First nights viewing and a daft question (or five!!)

[sastay]

I managed to get out for the first time the other night with my new toy, Skywatcher 127 Mak with auto tracking mount and control (not GoTo).

After a couple of terrestrial familiarisation sessions I felt confident that I might see something when I fanally had some clear sky.

Given the ease of set up of this particular set-up (can it really be that easy?) I keep the scope and all other kit in component form in a case because it only takes a few mins to get going and I cannot keep it fully assembled from day to day anyway.

However........

As I set the scope up in the dark for the first time, full of anticipation I was not able to calibrate/align the finderscope. realising that this may be something of a hinderance I figured that I could just "search" in the general area I was looking in and catch sight of something (ideally Jupiter) But could I????

I think you know the answer to that one!!!

I did get sight of some stars and what I hoped was Jupiter, but after changing eyepieces (25mm, 10mm & 2x Barlow and all combinations thereof) I was left none the wiser really. I did try focusing on my target but this resulted in nothing conclusive either.

I am thinking that, whatever it was I was focusing on was not Jupiter but a small star and therefore would be difficult to see really well anyway and that all of my confusion stems from the non-alignment of the finderscope.

If I dismantle the entire scope set-up (to put it all away) I assume will have to recalibrate/align the finderscope, this is fine but this obviously needs doing during daylight hours, yes?

Q1) Is there anyway of calibrating/aligning the finderscope at night? (I figured the moon might be a good starting point but given that it is rising quite late this is not much of an option currently)

Q2) Is there any advice any of you kind folks can give me to keep the finderscope and main scope assembled but the rest of the set-up broken down sufficiently for storeage/transporation and retain some degree of accuracy/confidence in the alignment?

Q3) I have also noticed that the speed setting 3 on the auto tracking system does not funtion very well in the vertical movement plane, sometimes it does not move at all but will respond to repeated presses of the button by "inching" It is very reliable in the horizontal movement plane. Speeds 4 & 5 are all OK (you can see the whole scope move - as well as hear it!) and speeds 1 & 2 are also proving to be great operators too! Has anyone else experienced a similar issue with this controller.

Q4) The documents that came with the scope regarding set-up were mercifully short, but I cannot help but wonder if they are in some way incomplete, is it really this easy to set-up (find North. Zero the latitude. Power off. Set current latitude.) I appreciate that very fine adjustments can be painstaking but given that the latitude gauge measures whole degrees only, the opportunity to really fine tune does -maybe- not exist?

I purchased this particular set-up in order to be able to navigate my way around and not rely on a GoTo system, but one last question whilst I'm here.. Is it possible to replace the hand controller with a GoTo controller should the need ever arise?

http://www.skywatcher.com/swtsupport/Instruction_Manuals/Auto-tracking.pdf

A bit of a longwinded one I know, but I would be really greatful of some help, even if it is only to point out the blindingly obvious!!.

Thanks

[Double Kick Drum]

With regards to alignment, with the Moon not around, I would stick to using Jupiter.

It may be worth targetting a distant object in the daytime to get a rough calibration and use Jupiter to fine tune.

Good luck!

[GaryG]

Hi,

In the absense of anything bright (like Jupiter or the Moon) i often align my finder scope on a distant, at least 2-3 miles away, street light. I have a distinctive group of lights on my eastern horizon that i use.

Gary

[colesmat]

If you have a clear sky its not too hard to allign the finderscope up at night. Just point towards a bright star eg. polaris, vega (one without too many bright neighbours) and as long as you're pointing at the right star you should be fine. As for jupiter, its quite distinguishable. It should look spherical as apposed to a point of light. I can normally tell even with my finderscope.

Matt

[Tinker1947]

You might want to think about a Telrad, once its set-up the base remains on the tube and the Telrad come off, its 100% accurate when removed and replaced......add to that Stellarium supports the Telrad Circles ( F11 then Alt-O) and there are fee downloadable Telrad maps to download.....

[sastay]

Many thanks Guys!

Why did I not think of using a streetlight! D'oh!! as the thread is titled "Daft question..." at least I got the title right.

I suppose practice makes perfect and as it is beautifully clear at the moment and it should be tonight, i'll be trying again later

The Telrad idea is also a great one, I think that'll be my next purchase....

Does anyone have any feedback ragrding the use of the Autotracking system?

Cheers!

[TheQuietEarth]

Before trying to align the GoTo system on my scope (Celestron 127 SLT) I used a nearby street light (as suggested above) to ensure that the finderscope and Optical Tube Assembly were both aligned with each other properly. It's just as well I did as they were initially way off from each other. Now they're both well aligned with each other and if I point the finderscope at, say, Jupiter and then pop in the 25mm EP it'll be in my field of view. The street light I used was just down the street but I'd suggest finding one that is further away if you can.

There are helpful pieces of information that aren't included in the manuals that come with these telescopes, so it's definitely worth enquiring about issues or concerns as there's bound to be someone on here that'll know a tip or trick that'll help you make the most of your experience with your telescope.

Once you've got the hang of finding planets and such like the tracking system on your telescope will become very beneficial. I guess it'll just take a small amount of familiarisation to become proficient at getting everything just so.

If you have a mobile phone with the Android Operating System then it's worth downloading an app called Google Sky Map. Once it's found your long/lat position it'll give you a map of the sky from your current point of view. I find it useful for identifying stars and getting used to the positions of the constellations. The app may even be available for Apple products if you own one. If not I'm sure there are various alternatives. For PC Stellarium is easy to get the hang of.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid&hl=en

http://www.stellarium.org/

Good luck tonight.

[Mattscar]

For Apple products there is Skyview which is roughly £2 or Sky Safari which has 3 different prices depending on how big you want your database to be. Both use your GPS to work out where you are and give you a map of the sky. The database on SkyView is ALOT smaller than SkySafari, but for use just as a 'where do I need to look' or 'Whats that bright thing there' its quite useful. I use Skyview and Stellarium and dont have much trouble

[ronin]

For aligning the scope and finder if you are going to use a star then if it is possible use Polaris, it sits pretty much on it's own and it doesn't move a great deal. That just gives you more time. But it is not overly bright.

Buy a 32mm plossl, get as big a view as you can. The 32mm will give a bigger field then the 25mm, supposidly 28% more.

Part of the problem is when you find anything you then change to a smaller focal length eyepiece so make sure that whatever is dead in the middle before swapping.

You do not mention levelling the scope and base of the scope, that must be done as best you can. The scope has no way of determining the tilt in any direction so it will assume dead level.

Setting the latitude will I guess never be indicated better then 1 degree, think all mine are 2 degrees intervals, so you just have to make the best guess. It is also questionable how accurate the markings are anyway.

Manuals are on the Skywatcher site, but it seems to be down for most of the last 2 days.

From what you describe the start position would appear to be with the scope aimed more or less at polaris. Which makes some sense. Would this be correct ??

Speed3, oddly sounds faguely familiar from somewhere.

[sastay]

Thanks Ronin,

Yes, the mount is levelled as per manual. The wife will be pleased that I should buy another eyepiece.....!

i had a lot more success this evening but tracking is still a problem, I have a few ideas to try before I call the people at Skywatcher. Ie. I will use it on a terrestrial object and set it to track and see what happens.

thanks again for the advice.