SITE ACCESS
1. To use the C-10, you must be on the list of authorized users, or be observing with an authorized user. Read the authorization procedures and contact one of the directors to get on the list.

2. Reserve the C-10 following proper checkout procedure, and pick up the C-10 key ring during the day before your run.

3. Enter Downs, using the key on the key ring if you don't have one of your own. Take the west stairwell (the one closest to Robinson) all the way past the top floor to the roof.

4. If it's dark, be careful on the roof -- there are all sorts of vents and things sticking out of the ground. If you're from Dabney, you will probably have to break house rules and wear some sort of footwear, as the roof is covered with sharp gravel.

5. Squeeze through the narrow opening on either side of the big central roof shed to get to the east end of the roof. Watch out for the large eye bolts protruding from the outside wall. The scope is on a concrete pier in the middle of the open area, with a low white cabinet next to it.

Go through this door at the top of the west stairwell...

...squeeze through this alley...

...and you will find the scope on a pier aside a storage cabinet.

OPENING UP AND PLUGGING IN
1. Unhook all four bungie cords from the corners of the tarp covering the scope by pulling up on the bungie cords. Try not to put undue tension on the tarp. Crumple up the tarp and put it somewhere out of the way where it won't blow off the roof.

The scope is under a tarp, which is held in place by four bungie cords.

Pull up on the cords, not down on the tarp corner, to unhook.

2. Uncap the main scope and the finderscope and put the lids on the top of the cabinet.

Take the cap off the main scope tube...

...and off the finderscope too.

3. Open up the cabinet with the padlock key. You can turn on the little lamp if you need more light -- it's a good night-vision-preserving red bulb.

Unlock the cabinet padlock...

...and open it up to get at the good stuff.

4. Take the white cord with the black plug end and snake it over to the blue base of the telescope. It plugs into the socket next to the power indicator lamp. The two prongs on the plug are different sizes -- make sure you get the right polarity or it won't go in.

The white cord with the black connector will reach from inside the cabinet over to the socket on the base of the telescope, indicated by the green arrow.

It goes in like this.

Turn on the clock drive power by switching the toggle from DC to AC.

5. Turn on the clock drive power supply in the cabinet. Various lights should light and the base of the scope will make a faint motor noise.

EYEPIECES
1. On the top shelf of the cabinet is a small box with some eyepieces and the diagonal.

The eyepieces live inside this case.

The good 25mm eyepiece is inside this box.

2. Remove the eyepiece plug (a 35-mm film cannister) from the eyepiece socket and tuck it away in the eyepiece box. You may need to loosen the setscrew.

3. You will almost certainly want to use the diagonal to avoid horribly uncomfortable viewing geometries. Insert the longer metal end of the diagonal into the telescope eyepiece socket and tighten the setscrew. Firm finger-tight should be fine -- make sure it won't slide out, but don't go leaning on it with a torque wrench either.

Pull the plug out of the eyepiece socket.

Insert the long arm of the diagonal into the socket...

...and tighten the setscrew snugly.

4. For initial alignment, select a wide-field eyepiece, such as the 25mm. Remove it from its box and insert it fully into the diagonal.

5. There is also a 15mm eyepiece available, which will provide correspondingly higher magnification. The seeing and scope abberations are such, however, that you will likely just oversample a fuzzy image at the higher magnifications, so the 25mm will be best for most applications.

Insert the eyepiece into the diagonal. It should be a snug friction-fit.

MOVING THE TELESCOPE
1. Both the RA and dec axes have little locking levers that clamp down to keep the scope from moving. (The C-14 has no such brakes, so this may be new for you.) Do not attempt to move the scope around if these brakes are engaged. If the scope motion feels really stiff, it's because the brakes are on.

2. When moving the telescope by hand, don't use the eyepiece, diagonal, or finderscope as handles. There are plenty of other things to hold on to.

3. The dec brake lever is on the top of the east fork arm, near the declination dial. Unlock the dec axis by flipping the lever up to point tangent to the declination dial. Move the scope back and forth in dec as desired. Flip the lever by 70-80 degrees or so to lock it again. You don't have to force it to make it lock. Be gentle.

The declination brake in the locked position.

Now it's unlocked, and you can move the scope in dec.

Lock it again before observing or making fine adjustments.

4. The RA brake lever is on the RA dial on the base. Spin it CCW to loosen, and rotate the scope in RA. Spin the lever CW to lock again. The locking mechanism connects to the clock drive, so it should be locked for sidereal tracking to work; otherwise, the scope will just sit there while the motor spins along. But if you want to move the scope, you have to loosen the brake first.

The black lever spins CW until it hits the pin to lock the RA axis.

Spin it about 180 deg CCW to unlock, and then swing the scope around in RA.

Turn it all the way CW again to engage the clock drive and fine-adjust knob.

5. Both axes have fine-adjust knobs for making small movements on the sky. They only work if the respective brakes are locked.

• The dec knob is on the base of the east fork arm. Turn it to nudge the scope north and south. If the knob binds up while you're turning it, go the other direction about 30 turns, loosen the brake, adjust the telescope by hand, relock the brake, and try again.

• The RA knob is on the base near where you plugged in the clock drive power cord.

The dec adjust knob is here on the east fork arm.

The RA adjust knob is here on the base.

COORDINATE AND FINDER ALIGNMENT
1. Select an easily-identified bright star which is currently visible. If you plan to use the setting circles, you will need coordinates for the star, so you might want to use one of the stars listed in the Observing targets document.

2. Move the scope by hand to align roughly with the star.

3. The star should now be visible within the finderscope. Align the star to the finder crosshairs with small tugs on the yoke and the rails. It's usually easiest to get as close as possible in RA, and then adjust dec, instead of trying to do both at once.

4. Look for the star in the eyepiece of the main scope. Use the fine-adjust knobs to put the star at the center of the field, bearing in mind the previous instructions about disengaging the RA brake before moving.

5. If you see an annulus (doughnut shape) instead of a disk or point, the telescope is far out of focus. In any event, some focusing will be necessary. The focus knob is on the Cassegrain end of the main scope tube, near where the eyepiece diagonal attaches to the main tube. Adjust it until the star is small and round, or optimally pointlike. If the star takes on an asymetric shape through the whole focus range, the secondary mirror needs realignment --- notify one of the telescope custodians.

6. Set the RA and dec dials on the mount to the coordinates of the star. The dec dial should move when pushed firmly --- you don't need to loosen any screws or anything. To move the RA dial, unlock the RA brake and then turn the RA fine adjust knob. The telescope may move -- just rotate it back to the target star. Note that the finest gradations in RA are 5 minutes and in dec are 1 degree. Pay attention to north vs south when setting dec. The coordinates for some bright, easily identified stars are listed in Observing targets.

7. Now is also a good time to check the alignment on the finder scope. Verify that the star is still in the main scope field of view, and then look in the finderscope. If the star is not centered on the crosshairs, the setscrews will allow you to adjust the finderscope position relative to the main scope. Loosen the top screw closest to the eyepiece, make adjustments with the other two screws, and then re-tighten the top screw. Accurate finderscope alignment will make later pointing much easier.