Orion starBlast 4.5 EQ manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 260 Rev . B 01/09 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support (800)-676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831)‑763‑7000 89 Hangar W ay , W atsonville, CA 95076 Orion ® StarBlast ™ 4.5 EQ #9798 Equatorial Newtonian Reflector T elescope[...]

2 Figure 1a. The StarBlast 4.5 EQ EZ Finder II reflex sight Eyepiece Focuser T ube rings Optical tube Primar y mirror cell Declination slow-motion control Right ascension slow-motion control Latitude adjustment T -bolt Azimuth lock knob Accessory tray Declination setting circle Right ascension setting circle Counterweight lock knob Counterweight Co[...]

3 T able of Contents 1. Unpacking 3 2. P ar ts List 3 3. Assembly 3 4. Getting Star ted 4 5. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount 6 6. Collimating the Optics (Aligning the Mirrors) 9 7. Astronomical Obser ving 11 8. Care and Maintenance 13 9. Specifications 14 1. Unpacking The entire telescope system will arr iv e in one box. Be careful unpack[...]

4 4 3. Stand the tripod and mount upright and spread the tr ipod legs apar t as far as they will go , until the accessor y tra y brac ket is taut. Connect the accessor y tra y to the acces - sor y tray brack et with the three wing scre ws already installed in the tray . Do this by pushing the wing screws up through the holes in the accessor y tray [...]

5 5 1. K eeping one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen the R.A. lock knob . Mak e sure the Dec. lock knob is lock ed, f or 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 ., hor izontal). 2. Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide th[...]

6 Do Y ou Wear Eyeglasses? If y ou we ar e ye gla sses , y ou ma y be ab le to kee p the m on wh ile you obser ve . In order to do this, your eyepiece must have enough “ey e relief ” to allow y ou to see the entire field of vie w with glasses on. Y ou can tr y this by looking through the eyepiece first with your glasses on and then with them of[...]

7 of a str ono mi cal o bje cts , th er eb y ke epi ng th em fr om dr ift ing o ut of the telescope’ s field of view while y ou’ re obser ving. This is accomplished by slowly rotating the telescope on its right ascension (R.A.) axis, using only the R.A. slow-motion cable. But fir st the R.A . axis of th e mo unt mu st be ali gned wit h th e Ear[...]

8 Understanding the Setting Circles The setting circles on an equator ial mount enab le you to locate celestial objects by their “celestial coordinates”. Every object resides in a specific location on the “celestial sphere”. That location is denoted by two numbers: its right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.). In the same wa y , ev er [...]

9 9 6. Collimating the Optics 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 roughly . Accurate mirror alignment is impor tant to ensure peak performance of your telescope, so it s[...]

10 The Collimating Cap and Primary Mirror Center Mark Y our Star Blast 4.5 EQ com es with a coll imating cap . This is a si mpl e cap that fits on th e f ocu ser dr a wtu be li ke a dus t cap , bu t has a hol e in the cent er an d a silv er botto m. T his help s cent er your eye so collimating is easy to perform. Figures 9b through 9e assume you ha[...]

11 Once the secondar y mirror is centered in the focuser drawtube , and the primar y mirror reflection is centered in the secondar y mirror , the secondary mirror is properly aligned, and no fur ther adjustments to it should be needed. Aligning the Primary Mirror The final adjustment is made to the pr imary mirror . It will need adjustment if , as [...]

12 when much of the heat abso rbed by the Ear th dur ing the da y has radiated off into space. Especially impor tant for observing f aint objects is good “trans - parency”—air free of moisture, smoke, and dust. All tend to scat - ter light, which reduces an object’ s brightness. T ransparency is judged by the magnitude of the faintest stars[...]

13 B. The Planets The planets don’t stay put like the stars, so to find them you should refer to Sky Calendar at Or ionT elescopes.com, or to char ts published monthly in Astronomy , Sky & T elescope , or oth er astr onom y maga zines . V enus , Mars , J upite r , and Saturn are the br ightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. Ot[...]

14 cli ps hel d by tw o scre ws eac h. Loo sen th e scre ws an d re mov e the clips. Y ou ma y now remov e the primary mirror from its cell. Do not touch the surface of the mirror with your fingers. Lift the mirror carefully by the edges. Set the mirror on a clean soft towel. Fill a cle an sin k free with room temper atur e wat er , a f ew drops of[...]