Teflon Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Hey huys - after a month of faffing about - I have managed to get my 200P up and running. last night was the first night of observing. Wow - what an amazing evening!As I have decided to forgo motor driven for now, to help me to learn the navigate the skies, I stuck to the very obvious stuff last night.Jupiter was spectacular, Clearly visible banding and Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa all clearly visible. I also mooched around Pleiades for a while. Mostly the session was to familiarise myself with the operation of the scope - make sure everything as balanced and aligned correctly etc.However. I did notice an issue. When looking up at the sky with my naked eye I could clearly make out the constellations based on the bright magnitude pointers that they are made up of. Cassiopeia for instance, the W is easy to make out as the 5 stars are so much brighter than anything else in the area. When I look through the finderscope however, I can just see LOADS of bright stars and I get lost, also the field of view on the finder is so small I cant see any more than one of the signpost starts at a time. Is it possible to get wider angle finders? or will I just start to get better at differentiation through the finder with experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbsy Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 hi teflon,sorry cant chip in as of yet with any advice as im in the same boat,so much so i thought that i had posted this question lol,just wanted to say hi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stoat Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Hi Teflon.You might want to look at getting a Telrad or a basic red dot finder as these give you an unmagnified view and really help getting the you in the right area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polar Bear Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Rather than looking for a wide angle (low power) finder you may benefit from a Telrad finder to enable you to point in the right direction regarding constellations. A red dot finder will also enable this but I think the general consensus is that a Telrad is better (I personally don't like red dots)Alternatively, providing you have your mount correctly polar aligned you can use the setting circles on the mount in conjunction with a program such a Stellarium. Have a look for the constellation you want to study on Stellarium and switch on the EQ coordinates overlay. From this you can use your setting circles on your mount to navigate. You may also consider buying a low power wide angle or super wide angle eyepiece in the 32- 36mm range. This will give you a wide view of the stars at around 28x - 30x magnification with your scope without light loss (exit pupil approx 7mm) You can then use this eyepiece to locate your target and then increase the magnification with your 20mm amd 10mm eyepieces.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrNeb Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 red dot finder is the easiest method in my opinion. less bulky then the telrad.or, as long as no imagers are with you. a green laser pointer through your finderscope works a treat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesM Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 A Telrad is certainly the way to go and can be found here. This product allows you to keep one eye on the sky and the other through the finder which, when both images merge, appears to reveal red concentric circles projected on to the night sky and will really help getting your scope in the precise area of interest. The light can be dimmed to suit your own preference and being circles rather than a dot doesn't obscure the target. There are also maps that you can download that have these Telrad circles on them to further assist locating objects, particularly useful when there are very few reference stars nearby. However, this type of system does rely on you being able to see the stars in order to direct the scope so an optical finder is never far behind. Most kit comes supplied with a 'straight through' type which naturally presents an image upside down and back to front - just to make star hopping even easier - not! Well the best solution is a 'right angled' finder which saves on neck ache and can be adjusted to suit scope/viewing position. It will still present a back to front image, but not one that is upside down. So together with a Telrad (Rigel Quickfinder is you have a small scope) and a right angled finder, there isn't much up there that you won't be able to find.Hope that helpsJames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brantuk Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Hi Teflon - all the advice above for a Telrad and/or Red Dot Finder is good. You don't say how it's mounted though? If you have the Dobsonian version, a good addition is a setting circle for the base and a Wixey angle guage. Combined with co-ordinates for Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel you'll have a formidable pointing abilitiy.If you're on an Equatorial mount then co-ordinates wil get you in the right general area for star hopping - from there you'll need to use the Telrad or Rdf combined with your finderscope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teflon Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 Awesome responses guys. It's on an EQ mount. so looks like a Telrad is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 i would also reccomend a good sky atlas to work in conjunction with the telrad and finderscope sky and telescopes pocket sky atlas is good also the Tri-atlas is very good (and free) google both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teflon Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 Hi Guys,Telrad ordered I know where theings are Nova, i have an atlas and Stellarium, its just aligning the Finder with what i can see Naked eye that i struggle with!It's getting better though - i was out for a few hours last night. managed to get some cracking views of Jupiter with all 4 moons, banding and even some polar detail! Also managed to find M31 in Andromeda (an oval Blur) and stayed up till after 2am to wait for Orion to rise to have my first ever look at the Orion Nebula (a 'c' shaped blur with some stars in it!)Hopefully I can work this out I need to get to a dark site though, i know I should be getting better detail than faint fuzzies with an 8" scope but I am very urban and have streetlights all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk44 Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I have the Wixey angle guage and telrad on my s/w 200 dob and the two together are great. As Brantuk said a setting circle sounds like a great idea I'm going to google now to search for how to get one on mine!Cheers Brantuk!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brantuk Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Try here Jbk: Setting Circles - You are not logged in Also here: http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/127824-dob-setting-circles.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk44 Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Thank you! I know what I'll be doing next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingster Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Hehe. I alsi recommend the red dot & Telrad xD. Take the finder scope off and use it as a mini telescope. They are actually pretty good for that, grab and go! They are useless IMO as finders xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abb Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 A green laser can do the same thing, right???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingster Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Oh yes. They are great and are good for helping your buddues spot with their bins and scope. But they can attract chav to your location and can cause troubles for aircraft so be careful. Last time i used mine i had three memebers of the thunder cays race to my location xP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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