Orion SkyQuest IntelliScope XT10, Instruction Manual

Page 1: ...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 INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion SkyQuest XT10 Classic 9708 Dobsonian Reflecting Telescope ...

Page 2: ... side panel Front brace Handle Top baseplate Ground baseplate Finder scope Finder scope bracket Eyepiece Focus knob Optical tube Altitude side bearing CorrecTension XT Friction Optimization system Eyepiece rack Primary mirror cell Left side panel Figure 1 The SkyQuest XT10 Foot 3 ...

Page 3: ...e 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 or email sales telescope com for assistance Parts List Box 1 Optical Tube Assembly and Accessories Qty Description 1 Optical tube assembly 1 Dust cover 1 25mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece 1 10mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece 1 9x50 ri...

Page 4: ...ace of the top baseplate 6 Insert the T nut K into the center hole of the ground baseplate A so the nut s flanged top is on the same side of the baseplate as the Teflon pads Thread the large hex head screw G with a 3 8 washer F attached up through the ground baseplate and through the T nut until it is tight Now position the top baseplate D with side pan els attached over the ground baseplate and l...

Page 5: ...ude bearing surfaces As a result such telescopes move up and down much too freely This causes problems when the observer tries to accurately center and track an object for viewing especially at higher powers Also the tele scope becomes very sensitive to balance requiring additional equipment such as counterweight systems or adjustable side bearings to compensate SkyQuest XT10 Dobsonians employ a s...

Page 6: ...s standard equipment A finder scope greatly aids in finding objects to view in the night sky which will be discussed in detail later The 9 denotes the finder scope s 9 power magni fication while the 50 means it has a 50mm diameter lens The finder scope arrives pre installed in its bracket but must be placed into the dovetail holder on the telescope tube Slide the base of the finder scope into the ...

Page 7: ...e 25mm eyepiece inserted in the focuser move the telescope so the front open end is pointing in the general direction of an object at least 1 4 mile away Now with your fingers slowly rotate one of the focusing knobs until the object comes into sharp focus Go a little bit beyond sharp focus until the image just starts to blur again then reverse the rotation of the knob just to make sure you ve hit ...

Page 8: ...ocusing the finder scope on a bright star Once the image appears sharp retighten the lock ring behind the objective lens cell The finder scope s focus should not need to be adjusted again Aiming Pointing the Telescope With the finder scope aligned the telescope can be quick ly and accurately pointed at anything you wish to observe The finder scope has a much wider field of view than the telescope ...

Page 9: ...olves the finicky bal ance problem The spring coils pull the tube down onto the base thereby increasing the friction on the altitude bearing pads With CorrecTension the added weight of small front end loads will not adversely affect the balance of the telescope If you install an array of heavier accessories onto your SkyQuest XT10 s optical tube you may need at some point to counterbalance the tel...

Page 10: ...the primary mirror and mark it yourself Note The center ring sticker need not ever be removed from the primary mirror Because it lies directly in the shadow of the secondary mirror its presence in no way adversely affects the optical performance of the telescope or the image quality That might seem counterintuitive but its true Aligning the Secondary Mirror With the collimation cap in place look t...

Page 11: ...imary mirror It will need adjustment if as in Figure 14d the secondary mirror is cen tered under the focuser and the reflection of the primary mirror is centered in the secondary mirror but the small reflection of the secondary mirror with the dot of the collimation cap is off center The tilt of the primary mirror is adjusted with three spring loaded collimation thumbscrews on the back end of the ...

Page 12: ... distort the image seen in the eyepiece Similarly you should not observe through an open window from indoors Better yet choose a site out of town away from any light pollution You ll be stunned at how many more stars you ll see Most importantly make sure that any chosen site has a clear view of a large portion of the sky B Seeing and Transparency Atmospheric conditions play a huge part in quality ...

Page 13: ...itude side bearings with both hands Also when looking overhead if the telescope cannot be moved any more in altitude rotate the telescope 180 in azimuth to continue motion Remember that objects appear to move across the field of view faster at higher magnifications This is because the field of view becomes narrower Eyepiece Selection By using eyepieces of varying focal lengths it is possible to at...

Page 14: ...Titan VENUS At its brightest Venus is the most luminous object in the sky excluding the Sun and the Moon It is so bright that sometimes it is visible to the naked eye during full daylight Ironically Venus appears as a thin crescent not a full disk when at its peak brightness Because it is so close to the Sun it never wanders too far from the morning or evening horizon No surface markings can be se...

Page 15: ...su al performance With that in mind however it is possible to do some simple astrophotography with a SkyQuest With the use of afocal photography techniques where the camera is simply placed to the eyepiece to take a picture and digital cameras it is pos sible to take pictures of bright objects Certain photographic aids such as the Orion SteadyPix can help in taking photos by the afocal method 6 Ca...

Page 16: ...e mirror from the mirror cell Do not touch the surface of the mirror with your fingers lift it carefully by the edge Set the mirror aluminized face up on a clean soft towel Fill a clean sink free of abrasive cleanser with room temperature water a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent and if possible a capful of 100 isopropyl alco hol Submerge the mirror aluminized face up in the water and let ...

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Page 20: ...ir 89 Hangar Way 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 mishandled 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 ...