ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS 9055 User manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL
IN 180 Rev. B 02/09
Orion
Tabletop Equatorial Mount
#9055
Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA
Toll Free USA & Canada: [phone]
International: [phone]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Copyright © 2021 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

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Figure 1. The Tabletop EQ Mount
Dec. Lock Knob
Dec. Setting Circle
Counterweight Shaft
Counterweight
Lock Knob
Counterweight
R.A. Slow-Motion
ControlCable
Azimuth Lock Knob
Tripod Leg
1/4"-20 Adapter
R.A Setting Circle
Dec. Slow-Motion
ControlCable
Latitude
Adjustment
T-Bolt
Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion product.Your new Tabletop Equatorial Mount is extreme-
ly portable and can be taken with you conveniently wherever you go to observe. The tabletop mounting sys-
tem allows easy attachment of a wide variety of different telescope optical tubes. With its precision equatorial
head, you’ll be able to easily track astronomical objects over time so that they remain within your eyepiece’s
eld of view. The setting circles will help locate hundreds of fascinating celestial objects, including galaxies,
nebulas, and star clusters. With a little practice and a little patience, you’ll nd that your Tabletop Equatorial
Mount is an invaluable tool for getting the most out of your astronomical observing sessions.
These instructions will help you set up and properly use your equatorial mount. Please read them over
thoroughly before getting started.
Table of Contents
1. Parts List 2
2. Assembly 3
3. Attaching a Telescope 3
4. Balancing the Telescope 3
5. Aligning and Using the Equatorial Mount 3
6. Specications 8
1. Parts List
1 German equatorial mount
2 Slow-motion control cables
1 Counterweight shaft
1 Counterweight
3 Tripod legs
1 1/4"-20 adapter
1 Small crescent wrench

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2. Assembly
Carefully remove all of the items from the shipping box. Make
sure all the parts listed in Section 1 are present. Save all boxes
and packaging material. In the unlikely event that you need to
return the mount, you must use the original packaging.
Assembling the mount for the rst time should take about 5
minutes. You will need the small provided crescent wrench
and a Phillips head screwdriver. Refer to Figures 1 and 5 dur-
ing the assembly process.
1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs,
one at a time, by threading them into the holes at the base of
the mount.
2. With the tripod legs now attached to the equatorial mount,
stand the mount upright.
3. Orient the equatorial mount as it appears in Figure 1, at a
latitude of about 40°, i.e., so the pointer next to the latitude
scale is pointing to the hash mark at “40.” To do this, loos-
en the latitude lock t-bolt, and turn the latitude adjustment
t-bolt until the pointer and the “40” line up. Then retighten the
latitude lock t-bolt. The declination (Dec.) and right ascen-
sion (R.A.) axes may need re-positioning (rotation) as well
to resemble Figure 1. Be sure to loosen the R.A. and Dec.
lock knobs before doing this. Retighten the R.A. and Dec. lock
knobs once the equatorial mount is properly oriented.
4. Thread the counterweight shaft into the equatorial mount at
the base of the declination axis until tight.
5. Remove the screw and washer on the bottom of the coun-
terweight shaft and slide the counterweight onto the shaft.
Make sure the counterweight lock knob is adequately loos-
ened to allow the counterweight shaft to pass through the
hole. Position the counterweight about halfway up the shaft
and tighten the lock knob. Replace the screw and washer on
the end of the shaft.
6. Attach the 1/4"-20 adapter to the top of the mount with the
provided hex head screws. Place the adapter on top of the
mount with its cork side facing up. Line up the threaded holes
in the adapter with the holes in the top of the mount. Push the
screws up through the holes in the mount and thread them
into the adapter. Tighten with the crescent wrench.
7. Now attach the two slow-motion control cables to the R.A.
and Dec. slow motion control shafts (see Figure 1) of the
equatorial mount by positioning the thumb screw on the end
of the cable over the indented slot on the shaft, then tighten-
ing the thumb screw. A cable can be attached to either end of
the R.A. worm gear shaft, whichever is most convenient for
you.
3. Attaching a Telescope
The Tabletop Equatorial Mount is designed to hold short tele-
scopes of no greater than 90mm aperture. This includes such
telescopes as the Orion ShortTube 80, 90 and Apex 90. For
heavier telescopes, the mount may not provide sufficient sta-
bility for steady imaging. 35mm cameras can also be attached
to the mount.
To mount a telescope with the adapter, the telescope should
have a 1/4"-20 mounting block. To attach the telescope to the
mount, line up the telescope’s 1/4"-20 mounting block with
the 1/4"-20 adapter on the mount as shown in Figure 2. Then
rotate the large knurled ring on the adapter to thread it into the
mounting block until it is nger tight. Once nished, the tele-
scope and mount assembly should resemble Figure 3.
Telescopes can be attached to the mount using optional tube
rings instead of the 1/4"-20 adapter. The 1/4"-20 adapter must
rst be removed and the tube rings put in its place.
Figure 2: Attaching a telescope with the 1/4"-20 adapter.
Figure 3: Tabletop EQ Mount with telescope attached.

