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instruction Manual
® ™
Orion SkyQuest XTg
GoTo Dobsonians
#10134 XT8g, #10135 XT10g, #10136 XT12g
Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975
OrionTelescopes.com
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© 2010-2012 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
IN 388 Rev. C 06/12
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EZ Finder II 28mm DeepView 2" eyepiece 2" Dual-speed Crayford focuser Optical tube Navigation knob Tube connecting knob GoTo hand controller Handle Altitude motor housing 12.5mm Illuminated Plössl 1.25" eyepiece Eyepiece rack Handle Azimuth motor housing (not shown) Dobsonian base Polyethylene foam dust guard Figure 1. Overview of SkyQuest XTg Dobsonian (12" shown) 2
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Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion SkyQuest XTg GoTo Dobsonian. It is an observer’s A dream telescope, offering quality diffraction-limited optics; a stylish, easy-to-setup base outfitted with automated, computerized GoTo technology; and a sturdy design. This high-performance astronomical instrument will provide dazzling views of celestial objects, yet be transportable and wonderfully easy D H J F to use. B With the alt-azimuth GoTo system, you simply select an object E G C I
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Ground baseplate assembly Front panel Machine Base (with azimuth motor) screws Base feet assembly with wood washers screws Left Hex keys panel Right (with panel altitude motor) Screwdriver Cables Wood Base hardware Tube connecting screws and handle knob Hand controller Figure 3. SkyQuest XTg base components. The XT12g base also Figure 4. Base hardware for SkyQuest XTg. includes two side braces, not shown. Figure 5. Polyethylene foam dust guard between ground Figure 6. Starter holes
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Figure 7. Attaching the base feet to the base. Figure 8. Secure the front panel to each side panel. 2. Assembly Now that you have unpacked the boxes and familiarized yourself with all the parts in front of you, it is time to begin assemb ly . Assembly of the Dobsonian Base The base need only be assembled once, unless you disas- semble it for long-term storage. The assembly process should take about half an hour. All necessary tools are included in the packages. The two ground baseplates arri
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Cutout holes Threaded inserts Figure 10. Align the holes on the side panels with the threaded Figure 12. To remove the rear end ring, unthread the six screws inserts in the baseplate. that connect it to the tube. not tighten completely yet. Place the eyepiece rack on those screws using the wide holes on the rack and slide it downward so the narrow portion is under the screws. Now tighten the screws to secure the rack in place. 6. The XTg series includes a convenient holster to place the han
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Shaft Spring Figure 13. Place the three springs on the exposed threaded shafts of the mirror cell. Figure 16. Locate the area of tube that is bulging out and preventing the end ring from fully seating. Warning: Once the rear end ring is removed from the tube, the raw edge of the tube itself will be exposed. Be careful not to cut or otherwise hurt yourself on the tubeís edge. Also, be careful not to pinch your fingers when re- attaching the assembled mirror cell onto the tube. 2. Next, asse
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Threaded hole for tube connecting knob Figure 17. The cast-metal dovetail trunnion on the left side panel of the base mates with the left side bearing of the telescope tube. Before mounting the tube on the base, turn the trunnion by hand so that the hole for the tube connecting knob is facing up. Connecting the Optical Tube to the Figure 18. Hold the telescope tube as shown, with one hand on Dobsonian Base the rear end ring and the other cradling underneath the tube, gently The telescope
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1.25" adapter 1.25" adapter thumbscrew Power 2" adapter knob Focus lock 2" adapter thumbscrew thumbscrews Azimuth adjustment Fine knob focus knob Altitude Battery adjustment casing Coarse Coarse knob Thumbscrews Dovetail focus knob focus knob mounting bracket Drawtube tension setscrews Figure 20. The EZ Finder II reflex sight. Figure 21. Detail of the SkyQuest XTg 2" dual-speed focuser. the dot, which is purposefully quite dim. The intensity of the Replacing the Battery dot is adju
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3. The GoTo a. Hand Controller The SkyQuest XTg features the SynScan AZ hand controller, Display screen which provides two different modes of operation: AutoTracking Mode Mode buttons The SkyQuest XTg base incorporates a quad-encoder design that records the position of the telescope relative to the sky. Directional buttons In the AutoTracking mode, after a quick initial alignment pro- cedure, you can move the telescope manually, or electroni- cally by using the directional buttons on the han
