Bit of a quandrey right now.

[jimmyr]

Hi Guys and Girls, over the last couple of weeks i have had sound advice from the very helpful members here, well i am in a bit of a quandary right now and this is why.

As many will know i brought a pair of Olympus 8x40 DPSI to get me started, well in a couple of days i was well chuffed with being able to see Orion Nebula, Had to see more lol, so picked up a Starwalker Skymax 90 (EQ1) fairly cheap as it turns out, even though i did not know what i was buying lol, brought it as one thing and when picked it up turned out to be something else, oh well.

Now this evening the sky is nice and clear, can see Orion's Belt with naked eye moon lovely and bright, Got out my Skymax and was very disappointed, could see more of a clear moon with the Binoculars, pointed at the Orion Nebula expecting to see more, but nope, each star was as four stars just could not focus them close enough together to make for an enjoyable evening viewing so put the lot away.

Now is it these old Diabetic eyes 63yrs or is it my eye pieces, just using the standard "super 25" that came with the scope.

Now thinking of doing away with the scope either swapping it out for better bino's or selling, cant afford to keep swapping EP's could scope need servicing.

Thanks

Jim

[Steve Ward]

Sounds to me as though you were looking at the centre of the Orion nebula and seeing "the Trapezium" , a group of four stars right at the heart of the nebula.

The Skymax would be giving you a much more magnified view than the binoculars and cutting out all of the outside whispy bits.

[jimmyr]

Hi Steve, yes i could see these four stars and i could not focus enough to make viewing comfortable of you know what i mean, the four looked like eight lol, yet through the Binoculars although smaller in magnification things were much easier on the eye, with the Skymax pointed at the Moon, i could see more clearer view with the naked eye and Bino's.

Jim

[John]

Steve is correct and also the moon will have washed most of the nebula away. I could see very little of it with my 120mm refractor tonight and, under a moonless sky, the Orion Nebula fills the eyepiece with that scope. 

[Steve Ward]

Check the front of the scope , the Mak's front element could be getting a coating of dew which would hamper viewing , if it has dewed up a blast from a hairdryer will remove it.

[Steve Ward]

Good point John , forgot where the Moon is tonight , thick grey here ... 

[jimmyr]

As i have said, yes can get good distance between these four Stars spoken of but each star looks like four seperate stars, no matter what i do i cannot focus perfect with skymax, do you think it is a Collimation thing which i could sort out myself.

Thanks

Jim

[Tonys]

Hi Jim.

Just wondering if you had chance to check for dewing as Steve suggested, because it is a problem with the Skymax as it isn't supplied with a dew shield (in common with most Maks). If this is the problem you can get a 90mm flexible one for around £20, which is what I use. About the four stars, they sound like the Trapezium but if they are I'm certain your binoculars wouldn't show them at all as they aren't powerful enough. In my experience the Skymax is very capable considering it's small size. It should give much better detail on the moon than your binoculars and stars should focus to a point, so if dewing isn't the cause I guess the scope must need attention. One problem I do have with mine is ghosting, where faint false images of bright stars appear in the field of view and which I have put down to internal reflections due to dodgy baffling. You could check for this by shining a torch through the front lens and looking for scratches and missing paint on the inside of the tube. There are folks on the forum who know lots about the Skywatcher Maks and I'm sure they will be able to help you get it working properly.

[happy-kat]

Would a 90 need cool down time?

[jimmyr]

Sorry guys just to clear one thing up, i was in fact indoors and not outside so not a Dew problem, as for the Orion nebula yes can see it with my Bino's but as said it is very small and can make out where the Trapezium is at.

With the Skymax i get up close with these four stars (Trapezium) but as said each of these four will not come into full focus (each of the four look broken into four) and will not as said focus into clear view.

The Moon looking with the eye or binocumas through the glass window looks good but through the Skymax not good at all.

[Stu]

It will almost definitely be a cooling issue. You won't get good views through a scope indoors looking from warm air into the cold night.

The Mak will need some cooling, perhaps 45mins or so outside, and get yourself a dew shield too.

Give that a go and see if you still have the same problems.

Cheers,

Stu

[Steve Ward]

And if you're viewing through double glazing you will be getting multiple reflections from each surface of the two panes , resulting in four images of each star .

Try holding a cigarette lighter or match close to the window and observe the reflections ..... 

Time to wrap up warm and get yourself outside ... 

[happy-kat]

Opening the window does not remove the heat shimmer experienced, as I tried that with my 70mm mak.

[Steve Ward]

Viewing from indoors through an open door/window never works due to the heat escaping through the window and the turbulence ruining the seeing.

Even here with no heating on the residual warmth shows up , I sometimes image the Sun from just inside the patio doors when it's raining from overhead but it's clear where the Sun is , never get great results this way , just a general idea ... 

[CSM]

As Steve says double glazing will cause double images.  The additional magnification of the scope will cause problems too as you are indoors.

[jimmyr]

Hi guys, thanks Steve, why do i not get this doubling effect when viewing through the Bino's or with the Naked eye, why can i see the moon perfectly clear focused with the "Binoculars" as apposed to the scope.

At home i really have no where to use it, only through the lounge window, so maybe just a better pair of magnifying Binoculars for now will have to do.

[Stu]

Hi guys, thanks Steve, why do i not get this doubling effect when viewing through the Bino's or with the Naked eye, why can i see the moon perfectly clear focused with the "Binoculars" as apposed to the scope.

At home i really have no where to use it, only through the lounge window, so maybe just a better pair of magnifying Binoculars for now will have to do.

It's just because the magnification with the binos isn't high enough to see the double image. Are you looking through the glass or are you able to open the window?

Stu

[sandyshaw]

Keep in mind Binoculars are FASTER optics, higher contrasting and wider field of views.

[Stevp]

Sound advice about the double glazing. Do you use your bins only through the window? If you get the chance to try then outdoors you should even see a difference with them.

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