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4. Balancing the Telescope
Once the telescope is attached to the equatorial mount, the
next step is to balance the telescope on the mount’s R.A. axis.
Proper balance is required to insure smooth movement of the
telescope on the equatorial mount.
1. Keeping one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen the
R.A. lock knob. Make sure the Dec. lock knob is locked tight.
The telescope should now be able to rotate freely about the
R.A. axis. Rotate it until the counterweight shaft is parallel to
the ground (i.e., horizontal).
2. Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide the
weight along the shaft until it exactly counterbalances the
telescope (see Figure 4a). That’s the point at which the shaft
remains horizontal even when you let go of the telescope with
both hands (see Figure 4b). Retighten the counterweight lock
knob. The telescope is now balanced on the R.A. axis.
It is not possible to adjust the telescope’s balance about the
mount’s Dec. axis using the 1/4"-20 adapter. Usually, the tele-
scope will be balanced naturally about the Dec. axis due to
the placement of the 1/4"-20 mounting block at the balance
point of the telescope.
Now that the telescope is properly balanced, when you loos-
en the lock knob on one or both axes and manually point the
telescope, it should move without resistance and should not
drift from where you point it.
5. Aligning and Using the
Equatorial Mount
When you look at the night sky, you no doubt have noticed
that the stars appear to move slowly from east to west over
time. That apparent motion is caused by the Earth’s rotation
(from west to east).An equatorial mount (Figure 5) is designed
to compensate for that motion, allowing you to easily “track”
the movement of astronomical objects, thereby keeping them
from drifting out of the telescope’s eld of view while you’re
observing.
This is accomplished by slowly rotating the telescope on its
right ascension (R.A.) axis, using only the R.A. slow-motion
cable. But rst the R.A. axis of the mount must be aligned
with the Earth’s rotational (polar) axis—a process called polar
alignment.
Polar Alignment
For Northern Hemisphere observers, approximate polar align-
ment is achieved by pointing the mount’s R.A. axis at the
North Star, or Polaris. It lies within 1° of the north celestial
pole (NCP), which is an extension of the Earth’s rotational
axis out into space. Stars in the Northern Hemisphere appear
to revolve around the NCP.
To nd Polaris in the sky, look north and locate the pattern
of the Big Dipper (Figure 6). The two stars at the end of the
“bowl” of the Big Dipper point right to Polaris.
Observers in the Southern Hemisphere aren’t so fortunate to
have a bright star so near the south celestial pole (SCP). The
star Sigma Octantis lies about 1° from the SCP, but it is barely
visible with the naked eye (magnitude 5.5).
To polar-align the table top EQ mount:
1. Make certain the mount is on level surface.
2. Loosen the latitude lock t-bolt. Turn the latitude adjustment
T-bolt and tilt the mount until the pointer on the latitude scale
is set at the latitude of your observing site. If you don’t know
your latitude, consult a geographical atlas to nd it. For exam-
ple, if your latitude is 35° North, set the pointer to 35. Then
Figure 4a, 4b: Proper operation of the equatorial mount requires that the telescope be balanced in the R.A. axis. a) With the R.A. lock
knob released, slide the counterweight along the counterweight shaft until it just counterbalances the telescope tube. b) When you let go with
both hands, the tube should not drift up or down.
Figure 4a Figure 4b

