ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS EQ-1CM User manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL
IN 596 11/17
Orion® DC Motor Drive
For EQ-1C Mount
#7822
Figure 1. Parts included with the motor drive.
This motor drive is designed to provide electronic, hands-free
tracking of celestial objects with the Orion EQ-1C equatorial
mount. Electronic tracking makes objects appear to stand still in
the telescope’s eld of view, rather than drifting due to the Earth’s
rotation. You won’t have to reposition the telescope to re-center an
object in the eyepiece as the object moves across the sky—a wel-
come convenience!
This motor drive is designed for use in the Northern Hemisphere only.
1. Included parts
A Motor
B Battery holder
C Gear wheel
D Gear wheel screw
E Anchor post
F Spring
G Clutch cord
Refer to Figure 1 and the parts list above to make sure all the
parts are present. If anything is missing or damaged contact Orion
Technical Support at www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus.
2. Assembly
You will need two tools to install the motor drive on the mount: an
adjustable wrench or a 17mm crescent wrench and a small at-
blade screwdriver.
Installing the Batteries
1. The motor drive is powered by four AA alkaline batteries (not
included), which you must place in the battery holder (B) prior
to use (Figure 2). Make sure the power switch on the bottom
of the battery holder is in the OFF position. Remove the battery
holder cover and insert the batteries as indicated inside the
battery compartment. Then slide the cover back in place.
2. Remove the acorn nut adjacent to the latitude scale from the
equatorial mount (Figure 3). Leave the latitude scale and clear
washer in place.
3. Thread on the anchor post (E) until tight (Figure 4). If the lati-
tude scale moved when the acorn nut was removed, rotate it
to the proper orientation before tightening the anchor post. The
proper orientation is with the 0 degree mark pointing straight
up.
4. Place one end-loop of the spring (F) over the right ascension
(RA) axle as shown in Figure 5.
5. Place the center hole of the gear wheel (C) on the axle (Figure
6A). Then insert the gear wheel screw (D) into the hole and
tighten with a at-blade screwdriver to secure the gear wheel
on the axle (Figure 6B).
6. Place the motor’s (A) coupler over the anchor post, then lightly
tighten the thumbscrew on the coupler (Figure 7).
7. Now hook the free end of the spring onto the end of the clutch
tab (Figure 8). By doing this, the small brass spur gear should
contact and mesh with the larger gear wheel as shown.
8. This step is optional, but if desired you can loop the clutch cord
(G) around the clutch tab and tie a knot to make it a loop (see
Figure 11B).
9. Lastly, plug the cable from the battery holder (B) into the power
jack on the motor (Figure 9).
The motor drive is now properly installed on the mount.
Figure 2. Install four
AA alkaline batteries in
the battery holder as
shown.
A
CB
D
E
F
G
Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA
Toll Free USA & Canada: [phone]
International: [phone]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Copyright © 2020 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents
may be reproduced, copied, modied or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.
AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY

2
Operation
Quick Polar Alignment
For best results, the telescope’s equatorial mount must be
aligned parallel to the Earth’s rotational (right ascension, or
“R.A.”) axis. The motor drive will not track objects accurately
(objects will not stay in the eld of view) if the mount’s R.A.
axis is pointing to the wrong part of the sky. An approximate
polar alignment is sufficient for most observing situations and
is all that will be covered here. For a more accurate alignment,
consult your telescope manual or detailed instructions in an
observing guide.
For observers in the Northern Hemisphere (north of the
Earth’s equator), alignment is achieved by aiming the mount’s
R.A. axis at Polaris, the North Star (see Figure 10). An eye-
balled approximation is all that’s necessary. Do this by sight-
ing along the R.A. axis from behind it while adjusting the
latitude adjustment on the tripod and repositioning the tripod
itself, until the R.A. axis is pointed toward Polaris.
Powering Up
To begin tracking, slide the power switch on the battery hold-
er to ON. The green LED power light on the motor housing
should begin to blink slowly, and you should be able to hear
the motor drive operating. If these things don’t happen then
check that the battery pack cable is plugged properly into the
motor drive. If it is, then you may have dead batteries in the
pack that need to be replaced with fresh ones.
Using the Manual Slow-Motion Control
You can still use the R.A. slow-motion cable for slewing the
telescope even when the motor drive is attached. (The cable
and the motor drive are attached to opposite sides of the R.A.
axis.) But before rotating the R.A. slow-motion cable, you must
rst disengage the motor drive from the EQ mount. Do this by
pushing down on the motor housing with one hand until the
spur gear is free of the gear wheel (Figure 11A). Alternatively,
you can pull down on the clutch cord, if you attached it in step
Figure 3.
Remove the
acorn nut on
the side of
the mount
with the
latitude scale.
Figure 6. A) Insert the gear wheel onto the right ascension
axle, then B) secure it by tightening the gear wheel screw.
Figure 5. Attach one end of the spring to the right ascension
axle as shown.
Figure 4. Thread on the anchor post where the acorn nut was.
Latitude
scale
Latitude
scale
Right
ascension
axle
Right ascension axle
Gear wheel
Gear wheel
screw
Spring
Acorn
nut
Anchor
post
A
B

