3 Stupid Questions.

[BiG JiLM]

Hi, I am a -compete- newbie, so forgive my ignorance if Im even on the wrong site (is there a kids 'scope site better suited to my first forays?!). I am a chap & have just bought my 1st scope, a humble reflector Celestron 130 which may be hopelessly rubbish compared to yours. Im sure it is. I have 3 stupid just-got-it-out-its-box Q's. There will ikely be more to follow.

1) I have an EQ mount and following the bumf carefully as I can balancing the scope against the weights t'other side I can get decent parity one side, but when I flip it over (with say the eypiece protruding more outwards as it will more one side) there is a distinct imbalance. Similarly, when I try balancing along its plane I get parity one way, only to flip it round and see s'what of an imbalance. Is this normal? or do I -have- to get the scope absolutely correctly balanced whichever position its flipped around to? I cant see how.. and with the addition of a Barlow even more of a one-sided imbalnce occurs.

2) I see a camera attatchment on the scope top (not the eyepiece/ I understand that idea) to the rear of the spot-finder, and, Ive seen in a vg vid demo of my very scope a curiuos looking chap (complete with swirly astro-nerd t shirt and ridiculous tiny goaty beard) attatching a humble canon ixus type camera to it, and peering through: what on earth is he up to? what's that all about- some sort of spot-finder substitute? it cant be to take a shot or half would be the bloomin scope tube!

3) Having just dipped my toe and looked thru for first time at a distant object in daytime (quite impressive I could read the combine's 'New Holland' from~ 2 miles away/ bodes well) I was as one does with monocular things straining my other eye shut: a pita and exhausting. So why aren't there eye-patches torelieve this annoying straining? I dont see any nerds on Sky At Night wearing them.

4) What's the purpose of the scope's hood-with-the-hole-in apart from obviously to reduce the ammount of light from entering? I cant work out for what application etc. Manual no help for this or the camera oddity.

I told you they were stupid: nevertheless honest Q's I'd appreciate non-stupid answers to. Or stupid that's fine too, I guess. Thanks B.JiLm.

[umadog]

Some people do wear eye patches!

[Matt Scunthorpe]

4) What's the purpose of the scope's hood-with-the-hole-in apart from obviously to reduce the ammount of light from entering? I cant work out for what application etc. Manual no help for this or the camera oddity.

No such thing as a stupid question so dont worry. I assume you mean the hole in the dust cap? This is like you say, to reduce the light entering, some people use it to look at the moon as the moon can be very bright. Its also there for solar viewing, you MUST put a solar filter on it though beforehand. I have the Baader film over mine. Sorry i cant be of use on the first 3 questions.

[JamesF]

1) Don't worry about the balance if it's not absolutely spot on. Close will be fine for visual use.

2) I assume you're talking about attaching a camera to a fitting on one of the scope mounting rings? I've never tried it with a compact camera, but I know people do mount a DSLR there and using it for taking wide field images of the sky. I just take the scope off and put the camera on the mount directly.

3) As umadog says, some people do use eye patches, and they sometimes swap sides when they go into the house to retain the dark adaption of their viewing eye. It doesn't feel so awkward in the dark anyhow, for me at least.

4) It may be a cup holder. Or you can fit a solar filter over it and use the scope for viewing the sun.

James

[badgers]

Astronomy shed has a

that includes rotation of the tube so that you can get perfect balance if you wish.

Sometimes 'perfect' balance means your eyepiece will end up in positions where only a mongolian contortionist could use the scope, so I wouldn't obsess with it too much.

For camera mounting, some people 'piggy-back' a camera on top of the scope so that they can take wide-field images of the same object the scope is pointing too and make use of the EQ mount. The other options are 'prime-focus', where you substitute your camera for the eye-piece using a camera adaptor. The final option is to actually point your camera down the eyepiece or get something to hold it to the eyepiece, this is 'eyepiece projection'.

Attaching a DSLR to your scope would be pretty easy, and probably prime-focus would be best allowing you to take nice shots of the moon and planets very easily.

I've no idea about the eye-patches, but it would give a pretty cool pirate-nerd look that I feel is lacking in the hobby.

I believe the hole available in the tube cap is called an aperture mask, I think people in the 'olden days' used to view planets like this so that it let in less light and bypassed the obstruction in the middle, adding contrast.

[brantuk]

No such thing as a stupid question here - all quite valid. Sir PM uses and eye patch (or used to when he was active stargazing) - great idea to releive the strain of holding the other eye closed.

