Buying 1st eyepiece, just making sure it will fit

[tingting44]

Hi guys when i got my skywatcher 130p AZGOTO i got 25mm wide lens, 10mm ep and x2 barlow,

now i been thinking for a while as to upgrade a viewing ep/barlow/alignment ep? but now i think i have made up my mind, as with the AZGOTO mounts 1st alignment is essential as it basis everything on that 1st alignment and i do like to be a perfectionist lol, at the moment when 2 star aligning i am simply guessing where dead center is and clicking ok.....far from accurate so i thought an illuminated recticile ep would suit me best, and when not aligning i can simply turn the led off and use as a standard ep.

so i take it this will fit my SW130p right....it was the cheapest illuminated recticile ep i could find as i do not have much money at the moment, but will it do the job im after as i dont just want to waste money and if needs be will just have to save longer to get a more decent illuminated recticile ep? thanks guys

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140777040386?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_944wt_1037

[brucen]

Never used one myself but it should be fine. I found that the best way to improve alignment accuracy was to practise and cut down the time it took to do it. The longer you spend on the process the less accurate it becomes. Each eyepiece change and bit of adjustment you make makes the final result worse. I find that getting the object 'pretty close' to the centre is good enough to enable me to find anything thereafter.

[DirkSteele]

Your scope has a 2" focuser with a 1.25" adaptor so the reticle eyepiece which also has a 1.25" barrel will fit fine.

Clear skies,

Matthew

[yeti monster]

I bought one of those reticule EPs recently and I found the crosshairs appear to be centred (or as near as makes no difference). Sadly, all I've seen through it is the top of a pylon on the hill....

Still waiting for a chance to drift align....

[tingting44]

thanks guys i think ill go for it, as i like to be as accurate as possible, and if its not much help ill still have a new mm eye piece to add to my collection, thanks guys

[tingting44]

i can not edit my post above???

i would like to be able to afford a meade illuminated recticle ep but this will suffice for now i guess

[Capricorn]

I think there is a time limit on editing a post, if left too long it cannot be edited.

Saves someone editing an old post to change what they stated.

Since there seems to be a few hours (4+) between the post and the editting question I would say that this is what has occurred.

For some reason I think you have 15 minutes to edit, after which it is unchangeable, however that could be the gardening forum. :rolleyes:

[tingting44]

ahh that would make sense then, thanks buddy lol i just dont like to spam with an extra post if it can be avoided by a nice edit lol thanks cap

test edit lol

[JamesF]

I have a very similar illuminated reticle that I paid about the same amount for. It works just fine. Mine came without instructions but you don't exactly need them, other than to realise that you have to turn the top of the eyepiece to get the reticle into focus. Mine comes out a good two or three millimetres before reaching focus.

Oh, and remember to turn it off, too

James

[tingting44]

nice one james!! do you use it for viewing or aligning mostly? you have to turn the top to focus? huh lol...so you dont focus with the scopes round knobs with these eye pieces then?

haha thanks for the tip on turning off

[JamesF]

At the moment I use it mostly for alignment for planetary imaging so I can get the target on the camera sensor without faffing about hunting for it after putting the camera in. Made life so much easier.

The actual reticle (a piece of etched glass, I think) has to be at the correct distance from the eyepiece lenses to be in focus, otherwise you get fuzzy lines. To do achieve that you have to screw out the top of the eyepiece a few mm (you can see it has a knurled edge in the ebay image). Once that is in focus then you use the standard telescope focusing mechanism to bring the target to focus.

In fact, when I'm aligning for imaging I get the reticle in focus and don't worry about the target. As long as I get the fuzzy blob in the crosshairs that's good enough. I can sort out the focus once I have the camera in.

James

[tingting44]

awww thats a smart little feature!!! i want it even more now!!! lol i will have saved up enough for it hopefully by next payday, bit skint at mo boys b day just gone, girls b day in couple weeks, GEEZ lol bless them lol i am soo looking forward to getting my 1st bought EP WOO HOO!!! after this EP i will look at a bit bigger magnification i think for saturn imaging im in love with that dam planet i tell you! i was like a kid when i 1st saw it a few months ago lol shame its getting lower and lower and soon it will be gone from my garden view