Levenhuk Strike PRO Telescopes Instruction Manual

Products:

• Levenhuk Strike 1000 Pro

1. Piggyback bracket
2. Finderscope
3. Finderscope bracket
4. Adjustment screws
5. Eyepiece
6. Diagonal mirror
7. Focuser tube
8. Focusing knob

1. Dec. slow-motion control
2. Latitude adjustment T-bolt
3. Azimuth adjustment knob
4. Latitude lock knob
5. Counterweight
6. Counterweight lock screw
7. Counterweight rod
8. R.A. axis scale
9. R.A. slow-motion control
10. R.A. lock knob
11. Dec. axis scale
12. Dec. lock knob
13. Ring clamps

1. Accessory tray
2. Tripod leg
3. Height adjustment clamp

1. Eyepiece
2. Diagonal mirror
3. Focusing knob

1. R.A. axis scale
2. R.A. slow-motion control
3. Latitude adjustment T-bolt
4. Azimuth adjustment knob
5. Counterweight
6. Counterweight lock screw
7. Counterweight rod
8. Dec. lock knob
9. Dec. axis scale

1. Accessory tray
2. Tripod leg
3. Height adjustment clamp

1. Altitude adjustment knob
2. Brightness control
3. Azimuth adjustment knob
4. Scope
5. Battery compartment cover

1. R.A. adjustment
2. Altitude adjustment (up-down)
3. Azimuth adjustment (left-right)
4. R.A. scale
5. Dec. adjustment
6. R.A. fine adjustment
7. R.A. adjustment
8. Dec. fine adjustment

1. Diagonal mirror
2. Barlow lens
3. Eyepiece

1. Big Dipper
2. Little Dipper
3. Polaris
4. NCP
5. Cassiopeia
6. β Crucis

1. R.A. lock knob
2. R.A. settling circle
3. Arrow

1. Zenith
2. Meridian line
3. Latitude
4. Nadir
5. N E S W
6. Right Ascension
7. Plane of Celestial Equator
8. Polaris
9. Plane of local horizon
10. Object you are viewing
11. Apparent movement of stars
12. Mount aligned on North Celestial Pole
13. Declination

1. Focuser
2. Eyepiece holder
3. Extender
4. T-adapter
5. Camera

CAUTION! Never look directly at the Sun – even for an instant – through your telescope or finderscope without a professionally made solar filter that completely covers the front of the instrument, or permanent eye damage may result. To avoid damage to the internal parts of your telescope, make sure the front end of the finderscope is covered with aluminum foil or another non-transparent material. Children should use the telescope under adult supervision only.

All parts of the telescope will arrive in one box. Be careful when unpacking it. We recommend keeping the original shipping containers. In the event that the telescope needs to be shipped to another location, having the proper shipping containers will help ensure that your telescope survives the journey intact. Make sure all the parts are present in the packaging. Be sure to check the box carefully, as some parts are small. No tools are needed other than those provided. All screws should be tightened securely to eliminate flexing and wobbling, but be careful not to overtighten them, as that may strip the threads.

During assembly (and anytime, for that matter), do not touch the surfaces of the optical elements with your fingers. The optical surfaces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be damaged if touched. Never remove lenses or mirrors from their housing, or the product warranty will be null and void.

