Finderscope

[princezippy]

Evening all

Before I got my Celestron 8SE I continually read how hopeless the red dot finder is

Im not oo happy with this basic finder

Could any one recommend a good finder please

Its obviously to sit on the SCT 8SE, But which is preferable?

And would it be best to purchase an illuminated piece?

Many Thanks in advance

Jeff

[Nova]

personally i wouldnt say the red dot finder is useless providing you can see with the naked eye what your looking for. you could upgrade to a telrad finder which is similar but uses 3 circles and using telrad charts you can line up on something you cant see by positioning the circles on the stars you can see. worth an internet search for more info and diagrams.

[Bizibilder]

Telrad - exellent and easy to use!

[Glen]

Couldn't get on with my red dot finder either. My advise is to look for an 9x50 with cross hair, back to basics I'd say.

Edit: changed 8x50 to 9x50 thanks

[OzDave]

I actually like both my red dot finder and a 9x50 finder. I use the red dot for doing the star-alignment process because mostly the initial GOTOs are not very close and trying to locate the stars even in a magnified finder can be tricky. But the Red Dot makes it a snap to slew the scope to close to the right position and then you can look through the scope to centre the star.

Once I've done all the alignment however, I swap out the red dot for a magnified 9x50 finder for doing actual observing and star hopping.

David

[Wildwood]

I had a RDF and swapped it for a 9x50 and Telrad. I find them much easier to use.

[vulcan]

I have two RDFs, two finderscopes and a Celestron green laser finder. I much prefer the Baader Skysurfer 3 RDF to any of the others - and it is the cheapest!

[ollypenrice]

I like Telrads but this is an excellent finder. It has an extra 10mm over the normal ones. Altair 10x60 Right Angled Illuminated Finder Scope (erect image, variable illuminator, finder bracket, multi-purpose base) in stock :: Finder scopes :: Altair Astro

Olly

[Bart]

Aaaahhh....Telrad.....

[Carbon Brush]

Finders are like full size scopes.

There is no best solution. There is no 'one size fits all'.

Try out different types and see what suits you.

I own, or have owned, as far as I can remember, 6x30, 9x50 straight, 9x50 angled, Rigel quikfinder, Telrad, Skywatcher RDF, un-named RDF. Some with cross hairs, some without.....

I still swap finders between scopes occasionally.