ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS SkyView Pro 6 EQ 9866, Instruction Manual

Page 1: ...Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support 800 676 1343 E mail support telescope com Corporate Offices 831 763 7000 P O Box 1815 Santa Cruz CA 95061 Orion SkyView Pro 6 EQ 9866 Equatorial Reflector Telescope ...

Page 2: ...ng knob Counterweight shaft Counterweight lock knobs Counterweights Finder scope Finder scope bracket Eyepiece Tube rings Mirror cell Tube ring mounting plate Right Ascension slow motion control knob Latitude scale Latitude adjustment L bolts Center support shaft Tripod support tray Tripod leg Leg lock knobs ...

Page 3: ...pe for the first time should take about 30 minutes No tools are needed other than the ones provid ed All screws should be tightened securely but be careful not to over tighten or the threads may strip Refer to Figure 1 dur ing the assembly process During assembly and anytime for that matter do not touch the surfaces of the telescope mirrors or lenses of the finder scope or eyepieces with your fing...

Page 4: ...ke 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 ri...

Page 5: ...balanced on the right ascension axis 4 To balance the telescope on the declination axis first tight en 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 lever 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 t...

Page 6: ... ment to the finder scope bracket s alignment thumbscrews will be needed until the object comes into the finder scope s field of view With the image in the finder scope s field of view you now need to fine adjust the alignment thumbscrews to center the object on the intersection of the crosshairs Adjust the aim of the finder scope by turning the thumbscrews one at a time until the object is center...

Page 7: ... rotating the telescope on its right ascension R A axis using only the R A slow motion knob But first the R A axis of the mount must be aligned with the Earth s rotational polar axis a process called polar alignment Polar Alignment For Northern Hemisphere observers approximate polar align ment is achieved by pointing the mount s right ascension axis at the North Star or Polaris It lies within 1 of...

Page 8: ...ion axis of the mount When properly aligned and used it makes accurate polar alignment quick and easy to do To install the polar axis finder scope remove the cover at the rear of the mount s right ascension axis Figure 9b and thread the polar axis finder scope into the equatorial mount until tight Alignment of the Polar Axis Finder Scope 1 Look through the polar finder at a distant object during t...

Page 9: ...5 Now use the azimuth adjustment knobs Figure 8 and the latitude adjustment L bolts Figure 6 on the mount to posi tion the star Polaris inside the tiny circle marked Polaris on the finder s reticle You must first loosen the knob under neath the equatorial mount on the center support shaft to use the azimuth adjustment knobs Once Polaris is proper ly positioned within the reticle you are precisely ...

Page 10: ... in the Southern Hemisphere The location of the right ascen sion coordinate indicator arrow is shown in Figure 11 The Dec setting circle is scaled in degrees with each mark representing 2 increments Values of declination coordinates range from 90 to 90 The 0 mark indicates the celestial equator When the telescope is pointed north of the celestial equator values of the declination setting circle ar...

Page 11: ...sen the R A lock lever and rotate the telescope on the right ascension axis until the counterweight shaft is horizontal parallel to the ground Then loosen the Dec lock lever and rotate the telescope until it is pointing straight overhead The counterweight shaft is still horizontal Then retighten both lock levers What if you need to aim the telescope directly north but at an object that is nearer t...

Page 12: ...ror will also be helpful in colli mating the secondary mirror Using a 2mm Allen wrench loosen the three small alignment set screws in the center hub of the 4 vaned spider several turns Now keep the mirror s holder stationary be careful not to touch the surface of the mirrors while turning the center screw with a Phillips head screwdriver See Figure 14 Turning the screw clockwise will move the seco...

Page 13: ...ave the dot centered as much as is possible in the ring your primary mirror is collimated The view through the collimation cap should resemble Figure 13e Re tighten the locking thumbscrews A simple star test will tell you whether the optics are accurate ly collimated Star Testing the Telescope When it is dark point the telescope at a bright star and accu rately center it in the eyepiece s field of...

Page 14: ...ht which reduces an object s brightness One good way to tell if conditions are good is by how many stars you can see with your naked eye If you cannot see stars of magnitude 3 5 or dimmer then conditions are poor Magnitude is a measure of how bright a star is the brighter a star is the lower its magnitude will be A good star to remem ber for this is Megrez mag 3 4 which is the star in the Big Dipp...

Page 15: ...n dreds of deep sky objects Do not expect to see as much color as you in NASA photos since those are taken with long expo sure cameras and have false color added Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in deep sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones Remember that you are seeing these objects using your own telescope with your own eyes The object you see in your eye piece is in rea...

Page 16: ...nomers alike Keep in mind as with any new task that starhopping may seem challenging at first but will become easier over time and with practice To starhop only a minimal amount of additional equipment is necessary A star chart or atlas that shows stars to at least magnitude 5 is required Select one that shows the positions of many deep sky objects so you will have a lot of options to choose from ...

Page 17: ...lluminated reticle eyepiece is also needed The T ring and camera adapter are not needed since the camera is exposing through its own lens Any camera lens with a focal length between 35mm and 400mm is appropriate On the top of one of the tube rings is a piggyback camera adapter This is the black knob with the threaded shaft pro truding through it The tube ring with the piggyback adapter should be c...

Page 18: ...ally once every year or so Covering the telescope with the dust cover when it is not in use will prevent dust from accumulating on the mirrors Improper cleaning can scratch mirror coatings so the fewer times you have to clean the mir rors the better Small specks of dust or flecks of paint have virtually no effect on the visual performance of the telescope The large primary mirror and the elliptica...

Page 19: ...irius Plössls fully coated 1 25 Magnification 30x with 25mm and 75x with 10mm Finder Scope 6x30 achromatic 7 field of view Focuser Rack and pinion accepts 1 25 eyepieces Mount SkyView Pro German equatorial Tripod Steel Tripod support tray Aluminum provides additional stability holds five 1 25 eyepiece and two 2 eyepieces Weight 52 lbs Mount 41 lbs optical tube 11 lbs Polar axis latitude adjustment...

Page 20: ...y Watsonville CA 95076 If the product is not registered proof of purchase such as a copy of the original invoice is required This warranty does not apply if in Orion s judgment the instrument has been abused mishan dled or modified nor does it apply to normal wear and tear This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state For further wa...