Telescope assembly

• Slowly loosen the tripod locking knobs and gently pull out the lower section of each tripod leg. Tighten the clamps to hold the legs in place. Spread the tripod legs apart to stand the tripod upright.
• Adjust the height of each tripod leg until the tripod head is properly leveled. Note that the tripod legs may not be the same length when the equatorial mount is leveled.
• Place the accessory tray on top of the bracket, and secure it with thumbscrews from underneath.
• Attach the mount to the tripod head. If the mount does not fit on the tripod, loosen the azimuth lock knob. Retighten it after assembly.
• Take the counterweight rod. (1)
• Screw the counterweight rod into the threaded hole on the end of the declination shaft.
• Unscrew the threaded cap from the end of the counterweight rod.
• Take the counterweight(s) and slide them halfway along the counterweight rod. Tighten the counterweight thumbscrews.
• Replace the threaded cap on the end of the counterweight rod.
• Attach the slow-motion controls to the worm gear mechanisms. Tighten the locking screws to secure the control in place. (2)
• Remove the telescope tube from its packaging.
• Remove the ring clamps by releasing their thumbscrews and opening their hinges.
• Using the bolts provided, fasten the ring clamps to the mount with a wrench.
• Place the telescope tube between the rings and balance it. Close the hinges around the telescope and retighten the thumbscrews. Do not overtighten. (3)

Finderscope assembly

• Take the finderscope bracket. Carefully remove the rubber ring.
• Place the ring on the finderscope and position it into the groove halfway along the tube.
• Insert the finderscope bracket into a holder on the telescope tube and lock it in place with a thumbscrew.
• Insert the finderscope into the bracket, so that the rubber ring locks it in place. (4)

Eyepiece assembly

• Unthread the thumbscrews on the focuser tube.
• Insert the diagonal mirror into the focuser tube and secure it by retightening the thumbscrews.
• Unthread the thumbscrews on the diagonal mirror.
• Insert the desired eyepiece into the diagonal mirror and secure it by retightening the thumbscrews. (5)

Red dot finder

The red dot finder is a zero magnification pointing tool that uses a coated glass window to superimpose the image of a small red dot onto the night sky. The red dot finder is equipped with a variable brightness control, azimuth adjustment knob, and altitude adjustment knob. The finder is powered by a 3-volt lithium battery located underneath at the front. (6)

To use the red dot finder, simply look through the sight tube and move your telescope until the red dot overlaps the object. Make sure to keep both eyes open when sighting. Like all finderscopes, the red dot finder must be properly aligned with the telescope before use. This is
a simple process using the azimuth and altitude adjustment knobs.

• Open the battery compartment by pulling down the cover and remove the plastic shipping cover over the battery.
• Turn on the red dot finder by rotating the variable brightness control clockwise until you hear a click. Continue rotating the control knob to increase the brightness level.
• Insert a low power eyepiece into the focuser. Locate a bright object and aim the telescope so that the object is in the center of the field of view.
• With both eyes open, look through the sight tube at the object. If the red dot overlaps the object, your red dot finder is perfectly aligned. If not, turn its azimuth and altitude adjustment knob until the red dot overlaps the object.

Balancing the telescope

A telescope should be balanced before each observing session. Balancing reduces stress on the telescope mount and allows precise slow-motion movements. A balanced telescope is especially crucial when using the optional clock drive for astrophotography. The telescope should be balanced after all accessories (eyepiece, camera, etc.) have been attached. Before balancing your telescope, make sure that your tripod is balanced and on a stable surface. For photography, point the telescope in the direction you will be taking photos before performing the balancing steps.

R.A. Balancing

• For best results, adjust the altitude of the mount to between 15º and 30º if possible, by using the altitude adjustment T-bolt.
• Slowly unlock the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs. Rotate the telescope until both the optical tube and the counterweight rod are horizontal to the ground, and the telescope tube is to the side of the mount.
• Tighten the Dec. lock knob.
• Move the counterweights along the counterweight rod until the telescope is balanced and remains stationary when released.
• Tighten the counterweight screws to secure the counterweights.

Dec. Balancing

All accessories should be attached to the telescope before balancing around the declination axis. The R.A. balancing should be done before proceeding with Dec. balancing. For best results, adjust the altitude of the mount to between 60º and 75º if possible.

• Release the R.A. lock knob and rotate around the R.A. axis so that the counterweight rod is in a  horizontal position. Tighten the R.A. lock knob.
• Unlock the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope tube until it is parallel to the ground.
• Slowly release the telescope and determine in which direction it rotates. Loosen the telescope ring clamps and slide the telescope tube forward or backward between the rings until it is balanced.
• Once the telescope no longer rotates from its parallel starting position, retighten the tube rings and the Dec. lock knob. Reset the altitude axis to your local latitude.

