

Figure 2a

The 6x26 correct-image finder scope and bracket

Getting Started

The ShortTube 80 comes nearly fully assembled from the
factory. The telescope’s optics have been installed and col
limated, so you should not have to make any adjustments to
them. Open the box and inspect the contents to make sure
all of the items in the parts list are present.

Please keep the original shipping box. In the unlikely event
you should need to ship the telescope back to Orion for war
ranty repair service, you should use the original packaging.
The box also makes a very good container for storing the
telescope when it is not in use.

Installing the Finder Scope

To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket, first
unthread the two black nylon thumbscrews 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 (nar
row 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’s cylinder. Now, release the tensioner and
tighten the two black nylon screws a couple of turns each to
secure the finder scope in place. Secure the bracket to the
dovetail mount on the optical tube with the knurled thumb
screw provided.

Installing the Diagonal and Eyepiece

Insert the 45° diagonal into the focuser tube and secure with
the knurled thumbscrew. Then insert the 25mm Plössl eye
piece into the 45° diagonal and secure it in place with the
thumbscrews on the diagonal. (Always loosen the thumb
screws before rotating or removing the diagonal or an
eyepiece.)

Figure 2b. Inserting the finder scope into the finder scope bracket

Mounting the Telescope on a Tripod

The ShortTube 80 can be mounted on any standard cam
era tripod that has a 1/4”-20 stud. The stud threads into the
small block on the underside of the telescope’s optical tube.

­Alternatively, the telescope can be attached to an equatorial

mount equipped with a 1/4”-20 adapter. An equatorial mount
is desirable for astronomical viewing because it allows easy
manual tracking of celestial objects as the Earth rotates. Also,
the setting circles on the mount enable you to locate objects

­by their celestial coordinates (right ascension and declination),

which can be found in many observing books and star atlases.

Focusing

The ShortTube 80mm is equipped with a precision rack­and-pinion focuser. When you first look in the eyepiece, the
image you see may be fuzzy, or out of focus. If so, gently
turn one of the large focusing wheels with your fingers until
the image becomes sharp. You will have to readjust the
focus when aiming at subjects of varying distances, or after
changing eyepieces. Make sure the focus lock screw is loos

­ened before focusing. After focusing, you can tighten it to

lock the telescope’s focus into place.

Do You Wear Eyeglasses?

If you wear eyeglasses, you may be able to keep them on
while you observe, if your eyepieces have enough “eye
relief” to allow you to see the whole field of view. You can
find out by looking through the eyepiece first with your
glasses on and then with them off, and see if the glasses

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restrict the view to only a portion of the full field. If they do,
you can easily observe with your glasses off by just refocus
ing the telescope the needed amount.

Aligning the Finder Scope

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The ShortTube 80 comes with a 6x26 correct-image achro
matic finder scope. (The 6x means six-times magnification,

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and the 26 indicates a 26mm aperture.) The finder scope
makes it easier to locate the subject you want to observe in
the telescope, because the finder scope has a much wider

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