Starwatcher2001

I'm sure you'll have already found this, but for context there's some info on Celestron's site: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/what-does-the-hand-control-message-no-response-16-and-or-no-response-17-mean There's also a thread on Cloudy Nights: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/560565-celestron-nexstar-slt-130-no-response-error-17-and-17/ Is the scope now working, or is this a permanent problem?

Giving a telescope, what a great gift! I can't comment on the merits of each type of scope, but just to be aware there's quite a shortage of telescopes at the moment and long waiting lists, so if this is for Christmas your choices may be limited by what you can get hold of. Edit: Oh sorry... welcome aboard SGL !

I've got some bad news for you - you're hooked 😂 Seriously though, you've made a good start and you'll start seeing much more with time and experience. With the StarSense, make sure you've done the alignment procedure to line up the camera and tube axis. I also discovered (by playing with the same type of mount with my finder), that it's possible for the camera to be put on the mount at slightly different angles each time. If you slide the camera on then fully tighten the screw at the rear, and then the one at the front, but the following night tighten the screws in a different order, the angle's not always the same. That explained why some nights objects would be dead centre and other nights off by a margin. Either do the alignment each night (which is a bit of a pain), or try to be consistent with the way you screw it to the mount. You can also add an alignment point at any time. This means it takes another photo and adjusts when it's in that area of the sky. If you're spending a bit of time in one constellation or nearby, it's worth doing for the extra bit of accuracy.

Hi Adz, Do you have to connect the devices like that all the time, or just when you're updating the software? As I mentioned, I had to connect the handset to port 4 to get it to update software without an error, but in normal running they'll work pretty much any way. Anyway, glad you got it running and can get back out under the stars. Cheers, Mark

Welcome aboard SGL, and welcome back to astronomy. Good to have you with us.

Hi Adz, I feel your pain. I had that problem when updating the software for my scope. I also got "device memory corrupted" at one point. It took me a few hours of messing and panicking that my scope was bricked, but I eventually sorted it. First thing to try is doing a factory reset on the device: Switch off scope. Press and hold 0 on handset and switch scope back on. In my case that didn't fix it, but worth a shot. Second thing is that when updating you need to have everything plugged in. At some point I was trying just to update the handset (to speed up the process) and didn't connect the camera, which caused problems. Leave everything connected and let it update the handset, camera and mount. I had the same "looping around" thing where it tries to re-install everything each time (including 6 packages on the HC alone) and it's quite maddening as some updates take an age. It also scuppers things if you try to go back a version. What I did to cure that was to copy everything in the CFM folder somewhere safe, and delete all the packages that I didn't want it messing with. There's a tick box to say "work offline". I also switched off my router to stop it accessing the net. It then only installs the packages that are left in that folder, which speeds things up significantly. There's an option to log messages to an error log which is worth taking as sometimes they flash on the screen too quickly to see. As utterly bizaarre as it seems, the way I finally got this going was to connect the HC to port 4 on my evolution. It failed when using ports 1,2 & 3, but finally worked on Port 4. Whether that was actually a difference in that port or just a result of try and try again, I don't know. You've probably come across the same links I did, but here's the ones that were helpful. https://www.nexstarsite.com/Book2/Updates/FirmwareUpdateProblems.htm https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/608409-wish-i-didnt-do-firmware/ Good luck mate. If I can help further, just give me a shout. Cheers, Mark

Personally, I'd take the scope outdoors during daylight and get used to the focus on distant objects (maybe buildings at the end of the street or somesuch) NOT the sun, obviously. With your 25mm eyepiece in, and aimed at something like a distant building, move from one end of the focus to another and you WILL finf the focus point somewhere. As others have said, the range in the SCT is massive and you'll feel like you're turning that knob forever. When you've got focus, play with the scopes movement and get your head around how much of the object you're seeing and how the movement works. On my 9.25" a house brick fills the view at around 200m. While you're playing, set the finder scope up. Aim the scope at a specific point (TV aerials are my favourite), then twiddle with your finder until you can see the exact same thing bang in the centre. For exatra points put a more powerful eyepiece in the telescope, make sure the image is in the centre and check the focuser again. That will make finding objects in the sky so much easier. When you do get out under the sky, the focus will be at a different point than viewing terrestrial objects, so there's more focus winding to be done. However, once you've focused on one thing, focus on other objects, or with different eyepieces, or different weather conditions, will only be a few turns, if that. If you're looking at a star in the finder and the view through the telescope looks like a white dinner plate with a black hole in the middle, that's normal (and usually referred to as "the donut"). What you're seeing is the star out of focus and the black part is the shadow of the central obstruction (the secondary mirror in the middle at the front). Moving focus one way or the other will reduce the size of the donut until it focuses into a beautiful star. StarSense is great, but it does add a level of complication to start with and takes a bit of setting up and getting used to (probably a night or two, truth be told). Once that's done it's terrific and allows alignment in under five minutes. But to start with I'd play with the scope without it for a while and get used to slewing around and using the finder. Oh, sorry. Welcome aboard SGL 🙂

