Beginners trouble

[John-bone-uk-surrey]

Hi all.

Recently got a celestron astromaster 76eq. On setup I stupidly removed the wrong end (mirror).i put back but don' seem to be able to see anything in the sky, have I destroyed it already?

[Erla]

If you didn't damage the mirror, then it should be ok. But it is likely it needs to be collimated. I'm not sure, but it might be the case that your scope doesn't have a central spot marked on the primary mirror? In that case the collimation would be harder, but still possible. 

You could test it at daytime, focusing on a distant target. Just nowhere near the sun!

[Jamesruss13]

If it’s your first scope, take it back and get an Astromaster 90 refractor instead!!!  fracs are much easier to use as a beginner scope and in my opinion better on an alt azimuth mount too! (Speaking from experience!) but nah in all seriousness I don’t think you would have damaged it just by removing it, may need collimating though, have a look on YouTube and google for how to collimate a scope. 

[JOC]

8 hours ago, John-bone-uk-surrey said:

don' seem to be able to see anything in the sky

It might help if you elaborate on 'anything'. 

Are you only seeing pure black no matter what you point it at - you might have left a cover in the light route somewhere - have you taken all the covers off, sometimes they sneakily fit into the inside of things, are you pointing the open end of the scope at the sky?;  Can you see blurry things/colours other than pure black (as noted above point it at a tree or aerial in the distance away from the sun) have you put in an eye-piece use the one with the highest number marked on it and ignore anything marked Barlow (leave that in its box), you might need some significant turning on the focus adjusters (the bits that move the eyepiece in and out when it is in place) esp. if you can only see a 'blurry cross' in the view - which needs to disappear as you focus.  My guess is that you can see something - even if just blurry colours.  Certainly have a try during the day - if you can't succeed during the day you won't get anywhere at night (though if trying during the day don't worry if things are upside down and/or back to front - they are meant to be.)

[alanjgreen]

First thing to do is get it setup in the daytime!

Aim it at a target half mile away & look through it, now what can you see..? DANGER: DO NOT POINT YOUR SCOPE AT THE SUN!!

are you using the eyepieces?

have you aligned the finder with the main scope? 

can you post some pictures of the scope as it is now?

Alan

p.s. The response to take it back is not a daft one. If you have had it less than a month and can get it all back in the box then do consider sending/taking it back... it's not the best scope for the money. The EQ mount will be a pain in the ass. The aperture is small. If you do want to start again then post a new post stating your budget, are you visual or photography, what kind of targets you want to see (planets, double stars, clusters, galaxies, nebula )etc. 

[John-bone-uk-surrey]

10 hours ago, JOC said:

It might help if you elaborate on 'anything'. 

Are you only seeing pure black no matter what you point it at - you might have left a cover in the light route somewhere - have you taken all the covers off, sometimes they sneakily fit into the inside of things, are you pointing the open end of the scope at the sky?;  Can you see blurry things/colours other than pure black (as noted above point it at a tree or aerial in the distance away from the sun) have you put in an eye-piece use the one with the highest number marked on it and ignore anything marked Barlow (leave that in its box), you might need some significant turning on the focus adjusters (the bits that move the eyepiece in and out when it is in place) esp. if you can only see a 'blurry cross' in the view - which needs to disappear as you focus.  My guess is that you can see something - even if just blurry colours.  Certainly have a try during the day - if you can't succeed during the day you won't get anywhere at night (though if trying during the day don't worry if things are upside down and/or back to front - they are meant to be.)

Thanks for advice. Will try and come back to you soon.