Celestron 70 travel scope setting up

[newby]

Hello, we have purchased the celestron travel scope as an inro to astronomy as a family - my 9yr old is the enthusiast so its an early xmas present for us all really as we realise its not a toy. Alas last night husband and i set it up and managed to see a few things like the big white moon , anyway we havent set up the finderscope thingy yet as it was night time , anyway we could move the whole gizmo from right to left easily enough but when moving up and down it was not a smooth action and if you tried to move it a tiny bit it would judder up to much - what have we odne wrong? The first instruction in set up was to attach the handley thingy - i think pan handle but cant be sure as im doing this at work, anyway it was already attached hmmm, the box was sealed though and all looked new. It was from currys hence i havent asked them because i doubt they will even know more than even i. Sorry for my long virgin post and i hope you pros with your hubble telescopes arent laughing to much at me. Be gentle

[damnut]

Hi Newby,

It sounds like something is too tight, as you have not posted a pic I am guessing it is on a photography style tripod. You need to see what is controlling the vertical motion and loosen a nut somewhere. Aslo sometimes that is controlled by the handle try turning anti clockwise.

Cheers

[x6gas]

Yep it's a photographic tripod (and not a very good one, I am afraid, but the optics of the actually scope are surprisingly good!)

As said, you can loosen the pan handle and other knobs... but it isn't the best!

[newby]

thanks yes its on some cheapo aluminium tripod it came with, i will have a fiddle some more, just wondered if it was a common manufacturer problem or if more likely operator error.

[newby]

so with a fiddle i should be able to get a smooth operation?

[x6gas]

so with a fiddle i should be able to get a smooth operation?

I think you might be able to get it working better, yes!

[Nosivad]

Looking at a photo of it, the pan handle as you call it may have a locking device on it. Try turning the handle, not the mount, anticlockwise to see if it unlocks. It is very like a camera tripod.

I have just found this

http://www.celestron.com/c3/images/files/downloads/1267319257_travelscopeinst.pdf

[cantab]

On my cheapo tripod the handle twists to control the tilt tension. It's never very smooth though. Panning is easy since the load on the tripod stays the same, but with tilting the load changes so it's much harder to keep it steady.

[DoctorD]

I'm afraid that the supplied tripod is very poor - best used with the legs fully retracted on a table top.

This will reduce the wobble when moving the scope. A bit of trial and error should get better results with the panning just do not expect too much.

Clear skies

Paul