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Celestron Astromaster 114EQ Help


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Last Night I set up my new Astromaster 114 on the patio, I balanced the telescopes on the R.A. axis with the counterweights, then slid it back and forth to balance it on the DEC axis.

I know that you have to align the eq mount with Polaris but do not know how, so I just pointed it at the brightest star I could see.

I really have had a hard time seeing anthying(I had no idea whether the star I was trying to point at was what I was looking at or some stars that I could not see with my naked eyes) , my eyelashes get in the way so much and when I look through the eyepiece the circle I see seems too small and is black around the edges because I cannot keep my head abosolutley still.

The Focus Knob is extremely sensitive and its so easy to loose focus

After about 45 minutes of fiddling I gave up and went to bed.

I was and still am very Frustrated and Angry, it seems you would have to go on some long course to learn anything.

Please Help

Thankyou

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Dont give up hope. :p it is a frustrating hobby I must admit, especially when you cant find a target you've been looking for or struggling to understand how to set something up. But the sense of accomplishment when you get something sorted is worth it.

It took me a while to get the hang of polar alignment and the hardest bit is to find the correct star to look for. I've read and people say Polaris is a bright star to aim for but I always see it as the same brightness as most around it. The way I find it easily is to draw a line from the top 2 stars in Ursa Major, the big spoon shape thats generally right over head at night, to the left and you will hit polaris.

You dont need to know how to do this to begin with mind you to enjoy your telescope. I didnt learn to align for about 3 weeks and i enjoyed my telescope just as much. ;)

I know i've rambled but mainly, keep at it and you'll get your EURIKA moments and it'll be great!! :D

Paul''

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iv experienced the same probllems dont give up!! the link digz posted is really really useful

have a look for a program stellerarium its really useful and might be able to help show where polaris is as its not one of the brightest stars

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hi i just use a compass to find north and set the latitude adjuster(?) to my latitude for viewing this will be fine. i even image the moon and saturn using this method tho i have to make adjustments by watching the monitor and fine tuning as the pic goes up or down.

i could not even find the moon the first time i set up :D have you zeroed the red dot finder on a distant object in the day time ? . it will take some time ive had my scope 6 months and still cannot polar align i havn't even tried tbh as im getting along ok without it

im not sure if you have goto but if not i would say polar alignment is not that necessary.im sure someone will correct me if im wrong tho

star

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I still havn't polar aligned and I've had this scope for nearly 2 years now. I have always managed to find things by usind the red dot, mind you this has only been for planets and moon. I'm going to start looking at trying to find a few dso soon so I dont know if this will be more important then but will sonn find out. Use stelarium or star walk on iphone/ipod to locate what you want to look at then use the red dot to find it from there, seems to work for me.

I did have a good search last night for M39 but with no luck, mind you I was using a 20mm ep??? not sure if this is why I couldnt notice the grey fuzz that I was expecting. I did see groups of stars that were not visable to the eye however which were still nice, so although i dont think I found M39 was still an enjoyable night.

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Well, I have set the lattitude to 51 degrees with the twisty thing, I don't have a compass so I'll order one from Amazon. I 'm really confused about the star finder red dot thing on my telescope the two rings and dots obviously change when you move your head , why can't it have one dot or a small finder scope.

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With the red dot finder you have to figure out where you are going to put your head on the scope (like I do) and look through the red dot finder so that you can do it the same everytime. I put my right cheek on the very end of the tube and peer through the Red dot finder with my right eye. I read that your best to keep both eyes open as well when you use it.

What you want to do is set your telescope up on your tripod/mount during the day. Pick a far away object like a electricty pillon / tower and place your cheek on the scope and try to aim at it like you would with a gun-sight. When you think you have it lined up check in the eyepeice, if its slighty out move where you put your head on the scope and try again and see if it lines up more in the eyepeice.

I think I've rambled a bit but thats how I learnt how to use my red dot finder :D Oh and always use your lowest powered eye piece when your searching for stuff as it gives you a wider view and you can hopefully spot what your after or at least some 'road sign' stars to help you locate your target.

Paul''

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Although polar aligning can be really frustrating at first,once you get the hang of it you will not even want to setup or veiw anything without at least a rough alignment.I had my scope for about a year and like others have said I never aligned, just could not get it.During that time I was only veiwing periodically.Eventually I just got determined to figure it out,at one point I would have bet anyone that there was something wrong with the mount.I googled and read everything I could find on alignment procedures and after failing again and again I finally got it .What a relief and shock when Jupiter stayed in the FOV for over an hour.It really does only take a few times of getting it right and it becomes extremely easy to do.Stay with it and I promise, you WILL get the hang of it.Good luck.

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yep like gareth said, it screws into the bottom of the eyepiece :D A good buy, the full moon and nearly full moon can really hurt your eye after a short time.

