INSTRUCTION MANUAL Telescopes with NEQ3 & EQ5 Mount 031007V3
REFRACTOR NEQ3 B C D H A EQ5 E G F 11 10 L 1 2 9 3 4 5 D E 8 7 G 6 H F 12 11(150mm/1200mm) 10 9 8 7 6 5 I a b EQ3-2 A. Dust Cap/Mask B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. B C I J K A (Remove before Viewing) Sun Shade Objective Lens Telescope Main Body Piggyback Bracket Finderscope Finderscope Bracket Alignment Screw Eyepiece Diagonal Focus Tube Focus Knob 1. R.A. Flexible Control Cable 2. Dec. Flexible Control Cable 3. R.A. Lock knob 4. Polarscope Holder (not shown) 5.
REFLECTOR NEQ3 C D B E F G A EQ5 H I J C B F A 10 9 G H I 8 1 7 6 5 4 2 3 8 b 7 6 EQ3-2 A. Dust Cap/Mask (Remove before Viewing) F. G. H. I. J. J 12 11 10 9 a B. C. D. E. D E Focus Tube Finderscope Finderscope Bracket Finderscope Adjustment Screws Eyepiece Focus Knob Piggyback Bracket Telescope Main Body Primary Mirror Position 1. Dec. Flexible Control Cable 2. R.A. Lock Knob 3. Polarscope Holder (not shown) 4. Altitude Adjustment T-bolts 5. Counterweight Rod 6. Counterweight 7.
MAKSUTOV NEQ3 A B C D 9 8 E F 1 2 7 3 6 4 5 a b c A. Dust Cap (not shown, remove before Viewing) B. C. D. E. F. Red Dot Finder Focus Locking Screw Eyepiece Diagonal Focusing Knob 1. R.A Lock Knob 2. Dec Flexible Control Cable 3. Polarscope Holder/ Polarscope (not shown, optional) 4. Altitude Adjustment T-bolt 5. Azimuth Adjustment Knobs 6. Counterweight Locking Thumb Screw 7. Counterweight Rod 8. Dec Lock Knob 9. Dec Setting Circle a. Tripod Leg b.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Assembling Your Telescope 6 For NEQ3 Tripod Set up Telescope Assembly Finderscope/Red Dot Finder Assembly Eyepiece Assembly 6 6 7 7 For EQ5 Tripod Set up Telescope Assembly Finderscope Assembly Eyepiece Assembly 8 8 9 9 Operating Your Telescope Aligning the Finderscope Using the Red Dot Finder Balancing the telescope Using the leveling bubble Operating the NEQ3 Mount Operating the EQ5 Mount Using the Barlow Lens Focusing Polar Alignment for visual use Pointing your telescope Using th
FOR NEQ3 MOUNT TRIPOD SET UP Fig. 1 ADJUSTING THE TRIPOD LEGS (Fig.18) Fig. 2 1) Slowly loosen the height adjustment clamp and gently pull out the lower section of each tripod leg. Tighten the clamps to hold the legs in place. 2) Spread the legs apart to stand the tripod upright. 3) Adjust the height of each tripod leg until the tripod head is properly leveled. Note that the tripod legs may not be at same length when the equatorial mount is level. Do not over tighten the clamps.
TELESCOPE ASSEMBLY ATTACHING THE TUBE RINGS TO THE MOUNT (Fig.9) 1) Remove the telescope tube assembly from its plastic packaging. 2) Remove the tube rings from the telescope by releasing their thumb nuts and opening their hinges. 3) Using the bolts provided, fasten the tube rings to the mount with the 10mm wrench provided. Fig.9 ATTACHING THE TELESCOPE MAIN TUBE TO THE TUBE RINGS (Fig.10) Fig.10 1) Remove the telescope tube from the paper covering. 2) Find the center of balance of the telescope tube.
FOR EQ5 MOUNT TRIPOD SET UP Fig.18 ADJUSTING THE TRIPOD LEGS (Fig.18) Fig.19 1) Slowly loosen the height adjustment clamp and gently pull out the lower section of each tripod leg. Tighten the clamps to hold the legs in place. 2) Spread the legs apart to stand the tripod upright. 3) Adjust the height of each tripod leg until the tripod head is properly leveled. Note that the tripod legs may not be at same length when the equatorial mount is level. Do not over tighten the clamps.
TELESCOPE ASSEMBLY ATTACHING THE TUBE RINGS TO THE MOUNT(Fig.25) 1) Remove the telescope tube assembly from its plastic packaging. 2) Remove the tube rings from the telescope by releasing their thumb nuts and opening their hinges. 3) Using the bolts provided, fasten the tube rings to the mount with the 10mm wrench provided. ATTACHING THE TELESCOPE MAIN TUBE TO THE TUBE RINGS (Fig.26) Fig.25 Fig.26 1) Remove the telescope tube from the paper covering. 2) Find the center of balance of the telescope tube.
OPERATING YOUR TELESCOPE A ligning the finderscope Fig.a Fig.a1 The finderscope (optical or red dot) is a very useful accessory that is included with your telescope. When the finderscope is correctly aligned with the telescope, objects can be quickly located and brought to the centre of the field. Alignment is best done outdoors in day light when it's easier to locate objects. If it is necessary to refocus your finderscope, sight on an object that is at least 500 yards (metres) away.
B alancing the telescope A Telescope should be balanced before each observing session. Balancing reduces stress on the telescope mount and allows precise control of micro-adjustment. A balanced telescope is specially critical when using the optional clock drive for astrophotography. The telescope should be balanced after all accessories (eyepiece, camera, etc.) have been attached. Before balancing your telescope, make sure that your tripod is balanced and on a stable surface.
