Orion SpaceProbe II 76mm User manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL
IN 578 08/17
Orion®
SpaceProbe™II 76mm
Equatorial Reflector
#10274
Customer Support:
www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus
Corporate Offices:
89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 – USA
Copyright © 2017 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.
Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975
®

2
1. Parts
Remove and identify all parts, using the list below and Figure 1
for reference.
Part Qty
A – Tripod legs 3
B – Hex-head tripod mounting bolts 3
C – Washers (5/8") 3
D – Wing nuts (large) 3
E – Leg lock thumbscrew 3
F – Accessory tray 1
G – Screws 3
H – Washers (3/8") 3
I – Wing nuts (small) 3
J – Equatorial mount 1
K – Azimuth lock knob (and washer) 1
L – Latitude adjustment bolt 1
M – Counterweight shaft 1
Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion telescope.Your new SpaceProbe II 76mm Equatorial
Reector. is a terric starter instrument for exploring the exotic wonders of the night sky. Designed to
be lightweight and easy to use, it will provide many hours of enjoyment for the whole family.
If you have never owned a telescope before, we would like to welcome you to amateur astronomy. Take
some time to familiarize yourself with the night sky. Learn to recognize the patterns of stars in the major
constellations. With a little practice, a little patience, and a reasonably dark sky away from city lights, you’ll
nd your telescope to be a never-ending source of wonder, exploration, and relaxation.
These instructions will help you set up, properly use, and care for your telescope. Please read them over
thoroughly before getting started.
WARNING: Never look directly at the Sun through
your telescope—even for an instant—without a
professionally made solar lter that completely
covers the front of the instrument, or permanent eye
damage could result. Young children should use this
telescope only with adult supervision.
Table of Contents
1. Parts .......................................2
2. Assembly....................................2
3. Preparing the Telescope for Operation .............5
4. Understanding and Using the Equatorial Mount ......8
5. Astronomical Observing .......................12
6. Useful Optional Accessories ....................14
7. Aligning the Mirrors (Collimation) ................14
8. Telescope Care and Maintenance ................15
9. Specications ...............................16
N – Counterweight lock knob 1
O – Counterweight 1
P – Slow-motion cables 2
Q – Mounting platform 1
R – Tube ring 1
S – Tube ring mounting hardware 6
T – Screwdriver tool 1
U – Optical tube assembly 1
V – Red dot nder scope 1
W – 25mm Kellner eyepiece 1
X – 10mm Kellner eyepiece 1
Y – Dust cover 1
Z – Allen wrench (not shown) 1
2. Assembly
Refer to Figures 1 and 2 and the parts list at left for identica-
tion of specic parts during assembly.
1. Attach the three aluminum tripod legs (A) to the mounting
platform (Q) (Figure 3a) with the three hinged leg braces
facing inward.Three hex-head bolts (B) each about 3" long,
with 5/8" washers (C) and wing nuts (D), are provided for
this purpose. Note that the bolts should be inserted from
the side of the leg that has the hex-shaped hole, so that
the bolt head seats in the hex-shaped hole (Figure 3b).
The washer then the wing nut are placed on the opposite
side on the exposed end of the bolt.
2. Attach a leg lock thumbscrew (E) to each leg as shown
(Figure 4). Extend the sliding inner portion of the adjust-
able-height tripod leg to the desired length for all three
legs. Lock in place by tightening the leg lock thumbscrews.
Do not over-tighten the leg lock thumbscrews or you may
damage the collar they are attached to.
3. Now stand the tripod upright, spreading the legs evenly
apart so the accessory tray can be positioned to attach to
the three leg braces.
4. Attach the accessory tray (F) to the leg brace supports
(Figure 5) with the three short screws (G), small (3/8")

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P
A
A
X
A
A
R
P
E
M
N
O
F
E
E
E
F
O
N
W
PL
R
B
C
U
D
WX
J K SV
U
G/H/I
Dec. Axis
R.A. Axis
M T
YQ
Figure 1. The parts of the SpaceProbe II 76mm EQ telescope.
Figure 2. The SpaceProbe II 76 EQ telescope fully assembled with key parts identied.
V
J
L

