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Celestron powerseeker 114eq help!


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29 minutes ago, Jennifere20 said:

So when I’ve set the latitude I just move the scope left and right rather than up and down and I will find things that way? Because I find myself moving it left to right and up and down and I can never find anything in the sky’ 

I think I understand what you mean. After you align to Polaris using the latitude and left/right(azimuth is the fancy term for this direction of motion) bolts, you do not touch them afterwards; they are not for moving the scope around the night sky. I think you are finding it difficult to visualize how to actually maneuver the scope since it does not move in the conventional up-down-left and right motion. But instead of thinking in these four 'natural' directions, you need to think in terms of compass points: North, South ,East and West. The front of your mount always points North to Polaris.  The Right Ascension axis arcs in a way that allows you to move your telescope from the East to the West side of your mount. The declination axis sits on top of the right ascension axis and allows you to rotate the telescope tube North and South. I appreciate that using an equatorial mount as a novice is quite confusing but you will get there. Use those cloudy nights to practise maneuvering the mount as it requires a bit of learning for it to become second nature. hope this helps!

Screenshot 2020-05-15 at 10.26.29 PM.png

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43 minutes ago, Jennifere20 said:

So when I’ve set the latitude I just move the scope left and right rather than up and down and I will find things that way? Because I find myself moving it left to right and up and down and I can never find anything in the sky’ 

you'll still need to move the scope on both axes to get onto target otherwise there's not enough degrees of freedom to get there. But once you have the target and locked the clutch screws, you should find that only RA needs adjusting to keep tracking it. It is in some ways the hardest bit to grasp with an EQ mount but once mastered it's not so hard and becomes second nature.

No harm setting up in the day, then pick a target like a tree or aerial on one direction, get the scope aimed correctly. Then choose a different target and go again. You'll see how it all moves relative to where you want to aim and hopefully it'll click as to how you make it work for you :) (just don't go aiming for the sun!)

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Hi that's the telescope I start with  it does not have a polar scope , but on your smart phone you can get polar alignment pro it's about £3 this allows you to do a polar alignment even in the day time makes it easy to do 

if you open the app and place it in line with the telescope you can adjust tripod and mount to polar align it , just remember if you move the tripod make sure it's level at the end , now don't move the tripod any more just the telescope 

Edited by Neil H
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Remember what John said earlier. For your current requirements, set your latitude and point the mount North. That's perfectly good for now.

First thing first - if you don't know where Polaris is, look it up! You need to find the Plough, and follow a line from the two stars in the 'pot'. See here for pictures:

https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/polaris-the-present-day-north-star 

You will still need to use both Dec and RA mount controls to find an object. Think of Polaris as the center of rotation in the night sky (it's not quite but it's close enough). When you decide what target you want to find, the Declination figure is how 'far away' from Polaris the target is, or how far 'down the sky' it is. Declination is zero degrees at the celestial equator, up to 90 degrees for Polaris itself.

RA is how far rotated around Polaris the target is. Think of those circular star trails in the photographs at the link above. They are the stars moving in RA as time passes, and they all rotate around Polaris.

Once you find your target (using the finder scope, and then you'll see it in the main scope), Dec won't change, but as the Earth rotates, the RA of your target will change constantly. This is where you just need to adjust RA to keep track of your target. You'd be surprised just how quickly it moves in RA, especially in high-power eyepieces.

You'll need to get used to this. It's not always up, down, left, right - most of the time, RA and Dec move in a kind of an 'X' pattern. You will eventually get to know what effect increasing or decreasing RA and Dec will have. I still have to turn the knob a bit and see what happens. Always more to learn!

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I would suggest you read your entire thread to absorb all the replies you have had as you get to know and understand your telescope. There is no rush the sky isn't going away and this is a generally relaxing hobby to enjoy.

For things to see you could sign up to the free binocular email sent monthly as you'll be able to see the targets mentioned with sooner star hoping. It's on the binocularsky website.

Enjoy your new experiences

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Just now, Jennifere20 said:

Thanks! Just checked my tripod and there’s no N for which way to put my scope 

I posted a picture previously illustrating how the mount should face North. As long as that is the case, the tripod doesn't really matter so long as it is level with the ground.

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no the front faces north in that pic :)

If you set the tube so it is parallel to the RA axis, so that the weights are down, then the scope needs to be facing northward. So you just move the tripod or undo a little the big bolt holding the mount head and turn the head and tighten the bolt.

excuse the mess around it as mine's in the conservatory at the mo but this may help
image.png.b75b891ae2723882fb16f668288c44ba.png

If you compare the direction the scope is pointing to the compass you can see the scope/head are pointing approximately North
image.png.2c94c68ac97f210a9896d390a2e424a9.png

hope that helps a bit :)

Edited by DaveL59
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2 minutes ago, Jennifere20 said:

So have the scope so it’s level horizontally at first? 

no :)

take a look at the pics of my scope I just added, the latitude doesn't need changing at all. Just put the scope in what's known as the home position - weights/bar down vertically and scope pointing along the same direction as the RA axle. Then you can turn the head in the tripod (easier than trying to wrestle the tripod+scope) so its pointing roughly North and you're there...

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Your equatorial mount is designed to work with the Earth's rotation. The Earth rotates on an axis, this axis does not run vertically up down unless you are standing dead on either the North or south pole which you aren't. This is where setting your latitude comes in it is your position in relation to the Earth's axis.

The other setup steps for your tripod are all about getting the mount to operate correctly for your location so when you use the ra knob you are moving the telescope equatorial for your location.

Maybe tonight stand outside facing east, see what stars are visible. Go inside have a cup of tea, go outside 2 hours later and see how what you had looked at had moved up and towards the South. Wait another 2 hours and then see that those stars you saw have moved down and West. The sky does not move in horizontal lines, the Earth is round and rotating.

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no prob, it'll become second nature eventually, you're at the start of a learning curve is all, and I expect it's looking pretty steep, just take it slow and you'll get there. Lots of very helpful folk on here to assist when you need it :) 

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well done! Not easy trying to get a pic at the eyepiece tho huh. Been meaning to get a holder so it can be consistently aligned just haven't got around to it and of course stocks are low these days after all the closures etc.

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The bottom one is nearly in focus. Just a bit more adjustment.

That's as big as its going to get really.

It should look like this when at focus. I've enlarged the image a bit over the eyepiece view:

 

venus110520.jpg

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you'd need to tweak the focus to get it sharp in the view, the white blob shows you're out of focus. When you switch eyepiece you often need to adjust slightly. But reality is its always gonna look small, tis a long long way away after all ;) 

Hoping it gets reasonably dark in a while as I might try the camera on long exposure to see what it can pick up... wind is picking up here now which could be a pain

image.png.fd93b4a46f43899abb13134d093db0c4.png

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5 minutes ago, Jennifere20 said:

Can you guys zoom right into it?? I just kept getting a white blob! I used the 20mm tried my 9mm and could just see even more blur 

Venus is covered in cloud so remains a beautiful white blob even under higher magnification.

I guess I would normally view it around 100-150 magnification but depends on alot of factors.

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it'll come, with practise, just make small slow adjustments and fine tine till the image becomes as sharp as you can get it. Is the focuser very slack or a little stiff? as that won't help but can be adjusted.

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41 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

it'll come, with practise, just make small slow adjustments and fine tine till the image becomes as sharp as you can get it. Is the focuser very slack or a little stiff? as that won't help but can be adjusted.

Quite slack

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