Getting To Grips With A Reflector

[toilandtrouble123]

My new scope should arrive either today or tomorrow, just wondering about what are people's top tips for using a newtonian, as all I've ever had before have been refractors. Alos, any tips on dealing with an EQ mount too please?

Many Thanks

Nat

[nephilim]

The main thing i'd say is try & stay patient with it An EQ mount is VERY different to an alt/az & when you first get the 150 on it, it'll seem to never go where u want it to go but stick with it & you'll find it very intuative and it'll become second nature to you. I only got my first one a few months ago & love it now, its so much easier to track objects. Good luck with it & photos please, when it arrives

Steve

[nephilim]

The main thing i'd say is try & stay patient with it An EQ mount is VERY different to an alt/az & when you first get the 150 on it, it'll seem to never go where u want it to go but stick with it & you'll find it very intuative and it'll become second nature to you. I only got my first one a few months ago & love it now, its so much easier to track objects. Good luck with it & photos please, when it arrives

Steve

Another tip with the actual scope is that it'll take longer to cool than a refractor (around half n hour) and when you bring it back in its best to slowly acclimatise it ie put it in a cooler part of the house first etc. Another thing when you bring it in is to make sure the secondary mirror is higher than the primary otherwise any drops of dew etc will drip onto the main mirror which altho not a crisis, its better off without it.

Steve

[rwilkey]

Hi Nats, have been on tenterhooks since you first announced this two week ago.

However, my main reason for posting is to share this video with you, which is very revealing and shows you the nature of Newtonians:

If you have a Newtonian properly polar aligned you will have fun viewing in other directions as you need to rotate the tube within the rings etc, not often realised by newcomers until they realise that the eyepiece is actually facing downwards when pointing the telescope in the opposite direction. You need to do what is amusingly called 'the meridian flip' sometimes, which when you want to point say 'south' you have to roll the telescope right over to get a satisfactory position whilst maintaining polar alignment. So you will have fun.

To be absolutely honest with you, I sometimes move the mount out of polar alignment just to make it more convenient to use. Happy days! Now I am slightly disabled from a stroke I have not been able to use my Newtonian but have a C100ED refractor instead. But you will love your new scope I can assure you, the first things to do will be to align the finder scope and set the latitude once you have it set up. Keep us posted!

[Peter Drew]

Hello Nat.

There are a lot of things worth knowing about reflectors and EQ mounts, all of which will be accessible through this forum. Assuming the incoming scope is new, then instructions should be enclosed. My first two tips would be to set the mount up indoors and have a play with it to get used to the operation, also check the collimation, these items have usually had a few knocks on the way and bad collimation could lead to a disappointing first light. If you have any difficulties there will be a queue lining up on this forum to help you.

[JD75]

Afraid I don't have much comparison info to offer - my scope is my first - but after some initial bafflement with the mount, I've found it really nice to move around. I was a bit confusing when starting as my brain wanted to just tilt the scope upwards, but the mount doesn't move like that. But I've found a nice comfy position and can get it where it needs to be quite easily now.

Of course finding things, my brain is still coping with upside down/back to front views, but I'm working on that bit

Hope you have fun with the new 'toy' tomorrow

[rwilkey]

Hi Nat, just a quick word of advice, I see you have a polar scope on your shopping list, to be honest, for visual I don't think it is really necessary. You can do just a rough polar align for visual, that is, just pointing the mount north towards the pole star when you set it up. The mount has an 'N' on it to indicate which part you point north, so this is easy, just crouch down and look up through the central axis of the mount head to view - there is a little black cap on the front of the mount head which you take off to be able view through, but you also have to turn the mount head (without the scope attached) to get a clear view through.

Since fitting the polar scope I have never used it, for one thing it is difficult to see the reticle markings in the dark, though you can shine a red torch through, but to be candid I thought this was a waste of time. The other thing is it was difficult to fit, you have to remove certain bits to do it etc. In the end I couldn't figure it out, so I got James from FLO to do it for me when I saw him at a star party.

Just food for thought....

[Astro Imp]

All good advice, especially about setting up in daylight and having a play to get used to how the mount moves, it's confusing at first but you will very quickly get the hang of it.

Guess I don't have to tell you to have fun

[toilandtrouble123]

hey all, its arrived, i put the mount together sans instruction manual (as seller lost it ages ago), managed to get one tube ring on whilst attempting to attach the tube to the mount, but cant get the front ring to do up, no matter what i try.

[knobby]

Is it not reaching the thread or just won't turn?

Does the ring close up right enough for the screw to reach?

could you try loosening the ring that is done up while you try the other...

post a pic

[toilandtrouble123]

oh it turns, we can get the circle bit to twizzle right off, but the thread doesnt reach all the way through to the top end of the metal gap, havent tried loosening the back one first mind. cant post a pic atm.

[knobby]

How did you get on ?

[cosmojaydee]

I found that if you if you grab it in a nelson hold followed by a Boston crab then leg drop finish with a pile driver you will eventually beat it into submission

[knobby]

I found that if you if you grab it in a nelson hold followed by a Boston crab then leg drop finish with a pile driver you will eventually beat it into submission

Then go and find your Cheshire or laser collimator

[the bishop]

Hi

gosh!! they are tricky little beasts aren’t they...

I picked up a sw130m on an eq2 yesterday after having spent many years of using bins,(they go wherever I want no prob )

so it is the first time I’ve ever seen one of these mounts close up let alone play with one.

Now it could be me... but it just seems to go wherever I don’t want it to and nowhere near where I do??

Unless that is I stand on my head??

But fingers crossed I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it sometime this year,

Good luck with yours

[knobby]

I think the trick is to loosen the rings so you can spin the OTA round to get the ep in the right place

[the bishop]

ummmm i think your right

i have just spent a couple of hours outside in the dark playing twister with it

and then it occured to me why not just turn the tube that would be a much better way

wish i had read your post this afternoon... mind you my back is gonna be in half tomorrow

but i had fun, and glad no one was watching

[Icey85]

Hey Nat thats great news. Any luck getting that second ring screw to bite?

Chaps, re: the turning the tube to reposition the focusser, i soon realised if i slackend the screws too much, how easy it was for the tube to slip down through the rings while i was rotating it, and then of course this throws the balance out. Then I found Astro Baby's superb modification tip from her webby and will one day give it a go -

http://www.astro-baby.com/articles/rotating%20rings/Rotating%20Rings%20Project.htm

So if anyone wants to go halves on a pair of SW150pds or equivellant tube rings, shout me ! (not yet sure on the diameter)

re: EQ MOUNT setup and use

I found this guys youtube videos quite good . Im sure there are others out there but his very nearly witty presentation helped!

Basic Setup for visual only, and without a polar scope :

(more so the second half )

EQ Use :

[Icey85]

Ah sorry rwilkey just saw your links ! More useful stuff

[rwilkey]

Hi Gary, I love David Fuller's videos, so thanks for posting those!

[the bishop]

the astro babe ring mod is a simple and clever idea

i have seen another but somewhat similar... i think it might be in the astronomy shed youtube site

and yep me too i like the eyes on the sky vids as well