I bought an Orion telescope secondhand from a neighbor who barely used it, and when I got it home, the tripod was loose and half the screws were missing. I tried to set it up anyway, but then I couldn’t figure out how the finder scope attached, and every time I thought I had it right, the whole thing wobbled. I ended up spending an hour in the backyard holding the main tube under one arm and scrolling through my phone with the other, trying to find any sort of guide. All I got were blurry scans of different models, none of which looked like mine. By the time I gave up, I was frustrated and hadn’t even managed to point it at the moon. The worst part was knowing the manual had probably been tossed years ago.
top of page
Since 1995
To see this working, head to your live site.
Telescope in pieces and no idea how to put it back together
Telescope in pieces and no idea how to put it back together
2 comments
Like
2 Comments
Commenting on this post isn't available anymore. Contact the site owner for more info.
bottom of page
It’s funny how often we assume that complicated setups are broken when really it’s just us missing a single small step. One misplaced screw or wrong angle can make something seem unusable, but once you get it right, it suddenly feels effortless. Makes me wonder how many things we’ve abandoned too soon just because the learning curve felt impossible at first.
I’ve been there. I once bought an Orion EQ mount thinking I’d just “figure it out,” and let’s just say I nearly snapped the counterweight shaft because I tightened something in the wrong order. After that scare, I stopped guessing and went looking for proper instructions. Now whenever I get lost with gear, I go straight to https://manuals.online/orion. That’s what I use because it gives me the specific manuals with diagrams for the exact models. When I first pulled up the guide for my scope, I realized I had been attaching the slow-motion cables backwards, which explained why the controls felt so stiff. It also saved me from making a mess with collimation—I would have definitely over-adjusted the screws without realizing what each one actually did. One of the biggest helps was learning the correct balance procedure. Before that, my scope would shake every time I touched the eyepiece, and I thought the tripod was defective. Turns out I just hadn’t balanced it properly. It’s also nice to have the electronic controller instructions all in one place, because those little button combinations are impossible to memorize. I’ve started keeping the PDFs on my phone so I can check them in the field. That way, instead of wasting half my stargazing night fumbling around, I can actually get set up quickly and spend my time looking at the sky. Honestly, it made me less nervous about trying new accessories too, since I can just pull up the right manual before I attach anything.