Finders on a 127 mak

[Steve Clay]

Hi,

Getting a bit frustrated with the red dot finder that came with my sw 127 mak. What are other people using on maks

Cheers

Steve

[heliumstar]

Steve, what's the frustration?

Otherwise, Rigel

[Alfian]

I used an 9x50 raci finder on my Mak127 when I had it. The niggly problem here is that the position of the finder shoe results in the raci being a bit too close to my forehead when looking through the eyepiece. Not a big deal and not insurmountable but worth being aware of. The Rigel does work well too and is definitely better than the standard equipment RDF. I now have one on my 90 ETX.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Alfian

[Steve Clay]

49 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

Steve, what's the frustration?

Otherwise, Rigel

Its mainly where its situated on the ota. Constantly on my knees and cricking my neck to look through it.

[Ags]

I use an ST80 ?

Edited March 1, 2019 by Ags

[heliumstar]

9 minutes ago, Steve Clay said:

Its mainly where its situated on the ota. Constantly on my knees and cricking my neck to look through it.

Ah yes! I have the same issue. That's when Rigel comes in. But! The other day I found this : https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p10777_TS-Optics-Adapter-Plate-for-alt-azimuth-Mounts-with-perfect-Weight-Compensation.html

and it looks it would solve our issue with the finder on the wrong side

[cletrac1922]

Steve

Welcome from Land Down Under

Try using right angle 9 X 50 finder scope

No laying on the ground either, trying to view through a straight through finder scope

Pic shows right angle on my dob

John

 

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

12 hours ago, Steve Clay said:

Getting a bit frustrated with the red dot finder that came with my sw 127 mak. What are other people using on maks

First question, what kind of mount are you using? The basic red dot finder is not of great quality, but is good enough if you have a GoTo and only need the red dot to do a 2-star align at the start of the session.   I often use my Mak in daylight, so swapped the red dot for a 6x30 stock straight-thru Skywatcher finder, which fitted in the same shoe.

If you use the finder continually, a RACI finder would be the most pleasant to use. I got a 9x50 RACI to use while imaging with my C8, but a smaller RACI might match a 127mm Mak better.  On the bigger scopes, it makes sense to have 2 finders, some kind of red-dot to get you in the general area, plus a RACI for closer finding.  The RACI finders cost a bit more than straight-thru but are definitely more pleasant to use, especially when aiming near the zenith.

Be aware that not all right-angle finders are RACI - the Sky- watcher ones come in both varieties and this is not always made clear. 

[Alfian]

Not the best photo in the world but you can see how the RACI looks on a Mak 127

[Steve Clay]

Hi

Which size RACI is that are there any issues looking through the main eyepiece?

Stece

[Alfian]

32 minutes ago, Steve Clay said:

Hi

Which size RACI is that are there any issues looking through the main eyepiece?

Stece

Its the SW 9x50 (from FLO). See my earlier post re the position of the finder. A little adjusment on the diagonal and the raci makes it easier. 

[Steve Clay]

Thanks. Would you think the 30mm would be a better fit?

[Alfian]

59 minutes ago, Steve Clay said:

Thanks. Would you think the 30mm would be a better fit?

I don't know the size of the 30mm raci, its obviously smaller in diameter but its the length that will make the difference. No doubt an email to the helpful team at FLO would help here. The 9x50 is quite a big finder and it did look a little incongrous on the 127 Mak but the 50mm does make for a bright clear image, better than a 30mm

 

[Alan64]

A Maksutov requires a "seeing-eye-dog", or a seeing-eye owl, when attempting to navigate the sky with the Maksutov's rather long, drinking-straw-like focal-length; in manual mode, on the fly...

If a finderscope, get a straight-through 50mm...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-finderscope.html

The RACIs were developed for Newtonians.

[Alfian]

9 hours ago, Alan64 said:

A Maksutov requires a "seeing-eye-dog", or a seeing-eye owl, when attempting to navigate the sky with the Maksutov's rather long, drinking-straw-like focal-length; in manual mode, on the fly...

If a finderscope, get a straight-through 50mm...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-finderscope.html

The RACIs were developed for Newtonians.

I can see (pun unintended) that with a 45 degree diagonal there would not any issue of  nudging the finder with the forehead when looking through the EP. I imagine its also easier to just glance up and wince through the straight though finder from that position too, however I'm not so sure that using a 45 degree diagonal works so well for astro' purposes compared to the ease of a 90 degree.

