Another night, same results

[WiKi_KiKi]

Hi all, sorry for another topic but if you don't ask you'll never know.

After finding out last night that I had an extra part in the eyepiece that was affecting my views, my first night wasn't very pleasing.

I tried for the last hour, although quite cloudy and with a lot of high cloud, I still got very nice detail on the moon - but nothing else.

In my skies, I can see Mars' color difference when compared to the stars nearby it (Thanks to Stellarium), and I can find it in my finder scope (I think.) but when it comes to seeing it in the scope, it's a near impossible task. I see many stars in the eyepiece, loads that I dont actually see with my eyes, but no Mars or distinct spheres or light.

I see Capella in the sky, and I look through my finder scope at it and see a bright star, but just a bright star. I then figure, that because the star is almost as bright as the moon, I should be able to see the light to help me direct it towards the star... but nope.

Basically, with my telescope so far, I can get brilliant views of the moon, see all the craters, all the detail, its very nice to see. But with other stars, and finding other things, I find it impossible. I think, with my case at the moment, I should have opted for the GoTo, but I will not give up.

Can you please give me some tips on how to find the DSO's and Planets? DSO, I don't expect to see, but planets - please!

I also tired aligning my finder scope with the eyepiece, but this seemed too hard. I tweak the finder with the screws, but it wont go down enough to point to the same spot as the eyepiece does.

Am I just the most unluckiest astronomer ever? Or I am just so inexperienced and making the biggest mistake without realizing?

I have Turn Left at Orion and Stellarium armed with me, so knowing where abouts the planets and stars are shouldn't be a problem....

Cheers,

Scott

[rory]

hi, sorry to hear the hassles your having. is the scope collumated ? if the finder is paired with the main o.t.a you should be seeing things better than you are. i susspect a simple solution ,but unsure as to what .

i know you dont probably want to spend more cash, but a telrad would help you alot.

its a great scope, you should see great open and globular clusters with no real problems.

[Tinker1947]

I would suspect the finder scope isn't lined up with the scope properly, Mars would be the best bet, find that with the scope then check the finder, also be very slow when you focus and use a Low Power EP (high MM) keep this thread updated...

[rory]

I would suspect the finder scope isn't lined up with the scope properly, Mars would be the best bet, find that with the scope then check the finder, also be very slow when you focus and use a Low Power EP (high MM) keep this thread updates...

yeah i agree with tinker mate, use the low mag, forget the high mag eyepiece,put it away. there must be some issue with the finder, how its attached or grub screw not working. is it way out of alignment ?

best time to mess about with the finder is in daylight by the way. if its new and you feel its faulty ,contact the supplier they may help

[WiKi_KiKi]

Let me get some pics, give me a few.

[WiKi_KiKi]

Not really sure what you wanted me to post, but here's some pics.

[rory]

mmm, well maybe someone with the same telescope can pitch in.

it looks all correct. remember the adjusting screws have a limited movement, its like fine adjustment to get it spot on with the main scope, the finder needs to be in the dovetail correctly,although from the pic it seems to be. have you aligned it in daylight ? also, how far out would you say it is.

can the finder be moved back in the ring ? id try moving it back and see if it helps.

[Glen]

It'll be back to front when you look through the eyepiece in the 200p Scott, might be were you are going a-drift? Left is right etc.

As long as the finder is aligned to the scope you should be OK.

Take some time to have a gander through the finder scope and get to know the sky, compare it to a wide field ep in your telescope. move around and see the difference.

it's often why peeps advise a good pair of bins first, as in nothing is "reversed/+up-side down" so to speak.

[WiKi_KiKi]

I was tweaking and messing around with the finder scope earlier today. I did it towards some chimneys, got the chimney pot up in the eyepiece and of course, its upside down (I know this about dobs ), so then I looked through my finder scope and it was way higher. So I tweaked/turned the left screw to make it go up or down, depending on tightness, and when it reached as close to the chimney pot as possible, the screw was out - so I couldn't get it down/closer. I would say it isn't too far out, maybe 5-15mm? But this is still enough to make it impossible to find things....

[Dellis]

Scott,

PM me and I'll give you my phone number If you give me a call I'll try and give you some help.

Dave

[rory]

okay,well im not familiar with concentional finders,so hopefully someone will be giving you better advice soon, theres plenty of owners on here. but i would get a rigel or telrad. it made a great difference to my locating of objects scott.

id still try moving it within the ring itself .

[Glen]

when you adjust the finder you need to "relieve" the opposite screws, if you screw in one you need to screw out the other two to compensate bud

[Jon Sales]

The two thumb screws on the finder will need to be adjusted in coordination with each outgrew. The finder is in the dovetail correctly.

It will take a few minutes to adjust properly but it will go.

