Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

Hello from West London! Newbie here

craigread7

By craigread7
in Welcome

Recommended Posts

craigread7

craigread7

Posted
Posted

Hello, 

Firstly, after looking through a few different Astronomy forums, this one appeared to be the friendliest, most helpful, and well designed of them.

I'm 19 and after always being somewhat interested in Astronomy, I finally took the jump and bought myself a telescope (if I had known about this forum I would have asked for advice first)

I purchased a Skywatcher Explorer 130mm Newtonian reflector scope with EQ2 mount and motor drive Focal length 900mm (still able to send it back if you guys wouldn't recommend it for my needs)

I don't really have a lot of space but I'm planning on using the roof of my extension which has a good view of most of the sky. I've just been out tonight to take a look at Jupiter and did encounter a few issues

1. It was very hard to get the planet in the center of my view, I hadn't properly aligned the red dot sight which didn't help the matter and I probably also need to get used to the hand controls

(I haven't set up the motor yet as I wanted to try everything out first and see how it all works)

2. When I did get Jupiter in my view, it had a black circle in the middle and black lines obstructing the view, the only way to get rid of this was to turn the focus until it went away but by this point I seemed to have zoomed out so far it was just a large dot, I tried using the eyepieces that came with the scope, which are a super 10mm and a super 25mm wide angle and also tried both of these through the barlow 2x but I could barely tell the difference

3. I have to carry the scope out of my bedroom window to get it on the roof and it's pretty heavy! (feels about 20KG at least) I wonder if a refractor scope would be lighter?

Ideally I'd like to be able to look in detail at the moon, and see Jupiter, Saturn and possibly Mars. But I know I will end up wanting to look further and view Nebulae

That's all I can think of at the moment, but any advice would be greatly appreciated

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 35
  • Created
  • Last Reply
oldpink

oldpink

Posted
Posted

Hi and welcome to SGL

first off it sounds like you have focus issues
is there a 2" extension tube on your focuser if so take it off and attach the 1.25 adapter directly to the focus tube
this was the issue I had with my SW 200p when I first used it

all of your targets are well within your range just don't expect tennis ball sized planets in your eyepiece

Link to comment
Share on other sites
craigread7

craigread7

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi and welcome to SGL

first off it sounds like you have focus issues

is there a 2" extension tube on your focuser if so take it off and attach the 1.25 adapter directly to the focus tube

this was the issue I had with my SW 200p when I first used it

all of your targets are well within your range just don't expect tennis ball sized planets in your eyepiece

Thanks for your reply, I'm not sure if there is a 2" extension tube on the focuser (if the plastic thing on the end is the extension, I have nothing to replace it with except removing it altogether and putting the Barlow lens directly there)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldpink

oldpink

Posted
Posted

try checking tomorrow in daytime by setting up on something a couple of miles away on the horizon away from the sun
that way you can set up your finder as well, also mark your focus point when you find it
makes it easier to get close at night

Link to comment
Share on other sites
craigread7

craigread7

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Unfortunately not, there doesn't seem to be anything. I'll give that other stuff a go tomorrow and also remember to let my telescope cool down outside for a while before I try to use it.

It may even be that I already got the view I was supposed to get and was expecting too much

Thanks for your help on this, I'll probably post on here again tomorrow if I get a chance to test it out again

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldpink

oldpink

Posted
Posted

Unfortunately not, there doesn't seem to be anything. I'll give that other stuff a go tomorrow and also remember to let my telescope cool down outside for a while before I try to use it.

It may even be that I already got the view I was supposed to get and was expecting too much

Thanks for your help on this, I'll probably post on here again tomorrow if I get a chance to test it out again

don't give up hope

its most likely a simple error easily corrected with some advice

Link to comment
Share on other sites
swag72

swag72

Posted
Posted

Hi Craig and welcome to SGL - It's tough when things just don't go well, so keep your chin up and check in regularly with the good folks of SGL! I'm an imager, no visual at all, but your description certainly sounds like focus. The dark circle and black lines obstructing the view would have been that you were focused on the vanes and central obstruction.

Look forward to seeing you around and good luck on your next outing :smiley:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nytecam

nytecam

Posted
Posted

Hi Craig - welcome to the Forum :grin:  You've already had good advise and, strange as it may seem, the night is not the best time to test your new scope but daytime!    Good luck and stick with your scope and don't swap it out before you've outgrown it !  You may get "you need what I've got" but you don't :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hutchyweb

hutchyweb

Posted
Posted

Hi Craig Welcome to SGL,

I to started off with a 130M and i was really please with it, but started to push the optics to their limits quite early so decided to upgrade after a couple of months. (Check out my blog I've started which may help you out - link in signiture)

Jupiter is not that big at the moment and is getting smaller as it moves away. The dot and lines are the secondary mirror assembly which means you havent yet found prime focus. start with just the 25mm eyepiece and you should see jupiter a small disk with a couple of moons, get it in the center and then pop the 10mm eyepiece in so the same then 25mm + barlow and then finally the 10 + the barlow. If you havent setup the motor drive and aligned to polaris you will have to move quick as jupiter will not say in your eyepiece for long.

There are some images on my blog gallery that i took with the 130m and a rubish webcam but i should give you an idea.

Feel free to email me via my blog or PM from here, i am only 5 months in myself but learning fast by my mistakes.

Dont give up, keep trying :smiley:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.