How to Set Up a Meade Starfinder Telescope

Attach the small, black focuser piece to the optical tube using four of the Phillips screws, setting them into place from the interior of the optical tube.

Put the long, tubular part of the telescope (the optical tube) on a flat surface. Put the black viewfinder bracket over the two holes in the optical tube. Place a screw through each hole. From inside the optical tube, attach a nut and a washer to the screws you have inserted and twist until they are firmly in place.

Locate the colored indicator on the cell containing the mirror. There is a matching indicator on the back of the optical tube. Slide the cell into the tube so that the indicators line up. Use the four large screws to secure the cell.

Stick the self-adhesive rubber feet to the bottom of the round plate. Place the feet under the Teflon. Align the front board with the side boards and place the wooden screws through the premade holes. Do not tighten the screws completely. Join the boards to the base plate using the wooden screws. Firmly tighten all the wooden screws you have installed so far. Attach the ground plate to the base plate using the center bearing and the washer.

Screw the two handles onto the side boards, one handle on each board. Place the nylon center bearing bushing into the hole in the ground plate. Place four nylon washers on top of the bearing bushing, and push the hex pivot bolt and a washer up through the bottom plate and the plate on top of it, securing them with the other washer and the larger nut.

Place the optical tube on the base so that the black, circular bearings protruding from the tube rest in the cutouts on the base. The shortest board on the base is the front of the telescope; the eye pieces on the optical tube should be on the rear of the telescope. The telescope is now fully assembled.