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retighten the latitude lock t-bolt.The latitude setting should not
have to be adjusted again unless you move to a different view-
ing location some distance away.
3. Loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope opti-
cal tube until it is parallel with the R.A. axis, as it is in Figure
3. The pointer on the Dec. setting circle should read 90°.
Retighten the Dec. lock knob.
4. Loosen the azimuth lock knob at the base of the equatorial
mount and rotate the mount so the telescope tube (and R.A.
axis) points roughly at Polaris. If you cannot see Polaris direct-
ly from your observing site, consult a compass and rotate the
mount so the telescope points North. Retighten the azimuth
lock knob.
The equatorial mount is now polar aligned.
From this point on in your observing session, you should not
make any further adjustments in the azimuth or the latitude
of the mount, nor should you move the tripod. Doing so will
undo the polar alignment. The telescope should be moved
only about its R.A. and Dec. axes.
Use of the R.A. and Dec. Slow-Motion
ControlCables
The R.A. and Dec. slow-motion control cables allow fine
adjustment of the telescope’s position to center objects within
the eld of view. Before you can use the cables, you must
manually “slew” the mount to point the telescope in the vicinity
of the desired target. Do this by loosening the R.A. and Dec.
Figure 5: The equatorial mount
Latitude Scale
Latitude Adjustment T-Bolt
Dec. Setting Circle
R.A. Setting Circle
R.A. Lock Knob
Latitude Lock T-bolt
Figure 6. 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).
Big Dipper
(in Ursa Major)
Little Dipper
(in Ursa Minor)
N.C.P.
Pointer
Stars
Polaris
Cassiopeia
Dec. Axis
R.A. Axis

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lock knobs and moving the telescope about the mount’s R.A.
and Dec. axes. Once the telescope is pointed somewhere
close to the object to be viewed, retighten the mount’s R.A.
and Dec. lock knobs.
The object should now be visible somewhere in the tele-
scope’s nder scope. If it isn’t, use the slow-motion controls
to scan the surrounding area of sky. When the object is visible
in the nder scope, use the slow-motion controls to center it.
Now, look in the telescope’s eyepiece. If the nder scope is
properly aligned, the object should be visible somewhere in
the eld of view. Once the object is visible in the eyepiece, use
the slow-motion controls to center it in the eld of view.
The Dec. slow-motion control cable can move the telescope a
maximum of 25°. This is because the Dec. slow-motion mech-
anism has a limited range of mechanical travel. (The R.A.
slow-motion mechanism has no limit to its amount of travel.)
If you can no longer rotate the Dec. control cable in a desired
direction, you have reached the end of travel, and the slow-
motion mechanism must be reset. This is done by rst rotating
the control cable several turns in the opposite direction from
which it was originally being turned. Then, manually slew the
telescope closer to the object you wish to observe (remember
to rst loosen the Dec. lock knob). You should now be able to
use the Dec. slow-motion control cable again to ne adjust the
telescope’s position.
Tracking Celestial Objects
When you observe a celestial object through the telescope,
you’ll see it drift slowly across the eld of view. To keep it in
the eld, if your equatorial mount is polar aligned, just turn
the R.A. slow-motion control cable clockwise. The Dec. slow-
motion control cable is not needed for tracking. Objects will
appear to move faster at higher magnications, because the
eld of view is narrower.
Optional Motor Drives for Automatic Tracking
An optional DC motor drive can be mounted on the R.A. axis
of the tabletop equatorial mount to provide hands-free track-
ing. Objects will then remain stationary in the eld of view with-
out any manual adjustment of the R.A. slow-motion control.
Understanding the Setting Circles
The setting circles on an equatorial mount enable you to
locate celestial objects by their “celestial coordinates”. Every
object resides in a specic location on the “celestial sphere”.
That location is denoted by two numbers: its right ascension
(R.A.) and declination (Dec.). In the same way, every location
on Earth can be described by its longitude and latitude. R.A.
is similar to longitude on Earth, and Dec. is similar to latitude.
The R.A. and Dec. values for celestial objects can be found in
any star atlas or star catalog.
The mount’s R.A. setting circle is scaled in hours, from 1
through 24, with small marks in between representing 10-min-
ute increments. The numbers closest to the R.A. axis gear
apply to viewing in the Southern Hemisphere, while the num-
bers above them apply to viewing in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Dec. setting circle is scaled in degrees, with each mark
representing 2.5° increments. Values of Dec. coordinates
range from +90° to -90°. The 0° mark indicates the celestial
equator. When the telescope is pointed north of the celestial
equator, values of the Dec. setting circle are positive, while
when the telescope is pointed south of the celestial equator,
values of the Dec. setting circle are negative.
So, the coordinates for the Orion Nebula listed in a star atlas
will look like this:
R.A. 5h 35.4m Dec. -5° 27’
That’s 5 hours and 35.4 minutes in right ascension, and -5
degrees and 27 arc-minutes in declination (there are 60 arc-
minutes in 1 degree of declination).
Before you can use the setting circles to locate objects, the
mount must be correctly polar aligned, and the R.A. setting
circle must be calibrated. The Dec. setting circle has been
permanently calibrated at the factory, and should read 90°
whenever the telescope optical tube is parallel with the R.A.
axis.
Calibrating the Right Ascension Setting Circle
1. Identify a bright star in the sky near the celestial equator
(Dec. = 0°) and look up its coordinates in a star atlas.
2. Loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs on the equatorial
mount, so the telescope optical tube can move freely.
3. Point the telescope at the bright star whose coordinates
you know. Lock the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs. Center the star
in the telescope’s eld of view with the slow-motion control
cables.
4. Rotate the setting circle until the metal arrow indicates the
R.A. coordinate listed in the star atlas for the object.
Finding Objects With the Setting Circles
Now that the setting circles are calibrated, look up in a star
atlas the coordinates of an object you wish to view.
1. Loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope until
the Dec. value from the star atlas matches the reading on
the Dec. setting circle. Remember that values of the Dec. set-
ting circle are positive when the telescope is pointing north
of the celestial equator (Dec. = 0°), and negative when the
telescope is pointing south of the celestial equator. Retighten
the lock knob.
2. Loosen the R.A. lock knob and rotate the telescope until the
R.A. value from the star atlas matches the reading on the R.A.
setting circle. Remember to use the upper set of numbers on
the R.A. setting circle. Retighten the lock knob.
Most setting circles are not accurate enough to put an object
dead-center in the telescope’s eyepiece, but they should
place the object somewhere within the eld of view of the nd-
er scope, assuming the equatorial mount is accurately polar
aligned. Use the slow-motion controls to center the object in
the nder scope, and it should appear in the telescope’s eld
of view.
The R.A. setting circle must be re-calibrated every time you
wish to locate a new object. Do so by calibrating the setting
circle for the centered object before moving on to the next one.

