Orion SPACEPROBE 3 ALTAZ 9883 - Manual (Page 5)

adjustments with the thumbwheel. There is a limit to how far
the thumbwheel can turn in either direction, so if you need to
make any large altitude adjustments to the telescope it is best
to simply loosen the altitude lock knob and move the scope by
hand.
Focusing the telescope
Insert the 25mm Explorer II eyepiece into the focuser and
secure it with the thumbscrew. Move the telescope so the
front (open) end is pointing in the general direction of an
object at least 1/4-mile away. Now with your fingers, slowly
rotate one of the focusing knobs 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.
Do You Wear Eyeglasses?
If you wear eyeglasses, you may be able to keep them on
while you observe. In order to do this, your eyepiece must
have enough “eye relief” to allow you to see the entire field of
view with glasses on. You can try this by looking through the
eyepiece first with your glasses on and then with them off,
and see if the glasses restrict the view to only a portion of the
full field. If the glasses do restrict the field of view, you may be
able to observe with your glasses off by just refocusing the
telescope the needed amount.
If your eyes are astigmatic, images will probably appear the
best with glasses on. This is because a telescope’s focuser
can accommodate for nearsightedness or farsightedness, but
not astigmatism. If you have to wear your glasses while
observing and cannot see the entire field of view, you may
want to purchase additional eyepieces that have longer eye
relief.
operating the EZ Finder ii reflex finder
The EZ Finder II reflex finder (Figure 4) 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 that 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
dimmest possible setting that allows you to see the dot with-
out difficulty. Typically, a dim setting is used under dark skies
and a bright setting is used under light-polluted skies or in
daylight.
At the end of your observing session, be sure to turn the
power knob counterclockwise until it clicks off. When the two
white dots on the EZ Finder II’s rail and power knob are lined
up, the EZ Finder II is turned off.
aligning the EZ Finder ii
When the EZ Finder II is properly aligned with the telescope,
an object that is centered on the EZ Finder II’s red dot should
also appear in the center of the field of view of the telescope’s
eyepiece. Alignment of the EZ Finder II is easiest during day-
light, before observing at night. Aim the telescope at a distant
object at least 1/4 mile away, such as a telephone pole or
chimney and center it in the telescope’s eyepiece. Now, turn
the EZ Finder II on and look through it. The object will appear
in the field of view near the red dot.
Note: The image in the eyepiece of the telescope will be
upside-down (rotated 180°). This is normal for Newtonian
reflector telescopes.
Without moving the telescope, use the EZ Finder II’s azimuth
(left/right) and altitude (up/down) adjustment knobs to posi-
tion the red dot on the object in the eyepiece.
When the red dot is centered on the distant object, check to
make sure that the object is still centered in the telescope’s
field of view. If not, recenter it and adjust the EZ Finder II’s
alignment again. When the object is centered in the eyepiece
and on the red dot, the EZ Finder II is properly aligned with
the telescope.
Once aligned, EZ Finder II will usually hold its alignment even
after being removed from its bracket. If the EZ Finder II’s
bracket is removed entirely from the optical tube then realign-
ment will be needed.
5
Figure 4.
Azimuth knob
Power knob
Altitude
knob
Metal
thumbnuts
Battery
casing