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sonicninja

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Everything posted by sonicninja

  1. ....bizarrely its working again. I took the handset apart and it started working....maybe a loose connection or dirt on the PCB which ive dislodged. Slightly annoying I dont know exactly how I fixed it, im sure it'll come back again. Anyway, Im going to have another go at aligning it tonight. Can anyone see any issues with the lat/long I entered? Thanks for all your help.
  2. I've unplugged the power supply, the problem persists with the battery pack which im now using. I plugged the mains into the mount, not directly into the handset, sorry for the confusion. I did notice the screen on the handset was a bit worn out and faded last night before Id ever plugged the mains adapter in so it may just have been on its way out. It still works (I can just about navigate my way through the alignment in order to use slew controls). The mount is still functioning. Yes thats the telescope and mount set-up, the handset is different though.
  3. Thanks for your replies everyone. Unfortunately my issues with aligning are slightly arbitrary now as after plugging in what I thought was a compatible power supply the handset is now dying and almost unreadable. It was a 12v 1.5amp supply which I had read was safe but sadly has caused lines all over the screen. Could be coincidence I suppose, initially the display was fine. After a series of button presses I can still get the mount to move so its not completely dead. Frustrating none the less.
  4. Hi everyone, I made a very spur of the moment purchase of a very cheap Syncscan AZ Goto Mount and Mak 127 Telescope. I had been wanting a system like this but hadnt planned on buying one until I came across a cheap listing. Anyway, Ive looked through the manual and watched a couple of videos but Im having trouble aligning it correctly, I wondered if someone could look through the information Im entering into the handset as I suspect Im doing something fairly fundamentally wrong. Currently when going through the 2-Star Alignment the telescope is way off when moving itself to the second star, probably 40 or 50º off when looking by eye and not something I can make minute changes to address. Using the compass app on my iphone I get the follwing Long/Lat - 52º4'38" N 0º35'10" E 50m Elevation What Im inputting on the Syncscan Handset- E 000º 35' N 52º 04' Timezone +00:00 Elevation +0050m Does this all look correct? The syncscan version is 04.37.03 My other query is that the gear/mechanism that moves the telescope left to right sounds fairly .......sick compared to the up/down movement. Is there anything I can do to ease this or is it a fairly complicated dissasembley? Many Thanks Keith Edit: I also havent paid much attention to polar aligning the scope before I turn everything on. The manual doesnt address this procedure but Ive seen a few videos online explaining the process. Is this something I should do? I've not had to do it before as Ive only ever used a manual AZ mount before.
  5. Thanks John, much appreciated. I may look to get some in future in that case.
  6. Thanks John. Could you just eloborate a bit for me? Why would you need them in the car? Do these screws stop the primary mirror from moving whilst in transit?
  7. Thanks so much for all the replies everyone, its an absolute monster and Im looking forward to using it. The mirror isnt particularly dirty really, i just noticed a bit of dust when compared to my almost brand new 130P. This 200P is approx 4-5 years old and the amount of dust I can see is very light for a scope that old so as suggested I wont mess with it for now. By the looks of it the previous owner took really lovely care of it all. I'll attach a picture of the rear of the telescope. Im only really worried if the scopes' collimation will be affected in day to day handling without these missing screws. I havent collimated a scope as yet as its not something I want to do immediately without reading up on it first. Hopefully I can either leave this screws off entirely or get some replacements if needed. Let me know what you think!
  8. Evening everyone. I recently made the purchase of a used but in superb condition SkyWatcher 200P and I have a couple of immediate questions im hoping someone might be able to help me with. Firstly, i noticed that the focuser is 2" but comes with 1.25" eyepieces and a step-down converter. Is this ideal or should I aim to purchase some 2" eyepieces? Secondly, the primary mirror is a little dirty, is this something I can clean myself or best left to a professional? Thirdly, I noticed that three screws are missing from the back behind the primary mirror. I believe these to be the locking screws (the other three large thumbcrews with springs are present). Are these vital and should I go about getting them replaced? Many thanks in advance. Keith
  9. Does this look about right? Also, very quickly. Is it possibly to over-tighten the grub screw clutch on a telescope like this. My horizontal control seems to be either loose or ,once the clutch is tightened, completely unmovable. I wonder if Ive over tightened it at some point meaning I cant really use the precise controls
  10. Wow, thanks so much for all the replies. Lots to get my started here. I did spend an hour or so trying to find Uranus last night as it was clear. Unfortunately didnt see it (or al least I saw It and couldnt tell it apart from the surrounding stars). I'll keep looking, it'll make it all the more enjoyable when i do see it. Glad I didnt go for a GOTO mount in the end.
