Just got my (first) own telescope, problem with the mount (skywatcher EQ2)

[McTestkil]

Hi,

I just got my first own telescope a skywatcher 130/900 (been using other people's telescopes untill now.) Today i tried seeing something new untill now it has been jupiter/saturn. like the ring nebula. I couldn't eyeball it so I was trying to figure out the dials.

Day 2 of stargazing : the little screw next to the R I A turns on itself, (while I was trying to figure out why the entire dial turns with the pointer, which is how I got on this forum.) how big of a problem is this? Is there any trick i could do (like coating the inside with something to get the grip back?) Thank you for the responses!

[Kyle Allen]

The Declination setting circle is set from the factory. You have to set the Right Ascension one yourself. To do this, choose a bright star and look up its RA coordinate, then centre it in the field of view. Now, turn the setting circle so that it reads the correct value and lock it off with the screw. 

[Cosmic Geoff]

The setting circles on your Eq-2 are largely ornamental, and their main purpose is to increase sales.  When setting circles were a serious item, before GoTo superseded them, they were much bigger.  If you persevere with the setting circles, you will be able to get items into the field of view of your finder, but don't expect much more.

If you want to find the M57 Ring nebula, it is almost between two stars that can be seen with the naked eye, and these stars will show up in an optical finder.

[McTestkil]

48 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

The setting circles on your Eq-2 are largely ornamental, and their main purpose is to increase sales.  When setting circles were a serious item, before GoTo superseded them, they were much bigger.  If you persevere with the setting circles, you will be able to get items into the field of view of your finder, but don't expect much more.

If you want to find the M57 Ring nebula, it is almost between two stars that can be seen with the naked eye, and these stars will show up in an optical finder.

I'll try again tonight, I was able to see the constelation and the two stars you are talking about. Problem was getting them into my viewscope, I was never sure which ones i was looking at since, way to many stars.

As for setting the AR, I just do it on polaris while setting it up. (I use the app star walk 2 (paid) as my "star chart" it also gives all the needed data like dec, AR...).

Even when tought I had the correct one since it's equatorial you can't just turn perfectly right to find the other star.

 

 

Any fix for the screw turning on itself? (no grip)

Edited July 23, 2020 by McTestkil