Orion 6/6I Appendix B Cleaning the Optics, Appendix C Troubleshooting the, IntelliScope System

If you try the star test and the bright star you have selected is not accurately centered in the eyepiece, the optics will always appear out of collimation, even though they may be perfectly aligned. It is critical to keep the star centered, so over time you will need to make slight corrections to the telescope’s position in order to account for the sky’s apparent motion. Point the telescope at Polaris (the north star) if you do not have a mount that tracks.

Appendix B:

Cleaning the Optics

Cleaning Lenses

Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens clean- ing fluid specifically designed for multi-coated optics can be used to clean the exposed lenses of your eyepieces. Never use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed for eye- glasses.

Before cleaning with fluid and tissue, blow any loose particles off the lens with a blower bulb or compressed air. Then apply some cleaning fluid to a tissue, never directly on the optics. Wipe the lens gently in a circular motion, then remove any excess fluid with a fresh lens tissue. Oily fingerprints and smudges may be removed using this method. Use caution; rubbing too hard may scratch the lens. On larger lenses, clean only a small area at a time, using a fresh lens tissue on each area. Never reuse tissues.

Cleaning the Mirrors

In general, your telescope’s mirrors will only need to be cleaned very infrequently, if ever. Covering the front opening of the tele- scope with the dust cover when it is not in use will prevent dust from accumulating on the mirrors. Keeping the dust cap on the focuser’s 1.25" opening is also a good idea. Improper cleaning can scratch the mirror coatings, so the fewer times you have to clean the mirrors, the better. Small specks of dust or flecks of paint have virtually no effect on the visual or imaging perfor- mance of the telescope.

The large primary mirror and the elliptical secondary mirror of your telescope are front-surface aluminized and over-coated with hard silicon dioxide, which prevents the aluminum from oxidizing. These coatings normally last through many years of use before requiring re-coating.

To clean the secondary mirror, it must be removed from the telescope. Do this by holding the secondary mirror holder sta- tionary with your fingers (don’t touch the mirror itself) while unthreading the Phillips head screw in the center hub of the 4-vane spider. Completely unthread the screw from the holder, and the holder will come loose in your fingers. Be careful not to lose the spring on the Phillips head screw.

Handle the mirror and its holder carefully. You do not need to remove the secondary mirror from its holder for cleaning. Follow the same procedure described below for cleaning the primary mirror.

To clean the primary mirror, carefully remove the mirror cell from the telescope.To do this, you must remove the four screws

that connect the mirror cell to the steel tube. These screws are located on the outer edge of the mirror cell. Then pull the cell away from the tube. You will notice the primary mirror is held in the mirror cell with three clips, each held by two mirror clip anchor screws. Using a Phillips screwdriver, unthread the mir- ror clip anchor screws and remove the clips.

Next, hold the mirror by its edge, and remove it from the mirror cell. Be careful not to touch the aluminized surface of the mir- ror with your fingers. Set the mirror on a clean, soft towel. Fill a clean sink, free of abrasive cleanser, with room-temperature water, a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent, and if pos- sible, a cap-full of rubbing alcohol. Submerge the mirror (alu- minized face up) in the water and let it soak for several minutes (or hours if it is a very dirty mirror). Wipe the mirror under- water with clean cotton balls, using extremely light pressure and stroking in straight lines across the surface. Use one ball for each wipe across the mirror. Then rinse the mirror under a stream of lukewarm water. Any particles on the surface can be swabbed gently with a series of clean cotton balls, each used just one time.

Dry the mirror in a stream of air (a “blower bulb” works great), or remove any stray drops of water with the corner of a paper towel. Dry the bottom and the edges with a towel (not the mir- ror surface!). Leave the entire assembly in a warm area until it is completely dry before replacing it in the mirror cell. Then reinstall the mirror cell in the telescope optical tube with the four screws.

Appendix C:

Troubleshooting the

IntelliScope System

This section is intended to help you if you are encountering any problems with your IntelliScope system. If this information is not useful to you in determining the source of the problem, contact Orion Technical Support by email at support@tele- scope.com, or call (800) 676-1343.

Check the Azimuth Encoder and Encoder Board

1.Is the azimuth axis screw’s hex lock nut tight enough? Is it too tight? Remember, it should be tightened 3/16 to 1/4 turn past when the fender washer is no longer loose under the nut.

2.Does the brass bushing extend slightly above the top surface of the top baseplate? If not, the bushing or top baseplate may need replacement, or there may be an assembly problem.

3.Is the azimuth encoder disk bent? If so, you will need to flatten it by bending.

4.Is the brass bushing properly registered with the azimuth encoder disk? The feature on the wide end of the bushing needs to seat into the hole in the disk.

Check the Altitude Encoder and Encoder Board

5.Did you install the altitude encoder disk onto the telescope mounting bracket with the three small machine

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