Orion SKYQUEST XT10 User Manual

Page 5

hole, and the large hole lines up with the central hole in

the baseplate. Thread an encoder board mounting screw

into the predrilled starter hole with a Phillips screwdriver

and tighten until just tight.

6. Place one fender washer (H) onto the azimuth axis screw

(I). Then push the screw up through the hole in the ground

baseplate (A).Then slide the encoder disk (J), flat side

down, onto the azimuth axis screw.

7. Place the brass bushing (F) onto the azimuth axis screw

(I) so that the wide end of the bushing is closest to the

encoder disk (J). Seat the bushing onto the encoder disk

so that the registration feature on the bushing goes into

the hole in the encoder disk. You may need to move the

encoder disk around on the azimuth axis screw a bit in

order for the bushing to seat properly.

8. Carefully position the top baseplate (D) over the ground

baseplate (A) and lower it so the brass bushing (F) goes

into in the center hole of the top baseplate. Place the

remaining fender washer (K) onto the shaft of the azimuth

axis screw, then thread the hex lock nut (L) onto the end of

the azimuth axis screw and tighten it finger tight, for now.

9. To tighten the azimuth axis screw (I) and hex lock nut

(L), tilt the assembled Dobsonian base at a slight angle

to lift the ground baseplate off the ground. Now, with one

wrench (or pliers) hold the head of the azimuth axis screw

still while turning the hex lock nut with the other wrench.

Figure 4 shows this being done. Tighten the hex lock nut

just until the top fender washer is no longer moving freely,

then tighten the hex nut a 3/16-1/4 turn beyond that. This

ensures proper spacing between the encoder disk and the

azimuth encoder board.

10. Attach the handle (M) to the front brace (B) with the two

handle mounting hex-head screws. Place one washer on

each screw, then press the handle against the front brace

(the end of the handle with the logo should be up). Then

thread the screws from the inside of the base into the han-

dle until tight using the supplied crescent wrench.

11. Line up one of the altitude bearing cylinders with the inside

of one of the four bearing cylinder holes on the side pan-

els. Push a bearing cylinder screw through the side panel

and bearing cylinder. Then thread it into the built-in hex nut

on the cylinder with the included hex key (Figure 5). The

beveled end of the cylinder should be facing away from

the side panel. Repeat this for the remaining three bearing

cylinders.

12. Attach the encoder connector board to the side panel. Place

the board against the side panel so that the modular jack fits

into the square-shaped hole and thread four encoder board

mounting screws through the connector board and into the

predrilled holes in the side panel until tight (Figure 6).

There are some predrilled holes on the side panel opposite
the panel that holds the encoder connector board. These
holes will be used to mount parts that come with the option-
al IntelliScope controller. If you purchased the IntelliScope
controller with your SkyQuest, you will want to follow the
installation instructions in the controller’s manual at this time.
installing the Vertical Stop
Place the three flat washers onto the shaft of the vertical stop
screw. Thread the vertical stop into the threaded insert on the
inside of the front panel until tight (Figure 7). The position of
the vertical stop is adjustable by adding or removing wash-
ers. This is important when using the optional IntelliScope
Computerized Object Locator, since the optical tube must be
exactly vertical during the two-star alignment procedure.

Figure 5.

Attaching the bearing cylinders. (XT10 Shown)

Figure 4.

To connect the baseplates, tilt them only slightly, as shown.

Do not place them on their side.

(a) Use one wrench to hold the hex nut

steady

(b) while turning the other end of the azimuth axis screw.

Correct Tension pads

Bearing

cylinders