Orion XTG manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 388 Rev . B 11/10 Customer Support (800 ) 676 -1 343 • E-mail: suppor t@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 • 89 Hangar W ay , W atsonville, CA 95076 © 2010 Orion T elescopes & Binoculars Orion ® SkyQuest ™ XTg Go T o Dobsonians #8948 XT 8g, #8949 XT 1 0g, #8952 XT 1 2g Providing Exceptional Consumer Opt[...]

2 Figure 1. Ov er view of SkyQuest XTg Dobsonian (12" sho wn) Navigation knob Altitude motor housing 12.5mm Illuminated Plössl 1.25" eyepiece Eyepiece rack Dobsonian base P olyeth ylene foam dust guard EZ Finder II 28mm DeepView 2" eyepiece 2" Dual-speed Cra yford focuser Optical tube Handle Handle T ube connecting knob GoT o h[...]

3 Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion SkyQuest XTg GoT o Dobsonian. It is an observer’ s dream telesco pe, off ering quality diffr action-l imited optics; a stylish, easy-to-setup base outfitted with automate d, computerize d GoT o technology; and a sturdy design. This high-performance astronomical instrument will provide dazzling views [...]

4 Box #2: Dobsonian Base (Refer to Figures 3 and 4) Qty . Description 1 Left side panel (with altitude motor pre-installed) 1 Right side panel 1 F ront panel 2 Side braces (XT12g only , not shown) 1 Baseplate assembly (with azim uth motor pre-installed) 6 Base assembly w ood screws (coarse thread, 47mm long) (Quantity 12 f or XT12g) 8 Base assembly[...]

5 Assembly 2. Now that you hav e unpacked the bo xes and familiarized yourself with all the par ts in front of you, it is time to begin assembly . Assembly of the Dobsonian Base The base need only be assembled once, unless you disas - semble it f or long-term storage. The assemb ly process should take about half an hour . All necessar y tools are i[...]

6 Carefully position the assembled str ucture onto the top 3. baseplate by aligning the holes in the cutouts of the front and side panels to the corresponding threaded metal col- lar inser ts on the top baseplate (Figure 10). Inser t the base assembly machine scre ws and tighten (Figure 11). Once this setup is complete you may fir mly tighten the s[...]

7 ing the six Phillips-head scre ws that connect the end r ing to the tube (Figure 12), and then pulling the end r ing off the tube. W arning: Once the rear end ring is removed fr om the tube, the raw edge of the tube itself will be exposed. Be careful not to cut or otherwise hurt y ourself on the tubeís edge . Also, be careful not to pinch your f[...]

8 Connecting the Optical T ube to the Dobsonian Base The telescope is now assembled and ready to be placed into the Dobsonian base. The left altitude hub on the optical tube has a dovetail slot that slides into the altitude axis trunnion on the inside of the left side panel (Figure 17). We recommend orienting the trunnion such that the threaded hol[...]

9 the dot, which is pur posefully quite dim. The intensity of the dot is adjusted by tur ning the power knob . For best results when stargazing, use the dimmest possible setting that allows you to see the dot without difficulty . T ypically a dimmer set - ting is used under dark skies and a br ighter setting is needed under light-polluted skies or [...]

10 The GoT o 3. Hand Controller The SkyQuest XTg features the SynScan AZ hand controller , which provides two diff erent modes of operation: AutoT racking Mode The SkyQuest XTg base incorporates a quad-encoder design that records the position of the telescope relative to the sky . In the AutoT rac king mode, after a quick initial alignment pro - ce[...]

11 scope. The left and right directional buttons can also be used to mov e the text cursor when entering data on the hand con- troller . Scroll Buttons The up and down scroll buttons allow you to move up and down within the menu tree or selections displa yed on the hand controller LCD . Dual Purpose buttons These buttons serve tw o distinct pur pos[...]

12 must con ver t into degrees and arcminutes. T o do this simply m ultiply the decimal value by 60. If your viewing location is at latitude 36.95 N y ou would enter a latitude of 36°57’ N [.95 x 60 = 57]. Enter the time zone in which you are obser ving in hours 6. (see Appendix A) , using the scroll ke ys and numer ic ke ypad (+ for east of Pr [...]

13 you choose will only affect your alignment star selection; you will still be able to choose stars to view across the entire sky once the alignment is complete. After you hav e selected the region of the sky contain - 3. ing the br ightest star, the hand controller will generate a list of the br ightest stars (magnitude 1.5 or br ighter and betwe[...]

14 NO TE: When the power is on, you may choose to adjust the telescope electronically by using the hand control or manually by pushing the tube with your hand. The tele - scope will calculate the coor dinates accordingly and dis- play the inf ormation correctly on the hand controller . NO TE: The hand controlís backlit displa y will become dimmer [...]

