illuminated recticle's and other stuff ?

[rory]

the eyepieces with the little wand handle on them , what are they for ? some say illuminated recticle, others ive no idea what.

just curious if someone will enlighten me , many thanks .

[Merlin66]

The little "wand" is a battery powered red LED illuminator.

The reticule in the eyepiece can be as basic as a double cross wire ( good for finders and drift alignment) or as sophisticated as a calibrated grid for measurements of positions ie double stars, planetary diameters etc.

[rory]

I see,so it's useful for aiding astrophotography by way of alignment.

[Demonperformer]

Not just for AP. If you have a tracking mount, good alignment is essential to keep the object you are observing in fov. And if you have ever tried to find the crosshairs of a non-illuminated reticle to centre a star, you will appreciate how useful the illumination is

[rory]

thanks chaps.

[ollypenrice]

...but if you don't have an illuminated reticle just shine a light across the front of the scope (not down it!) and the crosshair will appear. I'm hopeless for remembering batteries so I'm always doing this.

Olly

[rory]

it just confused me reading " illuminated recticle" i thought , why on earth would you want light in your eyepiece. but i get the reasoning now.