Fig.e O perating the NEQ3 mount The NEQ3 mount has controls for both conventional altitude (up-down) and azimuth (left-right) directions of motion. These two adjustments are suggested for large direction changes and for terrestrial viewing. The two azimuth adjustment knobs located near the tripod head allow fine-adjustment of azimuth for polar alignment. Use the altitude adjustment T-bolts for altitude adjustments. These allow fine-adjustment for setting the mount to your local latitude. (Fig.e).
U sing the Barlow lens (optional) Fig.g Eyepiece Barlow A Barlow is a negative lens which increases the magnifying power of an eyepiece, while reducing the field of view. It expands the cone of the focussed light before it reaches the focal point, so that the telescope's focal length appears longer to the eyepiece.
Fig.m You aim your telescope by rotating it along the RA and Dec axes of your mount. In the upper image the telescope is in the HOME position, aimed due north. The side images show the telescope pointing NE (right side) and SW (left side). The bottom image shows the telescope pointing due south. After pointing at an object and tracking it for a while you may find the counterweight(s) rise above the point of being parallel to the ground. If so, it is time to perform a meridian flip.
U sing the Setting Circles The Dec axis is for north/south positions. It is primarily used for finding objects, not for tracking them. It is normal, however, to make occasional adjustments to the Dec axis as well. The better your polar alignment, the fewer Dec adjustments you will need to make. 4 2 0 10 8 6 4 20 3 21 2 22 1 23 10 9 All objects in the sky have assigned coordinates labeled Right Ascension (RA for short) and Declination (Dec for short).
Vega has the coordinates RA 18h 37m. With Vega centered in your eyepiece loosen the RA setting circle setscrew and rotate the scale until it reads 18h 36m. (If you are in the Northern hemisphere use the top row of numbers. If you are in the Southern hemisphere use the lower set of numbers.) To do this turn the RA dial until 18 is lined up with the indicator. The small divisions are set at 10 minutes each, so rotate another 3 divisions past 18h in the direction of 19h. This puts you at 18h 30m.
C hoosing the appropriate eyepiece Calculating the magnification (power) The magnification produced by a telescope is determined by the focal length of the eyepiece that is used with it. To determine a magnification for your telescope, divide its focal length by the focal length of the eyepieces you are going to use. For example, a 10mm focal length eyepiece will give 80X magnification with an 800mm focal length telescope.
OBSERVING THE SKY S ky conditions Sky conditions are usually defined by two atmospheric characteristics, seeing, or the steadiness of the air, and transparency, light scattering due to the amount of water vapour and particulate material in the air. When you observe the Moon and the planets, and they appear as though water is running over them, you probably have bad "seeing" because you are observing through turbulent air.
PROPER CARE FOR YOUR TELESCOPE Collimating a Newtonian reflector Collimation is the process of aligning the mirrors of your telescope so that they work in concert with each other to deliver properly focused light to your eyepiece. By observing out-of-focus star images, you can test whether your telescope's optics are aligned. Place a star in the centre of the field of view and move the focuser so that the image is slightly out of focus.
alternately loosen one and then compensate for the slack by tightening the other two. Stop when you see all three mirror clips (Fig.q-4). Make sure that all three small alignment screws are tightened to secure the secondary mirror in place. Aligning the Primary Mirror Find the three locking screws at the back of your telescope and loosen them by a few turns.
Collimating a refractor with the adjustable objective-lens cell Collimation is the process of aligning the lenses of your telescope so that the light they collect will focus at the right spot at the back of your telescope for your eyepieces to work. Fig.r Collimation is a simple process and works like this: Pull off the dew cap at the front of your telescope and look into the scope. The pair of lenses are held in a cell by a threaded ring.
APPENDIX A - PRECISE POLAR ALIGNMENT FOR NORTHERN HEMISPHERE When your equatorial mount is polar-aligned it is able track the sky easily and hold targets in the eyepiece with just occasional adjustments to the RA control cable. If your mount is motorized it can hold objects in the eyepiece almost indefinitely. An accurate polar alignment also greatly reduces the number of guiding corrections that are needed during long exposure astrophotography.
SIMPLIFIED POLAR ALIGNMENT PROCEDURES The NEQ3 and EQ5 mounts have specially designed reticule patterns and simplified procedures to make polar aligning your mount very simple. In fact, if you purchased a SynScan equipped mount you can perform an extremely accurate polar alignment in less than two minutes! See the SynScan User manual for details. If you do not have a SynScan mount you can still get a very good alignment without much bother. The two simple procedures detailed below work equally well.
APPENDIX B - OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES NEQ3 & EQ5 SYNSCAN Sky-Watcher offers simple solutions for users who would like to attach their smaller telescope to a convenient computerized system but do not wish to deal with the weight of the HEQ5 or EQ6 mount. The NEQ3 and EQ5 SynScan mounts use the same Go-To system found in the HEQ5 and EQ6 Pro mounts. It allows you to point the telescope at a specific object or even tour the skies at the touch of a button.
APPENDIX C - RECOMMENDED READING A mateur Astronomy A stro-photography Beginner's Guide to Amateur Astronomy: An Owner's Manual for the Night Sky by David J. Eicher and, Michael Emmerich (Kalmbach Publishing Co., Books Division, Waukesha, WI, 1993). The Great Atlas of the Stars by Serge Brunier, Constellation photography by Akira Fujii (Firefly Books; Willowdale, ON, Canada 2001). A Manual Of Advanced Celestial Photography by Brad D. Wallis and Robert W.
