Jessops 800-80 Astronomical Telescope

[Corticarte]

Hi Guys,

Complete newbie to this, myself and my partner are very interested in astronomy and the like so we thought why not purchase a begginers telescope!

So we bought this Jessops telescope it is a Refractor one too... now i managed to line it up with the moon but all i can see is bright white light now... the instructions that came with this telescope did not advise on how to use it only how to set this up! sooo few questions here if anybody knows the answer!

1> there are 2 caps on either side I know the one at the front with the big crosshairs needs to be taken off but what about the one pointing towards hte ground?

2> Should i be seeing just bright white light or should i be able to see more detail?

3> I was using the 3X Barlow lens + I tried the 6mm eyepiece along with the 12.5 and 20mm... should i be putting the Barlow on first then the eye pieces or just the eye pieces alone?

4> With this specific telescope do you think it is powerful enough to see anything other than the moon (Once i get better with the finder scope)

5> Any reccomendations for me?

And finally, thank you very much for taking the last couple of minutes of your time to read my post, I really do appreciate any constructive posts here.

Many Thanks!

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl first friendly advice edit your astrology typo its astronomy. No malice intended its just that when you mention the A word people start mentioning otters in conjunction with uranus.

now the serious stuff start with your smallest eyepiece that is the one with the biggest number no barlow rack it all the way in then rack it out until you reach focus. you don't need big magnification to get blown away by the moon and a smaller magnification means you will not have to move the scope so much

[rowan46]

are you sure it's a refractor the only pics I can find are a reflector? Do you look through the side or the end?

[Corticarte]

Thanks for the welcome and fast response Rowan46! haha oops Astronomy! edited! Thanks for that!

Okay, seems as it is about -4 at the moment and clouds keep going infront of the moon so I have called it a night; hopefully it will be better conditions tomorrow!

So just so i understand I will be discarding the Barlow Piece and just using the 20mm eyepiece now there is a dial attached to the point where you put the eye piece in which extends this part of the telescope. Presumably this is used to focus right?

Once again sorry too be a pain haha it's just a great way to learn on forums with experienced people I believe

Thanks again!

[Corticarte]

are you sure it's a refractor the only pics I can find are a reflector? Do you look through the side or the end?

You look through the side am I getting confused?

this is the one I have...

Jessops 800-80 Astronomical Telescope - Jessops - Telescopes

PS: I feel so stupid right now (it is a reflector)

[Cornelius Varley]

Is this your telescope ? Jessops 800-80 Astronomical Telescope - Jessops - Telescopes

Peter

beat me to it.

[rowan46]

don't worry its an easy mistake to make at first, put it down as a typo like astrology;)

[cloudythoughts]

Hi Corticarte

I think this is the one. I'm not familiar with it but going by the picture I think the other cap is the one at the mirror end, and if so it does not need to be taken of for normal use.

I suggest you try using it in daylight or dusk (keep well clear of pointing it at the sun though) so as to get familiar with the controls and how the magnification, etc., changes with eyepiece/Barlow.

The moon is a good place to start. I expect to be able to see detail on the moon.

It should have enough power to see the moons of Jupiter, but not cloud belts. Also, as you get more experienced with pointing and focusing, I'd expect to to have good view of the pleiades cluster and you may see the orion nebula but even with a scope twice the size you won't see much detail in the nebula. You should also be able to see the Andromeda galaxy.

Keep the eyepiece magnifications low, at least to start with - you'll have a much better experience.

Let us know how you get on

[rowan46]

yes you are right there is a small tube at the side of the main tube where the eyepieces go and a knob to twist this moves the eyepiece in and out until focus is reached. If you have time during daylight tomorrow align your finder red dot to the main scope. focus your scope to an object far away then turn the red dot on and adjust the screws till the dot lands on the same spot that your mainscope is seeing. tomorrow night when you try all you have to do then is line up the red dot and your main scope is facing the same point put in your eyepiece and twist the knob till it reaches focus and hopefully voila. if not see you tomorrow

[Corticarte]

Is this your telescope ? Jessops 800-80 Astronomical Telescope - Jessops - Telescopes

Peter

beat me to it.

Cornelius Varley: Yes this is correct, that is my scope!

don't worry its an easy mistake to make at first, put it down as a typo like astrology;)

Rowan: Yeah, lots of mistakes tonight haha, oh well! thanks for highlighting that one too haha

Hi Corticarte

I think this is the one. I'm not familiar with it but going by the picture I think the other cap is the one at the mirror end, and if so it does not need to be taken of for normal use.

I suggest you try using it in daylight or dusk (keep well clear of pointing it at the sun though) so as to get familiar with the controls and how the magnification, etc., changes with eyepiece/Barlow.

The moon is a good place to start. I expect to be able to see detail on the moon.

It should have enough power to see the moons of Jupiter, but not cloud belts. Also, as you get more experienced with pointing and focusing, I'd expect to to have good view of the pleiades cluster and you may see the orion nebula but even with a scope twice the size you won't see much detail in the nebula. You should also be able to see the Andromeda galaxy.

Keep the eyepiece magnifications low, at least to start with - you'll have a much better experience.

Let us know how you get on

Cloudythoughts: Yes you are correct that is the one in the link provided!

I will leave the cap on from now on then, it did not seem to make much difference earlier when viewing the moon.

You are right, I think that it would be beneficial to get some practise in whilst it is daylight and getting used to the lenses, maybe I can do that on Monday or Tuesday as I have these days off hmm... I dont get too see much daylight when I leave for work at 6:30AM and arrive home at 7:30PM haha, so this daylight training may have to wait unfortunately!

Wow I am very impressed that this telescope may have the potential to see all of those, I thought that it would be just a moon telescope (haha sounds funny) for the price that I paid for it but if there is other amazing sights to be seen what a bonus!

Eye Piece Magnification, I will keep that in mind; it is a shame 2 of my eye pieces are not even labelled only the 25mm one!; I will try the other two one of them is 6mm so I will take the barlow lens out and just use those eye pieces

and I will of course update everybody on how I get on!

yes you are right there is a small tube at the side of the main tube where the eyepieces go and a knob to twist this moves the eyepiece in and out until focus is reached. If you have time during daylight tomorrow align your finder red dot to the main scope. focus your scope to an object far away then turn the red dot on and adjust the screws till the dot lands on the same spot that your mainscope is seeing. tomorrow night when you try all you have to do then is line up the red dot and your main scope is facing the same point put in your eyepiece and twist the knob till it reaches focus and hopefully voila. if not see you tomorrow

Rowan: That sound's exactly like what I have here, and now I should be able to focus better now that I actually know what that knob does haha I was twisting it really fast so if it is for focusing I will turn it slower or I am guessing it won't be focusing correctly.

I did try to allign my finder tonight with different features on the local houses and street lamps and wow I didn't even know that it had a red dot haha, Just checked and it is working! Right soooo now I know what I had such a tough time lining this finder up this evening as It was the red dot which should have been moving... well thanks for pointing that one out! haha

You make it sound real easy! I am sure that I will get used to it with some practise though I will let you know how I get on with it!

All: I am impressed with how helpfull you have all been this evening with my questions and i have been made really welcome; thank you for this, and hopefully I will stick around and make some good contributions and discussions to this board as I become better at Astronomy :-)

Again thanks and see you soon!