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washers (H), and small wing nuts (I) provided. Place a
washer on the screw. Then place the accessory tray on
top of one of the leg braces so that the mounting screw
passes through the hole at one of the corners of the
accessory tray, and through the slot in the leg brace. Then
place another small washer on the screw and thread on
and tighten the wing nut. Repeat this procedure until the
tray is attached to all three leg braces.
The tripod is now fully assembled (Figure 6). Next you will
install the equatorial mount onto the tripod.
5. Locate the equatorial (EQ) mount (J) and place its base into
the hole in the center of the mounting platform (Q) (Figure
7a). Then secure it in place with the azimuth lock knob and
washer (K) (Figure 7b).
6. Thread the latitude adjustment bolt (L) into the threaded
socket (Figure 8) until it contacts metal inside the housing.
7. Next, thread the counterweight shaft (M) into the base of
the Declination axis of the mount (Figure 9).
8. Thread the counterweight lock knob (N) into the counter-
weight (O) a few turns.
9. To slide the counterweight onto the counterweight shaft,
rst remove the Philips screw and washer from the end of
the shaft.You can use the screwdriver tool (T) for this. Make
sure the counterweight lock knob (N) is loosened enough
so that the metal pin inside the counterweight is clear of
the shaft hole. Slide the counterweight about 2 inches from
the bottom of the counterweight shaft and secure it in place
with the lock knob (Figure 10). Then replace the washer
and screw at the end of the counterweight shaft.
10. Attach the slow motion cables (P) to the gear shafts as
shown in Figure 11. The longer cable should be attached
to the declination gear shaft; the shorter cable to the right
ascension gear shaft. Orient the cable so that the thumb-
screw seats in the groove of the gear shaft, as shown in
Figure 12, then rmly tighten the thumbscrew. If there is
a small rubber ball on the end of the shaft, you will have
to remove it in order to attach the cable. Also note that,
depending on your preference, you can attach the cable to
either the left or right side of the right ascension gear shaft.
Now the mount is properly attached to the tripod and outtted
for use (Figure 13). Next, you’ll attach the tube ring and opti-
cal tube to the EQ mount.
11. To attach the tube ring (R), set the bottom of the ring into
the EQ head’s saddle and bolt it on with the two supplied
socket head bolts, washers, and wing nuts (S) as shown
in Figure 14. You can use the supplied Allen wrench (Z,
not shown in Fig. 1) to help tighten the bolt while holding
the wing nut. Do not overtighten!
12. Then lay the telescope optical tube (U) into the open tube
ring. Close the tube ring around the tube and tighten the
tube ring clamp knob. The telescope should now look like
Figure 15.
13. To attach the red dot nder scope (V) to the optical tube,
orient the nder scope as shown in Figure 16 and slide
the bracket foot into the nder scope base until it clicks.
Figure 3. a) Attach the three tripod legs to the mount platform,
b) making sure the bolt’s hex-shaped head seats in the hex-shaped
recess of the tripod leg.
Washer
Wingnut
Figure 4. Thread a leg lock thumbscrew onto each tripod leg as
shown, being careful not to overtighten.
Figure 5. Attach the accessory tray to each of the tripod three
leg brace supports using the provided hardware.
Wing nut
Accessory tray Screw head
Washer
Washer
Leg

