Setting up / Visibility issues.

[strawmit007]

Hi all,

This is my first post..and am really sorry for asking such stupid questions…

Well I just got a NexStar 5SE…for my nephew….had a real hard time carting it from the US to INDIA…and finally managed to set it up…

Initially it did not even allow me to set the location / Time etc as the GPS kept giving me different locations every time I set it…Finally i did manage to pinpoint "3 bright objects" and the alignment went through…

Now, post that…nothing is visible….i mean no stars…./ no planets…(it only lists Mars & Saturn btw, and quite a few constellations) …I tried focussing for everything but still the eyepiece just showed a faint white illumination….

Could someone please help me on this…

And no, the scope cover was removed…:-) so there was no reason the visibility could be effected….

I even tried focussing it manually on the visible stars…but no avail….

Please help….

Amit.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Amit and welcome to SGL, you could try focusing in the daytime, just power the scope up and not go through the set up process, first you must align the finder to the scope, I think you may have a red dot finder on the scope. you need to set the finder up as you look through the scope and try to align on a distant object - like a tree or a building, try to set the main scope on an object that you can easily in the distance, then move the focuser either clockwise or anti - clockwise until you see and image in the main scope and then align the finder .

Dont move the telescope by hand, just use the keypad to set the scope in the position pointing at an object, then you need to focus and then align the finder to the scope so what you see through the finder is what you see in the main scope.

When you have the scope aligned, try again on the night sky for any fine tuning, ideally use the moon for starters - its big and bright - then try a star or planet.

Hope you get it sorted, I use a smaller scope than you, the Celestron 127mm Maksutov and have had hours of fun with it.

You need to use the eyepiece with the highest number on - this gives you a nice low power to start with - best of luck Amit and Kind Regards Paul.

[strawmit007]

thank you Paul,

I did try to focus it on the most nearby objects too…that too after locating the object thru the red dot…in the finder scope…but its like the whole thing is too dark….

There was no moon, so yes, that might be a issue…but i have used the eyepieces that are packed along with the Scope…Would I need to buy some other ones as well ??

I had normally assumed that the Company fitted eyepieces would at least take me through the basic viewing modes….;)

Could it be possible that some internal alignment has gone askew and I need to realign or reset it…????

……...

Thanks again…Would try again tonight and pray it works...

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Amit, no the scope should have alignment regarding the optics - they are pretty robust, stick with the supplied eyepieces, but make sure you align the finder with the scope before tonight if possible - remember when you look through the scope at a distant object it will be switched from left to right this is normal, but if you make sure that the finder is aligned before tonight, it will help a great deal - not sure of the time difference you may be in darkness - have a fiddle with it - practice makes perfect - regards Paul.