[Alan64]

3 minutes ago, Alfian said:

I can see (pun unintended) that with a 45 degree diagonal there would not any issue of  nudging the finder with the forehead when looking through the EP. I imagine its also easier to just glance up and wince through the straight though finder from that position too, however I'm not so sure that using a 45 degree diagonal works so well for astro' purposes compared to the ease of a 90 degree.

I don't use a 45° Amici for stargazing.  That's simply the diagonal that came with the C90.  But upon studying the images more closely, perhaps a RACI would be best, particularly when the telescope is pointed at or near the zenith; my apologies.

 

[John]

21 hours ago, Alfian said:

I don't know the size of the 30mm raci, its obviously smaller in diameter but its the length that will make the difference. No doubt an email to the helpful team at FLO would help here. The 9x50 is quite a big finder and it did look a little incongrous on the 127 Mak but the 50mm does make for a bright clear image, better than a 30mm

 

I use 6x30 RACI finders on my 100mm and 120mm refractors and a 9x50 RACI on my 12 inch dobsonian.

Here is a quick pic of both sizes which might help:

 

[Alfian]

Thats a useful photo John. The 6x30 is clearly just that tad shorter on the eyepiece side and may well be the better option depite the smaller size.

[John]

The longer stalk on the 30mm affects it's positioning as well - it stands a little higher off the scope tube.

[Steve Clay]

8 hours ago, John said:

I use 6x30 RACI finders on my 100mm and 120mm refractors and a 9x50 RACI on my 12 inch dobsonian.

Here is a quick pic of both sizes which might help:

 

That's a great comparison thanks

[Steve Clay]

On 01/03/2019 at 21:30, heliumstar said:

Ah yes! I have the same issue. That's when Rigel comes in. But! The other day I found this : https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p10777_TS-Optics-Adapter-Plate-for-alt-azimuth-Mounts-with-perfect-Weight-Compensation.html

and it looks it would solve our issue with the finder on the wrong side

How would the bracket at the link work? 

[Steve Clay]

On 02/03/2019 at 08:55, Cosmic Geoff said:

First question, what kind of mount are you using? The basic red dot finder is not of great quality, but is good enough if you have a GoTo and only need the red dot to do a 2-star align at the start of the session.   I often use my Mak in daylight, so swapped the red dot for a 6x30 stock straight-thru Skywatcher finder, which fitted in the same shoe.

If you use the finder continually, a RACI finder would be the most pleasant to use. I got a 9x50 RACI to use while imaging with my C8, but a smaller RACI might match a 127mm Mak better.  On the bigger scopes, it makes sense to have 2 finders, some kind of red-dot to get you in the general area, plus a RACI for closer finding.  The RACI finders cost a bit more than straight-thru but are definitely more pleasant to use, especially when aiming near the zenith.

Be aware that not all right-angle finders are RACI - the Sky- watcher ones come in both varieties and this is not always made clear. 

Thanks good advice. I'm using the AZGTI mount. The tripod needs to be kept low to avoid wobble, hence having to do gymnastics to see through the red fot. Almost ferl like a basic gun sight is needed to point in the right direction then fine tune with a raci. 

[chiltonstar]

I use a 9x50 RACI with an RDF mounted on it, ie find the area with the RDF and then use the slomo to center the target with the RACI.

To avoid the problem of the two eyepieces being too close together, I have my 127 Mak mounted in rings so that the scope EP can be rotated to the right and the RACI EP to the left slightly.

Chris

[heliumstar]

11 hours ago, Steve Clay said:

How would the bracket at the link work? 

Check the third photo. You just attach the bracket to the mount like you would normally attach a telescope with Vixen dovetail and then attach your scope at the top. That way the finder shoe is at the top. I am seriously thinking of buying this since it looks like it would work great with AZ GTi. It gives you a little height so you can shorten the legs on that woobly tripod of ours

Imo if you use your Mak only with AZ Gti you don't need optical finder. RDF will do since you only actually need 1 star to align and off you go. The issue you have is not optical issue but ergonomics so the solution is either that bracket or just attach Rigel where needed

Edited March 4, 2019 by heliumstar

[Ags]

I'm certainly less flexible than when I was younger (not that I was an Olympic gymnast then!) and it gets pretty uncomfortable and awkward when I have to use my RDF as my tripod is at sitting height. But I try to take the view that all that bending and kneeling is good exercise for me, and I should probably do more of it!

Another thing to consider is an RDF is really intuitive and I can locate invisible objects just by pointing at the right location in the sky and then switching to the ST80 for a more detailed search. A RACI as the only means of location is much less intuitive, as you have to look at right angles to the telescope - figuring that out is beyond me! At least for me, I have to start off by sighting along the tube.