First scope

[RT65CB-SWL]

On 20/05/2018 at 10:02, Lynx10 said:

I have been looking and have found some eye pieces at the right size, they are 4mm, 6mm, 12.5, and 20mm. 

Hi @Lynx10 and welcome to SGL. 

Assuming your e/p's the sizes mentioned and are 0.965" do they have letters before the number? - I used to have a refractor 'scope with the following...

• 20mm... H20 = Huygens
• 12.5mm... H12.5 = Huygens
• 4mm... SR4 = Symmetric Ramsden (I think it means that it is a 'modified' ramsden). 

These were the 'cutting edge' of astro e/p's for those on a budget and I found the H12.5 & H20 were adequate at the time. The SR4 was overkill. I do have a 0.965" 6mm Orthoscopic e/p, (which was not included with my 'scope when I purchased it). I am not sure what yours is though.

The huygens e/p I think was yesteryear's answer to what the plossl e/p is today... then I discovered TeleVue. 

BTW - Adaptors to use 1.25" e/p's in a 0.965" drawtube do exist... (and vice versa).   

[Lynx10]

Hi. It has the letter F. I'm going to replace the focusser so it can accpt 1.25".

http://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot/telescope-and-astronomy-stuff.html?highlight=AB9647#AB9647

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, Lynx10 said:

Hi. It has the letter F. I'm going to replace the focusser so it can accpt 1.25".

http://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot/telescope-and-astronomy-stuff.html?highlight=AB9647#AB9647

Astroboot links don't work in a way that we can see what item you are referring to. What does the description say? If you already bought something it is likely to have been removed from the site, but looking at the rest of the items on sale I'm not seeing any focusers suitable for a refractor. 

[JOC]

4 hours ago, Philip R said:

Adaptors to use 1.25" e/p's in a 0.965" drawtube do exist

Yup, I've got one for the baby Vixen and it works fine.

[Lynx10]

It's this one. 

[Lynx10]

Sorry my mistake. I ment to say a diagonal not a focuser. 

[JOC]

Have you read this

if not, at the very least scroll down and view the pictures.  The tiny ones were taken with a scope hugely more capable than yours, it might just help to adjust your expectations - it's a brilliant thread.

[Lynx10]

That' a very interesting. It' certainly opened my eyes as to what to expect.  From what I saw the other night through mine was pretty impressive then, really. 

[JOC]

That's the conclusion I had hoped you would come to.  I was lucky the SGL folks put me onto that thread before I chose my scope.  I had been under the impression before looking at the thread  that things would be much better with a large telescope, but at least I went into ownership with my expectations firmly reduced.  The other problem everyone is facing is that the planets are not well placed in the sky this year or, apparently, for many years yet.  The are low in the sky and that means looking through lots of filthy warm atmosphere before you get to them.  Which doesn't help.  Also Jupiter won't ever have a crisp 'edge' like the moon because it is ball of gas.   I have found Jupy doesn't respobd well to high magnification and I get much better views at lower settings.  I reckon you saw as good as you were going to get on the night in question.  Try a clear night after a thunderstorm has cleaned the atmosphere and you may get a slight improvement, but you may be close to getting the best currently possible with what you have ?

[Alan64]

For the record, the diagonal you purchased is a great find, but it contains an Amici prism, which is suitable primarily for daytime use.  A star-prism, or star-diagonal, is best for use at night.  But you can use the one you got for night, too, as well as during the day.  The only disagreeable things about an Amici-diagonal when using it at night is that when viewing a bright object you may see a bright line running through the center of it; Jupiter, for example.  Also, the field-of-view may be somewhat narrower, when compared to a star-diagonal, but I think that only applies to faster telescopes than yours.  I have two Amici-diagonals, and I'll need to test them with my telescopes to know for certain.  Nonetheless, it's a very good find, indeed. 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Following from my post earlier this week...

my 0.965" 6mm Orthoscopic & 1.25" adaptor...

 

...and my 1.25" 6mm & 12.5mm Orthoscopic e/p's.