Transporting – Celestron StarSense Explorer 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Telescope User Manual

Page 16

ENGLISH

For the 10” and 12” Dobsonians, you won’t need

any tools to tilt the primary mirror. Instead, simply adjust

the thumbscrews. Three of the thumbscrews are locking

screws, while the other three thumbscrews adjust the tilt.

a. Start by loosening all three of the locking

thumbscrews (Figure 21).

INCH DOB

LOCKING

THUMBSCREWS

INCH DOB

LOCKING

THUMBSCREWS

Figure 21:

For the 10” and 12” Dobs, there are three spring-loaded

collimation thumbscrews that adjust the tilt of the primary mirror. The

other three thumbscrews lock the mirror in place once tilt adjustments are

completed.

b. Adjust the collimation thumbscrews one at a time.

Each collimation thumbscrew is spring-loaded, so

you can rotate it clockwise or counterclockwise.

c. Continue adjusting the screws until the refl ection

of the secondary mirror is centered within the

refl ection of the primary mirror.

d. Re-tighten the three locking thumbscrews until

snug.

When you are fi nished, the view through the

collimation cap should look like Figure 16.

Your telescope’s optics are now aligned and ready for use.

You can also confi rm a telescope’s alignment at night by

pointing the telescope at a bright star at high magnifi cation.

Center the star in the fi eld of view and slightly defocus the

star—it should appear like a circle with a hole in the middle.

(The “hole” is the shadow from the secondary mirror.) If the

hole is not centered within the circle, you’ll need to make

additional adjustments to collimation (Figure 22).

GOOD COLLIMATION

NEEDS ADJUSTMENT

Figure 22

: You can check collimation by defocusing a bright star centered

in the fi eld of view and checking to see if the “hole” is centered. If it is not

centered, some adjustment is needed.

TRANSPORTING

Transporting the StarSense Explorer Dobsonian is easy,

especially considering its size. First, remove the telescope

tube from the base by loosening the altitude tensioning

knob and lifting the telescope tube. You can carry the tube

and the base separately by their integrated carry handles.

The handles are positioned to balance the load, so neither

component should be awkward to carry.
The 12” Dob optical tube weighs nearly 50 lbs. so make

sure to bend your knees when lifting and do not overexert

yourself! If it is too heavy for you to carry alone, we

recommend having another person assist.