setting red dot ?

[Charlie_132]

What is the best way to set the red dot to the correct position on the skywatcher 130p ?

My one is out by a long way. It would be really nice to just line up a object in the finder scope then like trough the eyepiece and see it.

That just isn't the case at the moment though. Very frustrating

[John]

Do it in daylight using a distant object like a church spire / telegraph pole etc. The alignment object needs to be hundreds of metres or more away.

Get the alignment object in the centre of a low power eyepiece in the main scope then carefully adjust the red dot (you will need it on full brightness in daylight) so it's bang on the target.

[Welrod50]

+1 on that advice Charlie. I have same scope and I put the 25mm EP on first of all. I used a pylon from upstairs bedroom window in broad daylight. Pylon was miles away!

When I set mine up, I got the pylon in the centre of the view first, then used the windage and elevation adjustment on the red dot mount to get the dot on the pylon.

Then put the 10mm (or whatever high mag EP you've got) and check that the object is central. I was lucky with mine as it was spot on, but if you struggle, just microadjust the red dot mount.

You'll get there mate

Scott.

[Charlie_132]

Going to sound stupid now but how to I get the red dot to move ? I have the on/off switch, the one you turn on the end to the right, and one underneath ... Which one will move the dot ?

[marshy123]

Going to sound stupid now but how to I get the red dot to move ? I have the on/off switch, the one you turn on the end to the right, and one underneath ... Which one will move the dot ?

There are 3 controls. The on/off/brightness you have already found. The front right side one moves your dot left and right. The underneath one moves your dot up and down. Also check the front edge of the red dot finder mount is roughly parallel with the lip of the tube. Mine was way out and had to be loosened, moved and re tightened before I could get enough movement in the red dot fine adjusters. I put some dabs of glue on it too, to keep it firmly in place.

[Charlie_132]

Okay thanks for that. I ll give it a go soon. What is the aim ? I know the red dot should show exactly what I see through the scope, but do I basically have to get the red dot in the middle of the tube to achieve this ?

I've probably made that sound very complicated haha

[John]

You need to get the red dot precisely centered on whet is in the centre of the eyepiece. The more accurate it is, the more accurate the aiming of the scope will be.

[dav1d]

+1 for Charlie' question and all the answers so far. I've been having the same problem, but just know how far off the red dot actually is.

Weirdly though, for my wife, who is 18 inches shorter than me, it appears perfectly aligned.

[marshy123]

Yup, wot he said! Centre something in the eyepiece then centre the red dot on the same thing.

[yourbaby]

Thanks for your post.

[Charlie_132]

I've finally set my red dot!

Went out in the garden and tried focusing on a far away areil then realised that the moon was out!

I'm out by a tiny bit but nothing to complain about.

Guessing this will turn a 20min job into a 30second job ...

[Si Rollett]

I have the same red dot but on a different scope need to set mine up and never clocked this post.

[boabsta]

Just remember and keep both eyes open when looking through the rdf. A (ahem) freind of mine never knew this and could never get my, I mean his, rdf to align. Its all so simple now, apparently

[Si Rollett]

Both eye pieces not sure what you mean by that

[boabsta]

Both eye pieces not sure what you mean by that

Not eye pieces, eyes.

The way the rdf works is for you to stand behind it and look through it as you were looking at a star normaly. Then when you want to look at something specific, you find its location in the sky then fine tune the scope until the red dot is directly on top of the item you want to look at and then it should be centered in your ep when you look through the scope.

Sounds a bit silly at 1st but realy is simplicity itself once its setup properly and that can take a few seconds once you know what your doing.

If you can, try and align during the day on a distant object. This will give you a good enough rough alignment. Then when its dark try and find mars using the rdf then look through youre ep. Mars should be visible in your 25mm ep. Centre mars in the ep then fine tune the rdf so mars is covered by the spot. Use the wheels on the rdf to fine tune. When youve done this place your high power ep into the scope and align again.

1st time may take a few minutes but after that it realy is a case of a minute and youll be good.

Hope that helps.

[Si Rollett]

Ah eye's sorry, never read it right. I will soon as I can get out to somewhere that I can do it.