As numerous customers have shown, the ED80's short focal length and superb apochromatic optics make it a great telescope for astrophotography. And now we've coupled it with a state-of-the-art equatorial mount that provides the stability and precision control needed to capture beautiful deep-sky�images.

The Orion Sirius ED80 EQ-G GoTo Refractor Telescope sports a multi-coated 80mm objective lens doublet of 600mm focal length (f/7.5). One lens element is crafted from extra-low dispersion, or "ED" optical glass. This high-grade glass greatly reduces the chromatic aberration that causes color fringing around bright objects and loss of sharpness in standard achromats.

The 2" Crayford-style focuser accepts both 2" and 1.25" accessories and has a drawtube tensioning knob for securing your camera position when imaging and your telescope eyepiece/diagonal assembly when�observing.

With the Sirius EQ-G mount and optional GoTo hand controller you'll experience effortless computerized navigation to 42,900 celestial objects with a few button pushes on the illuminated hand controller. Internal dual-axis stepper motors move the telescope at up to 3.4° per second right to your target object, tracking it while you observe or photograph it. Periodic error correction (PEC), a port for an optional autoguider, and an illuminated polar axis scope for accurate polar aligning are all standard features, designed to ensure successful astroimaging adventures!

The tripod features extendable 1.75"-diameter stainless steel legs and a cast-metal spreader plate/accessory tray for unflinching stability. To power the mount you will need a 12-volt DC battery or an AC-to-DC adapter for use of 110-volt power. One-year limited warranty.

For owners of the Sirius EQ-G GoTo Mount whose version of the GoTo hand controller is 3.0 or greater, the GoTo hand controller's firmware can be updated over the internet.

Updating the GoTo Hand Controller's Firmware
From version 3.0 and up, the GoTo hand controller's firmware can be updated over the internet.

System Requirements

• GoTo hand controller version 3.0 or greater
• Windows95 or later
• An available RS-232 COM port on the PC
• Computer interface cable (supplied)
• DC power supply (7.5V to 15V @ 100mA or greater output with 2.1mm tip positive plug)

Preparing the Computer for the Update

1. Create a folder where you will store the files necessary for the update.
2. Click on the Download Firmware Files link below and save the Firmware Loader program to the folder you have created on your computer. You will need to download this program only once; after it is saved on your computer, only the firmware data file is needed for future updates.
3. Download and save the firmware update date file to the folder you created. The file will be named OrionVxxxxEQ.ssf, where xxxx indicates the version number of the firmware.

Updating the GoTo Hand Controller

1. Plug the modular plug end of the computer interface cable into the middle jack in the hand controller. Plug the serial connector end of the cable to the COM port on your PC.
2. Press and hold down the 0 and 8 numerical buttons simultaneously, then plug the power supply into the hand controller's DC power jack. The hand controller will beep and display "SynScan Update Ver. x.x" on the LCD screen.
3. Run the Firmware Loader program on your computer.
4. Click on the "Browse" box and select the OrionVxxxx.ssf file location where it was saved previously on your computer.
5. Click on the "Update" button, and the new firmware will begin loading into the hand controller. The Firmware Loader will show the progress of the update on your computer screen. It will usually take approximately 5 minutes for the new firmware to load into the hand controller. It may take significantly longer if a serial-to-USB adapter is employed on your computer.
6. When the download is complete, the Firmware Loader will display "Update Complete".

The firmware in the GoTo hand controller has now been updated. You can click on the "HC. Version" button to confirm the new version number of the firmware (and possibly the database, but the hardware version will not change with internet updates).

Note: If the error message "Can not connect to a SynScan hand control" appears on your computer, check all cable connections. Also, try closing all other computer programs that might be attempting to use the COM port.

Note: If the error message "Firmware update failed..." appears on your computer, remove the power plug from the hand controller, and then reconnect it. Now, repeat the firmware update procedure.

By default, the data communication rate between the GoTo hand controller and the computer is 115kbps. The RS-232 port on some PCs may not support this high data transfer rate. If the firmware update procedure fails after a few tries, try reducing the data transfer rate by pressing the SETUP button on the hand controller. This will reduce the data transfer rate to 9.6kbps. The controller's LCD screen will show "Lo" in the lower right hand corner to indicate the lower transfer rate setting. The firmware update procedure remains the same except it will take much longer for the firmware to load into the hand controller.

Download Firmware Files