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finderscope ggggrrrrrr

bottletopburly

By bottletopburly
in The Astro Lounge

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binkyspoon

binkyspoon

Posted
Posted

was having the same problem just last night myself - was trying to find the andromeda galaxy through my finderscope but the red dot had packed up so i couldnt align it properly.

Eventually found it but took nearly a good hour as i was trying to use the align function on my telescope and it kept failing too :(

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John

John

Posted
Posted

Get a red dot finder to go alongside your optical one. Then you can rough align with the red dot and, if needed, be more precise with the optical one. Often the red dot is enough though.

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NGC 1502

NGC 1502

Posted
Posted

Get a red dot finder to go alongside your optical one. Then you can rough align with the red dot and, if needed, be more precise with the optical one. Often the red dot is enough though.

Yes, this may work better for you as it does for many.

Regards, Ed.

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WaveSoarer

WaveSoarer

Posted
Posted

I used to find it tricky also but you get used to things with practice. I even had issues with the polar scope initially as it even picked out lots of stars around polaris. Once you're more familiar with the view through the finder the contrast between the weaker and stronger stars gets more obvious and you can use this contrast to really home in on your target object and know that you're in the right place. I found that stellarium was a great help as it has most of the weaker stars that can be useful for triangulating on to the weak and difficult to see DSOs. I also found just doing some surveying with the finder hand held was useful as I found it quite tricky to direct it when mounted on the telescope. I now find it easier to navigate around (even with the inverted view) on and off the telescope. I was using the finder hand-held again tonight and I found the andromeda galaxy fairly easily (the core is clearly visible even in the finder). I don't have a red dot finder but I expect that it will be useful to get an initial alignment for the finder scope. For some faint objects I still reckon that the finder scope will be needed to really home in on faint DSOs.

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Shibby

Shibby

Posted
Posted

Try keeping both eyes open when looking through the finderscope. I find that this way you get to see both views at once and it becomes more obvious when your target star is lining up with the one in the finderscope.

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PorkyB

PorkyB

Posted
Posted

Just had the first go with my new setup: a Rigel Quikfinder and a 6x30 right-angle finderscope.

Easy to find the right star with the Rigel, use the finderscope to accurately line it up and there it is in the eyepiece ... simples.

The Rigel is a very nice piece of kit, especially useful when set to pulse.

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Mr Q

Mr Q

Posted
Posted

After months of dealing with the finder on my new Meade DS-10 newt, I gave up and instead of replacing the wimpy scope that came with the scope, I opted to try and make a crude sighting device out of a copper pipe mounted to the OTA with two large washers attached to 3 inch lengths of # 12 copper wire. When putting my eye at the rear washer, the further washer lines up inside the closer one and the size of the further washer's inside opening resembles a LP FOV Only after a few tries this crude sighting device worked wonders along with my Trion's 2000 sky atlas. I got to star hop with the sighting device and it worked nicely with only an occasionally tweeking of the sights for an accurate aim. Since then, Ive' never used a finder scope on my DS-10 for some 30 years now.

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astro mick

astro mick

Posted
Posted

You cannot find a 9th magnitude Double star with a RDF alone,unless you have a very good wide field eyepiece.The trick is to locate the area of the object with the RDF,then consult your charts for a pattern of stars that include your object.Then switch to a good Right Angle Finder,and look for that pattern.Home in on the fainter stars within that pattern,until you locate your object.

If you are using an equatorial Mount,set the Scope to the Declination co-odinate of the object,then gently sweep the area in Right Acension only.Its amazing how effective this method can be.

Hope this helps.

Mick.

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FarSide

FarSide

Posted
Posted

I hate finder scopes and have taken to using and wide field ST-80 for most of my finding. Then i pick out certain pattens and work from there. the finderscopes they come with, unless they are modified in some sort of way are often virtually useless IMO.

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