Orion STARBLAST 6/6I - Manual (Page 12)

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base, tighten the two screws with a screwdriver until the rack
is secured in place.
Insert an Eyepiece
Remove the small cap covering the focuser drawtube and
loosen the two eyepiece locking thumbscrews on the drawtube
collar. Insert the chrome barrel of the 25mm Sirius Plössl eye-
piece into the focuser and secure it with the thumbscrews. You
can place the 10mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece in the eyepiece
rack for use later.
Congratulations! Your telescope is now fully assembled.
Remove the dust cap from the front of the telescope when it is
in use. Replace it when you are finished observing.
6. Preparing to use Your
Telescope
This section applies to both the StarBlast 6 (#9926) and Star-
Blast 6i IntelliScope (#27126).
It’s best to get a feel for the basic functions of the StarBlast 6/6i
during the day, before observing astronomical objects at night.
This way you won’t have to orient yourself in the dark! Find a
spot outdoors where you’ll have plenty of room to move the
telescope, and where you’ll have a clear view of some object
or vista that is at least 1/4 mile away. It is not critical that the
altazimuth base be exactly level (except when initially setting
the vertical stop knob position on the StarBlast 6i IntelliScope),
but it should be somewhat level to ensure smooth movement.
The StarBlast 6/6i was designed specifically for visual observa-
tion of astronomical objects in the night sky. Like all Newtonian
reflector telescopes, it is not well suited for daytime terrestri-
al usage because the image in the eyepiece will be rotated
somewhat from the normal, naked-eye view.
Placing the StarBlast 6/6i for Comfortable
Viewing
One of the great assets of the StarBlast 6/6i is its extremely
portable size. Due to its overall short length, you will find that
viewing while sitting next to the telescope is the most comfort-
able. If you wish to raise the telescope off the ground so that
it can be used while standing or sitting in a chair, then a plat-
form, such as a milk crate, sturdy table, or the hood of a car
can be used.
altitude and azimuth (aiming the Telescope)
The StarBlast 6/6i’s altazimuth base permits motion along two
axes: altitude (up/down) and azimuth (left/right). See
Figure
17. Moving the telescope up/down and left/right is the “natural”
way people aim objects, which makes pointing the telescope
intuitive and easy.
Simply take hold of the navigation knob and push or pull it to
move the telescope and base in the desired direction. Both
the altitude and azimuth motions can be made simultaneously
and in a continuous manner for easy aiming. This way you can
point to any position in the night sky, from horizon to horizon.
You may find it convenient to hold one hand on one of the car-
rying handles to help in leveraging the base while moving and
aiming the telescope.
When aiming the telescope in altitude, you may find the opti-
cal tube assembly is either too hard to move or does not stay
in place. Use the altitude tension knob to adjust the friction on
the altitude axis until you achieve the desired amount. Ideally,
you should adjust the tension on the altitude axis so that the
amount of friction roughly matches that of the azimuth axis
(which is not adjustable).
Focusing the Telescope
With the 25mm Sirius Plössl eyepiece in the focuser, aim the
optical tube so the front (open) end is pointing in the general
direction of an object at least 1/4-mile away. With your fingers,
slowly rotate one of the focus wheels until the object comes
into sharp focus. Go a little bit beyond sharp focus until the
image starts to blur again, then reverse the rotation of the
knob, just to make sure you’ve hit the exact focus point.
Operating the EZ Finder II Reflex Sight
The EZ Finder II reflex sight (
Figure 18) works by projecting a
tiny red dot onto a lens mounted in the front of the unit. When
you look through the EZ Finder II, the red dot will appear to
float in space, helping you locate even the faintest of deep
space objects. The red dot is produced by a light-emitting
diode (LED), not a laser beam, near the rear of the sight. A
replaceable 3-volt lithium battery provides the power for the
diode.
To use the EZ Finder II, turn the power knob clockwise until
you hear a “click” indicating power has been turned on. With
your eye positioned at a comfortable distance, look through
the back of the reflex sight with both eyes open to see the red
dot. The intensity of the dot can be adjusted by turning the
power knob. For best results when stargazing, use the dim-
mest possible setting that allows you to see the dot without
difficulty. Typically, a dim setting is used under dark skies and a
bright setting is used under light-polluted skies or in daylight.
Altitude
Azimuth
Figure 17. The StarBlast 6/6i has two axes of motion:
altitude (up/down) and azimuth (left/right).