Advice

[NewGazer98]

I have just received a telescope for my Christmas this year, but i am stuck on how to use it properly as i have never owned a telescope before, and if i am being honest, never thought about buying one, but now that i own 1 i am excited to get going and learn all about whats above. 

The telescope i got is called 'Zoomion Philae 114 eq Astronomical Telescope' (profile image) . Is this a good telescope? i have no idea.

I am looking for anyone to leave a comment to help me on how to become a beginner, I have tried googling and youtube, but i don't seem to get definitive answers on how to use it properly and the instruction manual is very confusing. 

[kippford]

Hi . I am new to this as well. I can't be of much help, but if you tell us where you are, more knowledgable people may be able to tell you what you can expect to see.

[Ricochet]

10 minutes ago, NewGazer98 said:

Zoomion Philae 114 eq

I've never heard of it but it looks like a rebranded Bresser. It is advertised as having an aperture of 114mm and a focal length of 500mm. Unfortunately, it also states it has a spherical primary mirror, when that combination of aperture and focal length dictate that a parabolic mirror should be used. As a result it will suffer from spherical aberration so you will lose some image sharpness compared to the similar Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p(s) scopes.

The scope comes mounted on an eq mount so the first thing that you need to do is to align your finderscope so that both the finder and main telescope point at the same place, and learn how to set up and use your eq mount. I suggest you start with the following two videos:

 

When it comes to finding things to look at in the night sky a good resource to start with is the book Turn Left at Orion. You can also download Stellarium for free to use on your computer. For phones/tablets look in the appropriate app store for Sky Safari.

 

[NewGazer98]

I am in Glasgow, Scotland. 

And thank you, i will make sure i check out both of those videos and see if they help me out

[Charic]

Pity this wasn't posted last week?
I was visiting Glasgow and could have set you in the right direction regards setting up, but as the weather last week was truly pants! its doubtful we would have seen anything through the scope? Recall heavy rain on Friday ( was hoping to view the meteors from nearby Loch Lomond, and heavy hail on  Sat 22nd, astronomy was seriously on the back burner!

Your scope is very similar to the Celestron 127EQ that I first used. For your first look at the Moon, it will be fine, but for serious visual observing, I quickly changed to the simple idea of using a Newtonian telescope on a Dobsonian mount, hence my Skywatcher Skyliner.
There's a lot of fiddling with the controls on the 127EQ and your 114, far too much for a newb,  and to be honest,  may just turn you off stargazing altogether.

The Skyliner is so simple to setup, yet has a good record for performance and great value too.

Keep studying the user guide that came with your scope, and make the most of what's available to you. It's a good learning curve, setting up the EQ, but un-neccessay for just visual observations.

If you can get to a local  meeting and take a peek through an 8" scope (or larger) and the seeing allows, your in for a treat, compared to what the 114 & 127 scopes can achieve!

[NewGazer98]

I get what you mean about the mount being quite awkward for a newbie, I seem to have a understanding of how it all moves and what all the handles are for ect. 

What i am really struggling with, is how to actually use the telescope, e.g

Setting up my red-dot finderscope.

How to use to accessories that were given to me (Barlow Lens 2x, H20mm and a H12.5mm eyepieces.) 

Also, when i try look through the telescope, maybe i'm using it wrong, but the 'secondary mirror' is blocking my view.

[Charic]

Align your scope to a distant target, a few miles away, lock the scope than adjust the finder to match what the scope sees. Do this during the day.

The focal length of the telescope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece in use determines the power or magnification that the telescope will provide. 

For the 'secondary mirror', when you adjust the focuser wheels, make sure the focuser  tube comes out and  back in the focuser housing, if not there should be a tensioner or lock screw underneath the focuser assembly between the wheels/knobs.

If it all moves, try putting the 20mm eyepiece and take a look around. The Barlow has the effect of increasing the magnification power. Pop in a 2x Barlow ( you  now need to double the figure of the focal length to do the math) so taking mine at 1200mm a 2x Barlow gives me 2400 and divided by say a 12mm eyepiece gives me 200x power or magnification, which would normally be the case if I was using a 6mm eyepiece alone!

HTH. 

[NewGazer98]

I think i managed to set the mirrors up ^.^ hopefully.

I live just outside the city of Glasgow, and tonight there have been 0 stars in the sky, any advice on places that are closish to the centre?? 

Also, 1 thing im really confused at, when i look through the scope, with either the barlow or any of the other pieces, i see the secondary mirror (including my eye) blocking the most of the view? how do i get around this or is this meant to be happening. 

[Nerf_Caching]

1 hour ago, NewGazer98 said:

I think i managed to set the mirrors up ^.^ hopefully.

I live just outside the city of Glasgow, and tonight there have been 0 stars in the sky, any advice on places that are closish to the centre?? 

Also, 1 thing im really confused at, when i look through the scope, with either the barlow or any of the other pieces, i see the secondary mirror (including my eye) blocking the most of the view? how do i get around this or is this meant to be happening. 

When you look down the telescope without any eyepiece inserted, you should be able to see the reflection of the primary mirror in the secondary mirror, and, in turn, the reflection of the secondary mirror in the reflection of the primary mirror. I have an image of this, where instead of inserting an eyepiece, I had a collimating cap(device with a hole that you insert into the focuser.). It’s normal to see the blob of the secondary in your view, but a higher magnification will solve the issue.

[rwilkey]

12 hours ago, NewGazer98 said:

I think i managed to set the mirrors up ^.^ hopefully.

I live just outside the city of Glasgow, and tonight there have been 0 stars in the sky, any advice on places that are closish to the centre?? 

Also, 1 thing im really confused at, when i look through the scope, with either the barlow or any of the other pieces, i see the secondary mirror (including my eye) blocking the most of the view? how do i get around this or is this meant to be happening.  

Hi NewGazer98, you see the secondary mirror reflection when you have too much magnification for the scope to handle.  Put the Barlow aside and then use the lowest power eyepiece, the 20mm one.  That should fix your problem. 

[rwilkey]

2 hours ago, rwilkey said:

Hi NewGazer98, you see the secondary mirror reflection when you have too much magnification for the scope to handle.  Put the Barlow aside and then use the lowest power eyepiece, the 20mm one.  That should fix your problem. 

Hang on, I think it's too low a magnification, sorry if I misled!

[kippford]

On 26/12/2018 at 23:58, NewGazer98 said:

I am in Glasgow, Scotland. 

And thank you, i will make sure i check out both of those videos and see if they help me out

A few miles south of me then.

[JOC]

As you set up the scope during the day, make sure it is not pointed anywhere near the sun.