Meade Telescope TMB 80 User Manual

TMB Optical TMB-80  
Thoma a  
s M. B ck  
Signature Series  
Congratulations on your purchase of our 80mm f/6.3 TMB-80  
Finderscope  
mounting  
point  
Camera angle  
adjuster  
(rotating  
focuser)  
locking collar  
apochromatic FPL-53 ED triplet refractor. Its truly outstanding  
optical and mechanical quality will provide you with many years  
of highly portable observing and imaging enjoyment.  
MOUNTING POSSIBILITIES  
Focusing scale  
on drawtube  
Your new TMB-80 is usable with many different types of  
telescope mounts. A suitably sturdy altazimuth mount, such as the  
Vixen Porta mount, is a good choice for general visual use. The  
venerable German equatorial mount is also a popular choice, as it  
can be used for both visual and imaging purposes.  
Drawtube  
lock knob  
under  
Coarse  
focus  
knob  
focuser  
Fine  
focus  
knob  
The TMB-80 has a removable L-shaped combined tripod adapter  
and dovetail mounting shoe. The dovetail is sized and shaped (with  
slanted sides) to fit the dovetail slot on the head of many equatorial  
and altazimuth mounts. It will mount without modification directly  
onto CelestronAdvanced Series; Meade LXD-75; and Vixen Great  
Polaris, Porta, and Sphinx mounts, among others.  
1.25”  
Coarse  
focus  
knob  
In addition, the mounting shoe has two 1/4”-20 thread mounting  
holes that allow it to be installed on any suitably sturdy camera  
tripod that has a standard 1/4”-20 thread mounting bolt.  
The front hole balances the scope for 1.25” diagonal and eyepiece  
use with the lens shade extended. The rear hole balances it when a  
camera or 2” diagonal and eyepieces are mounted. The mounting  
shoe can also be unbolted, rotated 180° on the scope body, and  
reinstalled. This will move the balance point further back on the  
scope body to help balance the TMB-80 if very heavy 2” accessories  
are used. Cork pads on the underside of the mounting shoe help  
keep the scope from swiveling when mounted on a tripod.  
FOCUSER  
accessory  
adapter  
lock knob  
2” accessory  
adapter lock knob  
Soft brass  
compression ring  
1.25” accessory  
adapter  
FINDERSCOPE MOUNTING  
Your TMB-80 is supplied with an attachment point for a quick-  
release finder bracket on the upper left front side of the focuser. It  
has a screwdriver-slotted insert that can be unscrewed to provide a  
mounting point for any of a number of red dot type non-magnifying  
finders. Contact your telescope dealer for an appropriate finder if  
you do not already have one that is suitable.  
Your TMB-80’s backlash-free 2” dual-speed Crayford focuser  
terminates in a 2” compression ring eyepiece holder. This allows  
visual use with 2” accessories and imaging with large format CCD  
cameras. The non-marring soft brass compression ring won’t scratch  
your star diagonal barrel as an ordinary thumbscrew can.  
There is also a 2” to 1.25” compression ring adapter for visual  
use with 1.25” accessories and for imaging with standard format  
CCD, webcam, and 35mm photo adapters. The barrel of this adapter  
is threaded to accept standard 2” filters and has a slight taper at the  
top that engages the compression ring of the 2” adapter. This  
prevents the 1.25” adapter from slipping out of the focuser should  
the 2” focuser’s thumbscrew accidentally loosen during use.  
The precision-made focuser has dual-speed focusing. There are  
two coarse focusing knobs. The right knob also has a smaller  
concentric knob with a 11:1 ratio reduction gear for microfine  
focusing. This provides exceptionally precise image control during  
high power visual observing or critical film or CCD imaging. The  
focus knobs have ribbed gripping surfaces so they are easy to  
operate, even while wearing gloves or mittens in cold weather.  
The focuser drawtube has a long 80mm (3.1”) travel. It has a  
scale marked on the top in 1mm increments so you can note  
individual focuser positions for easy return to the correct focus  
when switching between visual use and photography.A knob under  
the focuser lets you lock in your photographic focus.  
A built-in camera angle adjuster (focuser rotation system) lets  
you rotate the focuser a full 360°. This lets you rotate an attached  
camera to line up in either a landscape or portrait orientation (or  
any orientation in between) without losing focus. It also lets you  
put your star diagonal and eyepiece into the most comfortable  
observing position as you move from one area of the sky to another.  
Turn the red ribbed ring at the front of the focuser to the left to  
loosen the focuser, rotate the focuser to the desired orientation,  
then turn the red ring back to the right to temporarily lock in the  
focuser’s new orientation.  
COOL DOWN TIMES  
For any optical system to give its best wavefront (for the sharpest  
and highest contrast images), the optics must be at or very near the  
temperature of the surrounding air. The “cool down” time needed  
to reach ambient temperature varies considerably, as the temperature  
of the scope must change from a typical 72° Fahrenheit indoor  
temperature to an outdoor temperature that can range from a high  
of over 100° down to 10° below zero or less. In small doublet  
refractors, the cool down (or heat up) time is quick, usually less  
than 30 minutes. In subfreezing temperatures, it may take a small  
refractor twice that time or more to reach its best performance.  
This is particularly true with triplet refractors, where the thermal  
load of the center lens is isolated from the surrounding air by the  
lenses on either side of it. This slows the transfer of the center lens  
heat load to the outside air.  
If you’d like to shorten the wait to reach thermal equilibrium,  
placing the telescope in an unheated garage for an hour or two  
before observing can speed up the cool down process considerably.  
Another technique to shorten cool down time is to retract the  
insulating dew shield to allow direct exposure of the cell and lens  
to the night air so they can reach thermal equilibrium faster. Once  
the lens has cooled, extend the dew shield again. This provides a  
faster cool down time, and generally will still keep the lens from  
dewing up. Only on the highest dew point nights will the objective  
lens form dew on its front optical surface.  
The best way to avoid dew forming on the lens after you bring  
the telescope into the house is to take your closed scope case outside  
when you observe, so it can also reach ambient temperature. When  
you are finished observing, cap the telescope with its dust caps  
and place it into the carrying case. Bring it into the house and let it  
slowly warm back up to room temperature, then remove the dust  
caps to allow any trace of dew to evaporate. Once the objective is  
free from dew, replace the dust caps and store the scope away.  
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