Operating the mount

The mount has controls for both conventional altitude (up-down) and azimuth (left-right) directions of motion. These two adjustments are suggested for large direction changes and for terrestrial viewing. To adjust azimuth, loosen the big knob under the mount base and rotate the mount head about the azimuth axis. Use the altitude adjustment T-bolts to set the required altitude.

In addition, the EQ2 mount has R.A. (hour angle) and Dec. controls for polar-aligned astronomical observing. Loosen the lock knobs to make large direction changes. Use the slow-motion controls for fine adjustment after the lock knobs have both been locked. An additional scale is included for the altitude axis. This allows polar alignment at your local latitude. (7)

Barlow lens

A Barlow lens increases the magnifying power of an eyepiece, while reducing the field of view. It expands the cone of the focused light before it reaches the focal point, so that the telescope’s focal length appears longer to the eyepiece. In addition to increasing magnification, the benefits of using a Barlow lens include improved eye relief, and reduced spherical aberration of the eyepiece. For this reason, a Barlow plus a lens often outperform a single lens producing the same magnification. And the best advantage is that a Barlow lens can potentially double the number of eyepieces in your collection. (8)

Focusing

Slowly rotate the focus knobs under the focuser one way or the other until the image in the eyepiece is sharp. The image usually has to be finely refocused over time, due to small variations caused by temperature changes, flexures, etc. This often happens with short focal ratio telescopes, particularly when they haven’t yet reached outside temperature. Refocusing is almost always necessary when you change an eyepiece, add or remove a Barlow lens. (9)

Polar adjustment

In order for your telescope to track objects in the sky you have to align your mount. This means tilting the head over so that it points to the North (or South) celestial pole. For people in the Northern Hemisphere this is rather easy as the bright star Polaris is very near the North Celestial Pole. For casual observing, rough polar alignment is adequate. Make sure your equatorial mount is leveled and the finderscope is aligned with the telescope before beginning.

Look up your latitude on a map, road maps are good for this purpose. Now look at the side of your mount head, there you will see a scale running from 0 to 90°. Loosen the mount latch slightly rotating the lock handle counterclockwise. A thumbscrew located underneath the mount head pushes the latch plate, thus changing the angle. Turn the screw until the pointer on the latitude scale is set at the latitude of your observation site. (10)

Loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope tube until the pointer on the setting circle reads 90°. Retighten the Dec. lock knob. Loosen the azimuth lock knob and move the mount so that the R.A. axis points roughly at Polaris. Use the two azimuth adjustment knobs above the “N” to make fine adjustments in azimuth if needed. For more accurate alignment, look through the finderscope and center the Polaris on the crosshairs using the azimuth and latitude adjustment knobs. (11)

After a while you will notice your target drifting slowly North or South depending on the direction of the pole relative to Polaris. To keep the target in the center of the view, turn only the R.A. slow-motion control.

After your telescope is polar aligned, no further adjustments in the azimuth and latitude of the mount should be made in the observing session, nor should you move the tripod. Only movements in R.A. and DEC axis should be made in order to keep an object in the field.

In the Southern Hemisphere you must align the mount to the SCP by locating its position with star patterns, without the convenience of a nearby bright star. The closest star is the faint 5.5-mag. Sigma Octantis which is about one degree away. Two sets of pointers which help to locate the SCP are α and β Crucis (in the Southern Cross) and a pointer running at a right angle to a line connecting α and β Centauri.

Tracking celestial objects

When observing through a telescope, astronomical objects appear to move slowly through the telescope’s field of view. When the mount is correctly polar aligned, you only need to turn the R.A. slow-motion control to follow or track objects as they move through the field.