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Figure 7. Install the motor by slipping the coupler over the
anchor post.
Figure 8. Attach the free end of the spring to the clutch tab of
the motor.
Figure 9. Plug
the cable from the
battery holder into
the jack on the
motor housing.
8 of the assembly procedure (Figure 11B). You do not need to
turn the motor drive off when disengaging it to use the slow-
motion cable. Then with the other hand turn the R.A. slow-
motion cable to slew the mount. Do not attempt to turn the
R.A, slow-motion cable when the motor drive is engaged or
you could damage the motor! When nished slewing with the
slow-motion cable, gently release the motor drive or clutch
cable so the gears re-engage.
Normal Operation of the
Motor Drive
You may notice that the motor drive speed varies over a peri-
od of time. This is normal for this type of drive! Due to slight
irregularities in the gears, a controller circuit inside the motor
housing calculates how fast or slow the motor needs to run
at any particular time to compensate for the forces that build
up or dissipate as the gears turn against each other. Those
calculations result in minor moment-to-moment variations
in the motor speed in order to maintain an average speed
equivalent to the sidereal rate, the Earth’s rate of rotation.
Since absolutely constant speed is not required for this level
of mount, as would be needed to do deep-sky astrophotog-
raphy, for in-stance, the motor drive is well suited to casual
observing and will keep target objects in the telescope’s eld
of view for a prolonged period of time.
Gear wheel
Spur gear
Power
plug
Clutch tab
Thumbscrew
Coupler
Power
jack
Motor
housing
Figure 11 To move the right ascension axis with the slow-motion
cable, disengage the motor drive by A) pressing down on the motor
housing using your hand, or B) pulling down on the clutch cord.
R.A. slow
motion cable
Gears are
disengaged
Clutch cord
A
B
Big Dipper
(in Ursa Major)
Little Dipper
(in Ursa Minor)
Cassiopeia
N.C.P.
Pointer
Stars
Polaris
Figure 20. To nd Polaris in the night sky, look north and nd the
Big Dipper. Extend an imaginary line from the two "Pointer Stars"
in the bowl of the Big Dipper. Go about ve times the distance
between those stars and you'll reach Polaris, which lies within 1°
of the north celestial pole (NCP).

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Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA
Toll Free USA & Canada: [phone]
International: [phone]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Copyright © 2020 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents
may be reproduced, copied, modied or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.
AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY
One-Year Limited Warranty
This Orion product is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship for a peri-
od of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty is for the benet of the original
retail purchaser only. During this warranty period Orion Telescopes & Binoculars will
repair or replace, at Orion’s option, any warranted instrument that proves to be defec-
tive, provided it is returned postage paid. Proof of purchase (such as a copy of the origi-
nal receipt) is required. This warranty is only valid in the country of purchase.
This warranty does not apply if, in Orion’s judgment, the instrument has been abused,
mishandled, or modied, nor does it apply to normal wear and tear. This warranty gives
you specic legal rights. It is not intended to remove or restrict your other legal rights
under applicable local consumer law; your state or national statutory consumer rights
governing the sale of consumer goods remain fully applicable.
For further warranty information, please visit www.OrionTelescopes.com/warranty.