Two applications for the small offset hole - 1. to reduce glare from a full moon and make observing more comfy - 2. to block off most of the aperture and fit a small baader solar film filter for viewing sun spots. It also helps to get the big cap off when removed. Store the small cap on the adjacent cap shaped bump if you have one.

You can attach a dslr camera to the top of the rings so you can track in RA and get wide angle shots (eg milky way) - can be quite interesting.

On balancing the scope - start with everything upright and the weights bar pointing directly downward. Ensure your Alt is set to your local longitude. Lock off the Dec and balance RA by moving the weights nearer or away from the mount. Then lock off RA and balance Dec by sliding the sope in and out of the tube rings. It'll be well balanced when it glides round easilly with bothe axes unlocked and you can move easilly across the sky without it tipping in any direction.

I hope that gives you a few helpfull answers

[BiG JiLM]

Thanks all- great to get a full set of answers to my daftness so quick, and so comprehensively, terrific help. Glad the balance might not need be 'perfect' I suppose that a more expensive scope will have better proportions re balancing/ or a better EQ mount pr both. I never thought Id say it but Im off to buy myself an eye-patch. I was wondering what the other bump next to the big dust-cap hole was! thats a great design, simple but pefectly functional.

One last Q: as I cant seem to get the balance perfect, I was fretting over how the MotorDrive (or even hand-tracking via the RA/ other lock knobs) would work with the imbalancing etc. But is it right that once an subject is found, such as Mars for eg/ whatever it may be, the Dec and RA lock knobs are designed to be -done-up/ engaged/ tightened- as oposed to undone? (whereby my scope with its probable slight imbalance would likely drift off the subject). The Dec and RA cables seem to work with these knobs locked/ done up.. which of course would mean I wouldn't need to fret about the scope tilting off driving me crackers nor throw my eyepatch in the river.

[Siriusmeg]

Q1: I have the same scope and I found this tutorial very useful to balance the scope: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/17179-setting-up-eq-mount/ A really good basic easy to follow guide - just what I needed on Boxing Day when I was doing it!

Enjoy your scope, I am! Yes, it has its issues (RDF being one, get it replaced quickly!!) but it has been brilliant for leaarningmy eay around the sky and has given me and my family some really unforgettable sights.

[badgers]

Once the DEC and RA clutches are locked it shouldn't move, even if imbalanced a bit, and yes your RA and DEC controls are designed for moving the scope once the clutches are locked down.

Good balance will put less stress on the mount and mean if you undo a clutch the scope won't smack you in the face, or worse smack into something and damage a camera or your optics.

Having your eyepiece in a comfortable position is probably more important than perfect balance.

Anton

[BiG JiLM]

Q1: I have the same scope and I found this tutorial very useful to balance the scope: http://stargazerslou...ng-up-eq-mount/ A really good basic easy to follow guide - just what I needed on Boxing Day when I was doing it!

Enjoy your scope, I am! Yes, it has its issues (RDF being one, get it replaced quickly!!) but it has been brilliant for leaarningmy eay around the sky and has given me and my family some really unforgettable sights.

Thanks Anton- that makes me sit a bit more relaxed with that knowledge then.

Hi there Nebula, good to know s'one else has the same scope on here.. I had maybe guessed it might be a bit of a joke-scope but perhaps not quite so. Altho Ive yet to try the RDF at night (or the scope at all yet properly) and although it did seem to 'spot' the combine-aaaarvester well/ centrally'ish in my eyeiece, I can see it does look rather a cheapo-basic thingy. When you say replace.. what are my options with this scope? what have you replaced yours with, and does that mean whippping existing one off or leave it like a lemon where it is?

[Scott]

Hi Bigjilm. Don't be too harsh on your new scope. I have a very similar scope (only on a dob mount) and the views are pretty darn good if you ask me. Saturn is a great site in any scope and this one is no exception. mars, not so good but thats the same in all but the largest of apertures (it will improve when it is in a more favourable position in the sky). I have seen many deep sky objects with mine and while the rdf may not be the best on the market it will certainly help you get where you want to go. don't be rushing out to spend money on accesories until you've used it for a while and have a better idea of what you want. As long as you're not expecting to see "magazine" type images then i think you'll be very happy .

Clear skies to you and don't forget to take the eyepatch off if you decide to duck into the pub for a quick pint after a viewing session. you could get some odd looks.

Scott