Jump to content

Narrowband

Ways Of Improving My 'Scope


Recommended Posts

Hey. I was just wondering if anyone could offer any tips to improve my 'scope. It's a 6" reflector.

I have just purchased this ep http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Super-Zoom-1-25-Telescope-Eyepiece-8-24mm-New-129-GBP_W0QQitemZ230222020269QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3636QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. Does anyone have this? It arrived a couple of days ago but i havn't been able to try it out yet. This is one way of improving my scope isn't it - by using better eps. Are there any others?

Many thanks in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you have not actually tried your scope yet it's perhaps a little premature to be thinking about improving it's performance. Once you have tried it out for a few nights with the eyepieces that it comes with plus your newly acquired zoom lens you will have some idea about how it's doing and whether you are pleased or not.

The most usual problems with cheaper scopes (if this is a cheaper one) are wobbly mounts and poor eyepieces supplied as standard and there are ways to improve both of those areas. One thing I would suggest is not to use too high magnification to start with - often newcomers to the hobby a so keen to get to the highest possible power that they overlook the fact that often the best views are at low or medium power.

Why not give the scope a chance first and let us know how it goes :D

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, i wasn't very clear in my post. I've tried the scope, and although it's only a cheap little thing i love it! :D I just havn't tried the new ep yet because the seeing has been awful lately...

I know what you mean about the high magnification. As soon as i got the 'scope i found Saturn with my low power ep (24mm) and instantly switched to the 6.5mm ep and was bitterly dissapointed. Since then i've done some reading and found that low-med power eps offer the best view of the Solar System objects. Not sure whether the same applies to DSOs, but still...

Actually, i was VERY surprised with the mount. It's extremly sturdy! Can't believe that mount came with the 'scope to be honest...

Does anyone know if PL EPs are any good? Thanks.

Thanks for the reply.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone know if PL EPs are any good? Thanks.

Thanks for the reply.

PL stands for Plossl which is a decent design (not a make) of eyepiece although there are good ones and not so good ones of those as well. For high power the Orthoscopic (OR) design is also considered good. You can generaly get decent Plossls and Orthos for around £30 each new, cheaper 2nd hand.

Deep Sky Objects (DSO's) sre usually best viewed at low to medium powers. It's solar system objects (the moon and planets) and double stars which normally benefit from high magnifications. There are exceptions to these guidelines of course eg: comets which are in the solar system but are generally best viewed a low power :D

What is the make and spec of your scope by the way ?.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Deep Sky Objects (DSO's) sre usually best viewed at low to medium powers. It's solar system objects (the moon and planets) and double stars which normally benefit from high magnifications. There are exceptions to these guidelines of course eg: comets which are in the solar system but are generally best viewed a low power :lol:

What is the make and spec of your scope by the way ?.

John

Ah, maybve i got that the wrong way round then. LOL

I don't know who made the 'scope. It doesn't say on the 'scope, the box, in the handbook, or in the Ebay ad. So it must be a very exclusive brand! :D:lol:

It's probabaly the cheapest non department store reflector avalible as it only cost £89 new.

It's a 6" reflector with a focal length of 750mm & 1400mm with a correcting lens. It has a concave mirror and i've just found out that it's more than likely 'catadioptric'.

Thanks for your reply.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you looked at Saturn could you make out the gap between the planet and the rings?

Yeah. Only just though as i only had a 24mm ep and didn't pay too much attention to it as i was just trying to locate objects rather than 'study' them. (I've only used it a couple of times, so i know i am being premature in trying to improve it, i just wondered how i could, if i wanted to...)

When i switched to the 6.5mm the image was too blurry to see anything. Even the rings were quite hard to make out. Probabaly not very good eps... That's why i brought the zoom ep, so i can see something inbetween 24mm and 6.5mm...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's sound ok then. Quality eyepieces should help - shame you don't know the brand name of the scope - Saturn's great isn't it? The moon should be quite a lot of fun through your scope as well - the 24mm should be fine for that and the barlow might give you some great close ups.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saturn's great isn't it? The moon should be quite a lot of fun through your scope as well - the 24mm should be fine for that and the barlow might give you some great close ups.

Saturn's beautiful! I love it! That and the Moon are my favourite objects to view. However, having said that they're the only things i've seen with the 'scope yet. LOL.

I enjoyed looking at Jupiter aswell with my old 4.5" but havn't seen it yet in my new 6". It's quite sad but i loved using the slow motion controls with a low power ep and just watch it's Moons move with the Planet.

I'm looking foward to going out with my 'scope as my back garden has a very limited view of the sky. I went out once and there was a load of young lads around saying things like "is that a telescope?" "can you see the stars with that?", "why do you want to look at the sky?" "nobody cares about the stars and planets." ect... You can't concentrate with them around. LOL. (A bit of rambling there, but oh well. lol.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you looked at Saturn could you make out the gap between the planet and the rings?

Ok confession time. As the heavens opened up the other day i had the pleasure of taking my 'scope out for a short while. And must confess that after viewing Saturn properly, no, i can't make out the gap between the rings and the Planet. :D (I didn't use the 2x Barlow but had a stepless zoom ep and went from 24mm - 8mm.) The view of the Moon is awesome though!

I have taken a few decent pics of the Moon with a digi-cam, just putting it to the ep, but i'm never going to get any decent pics of anything except the Moon, especially DSOs with this 'scope am i?, even with the correct equiptment...

As my mirror is concave, does that mean the mirror isn't very good, and not worth saving, as i plan to build my own telescope in a couple of years time. Maybe less, depends how quick i pick everything up...

Sorry, i've asked this question before but didn't get the response i was looking for. Are standard length 'scopes generally better than 'short tube' 'scope? Am i to understand that every 'short tube' 'scope has a 'corrector lens'? (Sorry for such noob questions...) (Sorry for the amount of questions aswell...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know much about the length of scope question so, sorry, I can't help you with that.

As for the mirror, It should appear concave. The question is then, is it a spherical or parabolic mirror? If it's spherical and you're getting good views of the moon then that's probably it's limit.

hope that helps

Sam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

Is your scope similar to this one ?:

http://tinyurl.com/2uyfcb

If it is then I would say that the mount is OK (you say that youself in your 1st post) and the eyepieces look useable (though the barlow lens does not look so good). The problem with these scopes is that they claim a concave mirror but not a parabolic mirror, which is concave but with a special shape to bring all the light rays to a nice tight focus. A short tube scope with a non-parabolic mirror and using a corrector lens to provide the 1400mm focal length is not going to perform well at high powers I'm afraid - it may be OK for some low power, wide field viewing.

The minimum budget for a decent quality parabolic 6 inch newtonian reflector on a simple mount would be around £150. Maybe you could find a better scope 2nd hand to put on the mount ?.

Sorry about the bad news but it's better to be honest I think.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

  • 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.