Meade Instruments Starfinder 12.5 - Manual (Page 3)

- 3 -
Captions for Fig. 1
1. Focuser assembly
2. Eyepiece
3. Viewfinder bracket
4. Viewfinder
5. Optical tube assembly
6. Mirror cell
7. Side board
8. Ground plate
9. Base plate
10. Front board
11. Altitude bearing
Contents
6", 8" 10", and 12.5 Starfinder
Dobsonian Telescopes
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Parts Listing and Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Assembling the Mount. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Optical Tube Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Attaching the Focuser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Attaching the Viewfinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Installing the Primary Mirror. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Balancing the Telescope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Viewfinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Aligning the Viewfinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Using the Viewfinder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Collimation of the Optical System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Correct Collimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Spider Vane Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Secondary Mirror Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Primary Mirror Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Star Testing the Collimation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Tips on Using a Dobsonian Telescope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Magnification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Seeing Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Observing Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Care of Optics and Main Tube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Meade Customer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Specifications and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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