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scope. The left and right directional buttons can also be used to move the text cursor when entering data on the hand con- troller. Scroll Buttons The up and down scroll buttons allow you to move up and down within the menu tree or selections displayed on the hand controller LCD. Dual Purpose buttons These buttons serve two distinct purposes: for data entry and as quick reference keys. TOUR button: Takes you on a preset tour of the best night sky objects visible at the present time. RATE b
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must convert into degrees and arcminutes. To do this Note: The hand controllerís backlit display will become simply multiply the decimal value by 60. If your viewing dimmer and the button Illumination will turn off if left idle location is at latitude 36.95 N you would enter a latitude for 30 seconds. Pressing any button will re-illuminate the of 36°57’ N [.95 x 60 = 57]. display. 6. Enter the time zone in which you are observing in hours (see Appendix A), using the scroll keys and numeric
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eyepiece. Once again, use the directional keys to do this. N You may change the slewing speed by pressing the RATE button, and then choose a number between 0 (slowest) and 9 (fastest). You may find that Rate 4 is best for cen- tering the object in the EZ Finder, while Rate 3 or less is NE NW 315° – best for centering in the eyepiece view. When the star is 45° 270° – 0° – centered in the eyepiece, press ENTER. 360° 90° 5. The hand controller will now generate a list of bright stars to choos
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NOTE: When the power is on, you may choose to adjust 1) Dual Purpose Buttons (Figure 22a) the telescope electronically by using the hand control or TOUR – Takes you on a preset tour of your current sky. It will manually by pushing the tube with your hand. The tele- automatically choose from the database the best and bright- scope will calculate the coordinates accordingly and dis- est deep-sky objects. Use the scroll buttons to scroll through play the information correctly on the hand control
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object could be a bright named star, a planet, or an object Show Position: This displays the coordinates of the from the Messier, NGC, or IC catalogs, but not a star from location where the telescope is currently pointed. Use the SAO catalog. the scroll keys to toggle between Right Ascension/ Declination, Altitude/Azimuth and Ax1/Ax2, where Ax1 2. Find the reference object in the hand controller database and Ax2 stand for the +/- angular readings of the eleva- and command the telescope to “G
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b. c. a. Note: 10" model has 4 mirror clips d. e. Figure 25. Collimating the optics. (a) When the mirrors are properly aligned, the view down the focuser drawtube should look like this. (b) With the collimation cap in place, if the optics are out of alignment, the view might look something like this. (c) Here, the secondary mirror is centered under the focuser, but it needs to be adjusted (tilted) so that the entire primary mirror is visible. (d) The secondary mirror is correctly aligned, but
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Figure 26. The SkyQuest optical tube properly set up for collimation. Note the white paper placed across from the focuser, and the level angle of the optical tube. Ideally, the telescope should be pointing at a white wall. (IntelliScope model shown.) is pointed. You may press the scroll buttons to switch between the different coordinate options. Figure 27. To center the secondary mirror under the focuser, Set Slew Limits: Allows you to set slewing limits of the GoTo hold the mirror
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Figure 29. The three small thumbscrews that lock the primary Figure 30. The tilt of the primary mirror is adjusted by turning mirror in place must first be loosened before any adjustments can one or more of the three larger thumbscrews. be made. Using the User Defined Database keys to change to the number you wish to represent the coordinates and press ENTER. The GoTo system allows you to save up to 25 objects in the User Defined Database. You can save currently unknown 7. The prompt “View
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Note: Do NOT disengage the SkyQuest XTg unit before you close the connection in the planetarium program. Doing so may cause some programs to freeze. Updating the GoTo Hand Controller’s Firmware From version 3.0 and up, the GoTo hand controller’s firmware can be updated over the internet. The firmware loader and firmware updates are available for download on the Orion Out of collimation Collimated website, OrionTelescopes.com Figure 31. A star test will determine if a telescope’s optics are
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6. When the download is complete, the Firmware Loader The Collimation Cap and Mirror Center Mark will display “Update Complete”. Your XTg comes with a collimation cap. This is a simple cap that fits on the focuser drawtube like a dust cap, but has a hole The firmware in the computerized GoTo hand controller has in the center and a reflective inner surface. The cap helps cen- now been updated. You can click on the “HC Version” button to ter your eye so that collimating is easier to perform. F
