a little help with the Celestron 130SLT

[luke_1983uk8]

ive just started to use my scope after a hecktic last few weeks, and found viewing the moon amazing!

but its when i want to view other objects in the sky via the GOTO system the problems start.

the problems im having are, entering the long/lat cords? cant find it anywhere in the setup menu.

and when i align the object in the sky, say the moon for example, do i use the red dot finder of the eye piece, on the goto display it states the eyepeice, but i have found the 2 differ slightly, when the moon is positioned perfectly in the eyepeice, the moons position in the red dot finder is to the left and up, rather then being a direct match with the red dot?

anyhelp would be great, i would really appreciate it

and sorry to be a pain

thanks luke

[CELESCOPE]

The moon is up now so easy to set the red dot finder to the scope eye piece , dont bother to turn the power on ,just swing the scope so the moon is in the centre of the scope eyepiece , now turn the red dot finder on and with the two adjustments move it so the dot is in the centre of the moon , thats done a rough alignment ,scope to red dot finder .

I,m not sure if the long .lat are in that data base, when i had mine it was just a rough method , of London etc etc , where are you based , anyway once you have that info and entered it in , you can do the two star alignment , and make sure then that both the red dot and eyepice are well centred with each other , once you have done that , thats it!.

Rog

[The Warthog]

I concur with Rog, although I use Polaris to align the finder, as anything else has moved about half a degree before I finish messing with it.

Can't help with the goto problems, but the Moon is a lovely target, if you don't figure it out soon!

[luke_1983uk8]

The moon is up now so easy to set the red dot finder to the scope eye piece , dont bother to turn the power on ,just swing the scope so the moon is in the centre of the scope eyepiece , now turn the red dot finder on and with the two adjustments move it so the dot is in the centre of the moon , thats done a rough alignment ,scope to red dot finder .

I,m not sure if the long .lat are in that data base, when i had mine it was just a rough method , of London etc etc , where are you based , anyway once you have that info and entered it in , you can do the two star alignment , and make sure then that both the red dot and eyepice are well centred with each other , once you have done that , thats it!.

Rog

that sounds great roger!

thanks alot, ill have a good mess around with it tonight, the other night when i used it, it was amazing just seeing the moon that close made it all worth while, ive read a few books and am startting to understand it alot more, but im still along way of being able to clearly reconize an object in the sky!

another thing that amazed me was when i was looking at a random cluster of stars and it must have been a shooting star that past my view, moved quite fast and looked like a star, but who knows what it could have been! :shock:

i live in benfleet, i think it was you i was talking to awhile ago, if you come from laindon.

i read somewhere i think it was legion48 who put in the long/lat cords, but just cant find where too. i would love to see your setup one day and get some advise! especially as i think you said you used to own the 130slt, that would be a major help.

anyway thanks for taking the time to help though

luke

[SteveL]

another thing that amazed me was when i was looking at a random cluster of stars and it must have been a shooting star that past my view, moved quite fast and looked like a star, but who knows what it could have been! :shock:

almost certainly a satellite passing through your field of view....

[CELESCOPE]

no prob Luke , i did reply to your intial pm , but never heard anything back , presumed you may have gone away on hols , but yes anytime , just let me know

Rog

[gary1968]

Hi Luke.

I have a 130SLT and find the goto fairly reliable now. I did have a lot of trouble with it last year but that was due to power. Make sure your power supply is up to the job, I bought a mains adaptor from Maplin for £15 and a 12AH power tank from, cant remember where for £15. :?

As for the long / lat input, it can be done, I can write you a small 'how to' if you like, let me know. The scope is in the garage just now and I'd have to assemble and power it up to find the correct section in the menu.

As for alignment, when you start any of the alignment routines it will ask you to confirm date, time and location. Once that is done you will be asked to slew the scope to an object, user defined in Skyalign and scope defined in the others, using the buttons and centre it in the viewfinder. Once centred press enter, it will then ask you to centre the sme object in the eypiece, then press align. Depending on the alignment method chosen the scope may ask you to slew to other objects, press enter when you get there in the viewfinder and align when centred in the eyepiece. Also, make sure you are using good bright objects for alignment, I try to use objects brighter then mag 2, objects checked using Stellarium.

When you are aligning the scope try where ever possible to 'approch' the object in the same directions as the scope will travel when you use goto. I have mine set to approch 'clockwise and up'. The scope always finishes its goto movements this way regardless of which way it approches the object quickly.

