Celestron Omni CG-4 Telescope Mount Telescope Maintenance

1

T

ELESCOPE

M

AINTENANCE

ENGLISH

While your telescope requires little maintenance, there are

a few things to remember that will ensure your telescope

performs at its best. Each optical design type has special

collimation instructions described below.

Many lower cost

Refractor and/or Newtonian telescopes do not have the

capability of collimation and thus you only need to refer

to the care and cleaning of the optics information.

The

collimation instructions show images of typical Celestron

telescopes, and your telescope may be somewhat different, but

the overall functions/methods are similar.

Occasionally dust and/or moisture may build up on the objective

lens, the corrector plate, or primary mirror depending on which

type of telescope you have. Special care should be taken when

cleaning any instrument so as not to damage the optics.

If dust has built up on the optics, remove it with a brush (made

of camel’s hair) or a can of pressurized air (spray at an angle

to the glass surface for approximately two to four seconds).

Then, use an optical cleaning solution and white tissue paper to

remove any remaining debris. Apply the solution to the tissue

and then apply the tissue paper to the optics. Low pressure

strokes should go from the center of the lens (or mirror) to the

outer portion.

DO NOT rub in circles!

You can use a commercially made lens cleaner or mix your

own. A good cleaning solution is isopropyl alcohol mixed with

distilled water. The solution should be 60% isopropyl alcohol

and 40% distilled water. Or, liquid dish soap diluted with water

(a couple of drops per one quart of water) can be used.

Occasionally, you may experience dew build-up on the optics

of your telescope during an observing session. If you want to

continue observing, the dew must be removed, either with a

hair dryer (on low setting) or by pointing the telescope at the

ground until the dew has evaporated.

If moisture condenses on the inside of the optics, remove

the accessories from the telescope. Place the telescope in a

dust-free environment and point it down. This will remove the

moisture from the telescope tube.

To minimize the need to clean your telescope, replace all lens

covers once you have finished using it. Since the cells are NOT

sealed, the covers should be placed over the openings when

not in use. This will prevent contaminants from entering the

optical tube.

Internal adjustments and cleaning should be done only by the

Celestron repair department or a qualified Celestron dealer.

Be sure to completely read carefully before attempting

collimation. Collimation is the process of aligning the optical

axis of each optical element with each other and with the

mechanical axis of the telescope tube. For a refractor telescope

design, this means aligning the optical axis of the objective

lens with the optical axis of the eyepiece on the rear end of

the tube. Your refractor was properly aligned at the factory.

However, extremely rough handling while traveling may

eventually alter the alignment of the lens. Your refractor

telescope may come with an adjustable objective lens housing

to assist in the alignment of the optical axis. It is rare that

collimation would be necessary, and if your telescope does not

have collimation adjustment screws, you may have to send it to

the factory for alignment.

To determine whether or not re-collimation is necessary, the

telescope should be set up outside at night. It should be a still

night and one in which you have let the telescope sit outside

for 15 to 30 minutes before attempting collimation. You should

also wait for a night with good seeing conditions and avoid

looking over anything that produces heat waves (i.e., roof tops,

car hoods, etc.).

Pick a bright star and center it in the field of the telescope.

Study the image of the star while racking it in and out of focus

using an eyepiece that yields 30 to 60 power for every inch

of aperture. If an unsymmetrical focus pattern is present, then

collimation is necessary. (If the telescope is properly collimated,

the out of focus star image will appear as a concentric ring

pattern similar to that shown).

C

ARE

AND

C

LEANING

OF

THE

O

PTICS

C

OLLIMATION

OF

R

EFRACTORS

O

BJECTIVE

LENS

HOUSING

(

WITH

LENS

SHADE

REMOVED

)

SHOW

MOUNTING

AND

COLLIMATION

SCREWS

.

Collimation

Screws (Allen head)

Mounting Screws (Phillips head)

Celestron Omni CG-4 Telescope Mount Telescope Maintenance

Celestron Omni CG-4 Telescope Mount Manual

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