First telescope, first view...

[RichMK]

Well, I finally got to use my new telescope last night for the first time since buying it two weeks ago. Okay, only looked at the moon, but wow, what a view. I was able to use the BST EPs for the first time too. 8mm; great close up. I would say that probably is the limit for the Celestron Nexstar 6SE.

I'm sure I read it here, but someone gave a tip about attaching a clothes peg (plastic one with the soft rubber grip) to the focuser to make fine adjustment easier. Brilliant tip, spot on.

Looking forward to clearer and darker skies.

Rich.

[wheresthetorch?]

Glad it's going well. I use the clothes peg trick on my 4SE and it works a treat.

[alro]

Glad you got it all sorted and was impressed with view.

I could do with these clouds moving on!

al

[brantuk]

You can also use a lid from a large bottle of Marmite or other product. Make a centralised hole in it that fits over the focus knob tightly, and it provides a wider knob that is much more controllable. Paint it black before fixing on and it looks quite professional.

[happy-kat]

There is a diy thread on the above suggestion using a peanut butter lid

[xtreemchaos]

the moon is a good firstlight,be prepaired to spend loads of money,to shout at the clouds,and have bags under your eyes.  clear skys charl.

[Astro Imp]

Great you managed to get out and view our near neighbour. Last night the moon wasn't at it's best, wait 'til you see it when there is shadow along the terminator(the break between lit and unlit portion), you will need to pick your jaw off the ground 

If you get serious about viewing the moon I can recommend the Virtual Moon Atlas, a free down load here:- http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

Good luck and enjoy.

[ronin]

At f/10 for the scope I suspect that the 8mm will be the most suited to high power for the 6SE, I it is always said 2x the diameter (in mm) but the reality is almost always different. Anyway at close to 200x I suppose the vibration through the mount prevents higher as much as the optics and the sky conditions.

Does the focus bit sort of come off leaving a shaft ??

I know this says Meade but the item has an end piece that is quite a size and it comes with a plastic insert for better fitting, so it might (only might) fit the Celestron.

Flexi-Focuser

Whoever produces them is good to deal with, I bought 2 and the order went a bit wrong, it was sorted immediatly with much apologising. Half the problem was I thought I may have inadvertently ordered 3. So I thought I might be the one at fault.

I would volunteer to measure the hole size expect for the simple fact that I have not a clue where the spare is for me to go measure.

[RichMK]

At f/10 for the scope I suspect that the 8mm will be the most suited to high power for the 6SE, I it is always said 2x the diameter (in mm) but the reality is almost always different. Anyway at close to 200x I suppose the vibration through the mount prevents higher as much as the optics and the sky conditions.

Does the focus bit sort of come off leaving a shaft ??

I know this says Meade but the item has an end piece that is quite a size and it comes with a plastic insert for better fitting, so it might (only might) fit the Celestron.

Flexi-Focuser

Whoever produces them is good to deal with, I bought 2 and the order went a bit wrong, it was sorted immediatly with much apologising. Half the problem was I thought I may have inadvertently ordered 3. So I thought I might be the one at fault.

I would volunteer to measure the hole size expect for the simple fact that I have not a clue where the spare is for me to go measure.

Hi Ronin.

I've not tried to see if the focus bit comes off. Might be worth thinking about, but at the moment I'm still being very careful as if I've just bought something very expensive...hang on, I did. 

Rich

[andrew63]

Glad to hear your pleased with the telescope -  and you got a view of the 'Blue Moon'

andrew

[Charic]

.......as per the statements from ronin, I too would agree  that the  8mm maybe  near your practical  limit, but if you have a Barlow, you could try the 12mm, just to see? 

I use 3.2mm at  375x sometimes on the Moon, and  as reported above, the divide between day / night and you pick out the Mountain peaks, truly awesome. Was last time I looked 

[RichMK]

Second viewing Saturday night (no don't worry I'm not about to start a daily blog of viewing the moon, looked pretty much as it did Friday, but still fascinating); I used Arcturus to check the collimation of my telescope (ex demo), something I wanted to do just in case it had bounced along the way and it was spot on...happy bunny. 

Rich.

[Sonicfishcake42]

Cracking scope and great idea with the focuser! 

[Tommohawk]

You can also use a lid from a large bottle of Marmite or other product. Make a centralised hole in it that fits over the focus knob tightly, and it provides a wider knob that is much more controllable. Paint it black before fixing on and it looks quite professional.

Thats one of those suggestions you either love or hate. 

[laudropb]

Glad to hear you're enjoying your scope. After all. That's what it is all about. Enjoyment.