What a sight

[wizardaire]

Hi all, well i finally got my LS-8 and of course that means rain and clouds .

had no trouble setting it up (can't get it any easier than the LS) but had to wait until 12pm to see anything ,didn't do an align as there just wasn't any stars out so just moved with hand control.

Had a GREAT view of the moon and finally got to see jupiter and the four moons .

did find the 26mm eyepiece that came with the scope difficult to use kept getting it where i couldn't see properly or had black ring could have been me but not sure.

1 problem i did have is i used the 26mm to find jupiter but when i put in a 9mm i couldn't see anything sky not rite to use that? or am i doing something wrong?

would a f6.3 help for planets as the scope is F10?

had a real problem with dew within an hour of use will need to make a dew shield. I know you can use a camping mat to make but does it have to be black?

I would like to thank everyone here who has helped me finally get a great scope that my family and me will learn and have some great views with.

[tuxzek]

Sounds great, I have a Newtonian 700/76 and was using a 20mm to find Jupiter then used the 7.5mm to get better detail last night. My scope is an f9 so I would expect a 9mm to work with your f10.

Not sure about Pembrokeshire but it was a case of spot the gap in the clouds last night. At least it wasn't a blanket like it seems to have been the last week.

[todd8137]

on the dew shield front black is more preferred,am sure a white one ect would not work but black camping mats can be picked up for less that a fiver if you shop about on the net i brought a astro zap on for the 12"reflector as the camp in matt one worked in a fashion

ps a cheap 12volt camping hairdryer was a god send cheap as well just give it a quick blast with one of those like i do on the reflector, its a joy.but once the dew point is reached usually about 5c for me i usally just pack up and go in the house

[staryeyes]

Hi Wizardaire,

Regarding finding jupiter through your 9mm eyepiece, you may find that you didnt have jupiter centered in the 26mm right, its quite a jump from 26 to 9 so if you have one in the middle, perhaps try that first, theres no reason why you wouldnt get an image using the 9mm.

[John]

You should have seen something with your 9mm eyepiece - I don't know what scope you are using but I was using 180x with my 120mm refractor on Jupiter last night and seeing good detail - no black rings though !. As a previous poster says the 9mm will show much less sky than the 26mm so it might be a matter of pointing the scope more accurately. Also the 9mm will need a little bit of re-focussing to get a sharp image.

Your scope will be better for planetary viewing at F/10. The F/6.3 reducer would give wider views more suitable for deep sky objects but it's really not a mandatory item.

You really do want some dew prevention gear (dew shield / heated dew strip / both) as the SCT design makes them dew magnets.

[wizardaire]

thanks for the replys i will wait for better skies and then will aleast get aligned so that jupiter stays in fov while i change eyepieces maybe that will help some.

if i quit when the dew starts then it would have been a 10 min job as it was bad very early on will go get a cheap hairdryer today do i use on hot setting or cold?

so F6.3 for dso and just good eyepiece for planetry? any surgestions on a good planet eyepiece please.

will try to get the finder aligned with the scope today that should also help.

where can i get the manual for the autostar handset please as i have no idea how to use and can't stop it trying to auto align even when i don't want to use that

do i need to add an sd card to this scope? LS-8.

[John]

As I said, I would not deem an F/6.3 reducer / corrector a must have by any means. With regards to a planetary eyepieces there is simply loads of choice and loads of options, depending on your budget, from ultra wide angle to narrower but very sharp orthoscopics.

[alowen]

My dad has the Meade ls 6 and i downloaded this for him:

http://www.meade.com/manuals/TelescopeManuals/ETXtelescopes/ETX-LS_Manual.pdf

HTH

Al

P.S.

This is also what my father bought for dew prevention:

Orion Dew Zapper 8"

His was the 6" version though.

All in all its an amazing scope and a 9mm ep should give stunning views of the planets.

Al

[RobH]

Hello there.....the first views through a scope are great aren't they

For visual you definately don't need a reducer/corrector, and as Jon says, the 9mm should work fine and give a magnification of x222.

As regards dew shields, black is best as it cuts down any reflections, but any darkish colour will do....I have a mid-blue one on my 11 inch.

Be careful with the hairdryer....dew and mains electricity don't mix too well and can kill you. 12 volt hairdryers are much safer, but if you use a mains one, make sure that you plug it into an earth leakege trip just to be on the safe side.

Cheers

Rob

[wizardaire]

thanks for all that info its a great help

do i use warm or cold air on the scope?

was hoping the reducer could be used for this

Samsung SCB-4000P A1 Series 1/2" True Day/Night 600TVL High Resolution Camera 12/24v

i want to set it up for live view mainly for dso's

[inspectapart]

Warm NOT hot!