Some money burning a hole in my pocket...

[TheFurbster]

Hi guys,

Need some advice with spending some (birthday!) money please:)

I have a second hand Meade LX10 (8" SCT) with various bits'n'pieces (telrad etc).

In the Spring I bought the Baader-Hyperion Zoom e/p, and have now just about got over the guilt of spending that much money!

Now that I can spend a few pounds without feeling guily, I have narrowed down my options to either:

a) A separate focuser (e.g. crayford). Does this make a big difference for visual spotting? Has anyone used it on bog-standard kit, or will it only be worthwhile with more powerful 'scopes?

A 90 degree findersope. As my LX10 isn't GOTO, I have to heavily rely on the finderscope and telrad. The telrad is good, but the finderscope is literally a pain in the neck when aiming up. I also assume that a 9x50 would be more useful than the standard 6x30.

c) A new diagonal. My current diagonal is slightly marked. Does the diagonal mirror need to be perfect, or is it one of those things that small imperfections doesn't really make a difference?

Sorry for the 20 questions, but any advice on the relative impact of these would be much appreciated....

Cheers,

Steve

[TheFurbster]

d'oh,

didn't realise that 'b' followed by ')' creates a smiley. It wasn't supposed to be subliminal or a freudian slip....

[Space Beagle]

I'd vote for 'b' out of your options.

I personally find that the combination of a telrad and a RACI (right angle correct image) finder works very well.

Used RACI finders do come up on UKAB&S now and then, or FLO do them.......http://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html

If you're anything like myself, you'll end up doing all three options eventually, he he!

Doc

[Velvet]

I would def go for the finder. But that's only my opinion

Velvet

[hwsoderlund]

One more vote for a RACI finder. Mine is a 7x50 Antares. Even though I use a Rigel Quickfinder 70-80 % of the time, when the need arises the RACI finder makes a huge difference compared to a straight-through finder.

[TheFurbster]

Thanks for the replies. (SGL to the rescue yet again!)

Re-reading the OP, I agree that the finder is a higher priority.

I think I'll go for http://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html

Do people think that a focuser would be of use at some point, or would it not really have much of an impact?

Cheers,

Steve

[hwsoderlund]

Do people think that a focuser would be of use at some point, or would it not really have much of an impact?

Are you having any problems with your current focuser? I.e. is it difficult to bring object to focus, do you find that the eyepieces are not securely fastened etc.? If you are not having any specific problems I personally wouldn't put a new focuser very high on the priority list.

[Daniel-K]

i'd go for G-give it to me go for a nice shiny new crayford

[Tinker1947]

For me a good Focusor would be first, its a one off buy, I find using a Finder as hard as looking through the EP, you have a Telrad.

[Astro Imp]

One more vote for a RACI, goes perfectly with a Telrad.

[TheFurbster]

Hi,

Thanks for all of the input.

My finderscope arrived today (http://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html).

It's a substantial piece of kit- bigger than expected, although should have realised that from the '50' (d'oh!)

One final question- now how do I now attach it to the LX10?

I've had a look at the existing finder, and the holder is riveted to the scope body.

I guess I need a mounting shoe (maybe http://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/finder-mounting-shoe.html). But then the next question is how do I attach the shoe

Any suggestions or advice?

Cheers for your patience!!

Steve

[John]

I think you will need an SCT finder mounting shoe, assuming that your scope has the same screw holes that a Celestron SCT does. The holes in the one you link to above are in the wrong place. I think this is the one you need:

http://www.telescope...se_for_SCT.html

You first need to check that you have the mounting holes pre-drilled and threaded on the scope though.

If this does not work then you may need to get one of the Meade 50mm finder brackets which are a different design to the Skywatcher one that the finder comes with.