User's Manual
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Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do
not look through the telescope as it is moving.
(Fig.9b ) place the finder scope onto the base and use the two screws to tighten the finder
scope in place.
7. Turn the knob at the front of the finder scope to the right to turn the red dot viewfinder
on (by changing the knob’s position, you can change the intensity of the red dot. Looking
through the viewfinder, turn the viewfinder’s two alignment screws (8 Fig. 1 or 2) until the
viewfinder’s red dot points precisely at the same object as centered in the eyepiece. The
red dot viewfinder is now aligned to the main telescope.
8. Check this alignment on a celestial object, such as the Moon or a bright star, and make
any necessary refinements.
Choosing an Eyepiece
A telescope’s eyepiece magnifies the light gathered by the optical tube. Each eyepiece has
a focal length, expressed in millimeters, or “mm.” The smaller the focal length, the higher the
magnification. For example, an eyepiece with a focal length of 9mm has a higher magnification
than an eyepiece with a focal length of 26mm.
Your telescope comes supplied with a low-powered 26mm eyepiece which gives a wide,
comfortable field of view with high image resolution. Always begin your observations with this
eyepiece.
Low power eyepieces offer a wide field of view, bright, high-contrast images, and eye relief
during long observing sessions. After an object is located and centered in the eyepiece, try
switching to a higher power eyepiece to enlarge the image.
NOTE: Viewing conditions vary from night-to-night and from site-to-site. Turbulence
in the air, even on an apparently clear night, can distort images. If an image appears
fuzzy and ill-defined, return to a lower power eyepiece for a more well-resolved image.
The power, or magnification of a telescope
is determined by the focal length of the
telescope and the focal length of the
eyepiece being used. To calculate eyepiece
power, divide the telescope’s focal length
by the eyepiece’s focal length. For example,
you may wish to use a 26 mm eyepiece
with the StarNavigator102. Look up the
focal length of the StarNavigator102 under
SPECIFICATIONS.
Telescope focal length divided by Eyepiece
focal length = Eyepiece power
660 divided by 26 = 25. The eyepiece
power, or magnification is therefore 25X
(approximately).
Fig. 12: Insert eight AA-size
batteries inside the battery
compartment:
(1) Battery compartment
(2) Battery holder
(3) 9v connector
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Fig. 13: Connect AudioStar
to the HBX port.
Fig. 10: Attach the diagonal
prism (1), tighten prism
thumbscrews (2), insert
the eyepiece (3), tighten
eyepiece thumbscrews (4)
(Refractor models).
Fig. 11: Insert the eyepiece
(1) into the eyepiece holder
(2), tighten eyepiece thumb-
screw (3) (Reflector models).
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Join an Astronomy Club
Attend a Star Party
A fun way to learn more about astronomy is
to join an astronomy club. Check your local
newspaper, school, library, or telescope dealer
to find out if there’s a club in your area.
At club meetings, you will meet other astronomy
enthusiasts with whom you will be able to share
your discoveries. Clubs are an excellent way
to learn more about observing the sky, to find
out where the best observing sites are, and to
compare notes about telescopes, eyepieces,
filters, tripods, and so forth.
Often, club members are excellent
astrophotographers. Not only will you be able to
see examples of their art, but you may even be
able to pick up some “tricks of the trade” to try
out on your telescope.
Many groups also hold regularly scheduled Star
Parties at which you can check out and observe
with many different telescopes and other pieces
of astronomical equipment. Magazines such as
Sky & Telescope and Astronomy print schedules
for many popular Star Parties around the United
States and Canada.