Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product EQ-G Orion
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INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 279 Rev . C 01/09 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support (800)-676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.
2 Figure 1. The Atlas EQ-G mount. P ower switch P ower indicator light 12V DC power jack Auto guider jack Right Ascension setting circle Right Ascension lock le ver Hand controller jack Latitude scale.
3 T able of Contents 1. Unpacking ............................ 3 2. Parts List ............................. 3 3. Assembly ............................ 3 4. Attaching a T elescope ................... 4 5. Balancing a T elescope .................. 4 6.
4 3. Thread the center suppor t shaft up through the tr ipod head and into the bottom of the equatorial mount until tight. Use the upper knob on the center suppor t shaft to do this. The equatorial mount should no w be fir mly connected to the tripod.
5 2. Now loosen both counterweight loc k knobs and slide the weights along the shaft until they exactly counterbalance the telescope (Figure 4a). That’ s the point at which the shaft remains horizontal e ven when you let go with both hands (Figure 4b).
6 Polar Alignment F or Norther n Hemisphere obser v ers, approximate polar align- ment is achie ved by pointing the mount’ s r ight ascension axis at the Nor th Star , or P olaris. It lies within 1° of the nor th celes- tial pole (NCP), which is an extension of the Ear th’ s rotational axis out into space.
7 The polar axis finder scope is now ready to be used. When not in use, replace the plastic protective co ver to pre vent the polar finder from getting bumped. Using the P olar Axis Finder Scope The reticle of the polar axis finder scope for the Atlas EQ-G has a tiny star map printed on it that makes precise polar align- ment quic k and easy .
8 What if you need to aim the telescope directly nor th, but at an object that is nearer to the horizon than P olar is? Y ou can’t do it with the counterweights do wn as pictured in Figure 1. Again, you h ave to ro tat e the sco pe in rig ht a sce nsi on so that the counterweight shaft is positioned horizontally .
9 consult section 6 of this manual and attempt to polar align the mount more accurately . T racking can be deactivated or activ ated at any time the Atlas EQ-G mount is receiving pow er . In order to deactivate trac king, simply press and hold the Guide b utton then press the Slow button on the controller.
10 Changing the Guiding Speed The dual-axis hand controller provides 4 diff erent guiding speed settings: 2x, 1.75x, 1.5x (def ault), and 1.25x sidereal rate. If you change the guiding speed from the default setting of 1.5x sidereal rate, the controller will guide at the chosen speed until another guiding speed is selected.
11 Attaching the GoT o Hand Controller The Atlas EQ-G GoT o hand controller comes with two cab les; one for usage wit h the Atlas EQ- G mount, whil e the other is f or use with the Sirius EQ-G mount. Feel free to discard the cable f or the Sirius EQ-G, as it will not be needed.
12 Functions of the GoT o Hand Controller There are f our main categories of control b uttons on the GoT o hand controller (Figure 13): 1. Mode buttons 2. Directional buttons 3. Scroll buttons 4. Dual Pur pose b uttons Mode Buttons The three mode buttons are located at the top of the con - troller , directly below the LCD screen.
13 5. The hand controller’ s LCD screen will show a safe solar viewing warning message. Press the ESC button to con - tinue. Note: The GoT o hand controller’ s LCD backlighting will become dim and the illuminated buttons will tur n off if left idle f or 30 seconds.
14 Three-Star Alignment 1. F rom the alignment screen, select “3-Star Align” using the scroll buttons . Press ENTER to confir m y our choice. 2. The hand controller will provide a list of stars av ailable in your current sky for you to choose as the first alignment star .
15 Pointing Accuracy Enhancement (P AE) The three-star alignment should provide e xcellent point - ing accuracy f or visual obser v ation. F or other applications, such as CCD imaging, ev en better pointing accuracy can be obtained in a specific region of the sky by use of the P ointing Accuracy Enhancement (P AE) function.
16 the scroll buttons and choose the catalog of objects y ou wish to view . Press ENTER to confirm your choice. Use the scroll buttons to choose an individual object within the catalog and press ENTER a second time to displa y the object’ s coordinate.
17 3. Y ou can ENTER the object’ s location b y its R.A. and Dec. coordinates, or its azimuth and altitude coordinates. Press 1 (RA-Dec) or 2 (AzAlt) to make y our selection. 4. The def ault setting will display the R.A./Dec. or Az/Alt coor- dinates the telescope is currently pointed to .
18 - An av ailable RS-232 COM por t on the PC - Computer interface cab le (supplied) - DC pow er supply (7.5V to 15V @ 100mA or greater output with 2.1mm tip positive plug) Preparing the Computer for the Update 1. Create a f older where you will store the files necessar y for the update.
19 9. T echnical Specifications Mount: Ger man equatorial T ripod: Steel W eight: 54lbs. Counterweights: Quantity 2, 11 lbs. each P olar axis latitude adjustment: 10° to 65° P olar axis finder scope.
20 Atlas EQ-G GoT o Hand Contr oller Menu T r ee.
21 Note: The f ollowing appendices apply to the Atlas EQ-G with GoT o hand controller only . Appendix A: Enhancing the Pointing Accuracy The Atlas EQ-G produces pointing accuracy and tracking accuracy adequate for most applications. If higher precision is required, “cone” error calibration ma y be necessary .
22 piece field of view . Adjustment in Dec. a xis using the hand controller ma y be necessar y . 9. Loosen the R.A. loc k knob and carefully rotate the tele- scope 180° about the R.A. axis (Figure 18a &18b) This should be done as accurately as possible referencing the R.
23 view (Figure 19). This will deter mine which direction (left or right) moves P olar is closer to the center of the e yepiece field of view . 12.Carefully and gently loosen both the tube ring attachment screws (Figure 3) b y a couple of tur ns.
24 errors. Pressing ESC will immediately stop the recording and e xit from the PEC T raining function. Note: Guiding actions are recorded ev en when the PEC train- ing is stopped midway . The PEC + sidereal tracking will not be accurate until a full cycle of the PEC T raining is perf or med.
25 Appendix C: RS-232 Connection The Atlas EQ-G mounts equipped with the GoT o hand control - ler are designed to receiv e co mmands sent from a comp uter’ s RS- 232 COM port (via t he com puter inter fac e cab le). The h and con trolle r will com muni cate wit h the com puter at 96 00 bits /sec , no parit y , no stop bit.
26 Appendix D: Standar d Time Zones of the World.
27 Orion T elescopes & Binoculars 89 Hangar W ay , Watsonville, CA 95076 Customer Support Help Line (800)‑676‑1343 • Day or Evening One-Y ear Limited W arranty This Orion Atlas EQ-G Equatorial Mount is w arranted against def ects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase .
An important point after buying a device Orion EQ-G (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Orion EQ-G yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Orion EQ-G - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Orion EQ-G you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Orion EQ-G will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Orion EQ-G, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Orion EQ-G.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Orion EQ-G. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Orion EQ-G along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
