Knocked sideways

[Floater]

Hi all. I have a horrible feeling I'm going to feel silly - but I gotta ask:

With my refractor I'm using a Revelation Astro mirror diagonal fitted into a self-centering 2-1.25" adapter. When I first used it all was as expected, an upside-down image. Now when I look through the scope the image is sideways, from right to left. (See attached pic for illustration.) When I take the diagonal out of the scope and look though it without an eyepiece I see an upside-down image, as I believe I should. But in the scope, with an eyepiece, it's sideways on.

With my erect-image diagonal everything's fine; an erect image.

I've had a look elsewhere on the web and found various things about the view being affected by my position and how the scope's oriented but I'm struggling to make sense of anything.

What's changed? What have I done?

As I wrote earlier, It's probably simple ... but I've felt stupid before and survived!

[ronin]

Doesn't seem to make sense.

Although there are inversions you appear to be saying you actually have a rotation.

I am assuming you are talking of the refractor and the diagonal+eyepiece.

What makes it "odd" is that on a goto refractor you have to option to the left/right movement buttons and the up/down buttons.

I know of nothing which swaps anything for what you appear to describe.

You are not looking from the side intop the eyepiece as in from a seat or similar?

If you werethen everything would "rotate".

[rwilkey]

Hi Gordon, have you tried it without the self-centering adaptor, it could be the point of focus that's messing things up, though I don't understand why!  Not seen this before.

[Floater]

Thanks for getting back so quickly - been out with the dog.

Ronin, yes I am in a seat. But I was in a seat the first time, too.

Robin, not sure how I could try that. I need the adapter to get the diagonal in. And, again, it's all the same equipment as last time. As I wrote previously, I did try looking through the diagonal only and everything was upside down, as it should be.

And I know that 'there's no up or down in space' but it threw me to see the first quarter moon looking like a pudding bowl.

In a perverse way, I'm glad it's thrown you guys, too. I worried it might be one of those 'forgot to take the cap off' dafties!

Curiouser and curiouser ...

[Floater]

Just to elaborate, Ronin, while I was observing in a seat last night I have tried standing and looking down into the eyepiece - but same thing: sideways view.

[rwilkey]

Hi Gordon, I have just tried repeating the experiment with my own refractor and a self-centering adaptor (Orion), and I also sat myself down and turned the diagonal (WO) sideways to see, and guess what, the orientation of the view changed, it was turned a quarter of a turn and it showed my view upside down haha!  Agree you need the adaptor to fit a 1.25" diagonal in a 2" focuser, I realised that after I re-read your OP.  So, if you are sat down, don't rotate the diagonal, lower the refractor and continue to look in the top and down.

[rwilkey]

Still a mystery reading your post #6!

[Floater]

Thanks for taking the trouble to do that, Robin. It looks like we're homing in on the answer. I will experiment with angles/positions, etc., and get back to you.

Wedding anniversary today, so off out tonight and won't get round to it (hah!) untli tomorrow, probably. I may get a cuff on the ear tonight, though, if I'm caught looking puzzled and 'elsewhere', as I try to work out in my head what's going on ...

For now, thanks again.

[rwilkey]

Happy Anniversary to you both, and have a great time!

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Floater, in your first post you said you have a Revelation Astro "mirror" Diagonal, I was led to believe that - however much you rotate the diagonal - this is how much the view will be rotated (offset) - so if you rotate through through 90 degrees - the image will also rotate through 90 degrees - I always tend to view with the ep "pointing" up, on rare occasions I rotate the ep to one side when viewing the Planets at low altitude - which rotates the image around by the same amount, but that's through the SCT using a "mirror" diagonal - but the same applies.

Just looking at your picture - I could just imagine Batman and Robin "climbing" through the image on a rope - just to point out - they will be travelling from the bottom to the top!!!

Regards.   Paul.

[Floater]

Ah well, I suppose it was near inevitable: I do feel a bit foolish.

You folks have nailed it for me - it depends on where I view from. If I view from the side, as I do with my Dob, the view comes from right to left. If I stand behind the scope and look into the EP the image is correct. The things is, I do mean 'correct' - it's right side up, as seen with the naked eye. This leaves me wondering what on earth I was doing, or thought I was seeing, on my first night of viewing! (And wondering if I really needed to buy the 45-degree diagonal for terrestrial viewing.)

Afraid I'll just have to bite the bullet, 'fess up' and put it down to being a dozy old codger!

That aside, a big thumbs up for SGL and thanks to all who replied - especially Robin who even went and experimented with his own frac for me.

I'll now leave, stage left and slightly red-faced.

Now, must remember to remove that dust cap ...