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Another reasonably clueless newbie

Lucy Lunar Diamond

By Lucy Lunar Diamond
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Lucy Lunar Diamond

Lucy Lunar Diamond

Posted
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Hello everyone, just joined, know nothing.

Getting to grips with my Skywatcher Explorer 200P & EQ5 mount. So far seen the moon in wonderful detail, and Jupiter + Galilean moons. Well you have to start somewhere.

Need tips on wrestling with my eq mount, upgrading to a decent eyepiece, and... everything.

Clearly this place is a mine of information; thank you already.

Lucy

xx

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ronin

ronin

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In a wrestling match the EQ5 will win.

If you by sheer chance win, then it will get it's own back a little bit at a time.

Replace the RA/Dec adjusting bolts, the supplied ones bend and that really is trouble.

Don't wait, get replacements ordered, several places do them, mine came from 365Astronomy.

Eyepieces, going down the established route of BST Starguiders, the shortest is 5mm and then 8mm if this is too big a jump then the Celestron X-Cels as they do 5mm, 7mm and 9mm. There are others but these seem to normal first step up.

BST's are £47 (think) @Skies the Limit,  X-Cels are £65 @FLO.

Buy a book and get a red torch to see in general and to read the book, especially the pictures :grin: .

Presume that you have set up the finder?

You should have fairly good dark skies in Kendal anyway.

Eddington AS meet in Kendal apparently:

http://www.eas-online.org.uk/

Next meet: 7pm Monday Nov 4th at Kendal Museum: Comet ISON/The Winter Sky

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Siriusmeg

Siriusmeg

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Ha, it's a bit of a steep learning curve isn't it?  Sounds like you have made a really good start  :smiley:   When you have wrestled the beast into something like submission, I hope you really enjoy your scope - you'll see some amazing things  :grin:

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wookie1965

wookie1965

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There is some great tutorials on you tube about setting up your EQ mount and Polar aligning it once you have done this it is very easy, eyepieces depends on your budget as other people have said the BST range are good from Skys The Limit they are £49 now the X-Cels get good reviews as well. Turn Left at Orion is a great book to guide you and a free program Stellarium you can download onto your PC.By the way a warm welcome to SGL.

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ronl

ronl

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Hi Lucy welcome to the lounge

you will soon get use to the mount, practice indoors or in daylight,

have you set your finder scope, this is the time to do it. As far as 

eyepieces are concerned stick with the ones that came with the scope

for a while, they will show you quite a lot until you wan't to see more,

try this link http://www.swindonstargazers.com/beginners/eyepieces.htm

it will help you to understand the different types and prices.

Good Luck and Clear Sky's

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Lucy and welcome to the forum. You might find this video along with another of David's video's here which can help you get your head around the equatorial mount and how to set it up correctly. You will find in astronomy that there is a lot to learn but none of it is difficult - just  take your time to source information using the search button (top right of your screen) or by posting a question in the relevant section elsewhere on the forum. Please do not be embarrassed at asking what you might consider to be a silly or stupid question - we've all have to learn and there isn't one question that you can think of that hasn't been asked already and there are many people here who are only to glad to help you with your understanding!  :smiley:

Clear skies and enjoy the forum

James

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Lucy Lunar Diamond

Lucy Lunar Diamond

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Thanks for the lovely welcome everyone, and all the advice so far.

Ronin said, "Replace the RA/Dec adjusting bolts, the supplied ones bend and that really is trouble."

One of these bolts tends to fall off after much turning, which is a bit of a nuisance so I would like to upgrade these. Is this what I'm looking for:

http://www.365astronomy.com/skywatcher-slow-motion-cable-set-for-eq2-eq5-and-az3-mounts-p-3350.html

They are described as slow motion cables, so at the risk of this being my first silly question, will they move the scope slower than the existing knobs?

Thanks again.

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