DaveL59

what you'll need to do is pick a distant object that is distinct and then use the telescope to get it focused and centred. Then you need to look through the finder and adjust it to get the same object centred in the crosshairs. The target does need to be a good distance away not just a couple hundred meters. Once done you use the finder to locate the star/planet you want to look at and the scope should also be on or very close to it.

In terms of tonight, the moon won't be visible, its in the south-west at the moment, but Venus and mercury will show once the sun is down over to the west, you may be lucky to get to see those as a start

For an idea of what planets will be up on a particular day take a look here:
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/

unlikely as it is in the SW at this moment.

If you take a look at this site you'll get a list of the planets you might get to see and the times

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/

I was right then, a duck  

a pair of manfrotto-a-like 323RC2  with 200PL quick-removal plates to use on the scope ring and elsewhere to make swapping camera/bino's around quick and easy.

Tho a great price (<£16 the pair) there's a couple problems.

1. the D-ring on the screw underneath won't sit flat once screwed onto a fitting, needed a washer under the head to sort that or you simply cannot get the plate to sit right in the head to engage properly.

2. A standard manfrotto 200PL plate won't fit onto it. The narrow edge (arrowed) on an OEM plate is slightly wider. Likewise these plates won't quite secure in a manfrotto QR head.

So dremel time, grind a little away and now the manfrotto 200PL fits just fine

Will take a look at filing down the bevel on the long edge a little so these plates can also work with the OEM head should I need them to, but I more got these for the base rather than the QR plates as I already have "proper" ones.

gave up reading the OP after 2 lines, too much effort to decipher...

you should be able to pull it to round again so long as the OTA is still straight of course., tho work gently and gradually. The spider vane should be able to straighten ok. Even the rim might come right but you'd need to remove it to do that. As Terry says, strip the OT and rim and see of a body ship or metalworker could sort it if you don't fancy trying it yourself. You'll likely need to redo the black matt inside but the outer paint layer may not need anything.

Heck you might even be able to use it as-is tho your collimation will be way out right now  

yeah they didn't like the trapdoor onto spikes below idea either  

depending on the camera, you'd need a lens that can mount to it, M12/C/CS etc and then you can focus it and see what sort of image it gives. Could you not fit it to the scope and aim at a distant terrestrial target as that'd save buying a lens specifically just to test with?

yep, priorities in the right order

If you keep checking around another may turn up. First scope I was after was a TAL-1 and I thought we were getting somewhere then they went silent. He sold it to someone else and didn't bother to let me know. Did get one in the end tho and likely a better example from its original from new owner. 

When you're ready just pop back and ask before committing, you'll get good advice so you don't buy a dud...

no chance here tho, what with white cloud right in the way and just looked out to see a solid band of dark below and creeping up above the house roofs in that direction too. Oh well...

2 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Brilliant, can I electrify the dome wall on the outside 😃😃😃😃😃

sadly not, seems the law doesn't take too kindly even if you have to be doing something illegal to actually hit the live wire/plate  No reason tho that you couldn't fit some sort of detection and a damn loud siren and big flashing lights to disorientate them while they try to flee. Hooked to an auto-sprinkler or better yet a water-jet with some of that special water and plod should have no problem proving it was them trespassing with intent  

made me recall the stonehenge site where they put an electric fence around it to deter the brigade that sneak in at night to play. According to the security guy I was talking to it was hilarious, as dark fell they'd start to sneak across the open green and in the dark you'd just hear crack... owww and other noises

looks like a little tin man standing on his head  

Starting to look a lot like the real thing now, excellent work and skill to get this done!

oh no! 😢

Was a bargain at that price too. You could always try getting a pair of binoculars in the meantime while you shop. Or take a look at one of these which is well regarded
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

it's a bit more bit a good starter scope, downside is it'll take a while to arrive.

2 minutes ago, LivK said:

Ooo thank you, I’m still waiting for a response from the seller 😢

Fingers crossed, there's always tomorrow evening too  
Worth setting it up in daylight and have a play so you get familiar with how the scope is moved on the mount before you try using it in the dark, just be careful of the sun's position as you do, you don't want to be looking at that star unless you have a proper solar filter.

cool, good luck and enjoy 

If you get it before this evening and point it west when the sun has dropped out of sight, you may be able to pick out Venus and Mercury perhaps around 21:00-21:30. 

at £50 you can't really go wrong if it's all there and in good order which it seems to be. Heck if it was near me I'd likely snap it up for a grab n go!

Once you have it there are many videos on youtube on how to set p the EQ mount and use the scope as well as many here who will provide guidance. You may want to consider upgrading the eyepieces later on but meantime just use what it has as you learn how to use it and decide if this hobby is something you want to invest more into. Welcome to the club by the way 🙂 

I think for our use waterproof is worth the extra as they won't mist up internally during colder nights leading to later problems. The Nikon Action EX should be good, if I recall quite a few use them successfully. With a tripod adaptor screwed into the front hinge on your camera tripod you're good to go. Probably don't need the Nikon one as its quite pricey compared to say the opticron one which I believe should fit it - others may be able to confirm this.

as the sky darkens when the sun has dropped, so maybe 9PM, this is the projection for where I am, circled in red are venus and mercury. Just hope there's no contrails obscuring them tomorrow as tonight was a drag as they just hung there and didn't drift away.

tonight, another chance tomorrow night tho  Before it drops below the horizon, mercury should be below Venus to the south-west.

ahh yes it has a helical focuser not rack type so the phone will cause it to turn and defocus. Not sure the weight might not also make the telescopic section sag a little too.

What sort of budget are you thinking of, and what plans in terms of what to see and photography? That'll help guide re the choice of EQ or ALT-AZ for example.

this may help Jennifer

https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/uk/warrington

even when you do, don't be thinking a 5x barlow would be good to get, it won't be. I've 3x TAL ones and also 2x Skywatcher and the 2x gets more use other than in the TAL-M where the 3x is the only option that fits it or the frac on the synscan mount. As Star101 said, you need to be very precise centring the object to jump that far in mag and if the scope isn't tracking then you'll be trying to find the object after you switch barlow and eyepiece over.

got a short look at Venus in the binos after she dropped below a contrail and before the neighbours high fence stole her away, but no chance to see Mercury from here for same reasons, so many contrails over West and barely moved so frustrating viewing tonight.

or just to a "rough" finishing job on the lower edge of the new fibreglass inside the lip... 😉