ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS SpaceProbe 130ST EQ 9007 Instruction Manual

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

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Orion

®

SpaceProbe 130ST EQ

Equatorial Newtonian Reflector Telescope

#9007

2

Figure 1. Space Probe 130 ST parts diagram

Dovetail slot

Finder scope

Alignment thumb screws(2)

Spring-loaded tensioner

Finder scope bracket

Piggyback adapter

Tube mounting rings

Tube ring clamps

Primary mirror cell

Collimation

screws(6)

R.A. setting circle

Latitude adjustment t-bolt

Azimuth lock knob

Leg lock knob

Accessory tray

Accessory tray bracket

Eyepiece

Focuser

Dec. slow-motion
control cable

Dec. setting circle

R.A. lock knob
Counterweight

Counterweight lock knob

Counterweight shaft
R.A. slow motion control cable

3

1. Unpacking

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

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

2. Parts List

Qty. Description

1 Optical Tube Assembly
1 Optical tube dust cap
2 Optical tube mounting rings
1 25mm (36x) Explorer II eyepiece (1.25")
1 10mm (90x) Explorer II eyepiece (1.25")
1 6x30 crosshair finder scope
1 Dovetail finder scope bracket with O-ring
1 Equatorial mount
3 Tripod legs with attachment bolts
3 Leg lock knobs (may already be on tripod legs)
1 Counterweight shaft
1 Counterweight
1 Tripod accessory tray
3 Accessory tray wing screws (may be attached to

accessory tray)
2 Slow-motion control cables
4 Assembly tools (2 wrenches, Phillips head screw

driver, flat head screwdriver key)

C

ongratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion telescope

.Your new SpaceProbe 130mm EQ 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.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.

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.

Table of Contents

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

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

3. Assembly............................................................................................................................... 4

4. Getting Started ...................................................................................................................... 5

5. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount .......................................................................... 7

6. Collimating the Optics.......................................................................................................... 10

7. Using Y our T elescope–Astronomical Observing .................................................................. 12

8. Care and Maintenance ........................................................................................................ 15

9. Specifications ...................................................................................................................... 16

4

3. Assembly

Assembling the telescope for the first time should take about
30 minutes.No tools are needed other than the ones provid­ed. All bolts should be tightened securely to eliminate flexing
and wobbling, but be careful not to o v er-tighten 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 scopes or eyepieces with your fingers.The optical
surfaces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be
damaged if touched inappropriately. NEVER remove an y lens
assembly from its housing for any reason, or the product w ar­ranty and return policy will be voided.

1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side.Attach the tripod legs
one at a time to the mount by sliding the bolts installed in
the tops of the tripod legs into the slots at the base of the
mount and tightening the wing nuts finger-tight.Note that
the accessory tray bracket attachment point on each leg
should face inward.

2. Tighten the leg lock knobs on the bottom braces 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 telescope is completely assemb led.

3. With the tripod legs now attached to the equatorial mount,
stand the tripod upright (be careful!) and spread the legs
apart enough to connect each end of the accessory tray
bracket to the attachment point on each leg.Use the screw
that comes installed in each attachment point to do this.
First remove the screw using the supplied screwdriver,
then line up one of the ends of the bracket with the attach­ment point and reinstall the screw. Make sure that the
smooth side of the accessory tray bracket faces upwards.

4. Now , with the accessory tra y br acket attached, spread the
tripod legs apart as far as they will go, until the bracket is
taut. Attach the accessory tray to the accessory tray
bracket with the three wing screws already installed in the
tray.This is done by pushing the wing screws up through
the holes in the accessory tray bracket, and threading
them into the holes in the accessory tray.

5. Next, tighten the bolts at the tops of the tripod legs, so the
legs are securely fastened to the equatorial mount.Use
the larger wrench and your fingers to do this.

6. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 2, at
a latitude of about 40°, i.e., so the pointer next to the lati­tude scale (located directly above the latitude lock t-bolt)
is pointing to the hash mark at “40.”To do this, loosen the
latitude lock t-bolt, and turn the latitude adjustment t-bolt
until the pointer and the “40” line up.Then retighten the
latitude lock t-bolt.The declination (Dec.) and right ascen­sion (R.A.) axes may need re-positioning (rotation) as
well.Be sure to loosen the RA and Dec. lock knobs before
doing this.Retighten the R.A.and Dec. lock knobs once
the equatorial mount is properly oriented.

7.Slide the counterweight onto the counterweight shaft. Make
sure the counterweight lock knob is adequately loosened

to allow the counterweight shaft to pass through the hole
in the counterweight.

8. Now, with the counterweight lock knob still loose, grip the
counterweight with 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 as far in as it will go,
position the counterweight about halfway up the shaft and
tighten the counterweight lock knob.The retaining screw
and washer on the bottom of the shaft prevent the coun­terweight from falling off (and onto your foot!) if the
counterweight lock knob becomes loose.

9. Attach the two tube rings to the equatorial head using the
bolts that come installed in the bottom of the rings. First
remove the bolts, then push the bolts, with the washers
still attached, up through the holes in the tube ring mount­ing plate (on the top of the equatorial mount) and rethread
them into the bottom of the tube rings.Tighten the bolts
securely with the smaller wrench. Open the tube rings by
first loosening the knurled ring clamps. One of the tube
rings has a piggyback camera adapter on top (the knurled
black ring);it can be used to mount a camera for “piggy­back” astrophotograph y.

10.Lay the telescope optical tube in the tube rings at about
the midpoint of the tube’s length.Rotate the tube in the
rings so the focuser is angled somewhere between hori­zontal and straight up.Close the rings over the tube and
tighten the knurled ring clamps finger-tight to secure the
telescope in position.

11.Now attach the two slow-motion cables to the R.A.and
Dec. worm gear shafts of the equatorial mount by posi­tioning the thumb screw on the end of the cable over the
indented slot on the worm gear shaft and then tightening
the thumb screw. We recommend that the shorter cable
be used on the R.A.worm gear shaft and the longer cable
on the Dec. worm gear shaft.The Dec. worm gear shaft

RIGHT ASCENSION

AXIS

Azimuth lock knob

R.A. setting

circle lock

thumbscrew

DECLINATION AXIS

Figure 2. The Space Probe’s equatorial mount.

Dec. slow-

motion control

cable

Dec. lock knob

Dec. setting

circle

R.A. slow-

motion

control cable

R.A. setting
circle

Latitude scale

Latitude lock
t-bolt

Latitude adjust­ment t-bolt

and cable should extend toward the front (open) end of
the telescope optical tube.If it does not, you will need to
remove the tube from the mounting rings, rotate the mount
180° about the Dec. axis (first loosen the Dec. lock knob),
and then replace the tube.

12.To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket, first
unthread the two black nylon scre ws until the scre w 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 groove
on the middle of the finder scope.Slide the eyepiece end
(narrow end) of the finder scope into the end of the
bracket's cylinder that does not have the alignment
screws while pulling the chrome, spring-loaded tension­er on the bracket with y our fingers.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.

13.Insert the base of the finder scope bracket into the dove­tail slot near the focuser. Lock the bracket into position by
tightening the knurled thumb screw on the dovetail slot.

14.Remove the cap from the focuser and insert the chrome
barrel of one of the eyepieces into the drawtube. Secure

the eyepiece with the thumb screws on the drawtube.
Remember to always loosen the thumb screws before
rotating or removing the eyepiece.

The telescope system is now fully assembled.Keep the dust
cap over the front end of the telescope when it is not in use.

4. Getting Started

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 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 knob. Make sure the Dec. lock knob 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 the counterweight lock knob and slide the
weight along the shaft until it exactly counterbalances the
telescope (Figure 3a).That’s the point at which the shaft
remains horizontal even when you let go of the telescope
with both hands (Figure 3b).

5

b.

d.

c.

a.

Figure 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D: 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 knob released, slide the counterweight 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
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.