If you need to know anything else just ask, I'll try to answer your questions, in my own ham fisted way .

But I would recomend that you buy 'Nexstar User Guide' by Mike Swanson. Although based on older Nexstars it is full of very good information. You could also check out, http://www.nexstarsite.com/ .

Hope that helps.

Clear skies,

Gary

[luke_1983uk8]

no prob Luke , i did reply to your intial pm , but never heard anything back , presumed you may have gone away on hols , but yes anytime , just let me know

Rog

thanks roger, that would be amazing! like i said i would really love to learn as much as possible, and i couldnt find a better way to learn, then get some help from the best!

and yes i did go away on holiday, and since then been really busy, but its all calmed down now, and im looking forward to using the scope. sorry for not replying earlier.

luke

[luke_1983uk8]

Hi Luke.

I have a 130SLT and find the goto fairly reliable now. I did have a lot of trouble with it last year but that was due to power. Make sure your power supply is up to the job, I bought a mains adaptor from Maplin for £15 and a 12AH power tank from, cant remember where for £15. :?

As for the long / lat input, it can be done, I can write you a small 'how to' if you like, let me know. The scope is in the garage just now and I'd have to assemble and power it up to find the correct section in the menu.

As for alignment, when you start any of the alignment routines it will ask you to confirm date, time and location. Once that is done you will be asked to slew the scope to an object, user defined in Skyalign and scope defined in the others, using the buttons and centre it in the viewfinder. Once centred press enter, it will then ask you to centre the sme object in the eypiece, then press align. Depending on the alignment method chosen the scope may ask you to slew to other objects, press enter when you get there in the viewfinder and align when centred in the eyepiece. Also, make sure you are using good bright objects for alignment, I try to use objects brighter then mag 2, objects checked using Stellarium.

When you are aligning the scope try where ever possible to 'approch' the object in the same directions as the scope will travel when you use goto. I have mine set to approch 'clockwise and up'. The scope always finishes its goto movements this way regardless of which way it approches the object quickly.

If you need to know anything else just ask, I'll try to answer your questions, in my own ham fisted way .

But I would recomend that you buy 'Nexstar User Guide' by Mike Swanson. Although based on older Nexstars it is full of very good information. You could also check out, http://www.nexstarsite.com/ .

Hope that helps.

Clear skies,

Gary

gary thanks alot for that answer, it was exactly what i was after, cant wait to try it out tonight now.

and yes if you can could you give me a rough guide in entering the long / lat cords, i did have a go again last night but still couldnt find out where to put them in. so that would be a huge help.

and when you say viewfinder you mean red dot finder right?

sorry to be a pain mate, and im really grateful for the help

so thanks alot!

luke

[gary1968]

Hi Luke,

When starting the alignment, select your alignment method, e.g. skyalign using the up/down arrow keys then press enter.

On the next screen it'll ask you to confirm your details, saved the last time you switched off. Press the undo key, this'll take you back to entering all your data. Cant remeber the exact order of the questions but when you get to the screen that displays the city you selected originally press undo, you can then use the up/down arrow keys to select 'custom location' hit enter and then you can input you long and lat co-ords....

Answer all the other questions accordingly.

Hope that helps, just ask if you have any other questins............

Gary

[luke_1983uk8]

Hi Luke,

When starting the alignment, select your alignment method, e.g. skyalign using the up/down arrow keys then press enter.

On the next screen it'll ask you to confirm your details, saved the last time you switched off. Press the undo key, this'll take you back to entering all your data. Cant remeber the exact order of the questions but when you get to the screen that displays the city you selected originally press undo, you can then use the up/down arrow keys to select 'custom location' hit enter and then you can input you long and lat co-ords....

Answer all the other questions accordingly.

Hope that helps, just ask if you have any other questins............

Gary

thanks alot gary you've been one huge help!

cheers mate!

everything youve said has been printed out and read loads, so just to let you know i really appreciate it!

if i get any other questions you'll be the first to know, SORRY!

[Stormwatch]

You can find your lat and longitude by using Google Earth. If you have that installed already, just find your own house (or as near as you can manage) and right on the screen will be the lat and long co-ordinates.

Just put them into the hand controller and away you go.

[gary1968]

No probs Luke, if you wanna know anything I'll do my best to answer. Although I ahve been at this for a couple of years now I still consider myself a newbie and still ask questions myself, even yet......................

Clear skies,

Gary