Seoras

Well I’m almost positive that Knightly2112 is correct with their diagnosis. I removed the casing from the other side of the mount and had a look at the gears from that side; there’s definitely a lot of play in the tiny gear shaft and I think the bearings look a bit squint. I’ve sent an email to Celestron support to ask them to fix it for me as I’m not dexterous enough to work with such small components (shaky hands 🙌). Not sure how long it will take to get the mount back from them but I’ll report back here once I know more. Meanwhile thanks very much to everyone who contributed to this thread, I really appreciate your help, take care, Seoras 👍

Thanks very much, that makes things a lot clearer. I’ll take the other cover off and see what’s going on 👀

Thanks for your help. I did think the sideways movement was excessive but I’m new to telescopes so wasn’t sure if it was something that is built in as part of the backlash compensation. The gears seems quite small and flimsy considering the weight they’re moving so it wouldn’t be surprising if the bearings failed 😞. I’ll try to see what I can as per your suggestion with the mirror, it would be great if I could fix it myself rather than send it off to Celestron for a repair. Thanks again 👍

Hi, I’ve been having problems lately with my Nexstar 8SE. There seems to be an awful lot of play in the alt axis; I got in touch with Celestron support and they suggested it might be fixed with the backlash settings but I’ve had no luck so far. There is probably about 4-6mm of “loose” movement and the scope will slip downwards at the slightest touch. When trying to adjust the backlash settings I could hear the motor engage to compensate for backlash but it still leaves the looseness. I looked online and found a video that shows how to tighten the clutch with a big nut on the mount but mine is already tight. I’be attached a couple of videos to help illustrate what I’m talking about but they don’t seem to give a good representation of the extent of the movement. Any ideas? thanks, Geo F3EFCB36-D459-4963-A6B9-F52C832EF638.MOV AD463956-80BC-4456-9367-96CA082EFC98.MOV B0A3D862-7E6F-4CD5-B7E3-185786D25346.MOV

Hi, I’ve taken a couple of photos of the moon with my Nikon D3100 attached to my Nexstar 8SE and although they are a bit out of focus I was pleased to have at least something to transfer onto my laptop. I bought a second hand Nikon 50mm lens since I only had the camera body so I could use it without the scope and I would now like to buy another lens for variety. Can you suggest what I should go for next? many thanks 🙏

I’ll have a tinker with it tomorrow bearing in mind all your comments, thanks for helping me out 👍

Hello everyone, I’m sorry if this is a stupid question but I’m not sure if I’m doing things right. I bought an Astro Essentials dew shield along with a Celestron Dew Ring for my Nexstar 8SE and I’m very happy with both. Thing is, my scope became nose heavy with both fitted so I slid it back on the dovetail bar to compensate and that was fine. Then I thought I’d have a go at taking a couple of photos with my second hand Nikon and the T ring I bought for it; yes, you guessed it, the scope was now tail heavy. Will I have to slide the OTA back and forward every time I fit and remove the camera or am I doing something wrong? P.S. I know my kit isn’t exactly great for astrophotography but it’s all I can afford atm 😩

No fungus for me then, glad I asked 😊. I’ll start looking for a manual 50mm and see what’s out there, as always, really grateful for your advice 👍

I’ve been looking online for a cheap lens for my cheap Nikon D3100, don’t want to spend too much as the camera was only £69. Some of the adverts say there is ‘some fungus inside’ or ’light scratches on the lens’. Should I be avoiding these at all costs or is it possible that these issues won’t affect the images as the sellers are saying? Also, is there a particular lens for this camera that would be more suited to astrophotography? As I’m a complete beginner I’m not looking for perfection, just the chance to practice taking photos before I buy something better, many thanks, Geo

I think I’ve read about a focal reducer, since my Supreme Commander is now asking “do you really need that?” I’ll have to tread lightly on the buying front 🥴. Maybe I can persuade her to think about it as a Xmas gift 🎁!

Thank you for this 👍, another useful piece of information regards, Geo

I don’t have a lens for the camera yet, I’m currently surfing EBay for a cheap bargain 🥴. My telescope is a Celestron Nexstar 8SE, I’ve been advised that the focal length is too long to capture all of the moon but I’d be happy to get anything that looks like the moon. I’ve been watching “The Old Gazer” on YouTube because he has the same telescope as me and a Nikon camera, (he’s about the same age too😉), he seems to do ok and is aiming at total beginners like me. I also find this forum to be super helpful and everyone is so friendly and understanding. I got quite a few things wrong when I started buying equipment and no doubt will continue to do so but I’m sure it’s all part of the learning process. regards, Geo

What a fantastic answer! Thanks very much for bearing with an old guy trying out a new hobby. I’ll have a go at photos of the moon first, I think this week will be good for that, take care, Geo

Hi everyone, another noob question! I bought an old Nikon D3100 camera (body only) a couple of months ago and have been spending some time trying to learn how to set it up for astrophotography. I know it’s not ideally suited for the job but it was cheap and I thought it would be ok to practice on since I have no other cameras; I’ve bought a T adapter and can now fit it to my scope. One thing I’m not sure about is if the camera can be set to take multiple exposures for a given period of time automatically, I have a remote shutter thingy which has a locking facility, is that how I can do it or is there a setting on the camera for this? thanks in advance, Geo

Here’s hoping 🤞