Instruction Manual Polaris 60AZ-D: 60mm (2.4") Altazimuth Refracting Telescope Meade Instruments Corporation 6001 OAK CANYON, IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92618-5200 U.S.A. (949) 451-1450 s FAX: (949) 451-1460 s www.meade.com © 2003 Rev. C 0603 WARNING: NEVER USE AN POLARIS 60AZ-D TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN! LOOKING AT OR NEAR THE SUN WILL CAUSE INSTANT AND IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO YOUR EYE. EYE DAMAGE IS OFTEN PAINLESS, SO THERE IS NO WARNING TO THE OBSERVER THAT DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE. DO NOT POINT THE TELESCOPE OR ITS VIEWFINDER AT OR NEAR THE SUN. DO NOT LOOK THROUGH THE TELESCOPE OR ITS VIEWFINDER AS IT IS MOVING. CHILDREN SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE ADULT SUPERVISION WHILE OBSERVING. MEADE LIMITED WARRANTY Every Polaris telescope, spotting scope, and telescope accessory is warranted by Meade Instruments Corporation ("Meade") to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE YEAR from the date of original purchase in the U.S.A. Meade will repair or replace a product, or part thereof, found by Meade to be defective, provided the defective part is returned to Meade, freight-prepaid, with proof of purchase. This warranty applies to the original purchaser only and is non-transferable. Meade products purchased outside North America are not included in this warranty, but are covered under separate warranties issued by Meade international distributors. RGA Number Required: Prior to the return of any product or part, a Return Goods Authorization (RGA) number must be obtained from Meade by writing, or by calling (949) 451-1450. Each returned part or product must include a written statement detailing the nature of the claimed defect, as well as the owner's name, address, and phone number. This warranty is not valid in cases where the product has been abused or mishandled, where unauthorized repairs have been attempted or performed, or where depreciation of the product is due to normal wear-and-tear. Meade specifically disclaims special, indirect, or consequential damages or lost profit which may result from a breach of this warranty. Any implied warranties which cannot be disclaimed are hereby limited to a term of one year from the date of original retail purchase. This warranty gives you specific rights. You may have other rights which vary from state to state. Meade reserves the right to change product specifications or to discontinue products without notice. This warranty supersedes all previous Meade product warranties. ­2­ TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Standard Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Unpacking and Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Altazimuth Mount Movements and Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Viewfinder Focusing and Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Using the Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Calculating Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 A Few Words About Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 ­3­ 14 22 1 24 3 2 5 4 21 18 6 13 15 23 16 17 10 B A 8 12 11 7 3 24 9 12 2 25 8 19 20 Figure 1: Polaris 60AZ-D Altazimuth Refracting Telescope Inset A: Accessory Tray Mounting Bolt Hole; Inset B: Close up of the Viewfinder Assembly 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Eyepiece Viewfinder Viewfinder collimation screws Optical tube assembly Vertical lock knobs Horizontal lock knob Tripod legs Leg brace supports Accessory tray Tripod-to-mount base attachment Tripod attachment bolts Accessory tray mounting bolt hole (see inset A) Diagonal Mirror 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. ­4­ Objective lens cell Focuser drawtube Altitude rod slow motion fine adjustment control Altitude rod coarse adjustment lock knob control Altazimuth mount Adjustable sliding center leg extension Tripod leg lock thumbscrew Dew shield/lens shade Front lens cap Focusing knob Viewfinder bracket Viewfinder bracket mounting thumbscrews INTRODUCTION Before you begin, we urge you to take a few minutes to completely read this manual so that you can get the best use of the equipment. This manual details the set-up, operation, specifications and optional accessories of the Polaris 60-AZ-D altazimuth refracting telescope. Designed for both astronomical and terrestrial observing, the Polaris 60-AZ-D will be your companion in exploring a universe of celestial and earthly objects. STANDARD EQUIPMENT (Refer to Fig. 1) · · · · · · · · Complete optical tube assembly (objective lens diameter = 60mm; focal length = 700mm) Full-length, fully adjustable, aluminum tripod and accessory tray. H 25mm (28X), H 12.5mm (56X), and SR 4mm (175X) Eyepieces (0.965" O.D. "Outside Diameter") 3x Barlow Lens (0.965" O.D.) Diagonal mirror (0.965" O.D.) 5 x 24mm viewfinder with bracket Altazimuth mount with micro-altitude control Hardware package: A. 3 bolts (3" long) with wing nuts and washers B. 3 screws (1/2" long) with wing nuts and screwdriver tool Note: All other necessary hardware provided in place. StarLocator astronomy software (separate instructions supplied in software package) · UNPACKING AND ASSEMBLY First time assembly of the telescope should require a set up of about 15 minutes. To set up the telescope, follow this procedure: 1. Remove and identify the telescope's components, using the listing above. 2. Attach the 3 aluminum tripod legs (7, Fig. 1) to the base of the altazimuth mount (10, Fig. 1) with the 3 hinged leg brace supports (8, Fig. 1) facing inward. Three bolts (11, Fig. 1), each about 2" long, with washers and wing nuts, are provided for this purpose in hardware package "A." Stand the telescope upright, spreading the tripod legs evenly apart so that the accessory tray can be positioned to attach to the 3 leg braces. 3. Attach the accessory tray (9, Fig. 1) to the leg brace supports (8, Fig. 1) by threading the bolt on the bottom of the tray into the center hole located where the three brace supports meet (see Fig. 1, Inset A) and turning the tray clockwise. Tighten to a firm feel, but do not overtighten--you will need to remove the tray if you wish to collapse the tripod. To remove the tray, just rotate the tray counterclockwise untill the tray comes loose. 