bluesilver

I have just been through this exact process with my Skywatcher Explorer 250P, so exactly the same, mine was a bit worse as i took the secondary completely out. Have you got a empty film canister? I found this made it easier for myself. I used the Cheshire get the secondary square to the focuser first, should end up looking like a nice round circle dead centre when looking through the Cheshire. Then tighten up the centre screw, using the film canister, drill a small hole in the cap and cut the bottom off, then looking through the small hole in the canister cap, adjust the 3 screws until you can see the primary mirror clips in the secondary mirror, keep adjusting until all mirror clips are viewed nice and even. Then put the cheesier back in and adjust the primary screws until the centre mark in the primary lines up with the centre of the Cheshire cross. Should then spot on. At least this is what i did in the end and worked spot on for myself.

Thanks for the reply, I was looking to get a full set, 28, 18, 9, 6.5 4.5 mm and possibly the 3.5 mm wide angle I was told that they would be extremely good in the refractor i was looking at.

Thanks for the replies, appreciated. Yes the Saxon Cielo HD rage is the same range as the Celestron X-Cel line. I was mainly interested to hear what they compare to the Tele Vue eyepieces in the Refractor. I don't really want to get a lesser quality eyepiece for the Refractor if my Tele Vue eyepieces are better performers.

Hi, sorry for yet another post question, I am also looking to move into a dedicated imaging, planetary scope. I was hoping to find out some information regaring the Saxon Cielo HD 1.25" ED Eyepieces I am looking at the Sky Rover ULT 115 ED Glass Triplet 115mm APO Refractor Telescope The current eyepieces that i have are: Tele Vue Delos 10mm Baader Hyperion 5mm Wide angle eyepiece What i am hoping to find out is, how do my two eye pieces compare the the Saxon eyepieces in this telescope. I realise this might be a broad question, but i am trying to find out if i go with this telescope, am i better of with my eye pieces or will it perform better with the Saxon eyepieces. Any advice or information would be appreciated. Thanks.

A lot of good information here. I realise they are a big unit and anything near Zenith is going to require something to stand on. Moving them in and out isn't a issue as i have a trolley system already setup complete with feet to get it level, so don't have to lift it anywhere. I might have to keep an eye out in the for sale sections for a bit to see what comes up. Haven't really seen much here in Australia apart from Skywatcher brands, but mainly going to be used for nebulae and deep sky viewing. Good information to think about though. Appreciated.

Thanks for the replies, Just thought i would ask the question as i wasn't too sure what else was out there. Just looking to move up into a larger version and was looking to see if there was a different option. Sounds like to get premium mirrors that size is quiet a leap in price wise and not that much more of a gain for the huge price change. Appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Geoff, Yes got the GoTo issues sorted out, was the bottom motor unit that was faulty right from the factory. Took months to sort out, but had some very good views with it for sure, had a few colimation issues also from factory, but all sorted now.

Hi, I am guessing this may have many different opinions and reviews, but would still like to ask the question to see what everyone's thoughts on this would be. I am looking to upgrade from my 10 inch Skywatcher Dobsonian GoTo mount to a 16 inch Dobsonian Mainly looking to keep with the Dobsonians as i have read many times that they give better optical views or planetary objects and deep space as well, Please correct me if i am wrong here. So what i have been told is that Skywatcher Dobsonians don't have the best optics in them, kind of built to a price, is this correct? I was hoping to find out some information on what would be a good 16 inch dobsonian to move into, but at the same time i like to have the GoTo setup or something simular so that i can say view Jupiter and not have to keep bumping the scope around. With my current 10 inch GoTo, i can have it locked onto Jupiter and it will track it pretty well. So is this correct about Skywatcher optics? or just is there better options out there? I was looking to go to a Skywatcher Cassergrain 180, The started to look at the celestron c14 ( bit costly though) But think a 16 inch Dobsonian would be a better option now for planetary and deep space. Any advice or inputs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I am hoping i read your question right, \It might be a bit basic, but is what i found worked for myself. I have a 10 inch Dobsonian, For myself to get a full view of the whole moon i found the 25mm gave me the full moon in the eye piece with a little room to spare. I have found i need what they call moon filters to view the moon due to the brightness of it. But for the planets i use what is called a baader neodymium ir-cut filter, found this gave a good crisp image of Jupiter and Saturn. It is not the cheapest filter, but one i managed to pick up at a good price a good while ago. Eye piece for planets i found 10 mm was good, if seeing is great you can go with a barlow. I like the Tele Vue Delos eyepieces, but they are not the cheapest, see how you go with the two supplied eye pieces first.

Hi, sorry for jumping in on the back of this thread, I hope it is ok. What upgrades would you recommend for the 180? I have seen a video where they mention swapping that 90 degree view finder out for a better one ( sorry can't think of the correct name for it right now ) And also another option was to swap out the eyepiece holder for a fine tune adjustment version ( again can't think if what they are called ) Would appreciate any replies on what people think is worth upgrading or just leave as it is. What mount would you recommend for it also if used for both visual and imaging EQ6 ? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply, i thought i might of solved my problems, sadly looks like it isn't the case. I thought that before the unit could be used, it might of had to have some other software or firmware downloaded into the hand controller. It appears not to be the case after all, So the hand set basically comes to you all ready to just plug in, set your details and away you go pretty much then? I am a bit reluctant yet to download anything into it unless it has to go back under a warranty claim.