  11. Just purchased the collimation cap so I'll start there. Like a lot of budding new astronomers my expectation is usually based on the images users on this and other forums upload who have painstakingly processed and refined their original photo.
  12. To be honest I'll probably get some that suit my current level in the hobby i.e not utter rubbish from Aliexpress but nothing too fancy. I'll get a known brand so I know they're at least half decent.
  13. Thanks so much for your replies. There's a lot of information for me to go through here, especially on eye pieces. For the time being I'll look into some different eye pieces for my current set and forget about the GOTO mount. I may look into the SkyWatcher Skymax 127 as an addition to my set-up at a later date. I'll have a look on the classifieds and see what I can find, hopefully with the right conditions and equipment I can start getting the views of the bright planets I was hoping for.
  14. Thanks everyone, this is perfect. You're all talking me out of spending my daughters future inheritance! Can anyone suggest any eyepieces that might be an advantage with my current set-up?
  15. Im using the ones that came with telescope, 10 & 25mm ones. I also have a x2 and x3 barlow with the latter being fairly poor quality so ive not used it much. I believe the 130PS is collimated at the factory so you're not able to do it yourself. At the point at which i bought it I was fine with this as I didnt really understand much about the subject anyway. I suppose part of the problem is at the moment I dont have much to compare it to. I've not viewed any other telescopes so am unsure whether what im seeing is typical or otherwise. 🤷‍♂️
  16. Thanks for the replies. I wasn't really aware that using a smartphone was a viable option. I do have and app on my iPhone 'SkyView' which has been really useful in finding out what planets are visible on what day etc but It didnt occur to me that I could mount it to the scope. As you've said Heather both Jupiter and Saturn are visible and I often pop out with my scope to quickly see what the viewing conditions are like. On a good day I can make out 4 visible moons of Jupiter (at least I think that's what they are) and some incredibly faint detail of the surface. With Saturn its a clear but tiny image, but exciting to see none the less. My one criticism of the Explorer 130PS is the focuser which seems pretty cheap and crude, is this likely to be a more precise feature on a mak telescope? If i were to consider a mak would something like the SkyWatcher Skymax 127 Maksutov Cassegrain be a viable option?
  17. Thanks for the reply David. Id certainly like to try astrophotography of some kind in the future, but for the moment I'm very keen to see the planets in more detail than I am currently able to. They still appear very much like faint pale dots with my equipment although do improve is the viewing conditions are good and once Ive played around with the few lenses I have. I've been looking at the GOTO mounts with envy as I'm finding it hard to pinpoint faint planets such as Neptune which I am unable to initially see by eye. Navigating to these bodies has been hard/impossible for me so something with the ability to aim me in the right direction would be nice. If a GOTO system is mounted to an EQ style mount I'm presuming I can use the mount manually as I have been doing also? I've found the size and weight of the 130 and AZ5 very manageable. My current situation has it in the living room of my bungalow and on the odd occasion I can get 20 minutes of planet gazing in (I have a 3 month old daughter!) Ive found it easy to maneuver outside and into position. There are three doors between where to telescope lives and the outside. I have a flat patio and a sloped grass garden where I can set-up easily. My garden is surrounded by a park and high trees so at the moment Jupiter and Saturn are in easy view, the moon is often obscured. I'm in the country so light pollution is low (at least it seems that way to me). I do have the benefit of living near a 'castle'.....its more like an old wall. This sits on a high mound and would make good viewing if i braved the dark walk with my headtorch, its about 200 meters from my house. Hope that's enough detail......actually it might read as sarcastic but its not!😀 Many Thanks
  18. Hi Everyone, I originally wrote a mammoth post which ended up being incredibly boring and I’m pretty sure no-one would have read it so Ive done an abbreviated version. I'm very new to astronomy and purchased my first telescope at the beginning of the year (Sky Watcher Explorer 130PS AZ5). Ive thoroughly enjoyed using it but am already looking to get something slightly more advanced that will help me see further and with more clarity. I’d like to get some of your thoughts on upgrades and what you experienced starting out in the hobby. To put it briefly Id like to purchase an upgrade with the intention of it lasting me a few years. Is this a good idea or am I’m trying to run before I can walk? Despite my brief time in the hobby I can already see there is an endless and sometimes overwhelming sea of information and technology. I’m sure many people have purchased their first telescope only to buy an upgrade soon after but wondered if this was the best approach? I’d like to consider a more intermediate set-up such as the Celestron Nexstar 8SE and a Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro GOTO though at the moment this is a very broad equipment list. Without getting too specific equipment wise would anyone mind giving their personal experiences and whether or not I should continue with my current set-up or dive in with something more advanced that will see me through for a few years? Many Thanks Keith
  19. I've made my purchase so now all I need to do is wait 60-90 days! 😪 Hopefully I'll post back when I get it or do a newcomer review (is there isn't already one of the telescope Ive bought). Thanks to everyone for their advice! Keith
  20. Thanks so much for all the replies. Does the lack of tripod make a dobsonian a dobsonian or is there more to it than that? It's more having the right space to observe from as I live in a tiny two bed bungalow (it's lovely and im underselling it!). Presumably you need somewhere suitable like a conservatory, spacious shelf or garden table to use one?
