Looking for some help

[Nicksnut]

Hey there,

Let me do a quick introduction, my name is Nick Schrauwen, I'm 22 years old and live in the Netherlands.

Right let's get to the subject, i was googling around to find some information about a telescope and i found this website, after reading the forum i was sure someone here must be able to help me.

My girlfriends dad has had a telescope for some time but hasn't used it for years. Now me and my GF are curious and want to try it out.

Problem is that over the time the manuals have been lost and my GFs dad doesn't remember how it works etc.

I made a couple of pictures so you guys know what I'm talking about.

It's a Bresser telescope with the following information:

F=1000 D=114

Product number: 45-46000

It has the following lenses: 12.5mm, 20mm, a 1,5X erecting lens and some sort of mount thingy.

I'm hoping someone can help us on how this thing works, how to set it up, what everything is etc.

If anyone has a manual of the scope that would be awesome as well.

Looking forward to try this thing out !

Thanks in advance !

Pictures:

[umadog]

Welcome!

First of all, what do the mirrors look like? They should look silver and shiny. If they very discoloured or there are patches of missing silvering then they will need an overhaul.

Of course your question is rather general... The instrument has an equatorial mount (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_mount) so do some Googling to learn how that works. You will need to align the finderscope:

You will need to align the optics themselves at some point (we call that process "collimating"). Here are some links: http://www.physiol.ox.ac.uk/~raac/collimationLinks.shtml Some of those links are very complicated. Just work with the links that make sense to you. The instrument will still be usable even if it's poorly collimated, but you will get blurrier views. Learn about the eyepieces: http://observers.org/beginner/eyepieces.freeman.html Then download Stellarium (www.stellarium.org/) and try to find Saturn! If you get into it, buy a copy of Turn Left at Orion and the Sky and Telescope pocket atlas.

[Nicksnut]

Thanks for all the advice so far, I've been trying to point at the moon and i found out the finder scope is a tiny bit off, but i can get the moon into the scopes view without a problem.

Now it's extremely blurry and just shows a blurred white light, so i assume it's the collimating thing.

Problem is I've tried looking at the links and they all seem just as complicated.

Any of these even doable when it's already dark ?

[paul schofield]

Silly question but have you operated the focuser in and out slowly to see if this clears the focus. If not the collimation may well be out a lot. Or as umadog has said above check the mirror conditions. Good luck hope you get it sorted. Also what condition are the eyepieces in.

[Nicksnut]

Yup i tried the focuser, the eyepieces look good as far as i can tell as a telescope newbie, the mirror looks clean as well.

I just found out that the telescope has been dropped a few years ago, so I'm guessing the collimation is just off by miles.

Really wanna try to collimate the telescope, just gotta do allot of reading and trying to understand the process, as it's all in English and in terms I'm not familiar with.

[umadog]

Don't worry about it being dropped. They all need collimating from time to time anyway.

[Nicksnut]

Yeah thats what i figured, read somewhere that you have to collimate it because the mirror and the rest get out of line due to small bumps etc.

When i told that to my GF's dad he told me he remembers it was dropped a few years ago.

So all i was saying is that I'm now 100% sure it needs collimating as letting it drop is a tad more then just small bumps and moving it around

[onesmallstep]

Hi and welcome to SGL

Take the scope to your local astro club and ask members to help. You can find clubs via the following link:

http://fedastro.org.uk/fas/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=8

HTH!

[Nicksnut]

Hi and welcome to SGL

Take the scope to your local astro club and ask members to help. You can find clubs via the following link:

http://fedastro.org.uk/fas/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=8

HTH!

Thanks ! but the Netherlands ain't in the list so it's of no use for me, although finding a club to help is good i think i really wanna try it out myself. A club could be good though in the case i should fail.

I'm an engineering student so it shouldn't be impossible, just hard to get the hang of it.

[rwilkey]

Hi Nick, you collimate in a well lit room, not in the dark, suggest getting a Cheshire collimater or use a collimation cap to help you. It is easier than you think, just follow the guides in the pictures: http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

[Astrosurf]

I don't know if this will help. It helped me collimate for the first time!

Alexxx

[paul schofield]

That is a great and easy to follow video Astrosurf thanks for posting. That has to be the easiest guide I have seen and I will give it a go. Not wishing to hijack the post, just wanted to say thanks for that.

[Astrosurf]

That is a great and easy to follow video Astrosurf thanks for posting. That has to be the easiest guide I have seen and I will give it a go. Not wishing to hijack the post, just wanted to say thanks for that.

Glad to help!

Alexxx