choosing a finder scope

[Edward Dewolf]

Hi,

I am looking for a new illuminated finder scope.  Skywatcher has a 9x50 or a 6x30 illuminated scope.  Why would I want one or the other?  Or should I go for a red dot finder without magnification?  How does one choose the right finder?

Thx for helping

Edward

[HollyHound]

Hi,

I went through the same decision a few months back and ended up with these:

Skywatcher 9x50 right angle finder

Skywatcher red dot finder (came with scope)

TelRad 

Both the red dot and TelRad make it easy to quickly move to a given point in the sky, such as star, planet of the moon, but then being non magnified, they don’t allow one to do “star hopping”... (the act of jumping from a reference star to other (less visible) stars to finally arrive at a hard to locate directly object.

The optical right angle (or straight through) finder can be used for “star hopping”, as it’s effectively a mini low powered scope.

I had both mounted on my Mak 127, so I could use the TelRad to get started and then the optical finder to “star hop” 😊

For the optical finder, the RACI (right angle correct image ?) makes it slightly easier to move around, as the direction is not reversed (unlike in the main scope), but I guess you can get used to that.

I don’t have an illuminated finder, but I think it’s advantage is that you have a reference point (lines?) that show the centre of the finder, and should aid with accuracy perhaps. May be overkill, especially for beginners, I’m sure others can comment on that.

Just my own (limited) experience, hope it helps

Gary

[Nyctimene]

+1 for the combo Gary suggested above - a non magnifying pointing device as the Telrad, the Rigel Quikfinder or a basic Red Dot Finder (RDF), and an optical finderscope. The RACI version, which I prefer, allows finding your target without neck distortions at higher altitudes of the objects (and without brain distortions around 02.30 AM). A reticle is fine, but, IME, has not necessarily to be illuminated. Given the usual amount of light pollution, and the low magnification, the crosshairs stand out quite well against the finderscope's rather bright field of view. Moreover, some of the illuminated reticles are too bright, even at the lowest setting, and somewhat disturbing  night vision. Even my "luxury" Baader 10x60 isn't better,so it's illumination is  mostly switched off.

Stephan

 

[Edward Dewolf]

Thank you for your responses

I already have a guiding scope, adding 2 more seems a bit much, but I'll try to find space .

I also have the skywatcher red dot finder, but I cannot get it fixed to a spot in the sky, there always seems to be just too much give to make it usable.  You have the same experiences?

 

[Robindonne]

Also prefer the red dot finder.  And especially one that can be adjusted in brightness.  I think it depands on what you end up doing that night.  My first nights of only visual, and doing a 3 star alignment, it was -rdf-finderscope-mainscope. Once aligned i only use the rdf.  
 Now when beginning to move to ap, the finderscope is never with me anymore. The start procedure is 3 star alignment using rdf and screen of the camera(app) instead of the finderscope.  

Must say that im glad to have a raci next to my standard finder.  I think a must-have part of the standard arsenal.

Oh and when you have to buy a rdf, i would suggest one that has the small bracket with one screw.  The rdf has an arc shaped slot in it and it seems to always find it previous position. And the bracket isn’t like a bay window sized normal bracket

 

[John]

My preference is to have both an illuminated reticule finder and an optical finder on my 12 inch dobsonian. Most of the RDF's that I have tried are too bright for deep sky hunting but the Rigel Quikfinder and Telrad are optimized for astronomy and go dimmer. On my refractors I seem to get on best with optical finders of the right angle / correct image type either 30mm or 50mm in aperture. The optical finder on my 12 inch dob is a 50mm RACI with an illuminated cross hair facility if I want to use it.

There is no right or wrong approach with finders really but it does sometimes take some experiments with different arrangements to find what works best and most successfully for you.

 

 

[Edward Dewolf]

13 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

Also prefer the red dot finder.  And especially one that can be adjusted in brightness.  I think it depands on what you end up doing that night.  My first nights of only visual, and doing a 3 star alignment, it was -rdf-finderscope-mainscope. Once aligned i only use the rdf.  
 Now when beginning to move to ap, the finderscope is never with me anymore. The start procedure is 3 star alignment using rdf and screen of the camera(app) instead of the finderscope.  

Must say that im glad to have a raci next to my standard finder.  I think a must-have part of the standard arsenal.

Oh and when you have to buy a rdf, i would suggest one that has the small bracket with one screw.  The rdf has an arc shaped slot in it and it seems to always find it previous position. And the bracket isn’t like a bay window sized normal bracket

I should have have maybe mentioned that I use my main scope for astrophotography with a guide scope.  Would that change much?  Would a red dot finder be good enough then?

[Robindonne]

1 minute ago, Edward Dewolf said:

I should have have maybe mentioned that I use my main scope for astrophotography with a guide scope.  Would that change much?  Would a red dot finder be good enough then?

Well i can only tell what i prefer, but im not the most experienced one.  I do know that each night starts with a 3 star alignment where i use the rdf to adjust the mount roughly (if needed) and for finetuning the alignment i use the crosshairs on my camera(asiair) app instead of the crosshairs in the finderscope.  But sometimes, when circumstances just wont let you do photography,  a (raci)finderscope is a welcome tool.  

[John]

15 minutes ago, Edward Dewolf said:

I should have have maybe mentioned that I use my main scope for astrophotography with a guide scope.  Would that change much?  Would a red dot finder be good enough then?

Do you use GOTO to find your targets ?

 

 

[Edward Dewolf]

Just now, John said:

Do you use GOTO to find your targets ?

Yes I do

[Ruud]

I can see non-illuminated crosshairs against my sky, so I don't have illuminated finders.

The one I like best is a SkyWatcher 6x30 7.5° RACI. My 8x50 5.4° GSO RACI shows more stars but too many stars is actually confusing. The 7.5° view and the more easily recognisable star field is why I prefer the 6x30.

I also have a red dot finder as Robindonne above. You can turn up the dot till it's very bright and I rather like it for daytime use. You have to be behind  the thing while looking through it, which is easy when the telescope points horizontally but uncomfortable when it points up.

[x6gas]

+1 for a RACI finder... it's just so much easier when the image in the finder is the right way up!  I must say that I find an illuminated finder invaluable too - even though my skies aren't jet black I do struggle to see the crosshairs sometimes.  Having tried very many finders including Telrads, red dots, straight throughs of various kinds, a 9 x 50 illuminated crosshair RACI is the only finder I will ever need.

[Pixies]

On 13/06/2020 at 17:56, x6gas said:

+1 for a RACI finder... it's just so much easier when the image in the finder is the right way up!  I must say that I find an illuminated finder invaluable too - even though my skies aren't jet black I do struggle to see the crosshairs sometimes.  Having tried very many finders including Telrads, red dots, straight throughs of various kinds, a 9 x 50 illuminated crosshair RACI is the only finder I will ever need.

How do you find lining it up when you first start? With a straight-through, I keep both eyes open and usually find the starting target that way. I assume with a RACI, you will need to sight the whole tube in the right direction first? I'm just about to replace a rubbish little straight finder with a big illuminated RACI, and have bought a Telrad to accompany it. It's an 8" dob.

 

[John]

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

How do you find lining it up when you first start? With a straight-through, I keep both eyes open and usually find the starting target that way. I assume with a RACI, you will need to sight the whole tube in the right direction first?

 

That's why I use an illuminated reticule finder alongside my 50mm RACI.

 

 

 

[x6gas]

16 hours ago, John said:

That's why I use an illuminated reticule finder alongside my 50mm RACI.

 

 

 

Yes that makes sense or can align the finder to the tube by centring on the moon.