Celestron Advanced VX 8 Newtonian Telescope Advanced VX Manual - Page 9

2. R emove the counterweight safety screw on the bottom end of the counterweight bar by turning it counterclockwise. This screw prevents the counterweight from falling off the mount in the case the counterweight locking screw comes loose. 3. L oosen the locking screw on the side of the counterweight. 4. S lide the counterweight over the counterweight bar and move it about halfway up the bar. 5. T ighten the locking screw on the side of the counterweight to hold it in place. 6. Replace the counterweight safety screw. Tip: The hole in the center of your counterweight is slightly larger on one side. When you slide the counterweight onto the counterweight bar, make sure that the smaller hole is facing the equatorial head. This allows you to slide the counterweight over the safety screw at the bottom of the counterweight bar in case you need a little bit more adjustment to balance additional accessories mounted on your optical tube. The smaller hole prevents the counterweight from completely sliding over the safety screw. Attaching the Hand Control Holder The Advanced VX telescope models come with a hand control holder that attaches to a tripod leg. The hand control holder comes in two pieces: the Leg Clamp that snaps around the tripod leg and the holder which attaches to the Leg Clamp. To attach the hand control holder: 1. Place the leg clamp up against one of the tripod legs and press firmly until the clamp wraps around the leg. 2. S lide the back of the hand control holder downward into the channel on the front of the legs clamp until it snaps into place. Hand Control Holder that the mount does not move suddenly while attaching the telescope. To mount the telescope tube: 1. Loosen the two mounting screws on the side of the telescope mounting platform. This allows you to slide the dovetail bar onto the mount. 2. If your telescope is equipped with one, remove the safety screws located beneath the dovetail bar. 3. S lide the dovetail bar on the telescope tube into the mounting platform of the mount. Slide the telescope so that the back of the dovetail bar is close to the back of the mounting platform. 4. Tighten the mounting screws on the side of the mounting platform to hold the telescope in place. Now that the optical tube is securely in place, the visual accessories can now be attached to the telescope. This is covered in detail in the section of this manual dealing with the use of optical tubes. Safety Screw Dovetail Bar Telescope Mounting Screw Moving the Telescope Manually In order to properly balance your telescope, you will need to move your telescope manually at various portions of the sky to observe different objects. To make rough adjustments, loosen the R.A. and DEC clutch knobs slightly and move the telescope in the desired direction. Both the R.A. and DEC axis have lock levers to clutch down each axis of the telescope. To loosen the clutches on the telescope, rotate the lock levers counterclockwise. Leg Clamp Declination Clutch Lever Attaching an Optical Tube to the Mount The telescope attaches to the mount via a dovetail slide bar which is mounted along the bottom of the telescope tube. Before you attach the optical tube, make sure that the declination and right ascension clutch knobs are tight and the counterweight(s) are securely installed. This will ensure RA Clutch Lever I 9