If the object is too faint you may want to use setting circles on an equatorial mount. Setting circles allow you to locate celestial objects whose celestial coordinates have been determined from star charts. The telescope’s R.A. setting circle is scaled in hours, from 1 to 24, with small lines in between representing 10 minute increments. The upper set of numbers applies to observations in the Northern Hemisphere, while the numbers below them apply to observations in the Southern Hemisphere. Setting (calibrating) the R.A. setting circle: in order to set your Right Ascension circle you must first find a star in your field of view with known coordinates. A good one would be the 0.0 magnitude star
Vega in the Constellation Lyra. From a star chart we know the R.A. coordinate of Vega is 18h 36m. Loosen the R.A. and DEC. lock knobs on the mount and adjust the telescope so that Vega is centered in the field of view of the eyepiece. Tighten the R.A. and DEC. lock knobs to lock the mount in place. Now rotate the R.A. setting circle until it reads 18h36m. You are now ready to use the setting circles to find objects in the sky. (12)

A German Equatorial mount has an adjustment, sometimes called a wedge, which tilts the mount’s polar axis so that it points at the appropriate Celestial Pole (NCP or SCP). Once the mount has been polar aligned, it needs to be rotated around the polar axis only to keep an object centered. Do not reposition the mount base or change the latitude setting. The mount has already been correctly aligned for your geographical location (i.e. Latitude), and all remaining telescope pointing is done by rotating the telescope tube around the polar (R.A.) and declination axes. (13)

A problem for many beginners is recognizing that a polar-aligned, equatorial mount acts like an alt-azimuth mount which has been aligned to a celestial pole. The wedge tilts the mount to an angle equal to the observer’s Latitude, and therefore it swivels around a plane which is parallel to the celestial (and Earth’s) equator. This is now its “horizon”; but remember that part of the new horizon is usually blocked by Earth. This new “azimuth” motion is called Right Ascension (R.A.). In addition, the mount swivels North (+) and South (-) from the Celestial Equator towards the celestial poles. This plus or minus “altitude” from the celestial equator is called Declination (Dec.).

Now, consider pointing the telescope to the western or eastern horizon. If the counterweight is pointing North, the telescope can be swiveled from one horizon to the other around the Dec. axis in an arc that passes through the NCP (any Dec. arc will pass through the NCP if the mount is polar-aligned). It can be seen then that if the optical tube needs to be pointed at an object north or south of this arc, it
has to be also rotated around the R.A. axis.

Pointing in any direction other than due North requires a combination of R.A. and Dec. positions. Telescopes with long focal lengths often have a “blind spot” when pointing near the zenith, because the eyepiece-end of the optical tube bumps into the mount’s legs. To avoid this, the tube can be very carefully slipped up inside the ring clamps. This can be done safely because the tube is pointing almost vertically, and therefore moving it does not cause a Dec. balance problem. It is very important to move the tube back to the Dec. balanced position before observing other sky areas.

Something which can also be a problem is that the optical tube often rotates so that the eyepiece, finderscope and the focusing knobs are in less convenient positions. The diagonal mirror can be rotated to adjust the eyepiece. However, to adjust the positions of the finderscope and focusing knobs, loosen the tube rings holding the telescope tube and gently rotate it. Do this when you are going to observe an area for while, as it is inconvenient to repeat every time you briefly go to a new area.

Finally, there are a few things to consider to ensure that you are comfortable during the viewing session. First is setting the height of the mount above the ground by adjusting the tripod legs. You must consider the height that you want your eyepiece to be, and if possible plan on sitting on a comfortable chair or stool. Very long optical tubes need to be mounted higher or you will end up crouching or lying on the ground when looking at objects near the zenith. However, a short optical tube can be mounted lower so that there is less movement due to vibration sources, such as wind. This is something that should be decided before going through the effort of polar aligning the mount.