  21. Thanks for your reply Zermelo. The finderscope I bough didn't come with the telescope but was a Celestron part specifically made for that telescope. It was a standard scope with no red dot and felt very 'plasticy' and much like a toy. I knew as soon as I'd unpacked it that it was a mistake. Should have gone with my gut and not purchased it as an add on in the first place.
  22. Thanks Heather. Just Ive been making my way through that thread, so far a lot of it has summed up my very early expectations. My job is fairly technical (though quite different from astronomy) and so reading about some of the more complex aspects of telescopes has been quite enjoyable. However, if I read too much I'll end up spending far more than I should for my first scope without actually knowing if it's something I'd really like to spend time doing. The approx £200-£250 mark seems to be a good place to land where I'm not buying cheap rubbish but also not remortgaging my house. The AZ mount looks just right, nice and solid and not over-complicated. As long as there isn't anything glaringly negative about a scope like the Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ5 Deluxe I'll probably go for. That's why I'm here; just in case someone says 'don't buy that telescope, it's terrible and ran off with my wife!'. I've seen a lot of very decent looking dobsonians (don't think I've been here long enough to abbreviate it) but my circumstances mean it's not really suitable as I don't have anywhere great to put it.
  23. Thank-you for your reply. My expectations were way off, I think we're all spoiled with close and beautiful images of planets from Hubble! and although I wasn't expecting that I also wasn't expecting to quite so disappointed. The Firstscope has an appalling finderscope which I found very frustrating (I'm aware these can be replaced though) and although I knew it needed to be mounted on a table It proved to be very awkward viewing. I followed the basic instructions and read a bit online but despite a considerable time spent we just resorted to looking up at the sky and not straining our necks. I did originally have my heart set on a scope mounted on a tripod but ended up going for a cheap and cheerful telescope hoping for the best. I'm not looking to spend the earth but am happy to spend a couple of hundred to give us both the best chance of being enthusiastic about the hobby.
  24. Hi everyone, Having spent the last few weeks browsing the internet for a suitable telescope I hoped some of you (all of you) with more experience than me could help me with my first purchase. After buying what I now know was a mistake I've returned my Celestron Firstscope which I was hoping would get me and my daughter into the hobby. I'm now looking at a couple of telescopes from the Sky-Watcher range and since my understanding of the hobby is almost none I'd like some suggestions as to which scope would get us started. I'm after something user-friendly to the newcomer but also last us a little while until we know more about the hobby and decide if we want to spend more. I should say that I'm not currently looking to do any photography, at the moment I'd just like to be able to get a better look at the moon and maybe some bright planets (if that's even possible with the scopes Im looking at). I was originally looking at the Explorer 130P EQ2 but have since reconsidered after reading a few threads on this forum regarding the mount perhaps not suiting beginners. I'm now considering the Sky-Watcher Starquest 130P & Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ5 Deluxe , leaning slightly towards the latter. From what I've read generally speaking the hardware on the 130 range is mostly the same with the exception of a non-collimateable/collimateable mirror. Without getting too technical can anyone explain in layman's terms if that is of any concern to a beginner please? The AZ5 Deluxe mount looks easier to use to me but I don't want to make any mistakes when spending £250. Any suggestions anyone? Thank-you in advance Keith
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