4. Extend the sliding center portion of the adjustable height tripod leg (19, Fig. 1) to the desired length for all 3 legs. Lock the tripod legs by tightening the leg lock thumbscrew (20, Fig. 1) to a firm feel. 5. Remove the two vertical lock knobs (D, Fig. 2) from the optical tube assembly. 6. Place the optical tube between the forks of the azimuth mount (A, Fig. 2), oriented as shown in Fig. 2. 7. Slide the altitude rod (B, Fig. 2) into the hole in the altitude coarse adjustment control assembly (C, Fig. 2). Tighten to a firm feel. 8. Thread a vertical lock knob (D, Fig. 2) through each of the holes in the forks of the azimuth mount (A, Fig. 2) and tighten to a firm feel. 9. Attach the viewfinder bracket (2, Fig. 1) to the telescope using the 2 thumbscrews provided (25, Fig. 1). The thumbscrews fit through the 2 holes located at the base of the viewfinder bracket and thread into the main tube (see Fig. 1, Inset B). D C B A Fig. 2 Mounting the optical tube assembly: (A) azimuth mount; (B) altitude rod; (C) altitude coarse adjustment control; (D) vertical lock knob. ­5­ 10. Insert the diagonal mirror (13, Fig. 1) into the focuser drawtube (15, Fig. 1) and the H 25mm eyepiece (1, Fig. 1) into the diagonal mirror. Tighten the respective thumbscrews to a firm feel. 11. The telescope is now completely assembled. To move the telescope and point it from one object to another, first slightly loosen one of the chrome-lock (star-shaped) knobs (5, Fig. 1) which serve as a vertical lock, then loosen the azimuth (horizontal) lock (6, Fig. 1). Also, slightly loosen the altitude coarse adjustment lock knob (17, Fig. 1). Loosening these locks allows the telescope to be moved freely (vertically or horizontally) in any direction so that the telescope can be positioned to center a terrestrial or celestial object in the telescopic field. Once an object is found, the altitude lock knob (17, Fig. 1) can be tightened and the altitude slow-motion fine-adjustment control knob (16, Fig. 1) can then be used to make very smooth and accurate tracking in the vertical axis. VIEWFINDER FOCUSING AND ALIGNMENT The 5 x 24mm viewfinder (2, Fig. 1) is a low-power, wide-field sighting device that, once aligned, will allow you to point the telescope with greater precision. Note: When you look through the viewfinder, you will see a crosshair with images that will be upside-down; this is normal. To work properly, the viewfinder must first be aligned to the telescope's main optical tube. To align the viewfinder, follow these steps: 1. Remove the lens cap (22, Fig. 1) of the optical tube assembly. Insert the 25mm wide-field eyepiece into the diagonal mirror (13, Fig. 1). Point the optical tube assembly (4, Fig. 1) at a distant land object (e.g. a distant telephone pole). Make sure the detail of the distant object you have chosen is in sharp focus. Focusing is accomplished by turning the focusing knob (23, Fig. 1) until the sharpest possible image is attained. 2. Center the viewfinder (2, Fig. 1) in both the front and rear rings using the collimation screws (3, Fig. 1). Next, looking through the viewfinder, adjust the collimation screws on the rear ring until the object centered in the telescope's main tube is likewise positioned in the center of the viewfinder's crosshairs. Now it is possible to quickly sight an object in the viewfinder first, then find that object approximately centered in the 25mm eyepiece of the telescope. 3. If the viewfinder's infinity image is not in sharp focus, the knurled end of the eyepiece can be turned to fine tune the focus. Be sure to hold the viewfinder firmly between your fingers when making this adjustment. USING THE TELESCOPE With the telescope assembled, you are ready to begin observations. 1. First, pick out an easy-to-find object. Observing land objects during the daytime is a good way to become accustomed to the operation of the telescope. At night, try observing the Moon at first (if it is visible) or a bright star. NEVER POINT THE TELESCOPE DIRECTLY AT OR NEAR THE SUN AT ANY TIME! OBSERVING THE SUN, EVEN FOR THE SMALLEST FRACTION OF A SECOND, WILL RESULT IN INSTANT AND IRREVERSIBLE EYE DAMAGE, AS WELL AS PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO THE TELESCOPE ITSELF. 2. To center an object in the main telescope, first use the aligned viewfinder to find the object you wish to observe. If necessary, slightly loosen the vertical lock (5, Fig. 1) and the altitude rod lock knob (17, Fig. 1) to re-position the telescope so that the desired object can be centered in the viewfinder. When the object is centered in the viewfinder, it should then, also, be somewhere in the main telescope's field of view. Next, using the 25mm eyepiece, center the object in the main telescope's field of view, and sharply focus the image by turning the focus knob (23, Fig. 1). The wide-field H 25mm eyepiece included as standard equipment is the best eyepiece to use for the initial finding and centering of an object. The low-power H 25mm eyepiece presents a bright, wide field of view, ideal for terrestrial and general astronomical observing of star fields, clusters of stars, nebulae, and galaxies. For lunar and planetary viewing, switch to a higher power eyepiece such as the H 12.5mm -- if you have good viewing conditions. If the image starts to become fuzzy ­6­ as magnification is increased, back down to a lower power; The atmosphere is not steady enough to support higher powers. Note: Changing eyepieces changes power. 3. If you are observing an astronomical object (the Moon, a planet, star, etc.) you will notice that the object will begin to move slowly through the telescopic field of view. This movement is caused by the rotation of the Earth and makes an object appear to be moving in the telescope's field of view. To keep astronomical objects centered in the field, simply move the telescope on one or both of its axes (vertical and/or horizontal) as appropriate. At higher powers, astronomical objects will seem to move through the field of view of the eyepiece more rapidly. Observing Tip: Place the object to be v ...