Orion 9827 Nylon, bracket, thumbscrews, Finder scope Tensioner Focusing lock ring

5.Next, tighten the wingnuts at the top of the tripod legs, so the legs are securely fastened to the equatorial mount. Use the larger wrench and your fingers to do this.

6.Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, at a latitude of about 40°, i.e., so the pointer next to the lati- tude scale is pointing to the line at “40”. To do this, loosen one of the latitude adjustment T-bolts and then tighten the other latitude adjustment T-bolt until the pointer and the “40” line up. The declination (Dec.) and right ascension (R.A.) axes many need re-positioning (rotation) as well. Be sure to loosen the RA and Dec. lock levers before doing this. Retighten them once the equatorial mount is properly oriented.

7.Thread the counterweight shaft into the equatorial mount at the base of the declination axis until tight. Make sure the cast- ing at the top of the bar is threaded clockwise as far as it will go before attaching the shaft.

8.Remove the knurled “toe saver” retaining screw on the bot- tom of the counterweight shaft and slide both counterweights onto the shaft. Make sure the counterweight lock knobs are adequately loosened so the metal pin inside the counter- weight is recessed enough to allow the counterweight shaft to pass through the hole. Position the counterweights about halfway up the shaft and tighten the lock knobs. Replace the toe saver on the end of the bar. The toe saver prevents the counterweights from falling on your foot if the lock knobs hap- pen to come loose.

9.Attach the two tube rings to the equatorial head using the hex head screws that come installed in the rings. Remove the screws, then push them, with the washers still attached, up through the holes in the top of the equatorial mount and rethread them into the bottom of the tube rings. Tighten the screws securely with the smaller wrench. Open the tube rings by loosening the knurled ring clamps.

10.Lay the telescope optical tube in the tube rings at about the midpoint of the tube’s length. Rotate the tube in the rings until the focuser is at a convenient level for you to view. Close the rings over the tube and tighten the knurled ring clamps finger-tight to secure the telescope in position.

11.Now attach the two slow-motion control cables to the R.A. and Dec. worm gear shafts of the equatorial mount by positioning the small screw on the end of the cable over the indented slot on the worm gear shaft. Then tighten the screw. Use the short slow-motion control for the R.A. axis, it will stick out sideways from the mount. The longer slow-motion control is for the Dec. axis; attach it to the Dec. worm gear shaft so that it extends toward the front of the optical tube as shown in Figure 1.

12.Install the polar axis finder scope into its housing inside the R.A. axis of the equatorial mount. First loosen the three thumbscrews on the housing, which is located at the rear of the R.A. axis (see Figures 5 and 8). Insert the front end of the polar finder (the end without the eyeguard) into the housing so only about 1" of the polar finder extends from the back of the housing. Do this slowly and with a twisting motion to prevent the internal O-ring from becoming unseated. If it does become unseated, you can remove the entire housing from the mount

to locate the O-ring and reseat it. This is done by rotating the entire housing counterclockwise. Once the polar axis finder scope is in the housing, tighten the three thumbscrews. These thumbscrews will be used later to align the finder with the mount’s R.A. axis.

Installing the Finder Scope

To place the finder scope in the finder scope bracket, first unthread the two black nylon screws until the screw ends are flush with the inside diameter of the bracket. Place the O-ring that comes on the base of the bracket over the body of the finder scope until it seats into the slot on the middle of the ­finder scope. Slide the eyepiece end (narrow end) of the finder scope into the end of the bracket’s cylinder that does not have the adjustment screws while pulling the chrome, spring-loaded tensioner on the bracket with your fingers (Figure 2b). Push the finder scope through the bracket until the O-ring seats just inside the front opening of the bracket cylinder. Now, release the tensioner and tighten the two black nylon screws a couple of turns each to secure the finder scope in place. Insert the base of the finder scope bracket into the dovetail holder on the

Finder scope	Nylon
bracket	thumbscrews

Finder scope

Tensioner

Focusing lock ring

Figure 2a: The 6x26 Correct-Image finder scope

Figure 2b:

Pull‑back on the tensioner and slide the finder scope into its bracket until the O-ring

is seated in the bracket ring

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