Welcome aboard SGL Katie, good to have you with us. If the streetlights are shining into any bedroom (and I'm sure are interfering with your sleep), you can have a word with the council and ask them to fit shields to them. Some people have had good success with this. Failing that, some simple shielding (like pegging a blanket on a washing line) can sometimes be used to block out unwanted light. There are some great objects to be seen, even in light polluted skies (I'm in very poor skies just down the country from you in Teesside). There's lots of beautiful open star clusters to see, such as Pleiades, starting to appear now in the East. There's the "double cluster" (NGC 869 and NGC 884), which are in Perseus. Those are beautiful and I can look at them for hours. If you look carefully, you'll see that one has more red coloured stars than the other, which shows it's probably a much older cluster. There's some nice ones in Auriga which is also coming into view right now. Cassiopeia is another good constellation with some nice clusters (and is helpfully overhead right now which can help with light pollution). My wife's favourite cluster in there is the "Owl" (NGC457). There's a bright double star that looks like eyes and with not too much imagination the remaining stars look like wings and the body. Currently it's just a bit higher in the sky than the double cluster. There's some stunning looking double stars that are usually visible even in poor skies. Mizar and Alcar which are in the handle of the Plough. With care you can usually see there two of them with the naked eye, but put a telescope on them and you'll probably see that one of them is also a double - three for the price of two. Albireo in cygnus is probably the finest example in the sky with two very different coloured stars. Almach (Gamma Andromedae) is a similar little gem. Have fun with your telescope Katie!

Just discovered this on youtube last night and must say what a fascinating talk it was. Added a lot to my understanding of the subject. Thanks very much Richard, and the crew of course.

Connect power and handset and make sure you can scroll through the options and that the movement buttons work (they are likely to have had the most use). Take a torch to look down the tube, but don't worry about a bit of dust on the collector plate, that tends to collect within a few seconds of owning one. Move the focusing knob from one end of the range of focus to the other, checking that it feels smooth. (This will take a LOT of turns on an SCT). Don't worry about a few scratches on the tube rail used to secure it to the mount. They are almost inevitable. If it's not boxed, have a think about how you're going to bring your treasure back home. Sleeping bags make good cushioning and the back seat with seatbelts on can be nice and secure. If it's going in the boot, make sure it can't rattle around. As Astrid said, most SH scopes are perfectly fine. I bought my 9.25 NexStar second hand and it's been superb.

Welcome aboard SGL. Good to have you with us.

Welcome aboard SGL Dario, and welcome to the wonderful world of astronomy. Top tips: be patient with the weather, the skies and of course yourself. It can be a frustrating hobby sometimes (especially the weather) but the rewards are - well - out of this world! Enjoy yourself discovering the gems in the night sky with your own eyes. Yes, feel free to ask any questions you have and your own contributions will be well-received.

Welcome aboard SGL Sophia. This is probably the friendliest astronomy forum out there. Good to have you with us.

Welcome aboard SGL Tom. Good to have you with us. This is a great hobby to take up, so enjoy your scope, the skies, and the banter and help here.

Welcome back to SGL and astronomy Luke. Those kinds of itches need to be scratched. Jaffa cakes? Absolutely, them and chocolate Hobnobs. But in the latter case one needs to be careful to keep chocolate off the eyepieces.

The bottom picture in Anthony's post shows an extra plastic leg bracket, and between the cables (next to the cig adapter) looks to be an oblong gizmo that's also missing from the image above. not sure if any of that is relevant.

Welcome aboard SGL Moon Shine. Good to have you with us. Observing the jewels in the universe with your own eyes is certainly a fascinating hobby. There's no such thing as a daft question here, so feel free to ask away and get the very best out of your new telescope and hobby.

You're better off aligning on stars rather than solar system objects when you can. As others have said, make sure you use the USA date format (11/04/2020), and make sure you've got your longitude and latitude right. If you align on Mars, rather than telling it to go to another object, manually slew to another part of the sky and then tell it to go back to Mars. If that consistently works fine, the mechanics, power etc are likely okay, it's probably the positioning or time that's wrong somewhere. If it can't go back to where you aligned it that sounds like trouble. If the scope has clutches on the alt and az, make sure they are nice and tight. Occasionally I forget to tighten mine fully and they slip slighty causing mischief. Oh, welcome aboard SGL Jay. Good to have you with us.

When your eyepieces are not in the scope, keep them covered or in a pocket. One tip is to use a cardboard box, or better yet a plastic storage box, on it's side on a table next to the scope. You can use it like a cubby hole to put eyepieces, sky charts, notes, tablets etc to keep the dew off them. Taping a small red light to it makes a handy observing station. Star-hopping is one of those skills that comes with practice. I always think it's worth playing during daylight looking at distant buildings and the like (away from the sun, obviously). Try to get used to how the scope feels, how far a "nudge" takes you both in the finder and the eyepiece. Get a sense of scale in terms of how much "sky" you're actually seeing through your finder and biggest eyepiece, and of course the orientation - which might be different between your eyepiece, finder and the sky itself. Under the stars, find a constellation with some close bright stars, maybe Cassiopeia, Lyra or Delphinus and practice sweeping between them. You'll quickly develop "muscle memory" and within a short while panning around will become natural. I use a "goto" scope now which is easier, but feels somewhat "disconnected" from the sky itself. Kinda like the difference between striding through the countryside and taking a bus. Goto is quicker, but not as much fun.