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Figure 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d: The Tabletop Equatorial Mount with telescope pointing a) north, b)south, c) east d) west.
Confused About Pointing the Telescope?
Beginners occasionally experience some confusion about
how to point the telescope overhead or in other directions. In
Figure 3 the telescope is pointed north, as it would be during
polar alignment. The counterweight shaft is oriented down-
ward. But it will not look like that when the telescope is pointed
in other directions. Let’s say you want to view an object that is
directly overhead, at the zenith. How do you do it?
One thing you DO NOT do is make any adjustment to the
latitude adjustment t-bolt. That will nullify the mount’s polar
alignment. Remember, once the mount is polar aligned, the
telescope should be moved only on the R.A. and Dec. axes.
To point the scope overhead, rst loosen the R.A. lock knob
and rotate the telescope on the R.A. axis until the counter-
weight shaft is horizontal (parallel to the ground). Then loosen
the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope until it is pointing
straight overhead. The counterweight shaft is still horizontal.
Then retighten both lock knobs.
Similarly, to point the telescope directly south, the counter-
weight shaft should again be horizontal. Then you simply
rotate the scope on the Dec. axis until it points in the south
direction.
What if you need to aim the telescope directly north, but at an
object that is nearer to the horizon than Polaris? You can’t do
it with the counterweight down as pictured in Figure 3. Again,
you have to rotate the scope in R.A. so the counterweight
Figure 7a Figure 7b
Figure 7c Figure 7d

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shaft is positioned horizontally. Then rotate the scope in Dec.
so it points to where you want it near the horizon.
To point the telescope to the east or west, or in other direc-
tions, you rotate the telescope on its R.A. and Dec. axes.
Depending on the altitude of the object you want to observe,
the counterweight shaft will be oriented somewhere between
vertical and horizontal.
Figure 7 illustrates how the telescope will look pointed at the
four cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west
The key things to remember when pointing the telescope is that
a) you only move it in R.A. and Dec., not in azimuth or latitude
(altitude), and b) the counterweight and shaft will not always
appear as it does in Figure 3. In fact, it almost never will!
6. Specifications
Mount: German-type equatorial.
Tripod: Aluminum with plastic feet.
Height: 15"
Weight: 10lbs. 6 oz.
Counterweight: 5.25 lbs.
Setting circles: RA scaled in 10-minute increments,
Dec.scaled in 2.5° increments.
Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA
Toll Free USA & Canada: [phone]
International: [phone]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Copyright © 2021 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.