Hi again, sorry about bring this post back up again. Just had another idea, and this might be a basic silly question, but i will ask anyway With the SynScan hand held unit, do they actually need downloading / uploading with firmware or software before you use them? Mine currently tells me it is version 04.37.03 I haven't done anything to it like adding software or firmware, i just figured it would of been shipped out to me all ready setup ready to go. Any ideas on this would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I don't think there are specific ones for Northern ans Southern hemisphere due to the way that you put in your coordinates, but could be wrong. I am interested to find out more about the coordinates that it tells you to go to for the first star, Why would it give you coordinates to go to if you already know where the star is, as you have to know where the star is in the first place to star the two star alignment if that makes sense. Otherwise you would just be setting it up at the coordinates it gives you and that might not be the correct star, just trying to think though what is going wrong. It will be something simple, but next time i will try as suggested and go by the coordinates it gives me and see where that ends up. It is frustrating, but i am sure when figured out, it will be a good unit to use.

Thanks again for the replies, appreciated. Yes, i can get celestial North, or compass North and also the same for South. It is interesting as i seam to be doing everything as described here, including a level mount. I did however notice that when i chose the first star i gives me slew coordinates, I haven't paid much attention to them to be honest and just slewed it to the star that i picked. I did out of interest noticed that once it said to slew something like 390 degrees or something similar, can't be 100% sure now. I haven't been paying attention to the slew angles that it tells me to go to for the first star, i just figured that i would slew it straight to the star in question. This could well be the problem then, but then the issue is that the slew directions would not be where the star is, this could be interesting, will have to wait until a clear night to try that out.

Thanks for the replies, appreciated. There is a few comments in there that i am not quiet sure about though sorry. 1. The post by Joc, you mentioned, Do not forget the leading zeros, not really sure what you mean by this though, the leading zeros in which part exactly? sorry just got a tad confused on that bit. 2. With celestial north, is this what you mean by true north, not magnetic north? If so, i have this part worked out at least, but i did mine on celestial south, i am 13 degrees to the east of magnetic south if that makes any sense. I also have the scale on the side to get it to 0, so hopefully that part is also sorted. 3. You also mentioned doing a calibration, never even new this was possible or was an option, any chance of telling how to go about doing that? , it would be greatly appreciated. I have heard of it been done on equatorial mounts, but not the altazimuth mount that the SkyWatcher Dobsonian has. 4. When you are talking about using the arrow keys on the box, are you talking about the hand controller? If so, i do remember the instructions saying to finish of with a up and sideways movement to help lock it into place so to speak. 5. As i am in the Southern hemisphere, am i suppose to be starting of South instead of North, i am guessing it doesn't really matter yet as you mentioned, it will just be 180 degrees out if it is wrong. I can understand what you are saying Goeff about the two systems working together, at least a basic understanding anyway. There is something fundamentally wrong with what i am doing at the start or somewhere. If i can please find out some answers to the first 4 questions, it might help me to at least get those steps true and correct and help me sorting out my dramas. Very much appreciate all the inputs and advice, great information here. It is appreciated. Cheers. Peter.

Hi, I currently have the 10" SkyWatcher Dobsonian with GOTO I have just been playing around with it viewing planets for the last few months, using either the motors to slew the scope around or when i have it on my trolley cart, just manually moving it around. The only reason i have been doing this is because i just for some reason can not get the GOTO system to align with the stars. I am trying to do the two star alignment and so far having no luck at all, i figure i am doing something wrong or must have missed a important step somewhere. I tried it again last night and this is what i did, so hopefully someone might be able to find what i have done wrong hopefully. 1. Sat scope on a perfectly flat leveled base. 2. Using the app called Syncanlnit 2.0 I set up the SynScan as it instructed, and all looked correct as it was suppose to be entered. 3. I then chose to begin two star alignment, and as i am not familiar with the stars, i used the app called Skysafari to help identify the correct stars. 4. I selected the first star, found it in the sky and using the controls on the SynScan, slew the scope around and centered the first star. 5. I then went through the list to find the second star that was visible in my viewing location, and selected it. 6. The scope then goes off to locate this star by itself, This time the scope did a full 360 degree circle and about another 1/4 of a turn before finally lining up on what was suppose to be the second star, but it was way off, almost a good 120- 180 degrees off, ( can't remember exactally now, but wasn't any where even close to it ) 7. So i then using the controls, moved the scope around to where the second star was, centred it and then the SynScan said alignment successful. 8. I thought i would test it out to see what happens when i chose it to go and look at the moon, being a easy target to spot. 9. Scope slew around and finally stopped around 90 degrees or more from it. This is pretty much what happens every time i go out and try to do a two star alignment, sometimes it doesn't do a complete 360 degree turn before locking on what is suppose to be the second star. I am obviously missing some important steps or more i am guessing but yet to figure out what. Firstly right at the start, 1. Do i have to download anything into the unit before i even start? 2. Dose the scope have to be facing anywhere in particular to start with? I am just putting it down anywhere and then starting it up. I have just found a page telling me it has to be facing North and the tube laying flat at 0 degrees, but is this only for equatorial mounts, ( the ones that have weights on them, sorry if i have the wrong name for them) And if so, is facing North only if you are in the Norther Hemisphere? as i am in the South, should i be setting it up facing South, or still North. Sorry if that part sounds confusing. I am kind of at a loss at the moment, I am hoping someone can see what i have done or doing wrong. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.