got mi self a telescope... now need to find out how to use it...

[paulberry]

hello everyone,

ive got one of those seben big boss things, a few lenses and a load of filters. ive a question, well a few probably..

the mount is german equatorial. whats the easiest way to set it up?

at the moment, i set the base so the "marked leg" points north, and i set the twiddly bit at the bottom to my latitude. and well thats about it.

theres no level indicator, so im out with my spirit level and compass...

does any of this sound right so far..?

ive had it 6 months now and all ive seen in the brief break in the clouds is the moon. ive been given a program for my laptop that shows me the ra/dec of things, but i cant see anything... im sure im doing something wrong.

thanks

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Hi Paul. You've got the gist of it so far. You need to find the setting circles on your mount which show where each axis is in relation to the mount. Then you need to identify a star and find the RA and Dec for it, point the 'scope at it and set the circles to match where they should be for that star. Now when you move the 'scope, you have a reference point to go from. You need to set them as the positions of the stars move through the year.

HTH

Kaptain Klevtsov

[philsail1]

Hello Paul,

Captain Klevstov's give some sound advice there! Is your telescope a 6" or 8" "Reflector"?

You say you can't see anything? When you set your scope up outside, you will need to let it cool for 30 mins or so. This allows the mirrors to reach the same temp as outside. If you set the scope up and try to look through it straight away, the chances are that you will not see things clearly.

Also, try using a low power eyepiece to start with - say a 25mm (if you have one with your scope). This will give you a wide field of view, and a brighter view.

Have you tried looking through the scope in the daytime (NEVER EVER POINT IT AT THE SUN, AS EVEN THE BRIEFEST GLANCE THROUGH ANY TELESCOPE POINTING AT THE SUN WILL CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE TO YOUR EYES - ALSO IF YOU HAVE A FINDER SCOPE ATTACHED TO THE MAIN SCOPE, BE CAREFUL THAT IT ISN'T CATCHING THE SUNS RAYS THROUGH IT - EVEN A SMALL MAGNIFICATION CAN CAUSE PERMANENT BLINDNESS).

The reason I say to try the scope in the daylight, is that you can then tell if it is seeing things clearly, and if not, you have a chance to investigate why, and possibly correct the problem.

Hope this helps Paul,

Regards,

Phil Edwards (Philsail1)

[paulberry]

thanks for the speedy answer, i think the ra and dec rings must not be set, ive just checked and they move...

i didnt realise that, so i had no chance of seeing anything before.

so if i go and set it up and poiint it at say the moon, and check the ra/dec readings from my computer program of where it should be and set the telescope accordingly. i should be laughing?

i say the moon, because its about the only thing in the sky that i know for definate. i could presumably tweak it a bit more when i find something else.?

thanks

[Greg]

Welcome Paul,

As KK says, you've just about got it..

Point the mount North and if the mount has one use the polar finder (Built into the mount.) And put Polaris in the center of the finder.

If the mount doesn't have a polar finder then after you have leveled the mount point the whole mount and scope North..Look through the scope, with a low powered eyepiece and move the whole set up left or right to put Polaris in the field of view..You may have to adjust the mount (Up and down a bit)..That will be fine for observing..

As for finding stuff with the RA/DEC co-ordinates have a look here..

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,2455.0.html

Greg

[mik]

Hi Paul welcome to SGL.

Have a look at this link it may be helpfull.

I think it would be a good link to put in tutorial section Admin.

http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/astro/writings/setupEquatorial.shtml

Thanks Mick.

[paulberry]

hello phil,

its a 150mm x 1400mm reflector, cheers for the tips ive only really looked at the roofs of houses during the day, but everything looks clear, as you will see from my previous post, i was being a bit daft.. ill have another go and see what i can see..

greg,

ill give that a try, the weather looks ok tonight, so with great optimism im gonna go set it up outside and wait for it to cool. ill have a look at that link in the meantime

thanks everyone

[Greg]

greg,

ill give that a try, the weather looks ok tonight, so with great optimism im gonna go set it up outside and wait for it to cool. ill have a look at that link in the meantime

It's tipping it down in Devon..

Let us know how you get on and post a report...I'd love to hear it..

Greg

[PaulR]

Hi Paul welcome to SGL.

Have a look at this link it may be helpfull.

I think it would be a good link to put in tutorial section Admin.

http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/astro/writings/setupEquatorial.shtml

Thanks Mick.

I'll second that Mick, it's a fantastic guide!!

[paulberry]

i think there was a few too many clouds, i stayed up for ages, just trying to find polaris, but because i couldnt get a clear view of the sky i wasnt sure i was looking at the right star... that guide about setting up the mount is very good. thanks for drawing my attention to it.

im happy now that ive found out the ra and dec rings move, i thought they were fixed.

is there anyway of roughly setting these rings in the daylight? i mean if i set the telescope to point true north and set the mount so its erm erm straight? in position, does that make sense.

ill try to explain better....

if the tripod points true north, the telescope is pointing true north on declination axis. the telescope is at the top of the right ascension axis (its highest point), and the latitude is set on to my location, should that be close to being polar aligned?

im just trying to speed up the setup process.

thanks everybody for their good advice

[themos]

"if the tripod points true north"

better to say "the mount points true north" because, in general, the mount can rotate (around a vertical axis) on the tripod.

Before polar aligning, you need to rotate the OTA in declination to show 90 degrees. The declination scale ring should NOT move, it should be fixed. You know that you have set it at 90 degrees declination because at that point, turning the OTA in RA should keep the scope pointing at the same point at infinity. If it doesn't do that but wobbles, it's not set at 90 degrees declination.

Once you have set the declination correctly (and verified that RA doesn't matter, or doesn't matter much anyway), then you use the MOUNT adjustment knobs or what have you to point the RA axis at NCP (by using Polaris as a guide). Typically you turn the mount (the RA axis, essentially) in "azimuth" (that's movement around the horizon, S->W->N->E->S etc) and in "altitude" (up and down).

A few degrees out won't hurt since you will not be taking long exposure photos yet.