I can semi-understand a non-technical show setting up a telescope incorrectly... this gem is from an astronomy course: "The Life and Death of Stars" from "The Teaching Company". (Which is actually a pretty good course, despite the prop failure)

Welcome aboard SGL Stan. Good to have you with us. Having started with a small refractor myself and then graduated to a 8" reflector, the views will be a massive difference. Well, the difference between seeing a planet with ears, and Saturn in it's glory with visible shadows and division in the rings. You'll also get sucked deeper into the astronomy vortex when you see a black dot or two on Jupiter and realise it's the shadow of it's moons. How damn cool is that, seeing an eclipse on another planet? Welcome aboard, it's a fantasic ride. My conversations with my wife usually start with "Do you love me?", "Yeah... how much this time?" Still, while I'm out under the stars, she gets to hog the settee and telly. 🤣

Welcome aboard SGL Neil. Good to have you with us. The learning curve can be steep, but take it at your own pace, the stars aren't going anywhere. What types of objects do you think you'll prefer? I like a mixed bag, but don't get much chance at galaxies with the light pollution around here. (Bortle 7/8). Good choice of scope.

Welcome Dexterous. Good to have you with us, too. Definitely have a play with your scope during daylight - avoiding the sun, obviously. Get used to assembling it, how it moves and the orientation of things through the eyepiece. Don't be too surprised if you can't focus on things that are close, that's often the case with a telescope. It'll be fine for distant objects. The moon is a great object to start with. It's fairly full right now which doesn't provide much contrast, but as the days go by you'll see different craters and features in the shadows, which gives a different view every night. It's also visible during the day of course, but there's not as much contrast. With a good moon map, or app, you could spend a lifetime observing all the features of our closest neighbour. (I like LunarMap HD for Android ~ £1.40, but there's stacks of others). You'll probably need to rotate the map around 180 degrees to get the same orientation as you'll see through the eyepiece, but you'll soon get used to that. If you're not familiar with the constellations yet, it's worth getting a decent sky atlas or app (I use SkySafari on Android, and Stellarium on the PC) and familiarising yourself with the constellations and main stars. That will form the backdrop of where all the good stuff lives. Of course as the weeks roll by, the constellations change too, until a year later you're back with your old friends again. Taurus, Orion, Gemini, Leo and other winter constellations will soon be visible, which is always special for me as that's when I first took a keen interest in the heavens over 20 years ago. I still get a buzz seeing them for the first time each season. The open cluster known as "The Pleiades or The Seven Sisters" can easily be seen with the naked eye, but through a telescope looks truly beautiful, with a lot more than seven stars. It's about 8 degrees away from the moon tonight and tomorrow - around a fist's width at arms length. (This is a handy page on gauging the distance between objects up there: https://lovethenightsky.com/how-to-measure-angles-in-the-sky/ ) As you get used to looking up, you'll start to understand how dynamic it all is, including atmosphere. Some nights it can look clear but the atmosphere can be very unsteady and give poor views, and other nights it can be gloriously still and the views amazing. Often it will change whilst you're looking at an object and it will "pop" into great focus and can be observed at higher power. As you spend more time observing a single object you'll start to see more and more detail and learn how to get better at it. Observing is much more than looking, but is a skill that can be readily learned at the eyepiece. Enjoy this fantastic hobby.

Welcome aboard SGL, Phil. Good to have you with us. That's a nice scope and capable of giving you some cracking views. I think you'll enjoy getting a lot more up close and personal with your favourites than you can with bins, and discover a lot more treasures. Enjoy your new scope.

Hi Keora, Excellent advice above, but a quick thought about observing and glasses. Depending on your prescription you might be able to use your telescope without glasses. Short or long sightedness can be corrected by just focusing differently. You might get away with mild astigmatism as well, but more severe astigmatism generally needs the correction of glasses or a special additional lens. Taking glasses off to view, then on to look at charts etc., is a bit of a faff, but if you can get away with it, it does open up the range of eyepieces you can use. If you're not sure about astigmatism but have a copy of your prescription handy, somewhere like this ( https://www.allaboutvision.com/en-gb/eyeglasses/glasses-prescription/ ) explains how to check it. Or you can tell at the telescope by seeing if the image of stars are point-like dots, or look like lines or seagulls as you try to focus. I use glasses for longer focal lengths 40mm-18mm, then no glasses for shorter lengths. Shorter eyepieces have a smaller "exit pupil", meaning the beam of light isn't as wide. As narrower beams mean the image is spread across a smaller arc of my eye, my astigmatism doesn't show up as much. Hope you get on well with your scope and astronomy. This is a fascinating hobby.