Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product XT8 Orion
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IN 226 Re v . E 03/05 Prov iding Ex ceptiona l Consum er Optic al Produ cts Sin ce 1975 Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 P .
2 Figure 1. The SkyQuest XT8 IntelliScope Secondar y mirror holder with 4-v ane spider (not visible) Finder scope Finder scope brac ket Eyepiece F ocuser Optical tube T ensioning knob IntelliScope Con.
3 Congratulations on your purchase of an Or ion SkyQuest XT IntelliScope Dobsonian . It is a high-perf or- mance astronomical instr ument designed to pro vide dazzling views of celestial objects and unprecedented ease of use .
4 3 Plastic f eet 3 F eet attachment wood screws (length 1") 5 Encoder board mounting wood scre ws 1 Brass b ushing 1 Azimuth axis he x-head screw (length 2.25") 2 F ender washers (diameter 1") 1 He x lock nut 4 Altitude bearing cylinders 4 Altitude bearing cylinder screws (length 1.
5 hole, and the large hole lines up with the central hole in the baseplate . Thread an encoder board mounting screw into the predrilled star ter hole with a Phillips screwdriver and tighten until just tight. 6. Place one f ender washer (H) onto the azimuth axis scre w (I).
Installing the Eyepiece Rack The alumin um e yepiece rack is a standard accessor y on SkyQuest IntelliScope Dobsonians. It holds three 1.25" ey e - pieces and one 2" eyepiece (three 1.25" ey epieces on the XT6) in a conv enient place on the base, within easy reach while y ou’ re obser ving.
7 SkyQuest Intelliscope Dobsonians emplo y a simple yet eff ec- tive remedy f or the fr iction problem that obviates the need for such cumbersom e co unterm easures. CorrecT ension F ricti on Optimization utiliz es a simple “disc brake” to apply the correct le vel of tension to the altitude bear ings .
8 Inserting an Eyepiece The final step in the assembly process is to inser t an ey e - piece into the telescope’ s f ocuser . First, tak e the co v er cap off the f ocuser drawtube . F or the XT8 and XT10: Loosen the thumbscre w on the 1.25" ey epiece adapter (Figure 13).
9 Setting the Altitude T ension Level The telescope should mov e smoothly with just gentle hand pressure. While azimuth friction is not adjustab le, the altitude friction can be adjusted to the desired le v el b y turning the alti - tude tension knob (Figure 10).
10 Check the alignment by moving the telescope to another object and fixing the finder scope’ s crosshairs on the exact point y ou want to look at. Then look through the telescope’ s ey epiece to see if that point is centered in the field of view .
K eep in mind that as magnification is increased, the brightness of the object being viewed will decrease; this is an inherent principle of the physics of optics and cannot be av oided. If magnification is doubled, an image appears four times dim - mer .
12 4. Alignment (Collimation) of the Optical System T o get the shar pest images, your telescope’s optical system must be in precise alignment. The process of aligning the primar y and secondar y mirrors with each other and with the mechanical axis of the telescope is called collimation.
13 Aligning the Secondary Mirror With the collimation cap in place, look through the hole in the cap at the secondary (diagonal) mirror . Ignore the reflections f or the time being. The secondary mirror itself should be cen - tered in the focuser drawtube , in the direction parallel to the length of the telescope.
14 T o star t, tur n the smaller thumbscrews counterclockwise a f ew tur ns each (Figure 22). Use a scre wdriver in the slots, if necessar y . Now , tr y tightening or loosening one of the larger collima - tion thumbscre ws with your fingers (Figure 23).
15 A. Selecting an Observing Site Si nce mo st as tro nom ica l ob jec ts ar e fai nt, ob ser v ing th em from dark skies will give you the best views.
lower powers . It is quite common for an obser v er to own fiv e or more eyepieces to access a wide range of magnificat ions . This allo ws the obser ver to choose the best e yepiece to use depending on the object being view ed. At least to begin with, the two supplied e yepieces will suffice nicely .
17 f or observing these usually faint celestial entities. For deep- sky obser ving it is impor tant that you find an obser ving site well awa y from light pollution.
18 Y our SkyQuest IntelliScope requires very little mechanical maintenance. The optical tube is steel and has a smooth painted finish that is fairly scratch-resistant. If a scratch does appear on the tube, it will not har m the telescope. Smudges on the tube or base can be wiped off with a soft cloth and a household cleaner .
19 8. Specifications SkyQuest XT6 IntelliScope Primar y mirror :150mm diameter , parabolic, center-marked F ocal length: 1200mm F ocal ratio: f/8.0 F ocuser :Rac k-and-pinion.
20 One-Y ear Limited W arranty This Or ion SkyQuest IntelliScope Dobsonian Reflecting T elescope is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase. This warr anty is for the benefit of the or iginal retail purchaser only .
An important point after buying a device Orion XT8 (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 XT8 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 XT8 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Orion XT8 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Orion XT8 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Orion XT8, 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 XT8.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Orion XT8. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Orion XT8 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
