ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS StarBlast 10283 User manual

Orion®StarBlast™102mm
Travel Refractor
#10283
IN 639 05/19
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
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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 © 2019 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars. All Rights Reserved. No part of this
product instruction or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted,
without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.
AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY

Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion product. The StarBlast 102mm Travel Refractor is a versatile and portable
102mm-aperture telescope designed for exploring the night skies for celestial treasures, and for gazing at terrestrial subjects in the
daytime. A complete telescope with an extendable stainless steel tripod, great accessories, and a rugged case with shoulder strap
that holds everything, the “StarBlast 102” makes a perfect companion for the explorer on the go.
These instructions will help you set-up, properly use, and care for your instrument. Please read them over carefully before getting
started.
Included Items
Unpack all of the items and lay them out in your workspace.
Make sure all the items listed below and shown in Figure 1 are
present. Save the shipping box and packaging material. In the
unlikely event that you need to return the product, you must use
the original packaging. Assembly of the telescope is easy and
should take only about 15 minutes.
Item List
A Tripod with Pan Head
B Accessory tray
C Optical tube
D Red dot nder scope
E 25mm Plossl eyepiece, 1.25”
F 10mm Plossl eyepiece, 1.25”
G Correct image 90-degree diagonal, 1.25”
H Accessory Case
I MoonMap 260
J Telescope case
K Dust cover
Figure 1. Included items of the StarBlast 102mm Travel Refractor
H
A
B
C
J
EF
D
G
K
I
WARNING: Never look directly at the Sun through
your telescope—even for an instant—without a
professionally made solar filter that completely
covers the front of the instrument, or permanent eye
damage could result. Young children should use
this telescope only with adult supervision.
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Assembly
1. With all items removed from the case (J), nd the tripod
(A) and spread the legs apart. Don’t worry about extending
the tripod legs yet; you will do that later.
2. Install the accessory tray (B) by aligning the center hole
with the center of the tripod brace, as shown in Figure
2a.
3. Then gently press the tray downward and rotate it while
insuring that each of the three tray locking tabs seats
underneath its respective brace tab, snapping into place
(Figure 2b). The tray should then appear as in Figure
3.
4. Now you will attach the optical tube (C) to the altazimuth
pan head. First, turn the mounting bar lock knob
counterclockwise to back out the bolt to make room in the
saddle for the telescope’s dovetail mounting bar (Figure
4). Then slide the telescope’s dovetail mounting bar into
the saddle and retighten the lock knob to secure the bar in
place.
5. Next, you will install the red dot nder scope (D) onto the
optical tube. Slide the nder scope bracket into the nder
scope base, as shown in Figure 5.
6. Insert the 90-degree correct-image diagonal (G) into
the focuser drawtube and tighten it with the thumbscrew
(Figure 6).
7. Now insert an eyepiece into the diagonal and secure it
with the thumbscrew (Figure 7). We recommend starting
with the 25mm eyepiece (E).
Assembly is now complete and the telescope should appear as
in Figure 8.
Aligning and Using the Red
Dot Finder Scope
The included red dot nder scope (Figure 9) makes pointing
your telescope almost as easy as pointing your nger! It’s a non-
magnifying aiming device that superimposes a tiny LED red dot
on the sky, showing exactly where the telescope is pointed. It
permits easy object targeting prior to observation in the higher-
power main telescope. Before you can use the red dot nder
scope, you must remove the small plastic tab sticking out from
the battery compartment (see Figure 9). Doing so will allow
the pre-installed 3V CR-2032 battery to power the red LED
when the device is turned on. The tab can then be discarded.
To use the red dot nder scope properly, it must be aligned with
the main telescope. This is easiest to do during daylight hours,
before observing at night. Follow this procedure:
1. First, remove the dust cover (K) from the front of the
telescope.
2. With the 25mm eyepiece and 90-degree diagonal already
installed from the steps above, point the telescope at
a well-dened land target (e.g., the top of a telephone
pole) that’s at least a quarter mile away. When pointing
the telescope, be sure to loosen the azimuth lock knob
so the telescope can rotate left and right, and twist the
pan handle counterclockwise a bit to free up movement in
altitude.
3. Center the target in the telescope eyepiece.
4. Turn on the red dot nder scope by sliding the power
switch to ON (refer to Figure 9). The “1” position provides
dim illumination while the “2” position provides brighter
Figure 2. Attach the
accessory tray to the
tripod brace by a)
registering the tray’s
center hole over the
center of the brace, then
b) twisting they tray
while so that each of the
three tray locking tabs
seats underneath its
respective brace tab.
Figure 3. The tray is now locked in place.
