How can I align my Starpointer?

[jules857]

Hi all! Just got started observing with my fantastic new Celestron Nexstar 6SE. And it's amazing. But I'm here to troubleshoot . 

When I first went out to observe, I noticed a pretty significant disparity in what I saw through the starpointer and through the actual lens. I could have a star, say Polaris, centered on the red laser dot on the starpointer, but when I looked through the actual viewing lens, I'd see nothing and have to toggle with the GoTo until I could get it in view. Or I could center Polaris in the lens but it would be down and left of the dot. 

So today I've been trying to fix it, so I took the lenses off and looked straight down the tube until I centered an artifical star  in it (a christmas ornament, haha). Then I looked into my starpointer with the red laser on, and consistently the red dot is up and to the right of whatever I center the tube/lenses on. Even when I adjusted the alt/az knobs on the starpointer as far as they would go, I had only success in moving the red dot closer to, but still nowhere near the artificial star. 

My question for all you wonderful telescope experts is, how do I correct this? Is something wrong with my starpointer that I can't turn the knobs far enough to center the dot? Will collimating my scope fix this problem (I'm going to do it anyways when I fix this)? Thank you  SO MUCH  for anyyyy help. 

Jordan

One image of of the light centered in the red dot, the second is of the light without the dot, the third is my view through the tub of the blue basket upon which my light is sitting, which is what I see with the starpointer centered on the light. 

[Scooot]

There will be a couple of knobs to align it, one to move it up and down, and one to move it right and left. I don’t know the star pointer myself but they’ll be there somewhere. 

[jules857]

3 minutes ago, Scooot said:

There will be a couple of knobs to align it, one to move it up and down, and one to move it right and left. I don’t know the star pointer myself but they’ll be there somewhere. 

Yes, I have both of them turned as far as they will go. While this has made a difference in moving the red dot closer to the tube-centered object, it is still nowhere near it. 

[Scooot]

Sorry, I didn’t read your post properly. I’m not sure you can align it to your scope when you’re so close to the light. The best way is to try and do it is on the moon or a bright star. If the finder is indeed out and you can’t adjust it anymore it implies it’s not mounted on the scope accurately enough. I’d try it on the moon first before altering it though.

[Waldemar]

On 16/12/2018 at 02:47, Scooot said:

Sorry, I didn’t read your post properly. I’m not sure you can align it to your scope when you’re so close to the light. The best way is to try and do it is on the moon or a bright star. If the finder is indeed out and you can’t adjust it anymore it implies it’s not mounted on the scope accurately enough. I’d try it on the moon first before altering it though.

Yes, that is the way. Short distances do not work, because the red dot finder should be parallel to the optical axes of the telescope, which is not the case on a nearby object.