Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product XT8 CLASSIC Orion
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INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 165 Rev . D 05/08 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support (800)676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 89 Hangar Wa y , W atsonville, CA 95076 Orion ® SkyQuest XT6 Classic, XT8 Classic & XT10 Classic Dobsonian Reflecting T elescopes Orio n T e lesc opes.
Secondar y mirror with 4-v ane spider (not shown) Right side panel F ront brace Eyepiece Rac k (optional) Handle T op baseplate Ground baseplate 2 Figure 1.
T able of Contents 1. Unpacking ............................. 3 2. Assembly ............................. 4 3. Using Y our T elescope .................... 7 4. Collimation (Aligning the Mirrors) .......... 10 5. Astronomical Obser ving ...............
4 2. Assembly Now that y ou have unpac ked the bo xes and f amiliar ized y our- self with all the par ts in front of y ou, it’ s time to begin assemb ly . The optics of the telescope are already installed in the tube, so most of the required assembly concerns the Dobsonian base.
5 Once in the cradle, the tube should pivot freely up and down with gentle hand pressure. Note that the tube will not yet be proper ly balanced, since the ey epiece and EZ Finder II are not in place, and the CorrecT ension system has not been installed.
6 used under dark skies and a bright setting is used under light- polluted skies or da ylight. At the end of your obser ving session, be sure to tur n the power knob counterclockwise until it clicks off. When the white dots on the EZ Finder II’ s body and po wer knob are lined up, the EZ Finder II is turned off.
7 The CorrecT ension system is now installed and engaged. If you wish to remov e the telescope from the base, you will first need to disconnect the spr ings from the “posts” on the Dobsonian base. The springs will remain captive on the alti - tude side bearings, so they will not get lost.
which will lock the f ocuser drawtube in place once the tele - scope is properly focused. If you find the drawtube tension when f ocusing is either too tight (f ocus knob is difficult to tur n) or too loose (image shifts when focusing or drawtube mov es inward by itself), the ten - sion can be adjusted f or optimal performance.
more light-collecting area, or aper ture, can yield higher mag- nifications than a smaller aper ture telescope. The maximum pract ical magnification for any telesco pe, regardless of optical design, is about 60x per inch of aperture. This tr anslates to about 360x f or the SkyQuest XT6 and 480x for the XT8.
ali gnmen t is importan t to ensur e the peak perf ormanc e of you r telescope, so it should be check ed regularly . Collimation is rela - tively easy to do and can be done in da ylight. T o chec k collimat ion, remo ve the ey epiece and look down the f ocuser drawtube .
possible . It may not be perfectly centered, b ut that is OK. Now tighten the three small alignment scre ws equally to secure the secondar y mirror in that position. If the entire primar y mirror ref lec tion is n ot v isi ble in t he s eco nda r y mi rro r , a s in F igu re 13c, you will need to adjust the tilt of the secondar y mirror.
12 the image with the focusing knob . If the telescope is correctly collimated, the expanding disk should be a perfect circle (F igu re 18). If the image is unsymmetrical, the scope is out of collimation. The dar k shadow cast by the secondar y mirror should appear in the v er y center of the out-of-focus circle , like the hole in a donut.
13 matter . Y our eyes tak e about 30 minutes to reach perhaps 80% of their full dar k-adapted sensitivity . Many obser vers notice improv ements after sev eral hours of total dar kness. As your ey es become dar k-adapted, more stars will glimmer into view and you will be able to see fainter details in objects you view in your telescope.
14 shadows f all on the craters and canyon walls to give them defi- nition. While the full moon may look like a tempting target, it is not optimal f or viewing! The light is too br ight and surface definition is low . Even at par tial phases the Moon is very bright.
est deep-sky objects, first catalogued about 200 years ago by the F rench astronomer Charles Messier. Determine in which constellation the object lies. Now , find the constellation in the sky . If you do not recognize the constella - tion on sight, consult a planisphere.
16 rors, the better . Small specks of dust or flecks of paint hav e vir tually no effect on the visual perf ormance of the telescope. The large pr imary mirror and the elliptical secondar y mirror of your telescope are front-surface aluminized and ov ercoated with hard silicon dioxide, which prev ents the aluminum from o xidizing.
17 SkyQuest XT 10" Primar y mirror f ocal length: 1200mm Primar y mirror diameter : 254mm, BK7 optical glass F ocal Ratio: f/4.7 F ocuser : Cra yford, accepts 2" and 1.25" ey epieces with included adapter , collimatible Optical tube material: Rolled steel Eyepiece: 25mm Sirius Plössl, fully coated with multi-coatings, 1.
18 One-Y ear Limited W arranty This Orion SkyQuest XT telescope is warr anted against defects in materials or wor kmanship f or a period of one year from the date of purchase.
An important point after buying a device Orion XT8 CLASSIC (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 CLASSIC 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 CLASSIC - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Orion XT8 CLASSIC you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Orion XT8 CLASSIC will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Orion XT8 CLASSIC, 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 CLASSIC.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Orion XT8 CLASSIC. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Orion XT8 CLASSIC 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