Brace tab
Locking tab
a
b
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illumination. Typically the dimmer setting is used under
dark skies and the brighter setting is used under light-
polluted night skies or in daylight. Position your eye at
a comfortable distance from the rear of the unit. Look
through the rear of the nder scope with both eyes open
to see the illuminated red dot. The target object should
appear in the eld of view somewhere near the red dot.
5. You’ll want to center the red dot on the target object. To do
so, without moving the telescope, use the red dot nder
scope’s vertical and horizontal adjustment knobs (shown
in Figure 9) to position the red dot on the object.
6. When the red dot is centered on the distant object, check
to make sure the object is still centered in the telescope’s
eyepiece. If it isn’t, re-center it then adjust the red dot
scope’s alignment again. When the object is centered in
the telescope eyepiece and on the nder scope’s red dot,
the nder scope is properly aligned with the telescope. The
red dot nder scope’s alignment should be checked before
every observing session. At the end of your observing
session, be sure to slide the power switch on the red dot
nder scope to OFF to preserve battery life.
Telescope Operation
Extending the Tripod Legs
To extend the tripod legs to the desired length, simply turn the
leg lock knob counterclockwise to release the leg, then retighten
the knob after extending the leg. Do not overtighten the lock
knobs or you could damage the leg collars or strip the threads of
the bolt or its receptacle.
Using the Pan Head
The StarBlast 102mm refractor features a standard “altazimuth”
pan head mount, which permits motion along two perpendicu-
lar axes: altitude (up/down) and azimuth (left/right). This makes
pointing the telescope easy and intuitive. To move the telescope
in the azimuth direction, loosen the azimuth tension knob a little
(refer to Figure 8), then take hold of the pan handle and gently
move it left or right.
To move the telescope in altitude, rst twist the pan handle
counterclockwise, then move the telescope up or down to the
desired position. Then twist the pan handle clockwise to lock
that position. You may be able to nd a suitable azimuth and
altitude axis tension to allow the telescope to be moved freely
without having to make any adjustments to the tension every
time you move the telescope.
Eyepiece Selection
Magnication, or power, is determined by the focal length of
the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece being used.
Therefore, by using eyepieces of different focal lengths, the
resultant magnication can be varied. It is quite common for
an observer to own ve or more eyepieces to access a wide
range of magnications. This allows the observer to choose the
best eyepiece to use depending on the object being viewed and
Figure 4. Attaching the optical tube to the mount.
Figure 5. Install the red dot finder scope by sliding it into the finder
base all the way.
Figure 6. Insert the barrel of the correct-image 90-degree diagonal
into the focuser drawtube and secure it with the thumbscrew.
Dovetail
saddle
Dovetail
mounting bar
Lock
knob
Base
Thumbscrew
4

viewing conditions. Your StarBlast 102mm refractor comes with
25mm (E) and 10mm (F) Plossl eyepieces, which will suffice
nicely to begin with.You can purchase additional eyepieces later
if you wish to have more magnication options.
Magnication is calculated as follows:
Telescope Focal Length (mm)
= Magnification
Eyepiece Focal Length (mm)
For example, the StarBlast 102mm has a focal length of 600mm,
which when used with the supplied 25mm eyepiece yields:
600mm
= 24x
25mm
The magnication provided by the 10mm eyepiece is:
600mm
= 60x
10mm
The maximum attainable magnication for a telescope is directly
related to how much light it can gather. The larger the aperture,
the more magnication is possible. In general, a gure of 50x
per inch of aperture is the maximum attainable for most tele-
scopes. Going beyond that will yield simply blurry, unsatisfac-
tory views. Your StarBlast 102mm refractor has an aperture
of 102mm, or 4 inches, so the maximum practical magnica-
tion would be about 200x (4 x 50). This level of magnication
assumes you have ideal atmospheric conditions for observing
(which is seldom the case).
Keep in mind that as you increase magnication, the brightness
of the object viewed will decrease; this is an inherent principle
of the laws of physics and cannot be avoided. If magnication is
doubled, an image appears four times dimmer. If magnication
is tripled, image brightness is reduced by a factor of nine!
So start with low power by using the 25mm eyepiece, then try
switching to the 10mm eyepiece later if you want to boost the
magnication.
Focusing the Telescope
To focus the telescope, turn the focus wheels (Figure 8) for-
ward or back until you see your target object in the eyepiece.
Then make ner adjustments until the image is sharp. If you’re
having trouble achieving initial focus, rack the focuser drawtube
all the way in using the focus wheels, then while looking into
the eyepiece slowly turn the focus wheels so that the drawtube
extends outward. Keep going until you see your target object
come into focus. Note that when you change eyepieces you
may have to adjust the focus a bit to get a sharp image with the
newly inserted eyepiece.
