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| The Orion StarBlast II EQ telescope arrives in kit form with these parts ready for assembly |
Assembly of the Orion StarBlast II EQ Telescope
The Starblast II EQ telescope is easily assembled by following these guidelines
Assembling the Orion StarBlast 4.5-inch equatorial telescope is routine for the most part. The kit comes with an assembled OTA optical tube assembly and the German equatorial head is for the most part ready for mounting. Unfortunately my telescope kit arrived without the instruction manual and therefore no assembly details were provided. Fortunately the assembly is very basic and straightforward and no instructions are needed when following a photo from online sources. For more details, Orion provides a YouTube video for assembly. The telescope manual is also found online in PDF format at a link on the Orion website.
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| The Chinese manufactured Orion StarBlast II EQ Equatorial Head is a marvel of exquisite engineering. It arrives with most of the main parts assembled. |
I had no problems assembling the telescope kit - all the parts were present with no hardware missing. A wrench and screwdrivers are provided in the kit, however when it came time to assemble the tripod tray to the tripod legs, the nuts were very tight turning onto the bolts and a pliers, vise grips, and larger philips screwdriver were used as additional tools.
On caveat is the toe saver - a washer and nut at the end of the weight shaft which was already screwed to the shaft. It appeared to be permanently locked on so tight that nothing would remove it. As a simple solution, it was kept on, the counterweight slid onto the other end of the shaft, and the shaft was then screwed into the equatorial head. The counterweight easily removes by removing the shaft.
Remember to engage the slow motion control nuts onto the flat sides of the shafts. Setting the latitude is extremely easy. Overall the EQ-1 mount is lightweight and easy to carry. Setting it up is nearly instantaneous. I added a compass and turned the tripod and mount to calibrate to North, as the northern hemisphere is not visible from my sky window.
The second caveat is related to the red dot finder (Orion EZ Finder II Telescope Reflex Sight). The finder is held together with two side screws. This finder was assembled without any tightening of these screws. After placing it onto the OTA, it fell apart. Lucky the telescope was being moved with a plastic bag over the top and the finder fell into the bag and did not crash to the floor or break into pieces.
The final step was to install the clock drive. Printed instructions are available and are straightforward. see links
Final thoughts: the Orion StarBlast II EQ Telescope is exactly what I wanted. It's very lightweight, easy to setup and hand carries around like a small charm. The mount and tripod are already setup, just dial in your latitude and use a compass to set it facing the north pole. It works simple and might hold another small telescope set piggyback. The clock drive keeps the image in the eyepiece when polar aligned and overall the system should be good for lucky imaging. This is the telescope I can lift and move around, and will get the most use. By comparison, I'm not able to lift or move a Celestron CGX/L 14". Is there a downside to the 4.5-inch telescope? Not really - just keep in mind the lightweight mount will require a few seconds to settle down each time the telescope is moved or touched.
Orion StarBlast Webpage
Orion EZ Finder II Telescope Reflex Sight Webpage
Orion AstroTrack Drive for EQ-1 Equatorial Telescope Mount Webpage
Instruction & Assembly Manual
EN: Orion StarBlast II 4.5 Equatorial Reflector Telescope
How to Set Up the Orion StarBlast II 4.5 Equatorial Reflector Telescope - Orion Telescopes (YouTube video by Orion)
How to Use the Orion StarBlast II 4.5 EQ Reflector Telescope
EN: Collimation of a Newtonian Reflector Telescope
EN: Orion AstrTrack DC Motor Drive for EQ-1 Mount
