Optical accessories assembly
Your telescope can be equipped with additional accessories, such as eyepieces, diagonal mirror or prism, or
a Barlow lens. The accessories should be installed in well-defined ordering.
Refractors (fig. 4a): Loosen the focuser thumbscrew. Insert the diagonal mirror into the focuser tube and
retighten the thumbscrew to hold the diagonal mirror in place. Then, insert the desired eyepiece into the
diagonal mirror and secure it by retightening the thumbscrew. If a Barlow lens is needed, install it between
the diagonal mirror and the eyepiece.
Reflectors (fig. 4b): Loosen the focuser thumbscrew and take off the plastic cap from the focuser tube.
Insert the selected eyepiece and secure it by retightening the thumbscrew. If a Barlow lens is needed,
install it between the focuser and the eyepiece.
Optical finderscope assembly and alignment
Unthread two screws in the back of the telescope tube. Place the finderscope base above the holes on the
tube. Lock the finderscope base into position by tightening the screws (refractor 5a, reflector 5b).
Optical finderscopes are very useful accessories. When they are correctly aligned with the telescope,
objects can be quickly located and brought to the center of the view. Turn the scope end in and out to
adjust focus (fig. 6).
To align the finderscope, choose a distant object that is at least 550 yards (500 meters) away and point
the telescope at the object. Adjust the telescope so that the object is in the center of the view in
your eyepiece. Check the finderscope to see if the object is also centered on the crosshairs. Use three
adjustment screws to center the finderscope crosshairs on the object (fig. 7).
Operating the mount
The AZ mount is an alt-azimuth mount that allows you to rotate the telescope about the vertical and
horizontal axes and change its altitude and azimuth. To adjust the azimuth, loosen the big locking knob
under the mount base and rotate the tube left or right about the axis then retighten it. To adjust the
altitude, loosen the altitude adjustment knob and rotate the tube. For more precise motions use the
altitude slow-motion control. Due to Earth's movement, the objects will be constantly shifting out of your
view, so you will have to adjust the altitude and azimuth of your telescope to continue your observations
(fig. 8).
Reference materials usually list declination coordinates in degrees, hours and minutes above or below the
horizon line. Azimuth coordinates may sometimes be listed with the compass points (N, SW, ENE, etc.), but
it is more commonly listed in degrees around the 360-deg plane, where north is 0°, east is 90°, etc.
Focusing
Slowly rotate the focus knobs one way or the other until the image in the eyepiece is sharp. The image
usually has to be finely refocused over time due to small variations caused by temperature changes,
flexures, etc. Refocusing is almost always necessary when you change an eyepiece, add or remove a Barlow
lens (refractor 9a, reflector 9b).
Camera adapter
To attach a camera to your telescope you may need an adapter to get the camera focused. Some refractors
are designed to be used with diagonal mirrors and thus need a longer focal length when used with camera.
To achieve that, simply attach an extender to the focuser of your telescope and then attach the camera
with a T-adapter to the extender (fig. 10).
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