ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS SkyView Pro 9829, SkyView Pro EQ Mount 9829 Instruction Manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Orion®

SkyView Pro

#9829

™

EQ Mount

Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975

Customer Support ( 80 0) -6 76 -1 34 3
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 195 Rev. B 03/06

Declination lock lever
(opposite side)

Right ascension lock lever
(opposite side)

Declination slow-motion
control-knob

Safety thumbscrew

Mounting plate securing knob

Tube ring mounting plate

Counterweight shaft

Counterweights

Counterweight lock knobs

Tripod leg

Right ascension slow-motion
control knob

Latitude scale

Latitude adjustment L-bolts

Center support shaft

Tripod support tray

2

Leg lock knobs

Figure 1. The SkyView Pro EQ Mount.

Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion mount. Your new SkyView Pro Equatorial Mount

was developed to work 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 built into the mount
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 SkyView
Pro 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.

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

Post

Azimuth
adjustment knobs

1. Unpacking

The entire mount will arrive in one box. Be careful unpack­ing the box. We recommend keeping the box 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 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

1 Tripod

1 Tripod support tray

1 Equatorial mount

1 Latitude adjustment L-bolt

1 Tube ring mounting plate

1 Counterweight shaft

1 Large counterweight

1 Small counterweight

2 Slow-motion control knobs

1 Polar axis finder scope cover

Figure 2. Orient the equatorial mount so that the post on the

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

3. Assembly

1. Stand the tripod upright and spread the legs out as far
as they will go. 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 equatorial 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. Thread the central support shaft into the equatorial
mount until tight. This will secure the equatorial mount
to the tripod head.

4. Thread the latitude adjustment L-bolt into the rear of
the equatorial mount as show in Figure 1

5. 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 accessory tray should be facing up. Make
sure the “V” of each tray arm is against a tripod leg.

3

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 for the tripod, and holds up to five

1.25" eyepieces and two 2" eyepieces.

6. Thread the counterweight shaft into the equatorial
mount at the base of the declination axis until tight.
Make sure the casting at the top is threaded clockwise
as far as it will go before attaching the shaft. Then turn
the casting counter-clockwise one the shaft is installed
until the top of the casting is flush with the mount.

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

8. Attach the slow-motion control knobs to the right ascen­sion and declination gear shafts of the equatorial mount
by sliding them onto the shafts. Line up the flat end of
the gear shaft with the interior of the knob. The knobs
can be attached to either end of the shafts, whichever is
more convenient for you.

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

4. Attaching a Telescope

The SkyView Pro equatorial mount is designed to hold
telescope tubes weighing up to approximately 20 lbs.
For heavier telescopes, the mount may not provide suf­ficient stability for steady imaging. Any type of telescope
can be mounted on the SkyView Pro, 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 rings to the tube mounting
plate using the attachment screws that came with tube
rings. The screws should go through the holes on 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.

2. Loosen the black mounting plate securing knob as well
as the metal safety screw on the top of the equatorial
mount. Place the mounting plate, with the tube rings
attached, in the dovetail slot on top of the equatorial
mount. Position the mounting plate so that it is cen­tered on the dovetail slot. Re-tighten the mounting plate
securing knob until the mounting plate is secure. Then,
tighten the safety screw. The safety screw will ensure
that the mounting plate (and telescope tube) will not fall

a.

c. d.

Figure 3. Proper operation of the equatorial mount requires that

the telescope tube be balanced on both the R.A. and Dec. axes.
(a) With the R.A. lock lever released, slide the counterweights
along the counterweight shaft until it just counterbalances the
tube. (b) When you let go with both hands, the tube should not
drift up or down. (c) With the Dec. lock knob released, loosen the
tube ring lock clamps a few turns ands 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.

off the EQ mount if the mounting plate securing knob
should come loose.

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.

b.

5. Balancing a Telescope

To ensure smooth movement of the 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 axis, then the
declination 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, then you have either too much or too lit­tle counterweight. Remove a counterweight if it is too
much, or add optional counterweights if it is too little.

4