Help yy wife bought me a How Cool is that Telescience Telescope

[joe venables]

My wife has bought me a how cool is that tele science telescope, and I need some advice, I keep seeing shadow images, could it be the lense or thje agle mirror, Also when I use the Barlow lense that is supplied I cant see anything, Am I doing something wrong or are the lenses broke.

I am a beginner with no knowlegde of how to use a telescope,which is why she brought me such a basic one.

Any advice would be appreicated.

Thanks

[brantuk]

You may be able to get a look at the moon with it but in honesty, for £50 from Tesco I doubt you'll find many people here familiar with that model. I'd suggest trying to focus it without the 3x barlow initially as that will complicate things.

It's advertised as a kids telescope - a "real" telescope would cost in the region of £150 for even a basic model. I'd suggest getting a refund and putting in the extra for something like a Skywatcher 130 if you want a good start in the hobby. Sorry to have to be a bit frank about it

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 130

[lw24]

Hi,

You may not have your telescope in focus. To achieve focus, you need to turn the focus knob until the image becomes sharp.

What exactly do you mean by shadow images? Just as a check, are using your telescope indoors, and looking through a window, because that can cause all sorts of distortions of the image.

Clear Skies,

Luke

[Capricorn]

Working on the basis that you cannot return it without divorce proceedings being instigated, it really sounds as if the scope is way out of focus.

Get it outside, if dry and reasonable clear.

Point it at something big and in the distance - mile or two.

Put in the eyepiece with the longest/highest number on it in the scope.

Move the focus until you see something.

When later you try it outside stick with the long eyepiece at first, makes finding things easier. Get them in the middle and swap to a shorter eyepiece for more magnification.

Things to start with: Moon, Jupiter, Orion Nebula, Pleiades.

Sometimes these scopess have a prism in to make the image upright, probably best not to use one if present.

[joe venables]

You may be able to get a look at the moon with it but in honesty, for £50 from Tesco I doubt you'll find many people here familiar with that model. I'd suggest trying to focus it without the 3x barlow initially as that will complicate things.

It's advertised as a kids telescope - a "real" telescope would cost in the region of £150 for even a basic model. I'd suggest getting a refund and putting in the extra for something like a Skywatcher 130 if you want a good start in the hobby. Sorry to have to be a bit frank about it

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 130

Hello

The reason my wife brought me a "kids" telescope (which it isnt advertised as such: it is aimed at teenagers and beginners such as myself) is so that I could start this hobby with my grandson and then progress to a better telescope, as my grandson is not an adult nor teenager this seemed the perfect gift. Thankyou for your advice..

[brantuk]

Hope I didn't sound too aloof Joe. The focal length of that scope is 500mm and the aperture is 50mm so it's focal ratio is f-10 (should be ok for moon/planets in theory).

I don't know what size your eyepiece(s) are but a 20mm eyepeice will magnify the object 25x. Add the 3x barlow and it will make 75x magnification. Turn the focus knob very slowly throughout it's entire range to find the focus point for any eyepiece/barlow combination.

The image will be small but should be free from any shadows when you find the right point. Let us know how you get on

[peterules]

Sounds to me like you haven't focused it. Simple

[Astronut1982]

Hi Joe, welcome to the site.

The scope you have is aimed at children of 9-12. It is a very very basic scope which will not see much at all. This is partly due to the small size of it & because the mount on it is very unstable which will not let the telescope settle, spoiling any views you do manage to get with it. Another word of warning - do not believe tescos claims of up to 375x magnification, you are looking at a more modest 100X magnification & that will only be if the conditions are right which won't happen too often in this country.

If I'm being honest [no offence intended, just trying to give good advice] I would echo brantuk's comment & see about refunding it for something a bit steadier. My 11 year old cousin had one very similar as he was very interested in astronomy but after using it only a couple of times he lost interest & its only now that he has had a shot of one of my good telescopes that his interest is back.

What I am trying to say is that these scope can be so troublesome & give such poor views that they can put people off astronomy which I'm sure is the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. The scope that brantuk mentioned is the very same one that I started out with & I as well as many others have found it very easy to use & its also big enough that you & your grandson will be able to see some awesome sights. Having taken several of my friends nephews & my younger cousin I know that children need the WOW factor to keep them interested in the subject. If they can barely make out what they are seeing it just doesn't grab their attention like the views from the above scope recommended to you.

As I said before I don't mean to cause offense, I just want to give advice which will keep you & your grandson interested in this amazing hobby & I fear the both of you will be put off before you really get started. Its not telescope snobbery as theres nothing wrong with cheap scopes, I'm sure every one of us started out with one. Its just that there is a point when a telescope is too cheap.

If however you do decide to keep the scope, then I also would give the same advice as above, that you have an issue with focusing.

