The wind shakes my 50 az too much

[falcrum]

As stated in the title, the wind shakes my telescope too much. It directly shakes the tube while tripods are still. Naturally because of winds I lose the focused objects and can't get a stable view. I know my telescope(50 az nearly 2.7 kg) is light. So do you have any advice rather than taping sth heavy to the tube? 

 

Thank you. 

[jonathan]

It sounds like the mount is unable to hold the telescope perfectly steady.  The mount is the part that sits on top of the tripod (typically), if this is a light-weight piece of equipment then it won't have the capacity to withstand strong winds.  Attaching weights only works to hold the tripod down and prevent vibrations that occur through the tripod legs, but from your description it doesn't sound like this is the problem.  You shouldn't add weights to the telescope itself, this will likely only make the situation worse.

Perhaps you could consider a wind-break?  Those things they have at the beach.  Or failing that, an upgrade to a heavier mount that can withstand the wind better.

[falcrum]

Thank you for your answer @jonathan

Are there other things that I should consider while looking for a heavier and stable mount? And how can I know that mount is compatible with my telescope? 

[AstroMuni]

22 minutes ago, falcrum said:

And how can I know that mount is compatible with my telescope? 

Most scopes are held using a dovetail type of attachment (common ones are Vixen type and Losmandy). So first and foremost check what dovetail is on your scope and then find a mount that can take one. Next is the load capacity that the mount can handle - scope + eyepieces + finder + camera etc.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

22 minutes ago, falcrum said:

And how can I know that mount is compatible with my telescope? 

You won't, without looking at the details.  Serious mounts attach to the telescope with a standard 'Vixen dovetail' system, while entry level telescopes are attached to their mount in a variety of ways.  Looking at a picture of the Celestron 50az, you might need to make up some kind of adaptor.  In principle, you could obtain a dovetail bar and fix it to your scope with tube rings, but this system is not normally used with such small diameter scopes.  I would suggest seeing if a more substantial camera-style tripod would work, or try making a mount, or consider upgrading the whole outfit.

[jonathan]

43 minutes ago, falcrum said:

Thank you for your answer @jonathan

Are there other things that I should consider while looking for a heavier and stable mount? And how can I know that mount is compatible with my telescope? 

Would you be able to point us to a page showing the scope setup that you have please?  We should be able to better advise what you can do from there.

[falcrum]

20 hours ago, jonathan said:

Would you be able to point us to a page showing the scope setup that you have please? 

Edited August 19, 2020 by falcrum

[DaveL59]

oh dear! that's a pretty flimsy tripod for starters but the way the mount wobbles about sure won't help at all. Can it not clamp tighter ( a screw underneath that needs tightening up)? It's a very basic ALT-AZ head unfortunately.

[AstroMuni]

@falcrum The focal ratio for the powerseeker 50az is 12, so using a 20mm eyepiece would give an exit pupil of around 1.6mm (=20/12). I would recommend that you buy a decent longer focal length eyepiece (perhaps 30mm) and you should be able to enjoy beautiful views with your scope. This way you will not notice the wobble as much, too. I have a pair of binos 50x10 and they give great views! So I can imagine using my binos with a magnification of 30x would be tough to keep steady 🙂

[falcrum]

1 hour ago, DaveL59 said:

oh dear! that's a pretty flimsy tripod for starters but the way the mount wobbles about sure won't help at all. Can it not clamp tighter ( a screw underneath that needs tightening up)? It's a very basic ALT-AZ head unfortunately.

Thank you for your answer.

I know it's a cheap and beginner(just like me) telescope. 

To tighten that I will need to find a nut driver then. But I am still not sure if tightening will fix the problem. 

[DaveL59]

3 minutes ago, falcrum said:

Thank you for your answer.

I know it's a cheap and beginner(just like me) telescope. 

To tighten that I will need to find a nut driver then. But I am still not sure if tightening will fix the problem. 

Tightening should help a bit as you really don't want the head wobbling that much. You do tho need a tiny amount of slack so that the head can rotate on the tripod so you can pan around to the targets, but only a very small amount of slack. A light smear of grease on the contact area may let you get things tighter but still allow movement that is smooth.

