Orion 9874 manual

IN 214 Rev . B 05/09 INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion ® Atlas ™ 1 0 EQ #9874 Equatorial Reflector T elescope Customer Support (800)-676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831)-763-7000 89 Hangar W ay , Watsonville, CA 95076 Orion T elescopes.com Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975[...]

2 Figure 1a. The Atlas 10 EQ. T ube ring mounting plate T ube ring mounting plate lock‑knobs (2) Declination setting circle Declination loc k le ver Counterweight shaft lock lev er Counterweight shaft Counterweights Counterweight lock knobs “T oe Sa ver” T ripod leg Leg loc k le ver Finder scope Finder scope brack et Eyepiece F ocus knob T ub[...]

T able of Contents 1. Unpacking ........................ 3 2. P ar ts List ......................... 3 3. Assembly ........................ 3 4. Balancing the T elescope ............. 5 5. Using Y our T elescope ............... 6 6. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount ................... 7 7. Collimating ...................... 12 8. Astronomi[...]

the azim uth adjustment knobs on the equator ial mount in order to fit the mount onto the tripod head. 3. Thread the central suppor t shaft into the equatorial mount until tight. This will secure the equatorial mount to the tri ‑ pod head. 4. Remo ve the knob and washer from the bottom of the cen‑ ter support shaft. Slide the tr ipod suppor t t[...]

the O‑ring that comes on the base of the brac ket ov er the body of the finder scope until it seats into the slot on the middle of the finder scope. Slide the eyepiece end (narrow end) of the finder scope into the end of the brac ket’ s cylinder opposite the alignment scre ws while pulling the chrome, spr ing‑loaded tens ioner on t he bracket[...]

5. Using Y our T elescope Focusing the T elescope With the 25mm ey epiece inser ted in the focuser , loosen the R.A. and Dec.loc k lev ers and move the telescope so the front (open) end is pointing in the general direction of an object at least 1/4‑mile awa y . Now , with your f ingers , slowly rotate one of the focusing knobs until the object co[...]

The Atlas 10 EQ has a focal length of 1200mm, which when used with the sup plied 25mm e ye piece yields a magni ficati on of: 1200mm = 48x 25mm The magnification provided b y the 10mm eyepiece is: 1200mm = 120x 10mm The maximum attainab le magnification for a telescope is directly related to how much light it can gather . The larger the aper ture, [...]

8 axis out into space. Stars in the Nor thern Hemisphere appear to re volve around the NCP . T o find P olaris in the sky , look nor th and locate the patter n of the Big Dipper (Figure 8). The two stars at the end of the “bowl” of the Big Dipper point right to P olar is . Obser v ers in the Souther n Hemisphere aren’t so f or tunate to hav e[...]

quick and easy . T o align the mount using the polar axis finder scope, f ollow these instructions: 1. Approximately polar‑align the mount as outlined in the pre‑ vious alignment procedure. 2. Loosen the Dec. lock lev er and rotate the optical tube on the declination axis so that the tube is at a 90° to the right ascension axis (Figure 10). Ti[...]

the po wer s witch, the pow er indicator light on the mount will glow red and the power indicator light on the hand controller will glo w green. Y our mount will now be moving at the sidereal rate, which is the same rate as the sky’ s apparent motion. If the mount is proper ly polar aligned, it is now “tracking” the motion of astronomical obj[...]

Dec. setting circle until the pointer reads e xactly 90°. Re‑ tighten the setting circle thumbscrew . Calibrating the Right Ascension Setting Circle 1. Identify a br ight star in the sky near the celestial equa‑ tor (declination = 0°) and look up its coordinates in a star atlas. 2. Loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock lev ers on the equator ial moun[...]

12 shaft will not alwa ys appear as it does in Figure 1. In f act it almost ne ver will! 7. Collimating (Aligning The Mirr ors) Collimating is the process of adjusting the mirrors so they are aligned with one another . Y our telescope’s optics were aligned at the factory , and should not need much adjustment unless the telescope is handled roughl[...]

loosen the three small alignment set screws in the center hub of the 4‑vaned spider sever al turns. Now keep the mirror’ s holder stationar y (be careful not to touch the surface of the mirrors), while turning the center scre w with a Phillips head screwdriv er (See Figure 15). T ur ning the screw clockwise will mov e the secondar y mirror towa[...]

14 Star-T esting the T elescope When it is dark, point the telescope at a br ight star and accu‑ rately center it in the ey epiec e’ s fi eld‑of‑view . Slowly def ocus the image with the focusing knob . If the telescope is correct ‑ ly collimated, the e xpanding disk should be a perfect circle (Figure 19). If the image is unsymmetrical, t[...]

15 cool‑down time required f or the Atlas 10, howe ver , some cool‑ ing time will still be required f or optimal viewing. Allow at least 30 minutes for your Atlas 10 EQ to equilibrate . If the scope has more than a 40° temperature adjustment, allow an hour or more. In the winter , storing the telescope outdoors in a shed or garage greatly redu[...]

16 daily . Sunspots are directly related to magnetic activity in the Sun. Many obser v ers lik e to make dra wings of sunspots to monitor how the Sun is changing from da y to day . Important Note: Do not look at the Sun with any optical instrument without a professionall y made solar filter , or permanent e ye damage could result. Also, be sure to [...]

17 Star t by choosing bright objects to view . The brightness of an object is measured by its visual magnitude; the br ighter an object, the lo wer its magnitude. Choose an object with a visual magnitude of 9 or lower . Many beginners start with the Messier objects, which represent some of the best and br ight‑ est deep‑sky objects, first catal[...]

18 the finder scope to center it within the camera’ s viewfinder . T ur n the motor drive on. Adjust the telescope’ s focuser so that the image appears shar p in the camera’ s viewfinder . The camera’ s shutter is no w ready to be opened. A remote shut ‑ ter release m ust be used or the image will be blurred bey ond recognition. T ry expo[...]

19 The large primar y mirror and the elliptical secondar y mirror of your telescope are front‑ surf ace aluminiz ed and o ver‑coated with hard silicon dioxide , which pre vents the aluminum from o xidizing. These coatings normally last through many y ears of use bef ore requir ing re‑coating (which is easily done). T o clean the secondar y mi[...]

One-Y ear Limited W arranty This Orion Atlas 10 EQ is warranted against def ects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchas e. T his warrant y is f or the ben efit of th e origina l reta il pur chaser only . During this warran ty period Orion T elescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace , at Orion’ s opti[...]