5
(To remove the nder scope, press the small tab at the
back of the base and slide the bracket out.)
14. Insert the 25mm eyepiece (W) into the focuser and secure
it by lightly tightening the thumbscrew (Figure 17).
The telescope is now completely assembled! Before it can be
effectively used, however, there are a couple of things to do to
prepare the telescope for operation.
3. Preparing the Telescope
for Operation
Aligning and Using the Red Dot Finder Scope
The included red dot nder scope (Figure 18) 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 compart-
ment (Figure 18). Doing so will allow the pre-installed 3V
CR-2032 button cell battery to make contact with the nder
scope’s electronic circuitry to power the nder’s red LED illu-
minator. 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 cap (Y) from the front of the tele-
scope.
2. With the 25mm eyepiece already in place from step 14
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. Center the target in the eyepiece by turning the
slow-motion cables as needed to point the telescope. For
larger telescope movement, release the RA and Dec axis
lock knobs (Figure 19) and move the telescope tube by
hand to the approximate location, then retighten the lock
knobs and make ner pointing adjustments with the slow
motion cables.
Note: The image in the telescope will appear rotated, often
upside down.This is normal for reector telescopes and is
why reectors are not recommended for daytime terrestrial
viewing.
3. Now that a distant target is centered in the main tele-
scope’s eyepiece, turn on the red dot nder scope by slid-
Figure 6. The fully assembled tripod.
Figure 7. a) Install the equatorial mount onto the tripod mount
platform, then b) secure it from the underside with azimuth lock knob.
Azimuth
lock knob
Washer
Figure 8.Screw in the latitude adjustment bolt.
Latitude adjustment
bolt
b.
a.

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ing the power switch to ON (refer to Figure 18). The “1”
position provides dim illumination while the “2” position
provides brighter illumination. Typically the dimmer setting
is used under dark skies and the brighter setting is used
under light-polluted 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.
4. You’ll want to center the target object on the red dot. To do
so, without moving the telescope, use the nder scope’s
vertical and horizontal adjustment knobs (shown in Figure
18) to position the red dot on the object.
5. 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 finder
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.
Figure 11. The assembled equatorial mount, showing
placement of the slow-motion cables.
R.A. slow-motion cable
Dec. slow-motion
cable
Latitude
adjustment
bolt
Latitude lock
knob
Figure 9.Thread the counter-
weight shaft into the declination
housing.
Figure 10.The
counterweight, installed.
Lock knob
Figure 12. Line up the slow-motion cable thumbscrew with the
groove in the gear shaft, then tighten.
Figure 13. The fully assembled equatorial mount and tripod.
Slow-motion
cable
Thumbscrew
Gear shaft
Groove

7
Balancing the Telescope
In order for the telescope to move smoothly on its mechanical
axes, the optical tube must rst be balanced on the mount as
follows:
1. Keeping one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen
the R.A. lock knob. Make sure the Dec. lock knob is locked,
for now. 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 (Figure 20a).
2. Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide the
weight along the shaft until it exactly counterbalances the
telescope. That’s the point at which the shaft remains hori-
zontal even when you let go of the telescope with both
hands.
3. Retighten the counterweight lock knob. The telescope is
now balanced on the R.A. axis.
4. To balance the telescope on the Dec. axis, rst tighten
the R.A. lock knob, with the counterweight shaft still in the
horizontal position.
5. With one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen the
Dec. lock knob. The telescope should now be able to rotate
freely about the Dec. axis (Figure 20b). Loosen the tube
Figure 16. Insert the red dot nder scope’s bracket foot
into the base near the focuser as shown.
Figure 14. Installing the tube ring onto the equatorial mount. a) Place open ring in saddle. b) Insert socket head screws through aligned
holes in ring and saddle, then c) place a washer onto the screw followed by a wing nut. Then tighten wing nut.
Finderscope base
Foot
Figure 15. Lay the optical tube in the open tube ring, then
close the ring and clamp it with the tube ring clamp knob.
Socket head
bolts
Tube ring (open)
Ring clamp
knob Latitude
scale
Latitude
adjustment
bolt
Saddle
Washer
Wing nut
b.
a. c.

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ring clamp knob a few turns, until you can slide the tele-
scope tube forward and back inside the ring. Using a slight
twisting motion on the optical tube can help move the tube
within the ring.
6. Position the telescope so it remains horizontal when you
carefully let go with both hands. This is the balance point.
Before clamping the tube ring tight again, rotate the tele-
scope so the eyepiece is at a convenient angle for view-
ing. When you are actually observing with the telescope,
you can adjust the eyepiece position by loosening the tube
ring and rotating the optical tube.
7. Retighten the tube ring clamp knobs.
The telescope is now balanced on both axes. Now when you
loosen 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.
4. Understanding and Using
the Equatorial Mount
When you look at the night sky, you no doubt have noticed
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 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 right ascension axis
at the North Star (Polaris). It lies within 1° of the north celes-
tial pole (NCP), which is an extension of the Earth’s rotational
Figure 17. Eyepiece is shown installed in the focuser.
Figure 19. Get to know the knobs and setting circles on the
equatorial mount.
Thumbscrew
Focuser
Dec. lock
knob
Dec. setting
circle
R.A. setting
circle
R.A. lock
knob
Focus
wheel
Eyepiece
Figure 18. The red dot nder scope has vertical and (inset)
horizontal adjustment knobs for aligning it with the telescope.
Power switch
Plastic
tab
Vertical knob
Horizontal knob
Opposite side
Latitude
adjustment bolt
Latitude
lock
knob

