Hi, I have a skymax 90

[Jack Wilder]

Hi,

My name's Jack and I bought a skywatcher skymax 90, with 10mm, 25mm and barlow lens, recently. Last night was the first night that I worked out how to focus the thing, before when focusing on Jupiter, I could only see a large pale disk with a large black disk in the middle, and thought that maybe the telescope was broken!

Last night, saw Jupiter clearly and in focus, the four moons, and I could see, if I looked very carefully, 3 or 4 bands on the planet itself.

I had really problems keeping Jupiter in view for more than a few seconds, especially with the 10mm. Is this to be expected?

The best focus point was when the planet and four moons were all tiny and took up a small proportion of the view. With each lens, are there multiple focus points for one particular object, or just one? Should I be able to see Jupiter as larger, with definition, or is the best I can get with my setup what I have described?

Is something smaller than a 10mm worth getting, or would it be too hard to keep track of the subject?

If there is only one focus point for each distant object, can I expect to be able to see Saturn + rings clearly or will that just be too hard?

I also had trouble with the counterweight on the tabletop eq1 stand, how to best place, to keep the stand steady and not keel over or just collapse?

Thanks in advance,

Jack

[damnut]

Hi Jack,

Your scope has a narrow field of view so you will notice that objects, especially at high magnification will move quite rapidly across your field of view. With the 10mm you have 125X. Max mag for your scope is c180x. If you use the barlow with the 10mm you are pushing the envelope for your scope.

Once you have the object in focus the skymax should stay in focus, were you getting any 'shake' on your mount??.

Cheers

[yeti monster]

The skymax 90 is a good little scope. You'll need to set up your mount if EQ-1 so that you can track in Right Ascention (RA). That way your target will remain in the Feild of View (FoV) during the observation.

Each Eye Piece (EP) has one focus position, the smaller the EP focal length, the higher the magnification.

You'll soon get the hang of it...

[Jack Wilder]

damnut & yeti monster,

I didn't know how to use the mount until last night, and fear I might have damaged it a little by trying to force the base rather than the other bits. When properly set up, it was difficult to say whether any shake was due to the mount or my hands guiding it.

It'll take me a while to get the right ascension callibrated right, I take it that that is what the grid on stellarium is about?

Another question:

When focused on the moon last night, the best contrast shots, when the moon seemed most alive, sandy, or whatever, came when half of it was obscured in my scope somehow, and I could only see something in the bottom half, despite it being a ful moon. Why was that?

Thanks,

[onesmallstep]

Hi

One of the problems with your design of scope is that the objective lens is prone to dewing and this can affect the view. Given your description about your view of the Moon being obscured this is the only explanantion I can think of. Either buy or make a dew shield to prevent this from happening.

HTH!

[damnut]

Hi Jack,

Echo comments above re dewshield look for an astrozap one or you can make one yourself, when cold the front corrector to dew is like doggie doo doos to flies. Had the 102, and it is unlikely that you have damaged your mount. I do not use my lx without a dewshield.

There are plenty of tutorials on the web for showing you how to use your mount and for setting up an eq mount..

If you are moving your eye about it is poss that you are seeing the 'central obstruction' this is the silvered mirror on the inside of the corrector plate.

Cheers