Orion warranties against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase for Orion brand products. 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 warranted instrument that proves to be defective, provided it is returned postage paid to: Orion Warranty Repair, 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076. If the product is not registered, proof of purchase (such as a copy of the original invoice) is required. 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 customer’s specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights, which vary from state to state. For further warranty service information, contact: Customer Service Department, Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076; (800) 676-1343.
Some items may be covered by a warranty period shorter or longer than the standard one year warranty. Specific warranty information is available on the product detail page of the website.

Periodic Error Correction, or PEC for short, is a system that improves the track accuracy for the drive by reducing the number of the user corrections. PEC is designed to improve photographic quality by reducing the amplitude of the worm errors. Using the PEC function is a two-step process. First you guide for at least 5 ½ minutes (the time it takes the worm to make one revolution) during which the system records the corrections you make. This “teaches” the PEC chip the characteristics of the worm. The second step is to play back the corrections you made during one recording phase. Keep in mind, this feature is for the advanced astrophotographer and requires careful guiding.

When you observe a celestial object through the telescope, you’ll see it drift slowly across the field of view. To keep it in the field, if your equatorial mount is polar-aligned, just turn the R.A. slow-motion control. The Dec. slow-motion control is not needed for tracking, but may be required to center the object. Objects will appear to move faster at higher magnifications, because the field of view is narrower.

A DC motor drive system can be mounted on all Orion equatorial mounts to provide hands-free tracking. Motor drive systems are typically offered as an optional accessory. Objects will then remain stationary in the field of view without any manual adjustment of the R.A. slow-motion control. A dual-axis motor drive is necessary for astrophotography.

Once basic Moon photography has been mastered, it’s time to get images of the planets. This type of astrophotography also works to get highly magnified shots of the Moon. In addition to the T-ring, you will need a Universal 1.25“ Camera Adapter. A motor drive system (single or dual axis) is also required. This is because a longer exposure is necessary, which would cause the image to blur if no motor drive was used for tracking. The equatorial mount must be accurately polar aligned, too. As before, connect the T-ring to your camera. Before connecting the Universal camera adapter to the T-Ring, an eyepiece must be inserted and locked into the body of the Universal camera adapter. Start by using a medium-low power eyepiece (about 25mm); you can increase the magnification later with a high-power eyepiece. Then connect the entire camera adapter, with eyepiece inside, to the T-Ring. Insert the whole system into the telescope’s focuser drawtube and secure firmly with the thumbscrews. Aim the telescope at the planet (or Moon) you wish to shoot. The image will be highly magnified, so you may need to use the finder scope to center it within the camera’s viewfinder. Turn the motor drive on. Adjust the telescope’s focuser so that the image appears sharp in the camera’s viewfinder. The camera’s shutter is now ready to be opened. A remote shutter release or shutter timer must be used or the image will be blurred beyond recognition. Try exposure times between 1 and 10 seconds, depending upon the brightness of the planet to be photographed and the ISO of the film being used.

We’ve also seen good digital snapshots of images taken through the telescope’s eyepiece with the SteadyPix adapter.

SkyQuest XT Dobsonians are designed for visual, not photographic use. The Dobsonian mount is not an equatorial type mount, so it cannot be motor driven for long exposure astrophotography. You can take great shots of the moon with film or digital camera, but that is the extent of astrophotography with a Dobsonian telescope.

By attaching a camera body to a telescope, in effect using the scope as a telephoto lens, you can take striking photographs of the Sun. Only attempt this if the telescope is equipped with the proper solar filter. Solar filters are coated to a neutral density of 5, which reduces the light about 100,000 times. Depending on the aperture and focal length of your telescope and “seeing” conditions, you will need to experiment to find the best exposure time for your equipment. We recommend starting with an ISO rating of around 400. At prime focus, start with an exposure of about 1/250 second. Experiment with different shutter speeds. When using higher magnifications, longer exposures will generally be necessary. If you are a beginner in astrophotography and need further information, there are books available that cover this subject completely. Do not be discouraged if your first attempts at solar photography are less than desired. The Sun is very difficult to photograph because of poorer “seeing” conditions caused by unavoidable heat currents associated with daytime viewing. The highest possible resolution for any land-based telescope, regardless of location, is about 1 arc second. Ideal seeing for any location will be available less than 5% of the time. It may be some consolation to consider that your results could equal those at professional observatories, as larger apertures and location have little, if any, advantage. During bad seeing conditions, it may help to “stop down” apertures over 5“ with an off-axis mask.