[falcrum]

46 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

@falcrum The focal ratio for the powerseeker 50az is 12, so using a 20mm eyepiece would give an exit pupil of around 1.6mm (=20/12). I would recommend that you buy a decent longer focal length eyepiece (perhaps 30mm) and you should be able to enjoy beautiful views with your scope. This way you will not notice the wobble as much, too. I have a pair of binos 50x10 and they give great views! So I can imagine using my binos with a magnification of 30x would be tough to keep steady 🙂

You may be right but as you stated, larger exit pupil means less magnification. I think 50 az wasn't a very good choice but still I'm happy to have that.On the other hand, It would be better to go for a better telescope at least sth like 60 az. 

[DaveL59]

Just now, falcrum said:

You may be right but as you stated, larger exit pupil means less magnification. I think 50 az wasn't a very good choice but still I'm happy to have that.On the other hand, It would be better to go for a better telescope at least sth like 60 az. 

as a step up a 70mm or above would be better, 60 won't gain much at all. Depends on your budget but something with a better tripod/mount will add a lot to usability, or perhaps look to a newtonian rather than refractor as you'll get more aperture, say 130mm or above.

[falcrum]

1 minute ago, DaveL59 said:

as a step up a 70mm or above would be better, 60 won't gain much at all. Depends on your budget but something with a better tripod/mount will add a lot to usability, or perhaps look to a newtonian rather than refractor as you'll get more aperture, say 130mm or above.

I have thought about buying reflector but when I researched I've seen that it requires mainteanance unlike refractors so I have bought 50 az. If I knew sgl before buying it I'd definitely ask experienced people like you for advise. 

[AstroMuni]

4 minutes ago, falcrum said:

You may be right but as you stated, larger exit pupil means less magnification. I think 50 az wasn't a very good choice but still I'm happy to have that.On the other hand, It would be better to go for a better telescope at least sth like 60 az. 

The higher magnification is only useful if you are viewing planets and moon. For most DSOs you just need a large aperature and lower magnification. As an example with my bins I can get lovely views of several Messier objects and thats just 10x and the same aperature as your scope!

[DaveL59]

ahh collimation, scares a few off for sure, but isn't so hard once you learn how tho can be a frustrating learning experience 🙂 

Thing for now is enjoy using what you have, learn your way around and if it's for you then think about upgrading when you've had a chance to reflect on what you want from the gear. Certainly a couple eyepieces or good x2 barlow may add flexibility and for those buy ones you can also use on a potential future scope, avoid the cheap stuff tho as they aren't worthwhile generally.

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @falcrum and welcome to SGL. 

I understand your frustration and what you say. I started this wonderful hobby in my early teens, (I am now in my late 50's), with a 40mm refractor.

After owning a few other 'poor quality' refractors and reflectors, I purchased a TeleVue Ranger... (f/l: 480mm / obj: 70mm) during mid-1998 (images below). I took it to Varna, BG for the 1999 solar eclipse and it still gets a lot of use.

<--- Tele-Optic Giro

<--- Universal Astronomics DwarfStar

<---Benbo ballhead

Edited August 20, 2020 by Philip R

[falcrum]

4 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

ahh collimation, scares a few off for sure, but isn't so hard once you learn how tho can be a frustrating learning experience 🙂 

Thing for now is enjoy using what you have, learn your way around and if it's for you then think about upgrading when you've had a chance to reflect on what you want from the gear. Certainly a couple eyepieces or good x2 barlow may add flexibility and for those buy ones you can also use on a potential future scope, avoid the cheap stuff tho as they aren't worthwhile generally.

 

Actually I do have 3x barlow lens. When I use it with 20mm eyepiece(for eye relief) it's 90x magnification. When i look at @DaveL59's comment, now I will focus on deep sky objects since my telescope is more suitable to observe them. 

[DaveL59]

it'll be best for planetary and moon really and maybe the bright DSO's and get you started in the hobby at least 🙂 

[jonathan]

I agree with DaveL59, it definitely looks like there's a loose screw under there.  It may be that it slackens itself off due to the simplicity or poor design of the mount / tripod, if that's the case then it can't really be helped, you'll just have to keep a nut driver to hand.

If it's easy to remove the telescope from the mount then I'd suggest trying it almost as a hand-held telescope, rest it on an upturned broom or something steady, if you're at all handy with DIY then make a bracket to fix it to a standard photographic tripod (preferably one with a video-style pan and tilt head, or a ball head).

Good luck!