Terrestrial and Celestial
Viewing with the StarBlast
102mm
The Orion StarBlast 102mm is equipped with a 90-degree “cor-
rect-image” diagonal (G), which provides an upright, “normal”
view. Because of this, the StarBlast is an excellent terrestrial
telescope for viewing Earth-based scenes during daylight hours.
More powerful than binoculars, it can get you visually “up close”
to your target for vivid, detailed views. For best results, howev-
er, DO NOT VIEW OUT WINDOWS. The glass in a window is
approximately 1000 times less accurate than the optics of your
StarBlast 102mm – so it will soften your views, and things will
seem to be slightly out of focus. If you must view through a win-
dow, use the lowest power available (and open the window!).
Figure 7. Insert the 25mm eyepiece into the 90-degree diagonal and
secure it with the thumbscrew.
Figure 8. The telescope is now mounted and ready for action!
Thumbscrew
Eyepiece
Focus
wheels
Pan handle
Twist
Azimuth
tension
knob
5

The StarBlast 102mm also excels for nighttime viewing, enabling
you to see hundreds of craters on the Moon, Jupiter and its four
major moons, the rings of Saturn, and much more! If you take
the telescope to a location away from city lights (the darker, the
better), you will be able to spot most of the famous “M objects,”
or Messier objects, which include open star clusters, globular
star clusters, gaseous nebulas, and even galaxies outside our
own Milky Way galaxy. You’ll need a star map or a planisphere
(the Orion Star Target plansiphere is a great one) and some
patience, but the rewards are endless.
Best Targets
Best night sky targets from the city:
•The Moon
•Venus
•Jupiter
•Saturn
Best targets from rural locations (everything
above, plus):
•Great Nebula in Orion – a spectacular glowing cloud of
gas in Orion’s sword; this is a “stellar maternity ward,” a
place where new stars are forming.
•Summer Milky Way – the StarBlast is well suited to
scanning the Milky Way to “discover” dozens of star
clusters.
•Pleiades (M45) – a bright open star cluster
•Andromeda Galaxy (M31) – the brightest external galaxy
•Double Cluster in Perseus
•M11, M6 & M7 – three bright summer star clusters
•Beehive Cluster – a big, open star cluster in the spring
sky
•Great Cluster in Hercules (M13) – a wonderful globular
star cluster, spring & summer
•M22 – another grand globular star cluster in Sagittarius,
a summer constellation
“Seeing” and Transparency
Atmospheric conditions vary signicantly from night to night.
“Seeing” refers to the steadiness of the Earth’s atmosphere at
a given time. In conditions of poor seeing, atmospheric turbu-
lence causes objects viewed through the telescope to “boil.” If
you look up at the sky and stars are twinkling noticeably, the
seeing is poor and you will be limited to viewing at lower magni-
cations. At higher magnications, images will not focus clearly.
Fine details on the planets and Moon will likely not be visible.
In conditions of good seeing, star twinkling is minimal and
images appear steady in the eyepiece. Seeing is best overhead,
worst at the horizon. Also, seeing generally gets better after mid-
night, when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth during the
day has radiated off into space.
Especially important for observing faint objects is good “trans-
parency”—air free of moisture, smoke, and dust.All tend to scat-
ter light, which reduces an object’s brightness. Transparency is
judged by the magnitude of the faintest stars you can see with
the unaided eye (5th or 6th magnitude is desirable).
Cooling the Telescope
All optical instruments need time to reach “thermal equilibri-
um.” The bigger the instrument and the larger the temperature
change, the more time is needed. Allow at least 30 minutes for
your telescope to acclimate to the temperature outdoors before
you start observing with it.
Let Your Eyes Dark-Adapt
Don’t expect to go from a lighted house into the darkness of the
outdoors at night and immediately see faint nebulas, galaxies,
and star clusters—or even very many stars, for that matter.Your
eyes take about 30 minutes to reach perhaps 80% of their full
dark-adapted sensitivity. As your eyes become dark-adapted,
more stars will glimmer into view and you’ll be able to see fainter
details in objects you view in your telescope.
To see what you’re doing in the darkness, use a red-ltered
ashlight rather than a white light. Red light does not spoil your
eyes’ dark adaptation like white light does. A ashlight with a red
LED light is ideal. Beware, too, that nearby porch, streetlights,
and car headlights will hinder your night vision.
