Skywatcher 200p EQ5 focusing.

[Bignev]

Hi all, i have just purchased a new skywatcher 200 and i am having so much trouble just to see a picture at night on it. I have purchased a seben laser collimator and set it up which i believe to be right but i am still having major problems looking through the view finder, i am unable to clearly focus during day time and at night i really do get next to nothing through it at all. I am a complete novice looking forward to my first trip to the stars and this is really starting to annoy me beyond words.

The conditions that i have been using it in have not been perfect as it has been very hard just to find somewhere dark to use it, could it just be that there is just too much light entering the scope that it is blocking the picture?

Any advice on this would be most welcomed , many thanks in advance.

Bignev.

[Oily]

Are you using the 2" eye piece adapter with the 1.25"?

[ronin]

What are you aiming at during the day?

The scopes really are not intended for anything that is "close", close being less then 2 miles away. They do not have the focus travel to accomodate anything less then that, and 5 to 10 miles is more likely. The moon is a close object and that is about a quarter of a million miles away. The travel on a focuser is to allow different eyepieces to be used that have different focal planes, not for viewing land based objects.

Next is that the field of view, it is very small, they really do need to be spot on the target. You will be lucky to aim the scope within +-5 degrees by eye while the actual view will be 1/2 degrees, a little off means nothing in the view to see or focus on. Using one during the day is not the easy option that it is often assumed to be. When you get it set right you will find that even though the moon is big and bright it will not easily appear in view. Until you get very used to the scope you will be looking all over the sky to find it. So a smaller thing called Saturn will be worse, and most of the other objects that are floating round up there.

Best I can think of is find a line of hills a few miles awaya and one a fine, cloudless, blue sky day carefully aim the scope at these. Then gently and slowly move the scope until you can see a change in the general colours. Hopefully that means the boundry between land and sky. Then carefully adjust the focus.

Another idea may be to carefully aim the scope at shallow V end of Casseiopia then adjust the focus. Hopefully the milky way will at some time appear in view. The milky way being a decent size means it should be in view without too great an effort. You will need a fairly dark sky for this.

Not sure what eyepieces appeared but they are likely not good, but until you get something out of the scope stick with the 25mm one provided, forget anything else that came with it.

Is the Seban collimator collimated? It probably is not and needs checking and adjusting otherwise you could be adjusting from a good state to a bad state, so making things worse.

There are not that many societies around you so cannot suggest visiting one specifically, one at Alnwick that looks reasonable. I assume you are Blyth between Newcastle and Ashington.

There is a fair learning curve that takes some time to get through. However at this time the nights are short so in some respect a fair time to get familar with the scope and handling it a little at a time. Then you should be ready when the nights beging to get longer and arrive earlier.

[Ouroboros]

The travel on a standard 200p focuser is quite long so you can be way out of focus to the point where you will see nothing. Make sure you scan all the way through when trying to focus. Apart from that, I can only second what Robin has said. After dark almost any part if the sky has stars in it when looked at through a 200p. Use the lowest magnification eyepiece you have, probably 25 mm. Point the telescope somewhere that looks starry and scan the focus slowly through. You really should hit the correct focus point and see nice sharp stars. I've put a little pencil mark on the shaft of my focuser so I can more or less have it focused before I start.

You will also need to get your finder scope aligned to your 200p so that you can easily point you scope at whatever you want to look at each time. Find a really bright star, any will do. Aim your telescope at it roughly and then, looking through the eyepeice, hunt around until you find it. Put it at the centre of the field of view. Then look through the finder scope and alter the adjusters until the bright star lies exactly on the cross hairs.

[Bignev]

Thanks for your reply's, I have been using the 25 mm eyepiece which came with the telescope with it saying it was the wide angled lens best for starting off and the collimator was out of sync by loads but i reset it myself. I was starting to think that the scope itself was at fault but now i am starting to think that i must be just not looking far enough away when i am setting up, the star finder is not a problem i can set that up even though i did the usual mistake of missing the rubber ring on it like all newbies do.

Had the scope for about 2 weeks now and never really had a dark clear night yet were i have been able to focus on anything, where i i live there is quite a lot of street lighting so would this bad light make a big difference or should i still be able to see out of the telescope as all i get is a light haze in the eye piece.

I am looking forward to taking it to a site that i have found upon the moors outside of newcastle but like i say its waiting for the weather to be kind enough to let me.

Cheers again

Bignev.

[malc-c]

Spend £18 and get a focusing mask ( http://www.firstlightoptics.com/bahtinov-focus-masks/starsharp-bahtinov-focus-masks.html ) - these produce a diffraction pattern that provides perfect focus on a bright star

Takes the guess work out.

[Ouroboros]

Bignev - I think once you get some proper darkness you'll be surprised how easy it is to focus up.

[Bignev]

Yeah thanks, thinking that your right because went out a couple of nights ago, till after 2 and it was so bright didn't even need a torch.

Can't wait for the dark nights to arrive.

Cheers

Bignev

[Ouroboros]

Bignev - I'm surprised it wasn't dark enough at that time.