Camera adapter

To attach a camera to your telescope you may need an adapter to get the camera focused. Some reflectors require wider motion range than the one allowed by the focuser; some refractors are designed to be used with diagonal mirrors and thus need a longer focal length when used with camera. To achieve that, simply attach an extender to the focuser of your telescope and then attach the camera with a T-adapter to the extender. (14)

Specifications

	Levenhuk Strike 900 PRO	Levenhuk Strike 950 PRO	Levenhuk Strike 1000 PRO
Optical design	achromatic refractor	Maksutov-Cassegrain	Maksutov-Cassegrain
Aperture	90mm	90mm	102mm
Focal length	900mm; f/10	1250mm; f/13.9	1300mm; f/12.8
Highest practical power	180x	180x	200x
Limiting stellar magnitude	11.8	11.7	12.0
Resolution threshold	1.5arcsec	1.5arcsec.	1.3arcsec.
Eyepiece	SUPER 10mm (90x), SUPER 25mm (36x), Plössl 6.3mm (143x)	SUPER 10mm (125x), SUPER 20mm (62x), Plössl 6.3mm (198x)	SUPER 10mm (130x), SUPER 25mm (65x), Plössl 6.3mm (206x)
Finderscope	6×30	red dot	red dot
Mount	EQ2	EQ1	EQ2
Tripod	aluminum; 710—1250mm (28.0—49.2in)	aluminum; 710—1250mm (28.0—49.2in)	aluminum; 700—1270mm (28.0—50.0in)

The manufacturer reserves the right to make changes to the product range and specifications without prior notice.

Batteries safety instructions

• Always purchase the correct size and grade of battery most suitable for the intended use.
• Always replace the whole set of batteries at one time; taking care not to mix old and new ones, or batteries of different types.
• Clean the battery contacts and also those of the device prior to battery installation.
• Make sure the batteries are installed correctly with regard to polarity (+ and -).
• Remove batteries from equipment that is not to be used for an extended period of time.
• Remove used batteries promptly.
• Never attempt to recharge primary batteries as this may cause leakage, fire, or explosion.
• Never short-circuit batteries as this may lead to high temperatures, leakage, or explosion.
• Never heat batteries in order to revive them.
• Remember to switch off devices after use.
• Keep batteries out of the reach of children, to avoid risk of ingestion, suffocation, or poisoning.

Care and maintenance

• Never, under any circumstances, look directly at the Sun through this device without a special filter, or look at another bright source of light or at a laser, as this may cause PERMANENT RETINAL DAMAGE and may lead to BLINDNESS.
• Take necessary precautions when using the device with children or people who have not read or who do not fully understand these instructions.
• Do not try to disassemble the device on your own for any reason, including to clean the mirror. For repairs and cleaning of any kind, please contact your local specialized service center.
• Protect the device from sudden impact and excessive mechanical force.
• Do not touch the optical surfaces with your fingers. To clean the telescope exterior, use only special cleaning wipes and special optics cleaning tools from Levenhuk.
• Store the device in a dry, cool place away from hazardous acids and other chemicals, away from heaters, open fire and other sources of high temperatures.
• Replace the dust cap over the front end of the telescope whenever it is not in use. This prevents dust from settling on the mirror or lens surfaces.
• Seek medical advice immediately if a small part or a battery is swallowed.

Levenhuk Limited Warranty

All Levenhuk telescopes, microscopes, binoculars and other optical products, except for accessories, carry a lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Lifetime warranty is a guarantee on the lifetime of the product on the market. All Levenhuk accessories are warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for six months from date of retail purchase. Levenhuk will repair or replace such product or part thereof which, upon inspection by Levenhuk, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of Levenhuk to repair or replace such product, the product must be returned to Levenhuk together with proof of purchasesatisfactory to Levenhuk. This warranty does not cover consumable parts, such as bulbs (electrical, LED, halogen, energy-saving and other types of lamps), batteries (rechargeable and non-rechargeable), electrical consumables etc. For further details, please visit our web site: https://www.levenhuk.com/warranty.

If warranty problems arise, or if you need assistance in using your product, contact the local Levenhuk branch.