Using the MoonMap 260
Included with your StarBlast 102mm refractor telescope is
Orion’s exclusive MoonMap 260 (I). It depicts the locations
and names of over 260 features on the Moon such as craters,
mountains, valleys, "seas" and more. It is a great tool for begin-
ning astronomers. This detailed map will even show you where
various spacecraft from past space missions have landed on the
Moon's surface!
The great thing about the Moon is that its phase changes every
night. Focus your attention on the border between the illumi-
nated and dark portions or the surface, called the “terminator”.
Shadows cast along the terminator help to reveal the rugged
relief of the landscape. Note that the worst time to view the
Figure 9. The red dot nder scope has vertical and (inset) horizontal
adjustment knobs for aligning it with the telescope.
Power switch
Vertical knob
Plastic
tab
Horizontal knob
6

Moon is during the full Moon phase. That’s because sunlight
shines directly downward on the lunar surface, so no shadows
are cast by the moon's topography.
Telescope Care and
Maintenance
If you give your telescope reasonable care, it will last a lifetime.
Store it in a clean, dry, dust-free place, safe from rapid changes
in temperature and humidity. Do not store the telescope out-
Figure 11. When not in use, store the two eyepieces in their bolt
cases, the diagonal, and the red dot finder scope in the zippered
accessory pouch.
Figure 10. All included components of the StarBlast 102mm fit
neatly in the included carrying case.
doors, although storage in a garage or shed is okay. Keep the
dust cover on the front of the telescope when it is not in use.
Your refractor telescope requires very little mechanical main-
tenance. The optical tube has a smooth painted nish that is
fairly scratch-resistant. If a scratch does appear on the tube, it
will not harm the telescope. If you wish, you may apply some
auto touch-up paint to the scratch. Smudges on the tube can be
wiped off with a soft cloth and household cleaning uid.
Everything Fits in the Carrying Case!
The StarBlast 102mm refractor comes complete with a soft
case (J) that neatly holds all its components (Figure 10). The
telescope optical tube and tripod both t inside the case, sepa-
rated by a protective divider to keep them from contacting each
other. The tripod accessory tray ts in a pocket inside the case.
The case is equipped with both hand straps and a shoulder
strap for convenient transport of your telescope wherever you
go! The eyepieces and red dot nder scope should be kept in
the included small accessory pouch (H) inside the larger case
(Figure 11). Each eyepiece comes with a white plastic “bolt
case” designed to protect and keep the eyepiece clean when
it’s not in use.
Cleaning Optics
Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens cleaning
uid specically designed for multi-coated optics can be used
to clean the lenses of your telescope and eyepieces. Never use
regular glass cleaner or cleaning uid designed for eyeglasses.
Before cleaning, remove any loose particles or dust from the
lens with a blower bulb or soft brush. Then apply some cleaning
uid to a tissue, never directly on the optics. Wipe the lens gently
in a circular motion, then remove any excess uid with a fresh
lens tissue. Oily ngerprints and smudges may be removed
using this method. Use caution; rubbing too hard may scratch
the lens. On larger lenses, clean only a small area at a time,
using a fresh lens tissue on each area. Never reuse tissues.
When bringing the telescope inside after an evening’s viewing
it is normal for moisture to accumulate on the lenses due to the
change in temperature. We suggest leaving the telescope and
eyepieces uncovered overnight to allow the condensation to
evaporate.
7

Specifications
Objective lens: 102mm (4") diameter,
achromatic
Effective focal length: 600mm
Focal ratio: f/5.9
Lens coatings: Antireection coated
Focuser: Rack-and-pinion,
accepts 1.25" accessories
Eyepieces: 25mm and 10mm Plossl,
1.25" barrel diameter,
threaded for Orion lters
Eyepiece coatings: Fully antireection coated
Diagonal: 90-degree correct-image, 1.25"
Eyepiece magnication: 24x (with 25mm eyepiece) and
60x (with 10mm eyepiece)
Finder scope: Red dot type, non-magnifying
Tripod: Stainless steel,
2-section tube legs
Pan head: Two-way (altitude, azimuth)
Max eyepiece height: 51.5"
Assembled weight: 10 lbs. 10 oz.
One-Year Limited Warranty
This Orion product is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year
from the date of purchase. This warranty is for the benefit of the original retail purchaser only. During
this warranty period Orion Telescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace, at Orion’s option, any war-
ranted instrument that proves to be defective, provided it is returned postage paid. Proof of purchase
(such as a copy of the original 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
modified, nor does it apply to normal wear and tear. This warranty gives you specific 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.
Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA
Toll Free USA & Canada: [phone]
International: [phone]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Copyright © 2019 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars. All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents may be reproduced,
copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.
AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY
8