In a day or three the moon will be visible in the early evening towards the west. You should be able to line up the telescope by eye or with the finder scope and get it focused on the moon.

How much recollimation did you do? I'm just wondering if you've misaligned it completely. I don't know whether such a severe misalignment is possible though.

[John]

One of the most common issues with these scopes is, as Oily suggested, new owners using the 2" eyepiece adapter and the 1.25" adapter together. While this seems logical, with the Skywatcher scopes they need to be used separately, ie: when using 1.25" eyepieces use just the 1.25" adapter and when using 2" eyepieces, replace the 1.25" adapter with the 2" one. If you use the two together, the scope won't come to focus on any astronomical objects at all.

[denlancs]

I think John has probably solved the problem.I have the SW 200pds and also at the first attempt failed to find focus until I realised I had to use the two adapters separately.

[Ouroboros]

Sounds a plausible explanation.

[Ouroboros]

I'm puzzled by how one would use both adapters together though. I'm not with my telescope at the moment so I can't try if its possible to assemble it in that way.

PS Yipee! I can now edit.

[Bignev]

Hi guys just a quick update, Took my scope out last night as i had near perfect sky around me and guess what, NOTHING at all but a white haze in the eyepiece, the only thing that i was seeing was a reflection of the front of the telescope when i moved it up towards maximum tilt upwards. I am starting to think that i have just made a complete mess of it because my collimator was not running straight when it turned up so i adjusted it so the line was running straight along my wall as i rolled it, did i do right is that what it is supposed

to do. Saying that mind you the scope has always looked the same through the view finder since a purchased it 2 weeks ago. I have checked the videos on u tube and set it up exactly the same but to no avail still nothing. I really do think i am going to have to try and find someone to check it out for me because i just cant seem to fix it myself, guess i am just too green, got me all the gear, scope camera everything but just cant figure out how to fix something that was broken when it arrived.

Thanks again

Bignev.

[Ouroboros]

Bignev - sounds weird doesn't it? Could you post an image of your set up - particularly the eye piece arrangement you're using?

I've remembered now that when I first got my 200p telescope I tried it out looking at the roofs of houses about 200 yards away. It was very easy to focus up on those. Could you try that?

[Bignev]

Just a quick update and good news i think, I have been at it retuning the setup again and i finally think i have got it right.

I can look through the eyepiece now and i am focusing in on the nail heads on roof tops over from my house. I have not

been able to try it out at night yet because i am up very early for work this week so hopefully it is fixed at last.

I do think i must have just been setting it up wrong with my collimator, I will let you all know the very first night i get out

with it. Cheers and fingers crossed.

[Ouroboros]

Sounds like you've cracked it. Good. There's a crescent moon tonight if the sky's clear up your way.

[Pyrodave]

Are you using the 2" eye piece adapter with the 1.25"?

I did exactly that when first setting up ,I was sure I'd been sent a duff scope then realised that you only need 1 adaptor either the 2" or the 2"x1.25" not both.As soon as I removed the 2" adaptor I was able to focus

[Tinker1947]

It purely a point of focus issue, i have to use a 2" extension with all my EP's other wise i see the secondary mirror and nothing else, you can check it out by releasing the EP and slowly move it away from the focus tube.....

[Bignev]

Good news guys i have finally got my scope up and running and i wish i did not have to say this but the fact is a am a fool.

I really dont know why but i have just checked the adapters for my eye pieces and hey presto once i took the 2" adapter out like i was told to do ages ago

it has started working perfectly,such a simple thing and i just missed it when i was reading through the replys.

I do want to thank everyone for there time and support they have given me to sort out my, as it turned out my little problem.

Once again many thanks,

The fool, (that would be me)

[Bignev]

One of the most common issues with these scopes is, as Oily suggested, new owners using the 2" eyepiece adapter and the 1.25" adapter together. While this seems logical, with the Skywatcher scopes they need to be used separately, ie: when using 1.25" eyepieces use just the 1.25" adapter and when using 2" eyepieces, replace the 1.25" adapter with the 2" one. If you use the two together, the scope won't come to focus on any astronomical objects at all.

I think John has probably solved the problem.I have the SW 200pds and also at the first attempt failed to find focus until I realised I had to use the two adapters separately.

Sounds a plausible explanation.

I did exactly that when first setting up ,I was sure I'd been sent a duff scope then realised that you only need 1 adaptor either the 2" or the 2"x1.25" not both.As soon as I removed the 2" adaptor I was able to focus

You got it spot on guys many thanks indeed, just wish it didnt take me so long to find it out though, Cheers and happy whatching

[Ouroboros]

Glad you're sorted. The solution is only easy after you see answer.

I'm not with my telescope at the moment and I find it really difficult to imagine how you did what you did. But it must be easy.

Good observing!

[Pyrodave]

Hey Nev, glad you got it sorted and that it was what a few of us suspected (hey we all have to start somewhere ). If the instructions that came with the scopes were better we all might get on a little better in the early stages

[Bignev]