9
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 21). The two stars at the end of the
“bowl” of the Big Dipper point approximately 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 equatorial mount:
1. Roughly level the equatorial mount by adjusting the length
of the three tripod legs as needed.
2. Loosen the latitude lock knob (see Figure 19). Turn the lati-
tude adjustment bolt until the pointer on the latitude scale
is indicating the latitude of your observing location (Figure
15). If you don’t know your latitude, you can look it up on
the internet. For example, if your latitude is 35° North, set
the pointer to 35. Then retighten the latitude lock knob. The
latitude setting should not have to be adjusted again unless
you move to a different viewing location some distance
away.
3. Loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope optical
tube until it is parallel with the R.A. axis, as it is in Figure
2. 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 (Figure 7b) a half turn or so and rotate the mount
so the R.A. axis points roughly at Polaris. If you cannot see
Polaris directly from your observing site, consult a com-
pass 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 to 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.
Using 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 using the cables, manually “slew” the
mount to point the telescope in the vicinity of the desired tar-
get. Do this by loosening the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs (Figure
19) and moving the telescope about the mount’s R.A. and Dec.
Figure 20. Balancing the telescope about the a) R.A. and b)
Dec. axes.
b.
a.
Big Dipper
(in Ursa Major)
Little Dipper
(in Ursa Minor)
Cassiopeia
N.C.P.
Pointer
Stars
Polaris
Figure 21. 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).

10
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 eld of
view of the red dot nder scope. If it isn’t, use the slow-motion
controls to scan the surrounding area of sky. Note: when
using the slow motion cables, the R.A. and Dec lock
knobs should be tightened, not loose. When the object
is visible in the nder scope, use the slow-motion controls to
center the red dot on it. Now, look in the telescope’s eyepiece
and use the slow-motion controls to center it in the eyepiece.
The Dec. slow-motion control cable can move the telescope a
maximum of 25° or so. This is because the Dec. slow-motion
mechanism 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 direc-
tion from which it was 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, assuming your equatorial mount is polar aligned, just
turn the R.A. slow-motion control cable clockwise, if the slow-
motion cable is mounted on the EAST side of the mount. If
it’s on the WEST side of the mount, turn it counterclockwise
to track. 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 Electronic Drive for Automatic Tracking
An optional DC electronic drive can be mounted on the R.A.
axis of the equatorial mount to provide hands-free tracking.
Objects will then remain stationary in the eld of view without
any manual adjustment of the R.A. slow-motion control cable.
Understanding the Setting Circles
The two setting circles (Figure 19) on an equatorial mount
enable you to locate celestial objects by their “celestial coor-
dinates”. 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 are:
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 properly polar aligned, and the R.A. setting cir-
cle must be calibrated. The Dec. setting circle has been per-
manently calibrated at the factory, and should read 90° when-
ever the telescope optical tube is parallel with the R.A. axis.
Calibrating the Right Ascension Setting Circle
Identify a bright star in the sky near the celestial equator
(Dec. = 0°) and look up its coordinates in a star atlas.
1. Loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs on the equatorial
mount, so the telescope optical tube can move freely.
2. 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.
3. 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
1. Now that both setting circles are calibrated, look up in a
star atlas the coordinates of an object you wish to view.
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.
3. 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.
setting 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 equa-
tor. 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 red
dot nder scope, assuming the equatorial mount is accurate-
ly polar aligned. Use the slow-motion controls to center the
object in the nder scope, and it should appear in the tele-
scope’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.