15 object could be a bright named star , a planet, or an object from the Messier , NGC, or IC catalogs, but not a star from the SA O catalog. Find the ref erence object in the hand controller database 2. and command the telescope to “GoT o” the object. Once the telescope has stopped slewing, press ESC to 3. return to any submenu . Press and hol[...]

16 applications that need to communicate with the motor control board directly . Setup Functions The Setup functions allo w you to change an y system variable or information regarding location, time, date, and alignment configurations. T o access the Setup Functions, either press the SETUP b utton on the hand controller or browse to SETUP on the Ch[...]

17 is pointed. Y ou ma y press the scroll b uttons to s witch between the diff erent coordinate options. Set Slew Limits: Allows you to set slewing limits of the GoT o base’ s altitude axis, to prev ent the optical tube from colliding with the base. When y ou press ENTER in the Set Slew Limits submenu, you may enable or disable the slew angular l[...]

18 Using the User Defined Database The GoT o system allows you to save up to 25 objects in the User Defined Database . Y ou can sav e currently unkno wn objects, unidentifiable objects, current comet and/or aster - oid positions, or you can make a custom list of your fa vorite objects to view f or quick access . Saving an object to the database Pre[...]

19 The hand controller will display a list containing the clos- 2. est known object in different catalogs and its distance to the exact location where the telescope is pointed. Use the scroll buttons to vie w these objects. Press 3. ESC to e xit this function. Linking with a Computer The SkyQuest XTg can be connected to a computer via the supplied [...]

20 When the download is complete, the Fir mware Loader 6 . will displa y “Update Complete”. The firmware in the computerized GoT o hand controller has now been updated. Y ou can clic k on the “HC V ersion” b utton to confirm the new v ersion n umber of the firmware (and possibly the database, but the hardware version will not change with in[...]

21 mirror and the tilt of the primary mirror are the two collimation adjustments that will be done most often. If the entire primar y mirror reflection is not visible in the sec - ondar y mirror , as in Figure 25c, you will need to adjust the tilt of the secondar y mirror . This is done by alter nately loosen - ing one of the three secondar y mirro[...]

22 Viewing with Eyeglasses If you wear ey eglasses, you may be ab le to keep them on while you observe, if your ey epieces ha ve enough e ye relief to allo w you to see the whole field of view . Y ou can tr y this by looking through the eyepiece first with your glasses on and then with them off, and see if the glasses restrict the view to only a po[...]

23 Astr onomical Obser ving 10. The SkyQuest XTg GoT o Dobsonian provides prodigious capability for obser ving the many wonders of the heav ens, from the major planets to deep-space neb ulas and galaxies. In this section we give you some astronomical obser ving tips and briefly summar ize what y ou can expect to see . Selecting an Observing Site Si[...]

24 you’v e centered the object in the ey epiece, you can switch to higher magnification (shor ter f ocal length ey epiece), if you wish. This is especially recommended f or small and br ight objects like planets and double stars. The Moon also takes higher magnifications well. Deep sky objects, howe ver , typically look better at medium or low ma[...]

25 that y ou find an observing site well awa y from light pollution. T ake plenty of time to let y our ey es adjust to the darkness. As you become more experienced and y our obser ving skills get shar per , you will be able to ferret out more and more subtle details and structure from these fascinating objects . Beginners are often sur prised to di[...]

26 SkyQuest XT8g Primar y mirror : 203mm diameter , parabolic, center-marked Focal length: 1200mm Focal r atio: f/5.9 Focuser: Dual-speed Crayf ord (11:1), accepts 2" and 1.25" ey epieces with included adapter Optical tube material: Rolled steel Azimuth bearing: Thr ust needle bearing Altitude bearing: Ball bear ing Eyepieces: 28mm DeepVi[...]

27 SkyQuest XT12g Primar y mirror : 305mm diameter , parabolic, center-marked Focal length: 1500mm Focal r atio: f/4.9 Focuser: Dual-speed Crayf ord (11:1), accepts 2" and 1.25" ey epieces Optical tube material: Rolled steel Azimuth bearing: Thr ust needle bearing Altitude bearing: Ball bear ing Eyepieces: 28mm DeepView , 2" barrel, [...]

28 Menu T ree[...]

29 Appendix A: Time Zones of the World[...]

30 Appendix B: RS-232 Connection The SkyQuest XTg Mount is designed to receive commands sent from a computer’s RS-232 COM por t (via the computer int erf ace cab le) . The hand contro ller wi ll comm unica te with th e computer at 9600 bits/sec, no par ity , no stop bit. All angles are communicated with 16 bits and communicated using ASCII he xad[...]

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One-Y ear Limited W arranty The Orion XTg GoT o Dobsonians are warranted against def ects in materials or workmanship f or a period of one y ear from the date of purchase . This w arranty is f or the benefit of the original retail purchaser only . During this warranty period Or ion T elescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace, at Or ion’ s[...]