[dtr42]

hi scott?have same scope and just back in house .

in your eyepiece look at venus [brightest star in the west] it should look like a miniture 1/2 moon atm maybe white with a little hint of blue [need dark adapted eye and make sure your newt has cooled down] but no detail or maybe wispy cloud if you look long and hard enough

mars is white spot about 2mm across but if you keep nudging your 200p you may see dark patches and white cap [i find it hard but after 10 mins i get a brief glimpse of the cap] orion nebula has nearly gone but if you have open aspect you may just catch it [3 stars dark grey border with 4 stars in middle ] looks realy nice .tried rosette nebula tonight but cloud came in so no luck

it's a persiverance thing [percy who i hear you say:)] but stick with it as it's wonderous to imagine that this galaxy is in an oudleplex [ie loads] of galaxies that we are lucky and priveleged to even get a glimpse of them

good luck and remember rome wasn't built in a day [it took nearly 3 weeks:)]

[WiKi_KiKi]

@rory, how does the Telrad work? I seen it, and for the price it sounds very good and an excellent piece of kit. I see the 3 rings, but how does it all work so when you look through your eyepiece you see whats in the finder?

@Glen, when I was turning the silver screw, nothing appeared to happen. It seems I can push that in, or twist it.

@Jon, alright I'll try again tomorrow.

@dtr42, ahh! If only my skies weren't covered in cloud now. I see the faintest moon now, and no stars. Too much cloud. I may try again in an hour depending on cloud cover. Oh, and don't worry - I won't give up. The universe has kept me fascinated since I've looked up and done research, I'm now closer than ever to seeing things with my own eyes, just a little perseverance

Thanks for all your help guys. Just wasn't expecting finding things to be so hard

[knobby]

hi scott?have same scope and just back in house .

in your eyepiece look at venus [brightest star in the west] it should look like a miniture 1/2 moon atm maybe white with a little hint of blue [need dark adapted eye and make sure your newt has cooled down] but no detail or maybe wispy cloud if you look long and hard enough

mars is white spot about 2mm across but if you keep nudging your 200p you may see dark patches and white cap [i find it hard but after 10 mins i get a brief glimpse of the cap] orion nebula has nearly gone but if you have open aspect you may just catch it [3 stars dark grey border with 4 stars in middle ] looks realy nice .tried rosette nebula tonight but cloud came in so no luck

it's a persiverance thing [percy who i hear you say:)] but stick with it as it's wonderous to imagine that this galaxy is in an oudleplex [ie loads] of galaxies that we are lucky and priveleged to even get a glimpse of them

good luck and remember rome wasn't built in a day [it took nearly 3 weeks:)]

2 if you use subbies !

[dtr42]

:)

2 if you use subbies !

[Scott]

when you put the finderscope in was there should be an o-ring that slips onthe finder before you put it in the finderscope mount. this will give more adjustment. sorry if you already knew this. its just that i almost missed it when i asembled mine.slightly different scope but finder should be the same. hth.

ps don't get disheartened, you'll sort it eventually. also if your local university has an astronomy department i'm sure they'll be able to help if you take it up. mine(keele) has helped me alot.

[Glen]

try slacking off all the screws and rotating the finder 90/180 degrees and try again? You may have come to the limit of movement.

[Scott]

try slacking off all the screws and rotating the finder 90/180 degrees and try again? You may have come to the limit of movement.

also make sure the screws are wound almost all the way out when you put the finder in as far as it will go before you try to adjust the screws.

[knobby]

On mine the bottom screws adjust and the top silver one is sprung to take up the slack.

keep at it, you'll get there

[brantuk]

Scott - if you want to bring your scope over sometime during the weekend I'd be happy to help you get sorted with it. Dunno if the weather will be any good but we can certainly get the finder aligned adequately during the daylight for finding objects. If the night sky's any good I'll give you an intro to finding stuff - pm me by all means if you'd be up for that

[knobby]

Scott - if you want to bring your scope over sometime during the weekend I'd be happy to help you get sorted with it. Dunno if the weather will be any good but we can certainly get the finder aligned adequately during the daylight for finding objects. If the night sky's any good I'll give you an intro to finding stuff - pm me by all means if you'd be up for that

Now that is a top offer from a top bloke!

I love it here

[WiKi_KiKi]

Thanks for all your replies everyone - I'm such a pain!

Wow brantuk, thats an offer indeed! PM on it's way.

[SeedyF]

Wiki - in case you didn't get it in the replies the silver screw isn't a screw it's just a spring to provide tension.

It certainly looks like it's set up correctly - you might want to work on how to focus your camera though

It does take a little getting used to adjusting the screws on the finder so that the object you're trying to line up goes in the direction you want it to!