Is my telescope broken?

[desertdamsel]

Hello,

I have a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ-MD. I have set it up but I'm not sure how to 'operate' it. When I look through the 10mm eyepiece, all I can see is a blur. I'm wondering if I've made a mistake in the setup or if it's broken.

I'm a complete beginner. Would someone be able to please advise me on how to get going?

Also, the telescope comes with a 20mm eyepiece but it doesn't seem to fit into the hole - how can I use it?

Thanks.

Saima

[austen4]

This may be a stupid question but did you focus it? It may be the collimation but I dont think it could be that bad. If it was taken from the warm inside straight into the outside they the optics need to cool down but again this would not be substantial enough to make it all a blur.

The eyepiece is probably a 2" eyepiece and there fore will need a 2" adapter which goes into the focusser. This should come with the telescope and if not it will need to be purchased.

Hope I helped, I may be wrong though.

[desertdamsel]

Thanks Austin. I've played around with the focus but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

I don't think I was supplied with an adapter so I guess I'll have to get one.

[Corbain]

I've just bought this telescope as well. Of the two supplied eyepieces The 20mm eyepiece requires an adaptor, it's made of black plastic.

Did you buy your scope new?

I also made the mistake of putting the eyepiece in without the adaptor, and all you get is a big blur.

[Shibby]

Saima, what were you pointing your scope at at the time?

If stars, while playing with the focus, you should see them turn from diffuse discs to sharp points then back do discs again. 10mm is quite a narrow field of view, so ensure you are pointing in the direction of plenty of bright stars, such as the Pleiades cluster (line it up in your finderscope / "starpointer").

[Peter Drew]

Best to sort out these basic initial problems looking at objects in the distance during daylight.

[pvaz]

If you're testing at a close by object you won't be able to focus. Mine can't focus closer then 100 meters or so.

[assasincz]

I do not think that your scope is broken in any way. The only thing that can be wrong with the scope itself really is the collimation, but this will not effect it with such a substantial degree of blurriness. Same goes with the scope not being cooled down to ambient temerature.

These are the reasons that come to my mind:

1) The object you are looking at is too close - look at for example trees on the horizon

2) Not enough focus travel - with the supplied eyepieces, I do not think that is the case

3) You are looking out of the window through the glass - It may seem straightforward but sometimes, you might not even realize it at first

4) An optical element from the eyepiece might be missing - this is an extreme case but the lenses are held in place with a screw-like insertions, however unlikely

5) Your secondary mirror (that under the focuser) might be seriously knocked out of collimation - unlikely, unless it was done deliberately or the mirror is completely loosened.

6) Something is in the light's way - I was one time anxious that there is something seriously wrong with my scope and then I have found that a piece of paper is stuck in my barlow lens, for example.

7) Your primary or secondary mirrors (or eyepieces for that matter) might be dewed up - this happens especially when you bring the scope indoors, where it is warm as compared to outside temperatures (or when transporting it in a car)

[desertdamsel]

Corbain, yes I bought mine new but it's been sitting in the corner of the living room for a while and I'm trying to get it up and running now! Where did you get the adapter from?

Shibby, I was pointing it at a sparse area in the sky so I'll try something more 'busy' this evening. Should I get a better eyepiece?

Peter, good idea. I've just pointed it out to the local area and can see the trees and houses etc. I'm guessing that they would be blurry at this distance because they're too close?

[John]

The scope should work as supplied and with the supplied accessories so I would not go spending money on new eyepieces until you have got it working OK with the ones it comes with.

Use the lowest power eyepiece (the 20mm) while you get a feel for the scope.

[desertdamsel]

Thanks John. The 20mm piece doesn't seem to fit into the focusser as it is. Someone on the thread has said that I need to use an adapter but I haven't been supplied with one. Should I have been?

[onesmallstep]

Hi

Just reading about your telescope woes. Try the following link for tutorials for the Astromaster 130, something here may help.

AstroMaster 130EQ Telescope - Telescopes

HTH!

[John]

Thanks John. The 20mm piece doesn't seem to fit into the focusser as it is. Someone on the thread has said that I need to use an adapter but I haven't been supplied with one. Should I have been?

If you need an adapter to use a standard accessory (I assume the 20mm eyepiece is the standard acessory ?) then it should be supplied.

The 10mm and 20mm eyepieces should be the same fitting though - 1.25"

This is a case where some photos of your setup, particularly the eyepieces and the focuser, would really help diagnose the problem. Any chance of posting any ?

[Greg48(newbe)]

Hello Desertdamsel,, I also have the same scope as your's and the same EP's that came with it and didn't need an a adapter for the 20mm and it fits in the focusser ok,,it was also collimatted out of the box so i didn't have to touch it,mind you its slightly out a wii bit but nothing to stop me looking at the moon,that was my first thing i did to see if it was collimatted,,with the 20mm in i could still see the moon but the 10mm was better for it,,,try it on the moon first before looking at stars if you see the moon clear that's a start till you know what you doing with it,,happy gazing

[cantab]

My suspicion is that either the focuser tube is smaller than it ought to be, or the 20 mm eyepiece is larger. They should be the same format, 1.25", but poor quality control can make stuff like this happen.

[desertdamsel]

onesmallstep - thank you very much for the link, I'll look into that.

John - I have attached a photo. As you can see, they are quite different pieces. The 20mm one doesn't have the same screw bottom as the 10mm so I don't see how it's supposed to go into the focusser?

Greg48 - is this the same as the 20mm eyepiece that came with your telescope? How did you fit it in?

[Chris H]

Part of the 10mm is missing there should be a section screwed onto that male thread.

[ScubaMike]

That 10mm doesn't look right to me.

Missing the lower end.

EDIT: Too slow.

[assasincz]

My guess is then that the part that is missing from your 10mm eyepiece is still in the focuser and that might be to reason why you can not insert the 20mm one in. So loosen the focuser thumb screws and remove the missing part and all should be well I think

[John]

The 20mm in the picture is not really an astro eyepiece - it's an erecting eyepiece for terrestrial use. The 10mm, as the others have said, should have a chrome or black barrel of 1.25" diameter attached to the screw thread - that then pushes into the drawtube of the focuser. Unless the eyepiece barrel is stuck, in the focuser on your scope which might explain things ????

[desertdamsel]

Excellent, you guys are great! The barrel was indeed still inside the focusser so I got it our by unscrewing the thumb screws.

Hopefully I should be able to get going, thank you all very much for the help

[Spackbackle]

Hey,

I agree with the above, are you screwing the 10mm EP into the focuser draw tube? If so then that would be why the 20mm isn't fitting!

However if the lower half of you 10mm EP is in the drawtube, not quite sure why you aren't getting focus once you have screwed in the top part of the 10mm to it!!

Could you post a pic of your focuser drawtube??

Stu

[Chris H]

My guess is then that the part that is missing from your 10mm eyepiece is still in the focuser and that might be to reason why you can not insert the 20mm one in. So loosen the focuser thumb screws and remove the missing part and all should be well I think

Good call

[John]

Seeing those photos was so useful - we could have been guessing for a long time otherwise.

Good call assasincz

You may want to replace the 20mm erecting eyepiece though - it contains extra glass to turn the image the "right" way up but that's not needed for astronomy and the extra glass won't help the quality of the views.