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  • 9 months later...
Dont be frustrated.

Take a look at this thread:

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/54561-setting-up-eq-mount.html

The link in there should take you to a great site explaining how everything works.

If your still struggling come back to use and well see if we can sort you out :)

I apologise for 'bumping' a thread which is almost a year old, but that link is a fantastic source of information. I was at my wits end when it came to setting my Celestron up, that has made it much more clear then the (awful) instruction booklet did.

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  • 5 years later...

hi

The link provided doesnt work , say 1s160/2 error. i still have a doubt about the way we should point the scope to the sky, any thumb rule, no idea and in my part of the world i tried talking to couple of guys and found they are not that enthusiastic. Last night i could not see the image properly as the center part of the lens seems a bit soft compared with  the sides, to be precise it was like two concentric circles for any objects seen. Went through all the video and screwed up the alignment of the scope. i was a bit worried and sad as who in this part of my country can i call for a help. I didnt find any one and any one i contacted  said they never collimated the telescopes since they bought it some 4 yrs ago. This really puzzled me as then how is the image now compared to when they bought the scope 4 yrs ago. He said it looks not good now. so i understood that not to be in panic mood but use brain and patiently try to fix the error. I did it without any collimating tool. now i can see the images better and happy that i understood my telescope better and can rectify the issue.

The saddest part is as astronomy as a subject people not interested at all. I have ordered on amazon a laster collimator now so that i can keep the scope calibrated . 

NOw to some advice to me on Jupiter viewing. i find it so hard to view the jupiter . The image enclosed below shows the jupiter rise and set in my part of area.  how should i set the tripod stand and telescope, secondly the star finder is pathetic on Astromaster 114 eq newtonian. 

jupiter

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17 minutes ago, shyam said:

hi

The link provided doesnt work , say 1s160/2 error. i still have a doubt about the way we should point the scope to the sky, any thumb rule, no idea and in my part of the world i tried talking to couple of guys and found they are not that enthusiastic. Last night i could not see the image properly as the center part of the lens seems a bit soft compared with  the sides, to be precise it was like two concentric circles for any objects seen. Went through all the video and screwed up the alignment of the scope. i was a bit worried and sad as who in this part of my country can i call for a help. I didnt find any one and any one i contacted  said they never collimated the telescopes since they bought it some 4 yrs ago. This really puzzled me as then how is the image now compared to when they bought the scope 4 yrs ago. He said it looks not good now. so i understood that not to be in panic mood but use brain and patiently try to fix the error. I did it without any collimating tool. now i can see the images better and happy that i understood my telescope better and can rectify the issue.

The saddest part is as astronomy as a subject people not interested at all. I have ordered on amazon a laster collimator now so that i can keep the scope calibrated . 

NOw to some advice to me on Jupiter viewing. i find it so hard to view the jupiter . The image enclosed below shows the jupiter rise and set in my part of area.  how should i set the tripod stand and telescope, secondly the star finder is pathetic on Astromaster 114 eq newtonian. 

jupiter

You will find that a laser collimator will not work with your Astromaster 114, the built in barlow/corrector lens will disperse the returning beam. Return it and order a Cheshire eyepiece.

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Don't give up, it feels like a bit of a steep learning curve at first, but then when you "get it" things start to become a lot easier, although funnily enough one of the good things about astronomy is that there is always something new to learn.

Have a look at this link which might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plx6XXDgf2E

regarding polar alignment, for purely visual use it doesn't have to be spot on.  When tracking at low to medium magnifications objects will stay in view  reasonably well with just a tweak on the slomo controls.

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56 minutes ago, Alfian said:

Don't give up, it feels like a bit of a steep learning curve at first, but then when you "get it" things start to become a lot easier, although funnily enough one of the good things about astronomy is that there is always something new to learn.

Have a look at this link which might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plx6XXDgf2E

regarding polar alignment, for purely visual use it doesn't have to be spot on.  When tracking at low to medium magnifications objects will stay in view  reasonably well with just a tweak on the slomo controls.

with a barlow lens in the eye peice tube , as said collimation with laser is not possible. as i have ordered can i remove the barlow as shown in the youtube and go ahead with the collimation process. whats your suggestion?

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31 minutes ago, shyam said:

with a barlow lens in the eye peice tube , as said collimation with laser is not possible. as i have ordered can i remove the barlow as shown in the youtube and go ahead with the collimation process. whats your suggestion?

Apologies if  I have misunderstood the difficulties you are having as the link (utube) was with respect to understanding how the equatorial mount system works.  Collimation is different task which aims to ensure that the primary and secondary mirrors are properly aligned so that you get good optical views through the eyepiece. I wouldn't automatically assume your scope is out of adjustment but it is worth checking. This link might help

http://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/

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