LeaWoo

Hi Barnsley! Fellow S Yorks person here

On 26/11/2020 at 10:11, Ed in UK said:

I was looking at Mars last night but would have struggled to make out any detail. The planet will appear like a bright red/orange star at 25mm and a small red/orange disc at 10mm. Both images should be relatively sharp. When out of focus the planet will appear as a fuzzy ball. Are you sure that you have the eye piece sitting in the holder correctly ? 

With my limited knowledge it sounds like you have a focusing problem.

If you can use your scope during the day have a look at a distant object such as a tree or a building and make sure that you can get that in focus.

If you can't use the scope during the day then use the moon. Again check to see if you can obtain focus. Stars should appear as pinpricks of light and not fuzzy balls.

Let us know how you get on.

Good luck.

Thank you for your input.

We returned the telescope due to a fault and are currently looking for a new one. Everything seems to be out of stock at the moment!

On 18/11/2020 at 17:56, Ricochet said:

When using it at night on celestial targets, remember that in order to focus the telescope you must turn the focuser knob to make the image smaller. When whatever you are looking at is at its smallest, it is properly focused.

Thank you, that helps.

You still can't really tell it's Mars though and maybe our hopes were too high for this scope. The hole for the focus screw is way out any way so we are going to return it and find a better quality scope.

I thought so to be honest, we are going to try and focus in the day light to see if there is any difference. Thanks.

I tried that and it is solid, looks like a manufacturer fault most likely 

Thanks for your reply.

I believe it is supposed to go through the hole below to clamp the drawtube, but as it is out of line it is not locking.

We haven't had the opportunity to try during daylight now it is getting dark at 4pm. Will give it a go at the weekend and see if it makes a difference.

Hi thank you for replying. 

Do you mean extension piece?

The diagonal is definitely fitted and then we've attached the 10mm, 25mm and a x2 barlow and all resulting the same. 

I have attached another photo of the locking screw hole, it doesn't seem to be aligned with the hole below.

Hi All,

We have a Skywatcher Mercury 707az telescope and hole for the focus locking screw seems to be out of line. The seller said they would send a video link but haven't as of yet.

I am hoping to get some opinions, I have attached a photo.

Have we done something wrong or is it faulty? Also, would this affect the focus in any way? The outer part of the frame won't focus properly no matter how we adapt it.

My partner saw Mars' scar yesterday so we are certain it's Mars. It seems to focus on one small part of the planet and then the outer part is blurry, but no matter how much we play with the focus it doesn't seem to change or improve. 

I feel we are doing something wrong here but I don't know what.

Hi, thanks for your response.

After a play around, the focus is as it should be, but it is almost like it is zoomed in too much with each eyepiece we use.

Rather than seeing the whole planet in view, we can just see a part of it. I hope I'm making sense?

Is this to do with the eyepieces we have?

Hi All,

Happy Sunday!

Recently purchased a Skywatcher Mercury 707 az and we've found Mars pretty quickly, the image is good, however it doesn't seem to be focusing very well. We have a 10mm, 25mm and a x2 barlow lens. Could it be the eye pieces? Any advice please?

On 12/10/2020 at 00:14, Alan64 said:

Two to three eyepieces would make for a useful set for a long time.  Plossls are the minimum in performance eyepieces, and are economical; a 32mm and a 12mm, along with a 2x-barlow perhaps.  The 32mm would be for your lowest power and brightest/widest view of the sky, and for hunting objects to observe.  The 12mm, with and without a barlow, for the higher powers.

Plossls...

https://www.365astronomy.com/32mm-GSO-Plossl-Eyepiece.html

https://www.365astronomy.com/12mm-GSO-Plossl-Eyepiece.html

Barlow... https://www.365astronomy.com/GSO-2x-Barlow-2-Element-Achromatic-Barlow.html

Those are just examples.  If you want eyepieces that will show a wider view of the sky at the medium-to-high powers, those are available too.

 

Hi Alan64, 

I've been awol this week, sorry.

I'll have a look at these, I'm planning on purchasing over the next week so I'll update you with what I choose.

I appreciate your input.

On 11/10/2020 at 16:21, Ricochet said:

What is your budget? I would go for something from the Skywatcher Heritage range over your current choices, even if you have to save up/increase your budget to do so.

Hi, thank you for your reply.

This is for starting out so really around £120. Is this good enough on it's own or are separate eyepieces required?

Thank you for your reply.

I am currently in the UK. I think I will go for the powerseeker as a start off, what eye pieces would you recommend for this?

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a beginners telescope and I am currently unsure between 2.

I am looking at either the:

PowerSeeker 70AZ Telescope or

Celestron 31035 AstroMaster 76 EQ Reflector Telescope

i have done some research but I really am none the wiser as to which is better. This is for viewing stars and planets.

Thanks in advance.