Jeff

[west]

Very well put.

[joe venables]

Thanks for all your advice.. unfortunatley we cant return the scope because I have thrown the box away! however I will follow everyones advice . It may that I am not focusing correctly, I really am a complete novice and need a guide for dummies... So perhaps this scope is the best one for me! I have noticed that the stand is not very stable/great already, however I will not let this aspect put me off..

[Chris H]

I used to have a scope just like this but it was branded Tasco (not Tesco) if I used the longest focal length eyepiece it provided ok views of the planets so give it a go on Jupiter. It got me started in the hobby. Enjoy.

[brantuk]

To help steady the mount/tripod - make sure the nuts and bolts are all tightened up firmly - especially if the legs extend. You should be able to spread the tripod out smoothly but firmly.

You could try hanging a heavy weight under the tripod to make it a little more stable. And ensure the scope is attached firmly but still allows movement.

[Kane]

My first scope was very similar to that - check out the suggestions made earlier on - I'd suggest using the lowest magnification eye pieces on the biggest targets first, preferably on a big target on the daytime skyline.It's really easy to move off your target when focusing and practicing during the day makes that sort of thing obvious. Secondly don't assume your spotting scope and main scope are correctly aligned out of the box, you will need to line them up - in your daytime test get a target in the main scope, focus in then check that it appears in your spotting scope making adjustments to the spotter following the instructions that came in the scope. Once you've got the hang of focusing without losing the target move on to big targets in the night sky - start with the moon if possible then move onto the planets etc as your skills increase - there are some nice introductory guides here :-

AstronomyAndNatureTV's Channel - YouTube

Don't give up, perseverence can wring a fair amount of performance out of simple kit - have fun and let us know how you get on

[ismangil]

- To stabilize the tripod: hang something heavy from the center, underneath where the scope connects to the tripod head.

- Practice in daytime focusing on something far (DO NOT POINT TO THE SUN), the image will be upside down, this is normal.

- At night focus on the brightest object, this is probably Jupiter at this time. The moon is still at new phase.

- If it has several eyepieces, start with the lowest magnification, that is the largest mm number marked, usually 25mm or more)

Let us know how you get on.

[umadog]

Joe,

Welcome! Please don't think people are being unfriendly: we are here to help. The reason you got the advice that you did is because these so-called "department store telescopes" have long been the bane of our hobby. They are infamous within the community as being hard to use and producing very poor images. I must emphasise that these are not opinions motivated by snobbishness or anything like that. I'm just telling you this so you understand the background and appreciate where people are coming from. Unfortunately, fighting the instrument becomes an extra challenge (on top of everything else) and this makes these scopes particularly bad for novices.

Nonetheless, you can see a few things with them so don't be too put off. You should expect to see Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings, even if the latter don't look terribly sharp. The brighter deep space objects, such as the Orion Nebula, will be visible to you. Also the easy double stars. If you have a camera tripod on which you can strap the scope, that may work better for you.

Good luck!

[hemihaggis]

give it a go ...,a little practice and you will find some good stuff

[Astronut1982]

Hi again Joe.

As umadog has stated, we're not trying to be unfriendly. We would just like you to have the best start in astronomy so that neither of you lose interest & are able to increase your knowledge & enjoyment as quickly as possible. I hope that I didn't cause you any offense & if I did I sincerely apologise as that was not my intention at all.

As everyone else has already stated you will still be able to see the brighter objects so it won't an expensive paperweight. I would however recommend that you buy yourself a copy of Turn left at Orion

Amazon.co.uk: turn at orion

It is a good book for beginners & will help you to navigate round the sky & find plenty of objects to amaze the 2 of you.

Good luck with the new scope & hope to hear some reports about what you both have viewed.

Jeff

[saturn4me]

Joe,

Welcome! Please don't think people are being unfriendly: we are here to help. The reason you got the advice that you did is because these so-called "department store telescopes" have long been the bane of our hobby. They are infamous within the community as being hard to use and producing very poor images. I must emphasise that these are not opinions motivated by snobbishness or anything like that. I'm just telling you this so you understand the background and appreciate where people are coming from. Unfortunately, fighting the instrument becomes an extra challenge (on top of everything else) and this makes these scopes particularly bad for novices.

Nonetheless, you can see a few things with them so don't be too put off. You should expect to see Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings, even if the latter don't look terribly sharp. The brighter deep space objects, such as the Orion Nebula, will be visible to you. Also the easy double stars. If you have a camera tripod on which you can strap the scope, that may work better for you.

Good luck!

Seconded!

Great advice!

Honesty is the best policy here.

You dont want to be disallusioned before you even get started in this wonderful hobby.

[umadog]

Indeed, a good book such as Turn Left at Orion will enhance your experience immeasurably. Highly recommended.