Seben 700-76

[EmmaLG]

I had this as a Christmas gift, I am an absolute beginner, followed user manual to set up, but I cannot see anything at all through it? Any help please would be great.

[ronin]

I assume it came with an eyepiece or two.

Put the longest eyepiece in the focuser - the one with the biggest number written on it, hopefully something like 25mm.

Best next is to aim the main tube at the moon - the idea is that you may get a big bright blob either in view or close enough that you can see where it is and then get the big bright blob in the centre.

Basically get the big bright blob of the moon in the middle of the eyepiece.

Then slowly adjust the focuser so that the image gets smaller and it will eventually become an image of the moon, if it gets bigger an more of a blob rotate the focuser knob the other way.

If you have a finder with the scope you will need to attach that to the main scope then align them - done during the day and on a distant (1-2 miles) object. Life will be easier with an aligned finder.

That really is at this time all I can suggest.

Will say the scope is not the greatrest bit of precision engineering so don't expect too much.

Aiming the things is not as easy as "point it at the moon", the moon is actually pretty small and getting it in view will take a few attempts. But at present the moon is a good start.

Ask again for aligning a finder, if one is supplied.

[Laurie61]

Hi, I think these are sold under various brand names including Sky watcher http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/Skywatcher/Astrolux/76mm/starter-scope.html

My friend's son picked one up and, when they came over to visit, bought it over. The mount is a bit wobbly but the mirrors are actually decent and showed Jupiter and the Moon nicely at about 80 X magnification. If you wanted to invest in a basic but good eyepiece or two It would pay dividends. I used a 9 mm (about 80x) and a 32 mm Plossl (21 x)  

Link to suggested  eyepieces -  http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

Try using it in daylight, once you have removed the front cap   put in the low power eyepiece and try looking at something a few hundred meters away, not the sun , if you still can't see anything check the secondary mirror is set correctly, the scope may need collimating. Good luck