Help please.

[Welsh-18]

I recently bought a skywatcher explorer 130 eq2  it came with a 10mm 25mm and a x2 barlow, im trying to find jupiter i believe with the 10mm and for the life of me cant get it in sight, ive spent good time checking and double checking the mount and the balance, i can get get it in the 25mm straight away but no such luck with the 10mm ive centred it in the 25mm and done the quick switch of lenses but still no luck, had a quick browse on youtube but no luck, can anyone help me with this issue? Many thanks, welsh

[John78]

Are you refocusing after you've swapped the eye piece?

[Welsh-18]

Yes i am, still having no luck withh it, im digging through the forum tryin to see if i can find a problem similar to what im having to try find out what im doing wrong, thanks

[Uplooker]

Ensure that your finder, of whatever type, is correctly aligned with the telescope. This is sometimes best performed during the day on distant object - 1/2 to 1 mile away.

As above ensure you have refocused correctly for the "new" eyepiece.

[Stargazer33]

Going from a 25mm ep to a 10mm ep is quite a magnification jump. Unless you have got your target dead centre of your 25mm ep, you won't have it in the 10mm and will have to locate it again. This isn't easy as focus will change with the different eps. I see you have an eq2 mount which I presume that it is not driven, so your target will be moving across your fov as the Earth rotates. This in itself may be all that is needed to take your target out of the fov by the time you have changed your eps over.

As said above, get your finder spot on during the daytime on a fixed object as far away as you can get. Also note which way you have to turn your focusing knob to change up and down between your eps.

I know it can be frustrating, but hang on in there it will all come together one night.

Good luck and clear skies.

[brantuk]

As above advice - align the finder with the scope during the daytime on a distant church spire or pylon tip. The further the better but a mile or two away will do. Use the 10mm to do the alignment and as if by magic - the 25mm will be dead center every time you switch eyepieces day or night. It doesn't work the other way round.

[laudropb]

This is one of the most frustrating things that happens to all newcomers. It is very important to carefully align your finder.the field of view with the 10 mm eye piece is smaller than with the 25 mm. If your alignment is slightly out then changing eye pieces may mean that the target is not in the eyepiece after the change. As advised try refining your alignment with the 10mm eyepiece and above all be patient. You will get there in the end.

[Welsh-18]

Thanks for all the replies!!  it seemed to be the finder, thank you all! Managed to make out two faint bands, and managed to see two small lights to the left? This has got to be one of the most exiting hobbies, thank you all very very much for taking the time to help me, thanks , welsh

[Dave In Vermont]

Congratulations on bagging Jupiter! And figuring out your finder problem. Here's a link to a cool, little free software-program to show you which of the "small lights" is which Moon - and locating the GRS (Great Red Spot):

http://astrosurf.com/rondi/jupiter/

Have fun!

Dave

[employee2-4601]

I had the same problem when I first got my scope. One thing I do use in addition to the finderscope is Starwalk on my iPhone. If you've not got it, I can highly recommend it as an aid to finding your way around the sky. I also use it to find out what objects are likely to be visible during a session and make up a list of three or four targets for each session...

[Staffs Oatcake]

I was in a similar boat a few months ago, but with trial error I've had some great views of Jupiter .  Jupiter is currently a big bright ball of light in the early evening skies of the east.  Using Star walk & Aligning my finder scope using Jupiter as the target to align the scopes made for some fantastic views of Jupiter the other evening.   Even with the Synscan system fitted I found it difficult to get the planet centre eyepiece without some aligning.  Mind it always helps if you polar aligned your scope properly first.  Something in my haste I haven't being doing.