Andyv

Perfect. Adhesive backed velcro tape (like for my car number plates) looks the way to go. Many thanks for the quick response. OK after quickly trying this, I can tell everybody that velcro isn't ideal. It sticks but the scope moves around too easily when being calibrated. I'll get some proper double sided tape as suggested.

The original finderscope attaches by means of two plastic dowels moulded into the front end of the telescope. I've got a replacement model 51635 which comes with four different mounting plates, but none of these seem to work, well not unless I'm prepared to drill holes in my telescope. In the pictures you can see the original finderscope, the mounting for this and the new finderscope and brackets. Does anybody know what I'm supposed to do to make it fit?

Some great responses here which I'll take the time to digest. So far I've not touched the mirrors, though the primary I can see is a little dusty and with the eyepiece out I can see some crud in there. It might be the secondary mirror or the lens under the eyepiece. I'm hoping it's not the silvering on the mirror.

Hi Folks, just joined. I've never done astronomy before but I've been given a Celestron Astro Master 114. It originally was bought as a present for a teenager but he never took to it and it languished in a shed for a few years. I've tried setting it up but I don't get very sharp images and it seems very prone to vibrations when turning the knobs. It's also really tricky to line it up to things - even the moon, though I thought I'd got the star pointer set up correctly. I suspect I need to take the mirrors out and clean and collimate them then ensure the mount is moving freely. Sorry to sound so dumb. I suspect if it was new I'd have been up and running by now, but I think the original owner messed things up when originally assembling it, so it would be good to know where to start to get it right, without making it worse.