Scope arrives tomorrow, advice needed!

[James333]

:hello1:

It should be here when I get home from work, I had to change my budget in the end as a sudden torrent of bills/road tax etc came flooding in, I bought a skywatcher 200p with the EQ5 mount and dual axis motors as well as a polarscope and moon filter. Thanks loads for everyones help and advice

I am a noob basically so when I have the hardware sussed out, what do I need to remember (this is my optimism of at least some clear sky time tomorrow!)

I will be venturing as far as my back yard in cornwall for the first night, please add to my check list.....

Loads of warm clothes

Water in the kettle

Turn left at Orion

LED light with red paint

Home made dew shield using black mounting card and velcro

Leave scope to cool for 20-30 mins (do i just set it up and wait?)

Usefull tips for beginners to remember???

Thanks, James :salute:

[John]

Hi James,

I would recommend spending some time getting to know how your new scope works in the daylight - the way the mount works, the slow motion controls, the motors, how the eyepieces fit, that sort of thing. The equatorial mount is quite a complex bit of kit and time spent familiarising yourself with it in the daylight is well spent I think.

My other piece of advice is not to be in a rush to use high magnifications with your scope. Most observing is done at low to medium power (40x - 100x).

Hope you enjoy it !.

John

[roberte76]

yeah i agree get the finderscope and the main scope aligned in daylight because you dont want to waste valuable time in the dark getting them set up correctly

[James333]

Thanks I have just minutes ago downloaded the full instructions for the 200p in PDF to get to grips with what im going to be fiddleing with tomorrow, I was going to be working a bit late but I think now its going to be the other way round as im going to bea bit urm.. keen to go and un pack it and spend a few hours like you say, in the light/indoors getting to know its functions, I dont expect to get it set up with the motors etc right away.

[James333]

Hopefully i'll have time to point my scope throught the valley behind my house as i should be able to centre it on a quite distant object.

[Greg]

I have to echo what John has suggested

Also...

Try not to get too frustrated at finding stuff, stick to the large main targets and progress from there..

Always start with a low power eyepiece and increase power when you've found the object. .....

When you've finished your observing session and have failed to find that allusive object and are feeling a bit low...Always finish on Orion or Saturn..At the end of the night those two targets will never ever fail to lift an Astronomers spirits..

And never ever forget...There's always help and support on this forum

HTH

Greg

[scotastro]

You don't have to wait till the scope cools down before using it. Yes the view is better especially for planets, but Venus is low and boils anyway and an open cluster like the Pleiades will look fine.

Hope you get a clear night and don't stress yourself trying to do too much too soon.

Mike

[TheThing]

Another essential pece of kit I have recently discovered is a thermal mug full of hot tea/coffee!

[James333]

I have to echo what John has suggested

Also...

Try not to get too frustrated at finding stuff, stick to the large main targets and progress from there..

Always start with a low power eyepiece and increase power when you've found the object. .....

When you've finished your observing session and have failed to find that allusive object and are feeling a bit low...Always finish on Orion or Saturn..At the end of the night those two targets will never ever fail to lift an Astronomers spirits..

And never ever forget...There's always help and support on this forum

HTH

Greg

:occasion5: :notworthy:

Its replies like that, that made me sign up to this forum :) everyone is so willing to help, Thanks very much

[James333]

oh dear, the weather doesnt look that great this week!

[Psychobilly]

I hope you get clear skies soon to try out your new scope...

even if you dont take it outside set it up and go through the process of setting it up and "aligning" the mount so that your familiar with the process before you try it in the dark outside...

Billy...

[Doc]

I just love this forum so much good advice.

I must agree here get your finderscope aligned first without this you will struggle. Next aim for Orion this will really wet your apertite for more.

Then as you fill more confident work your way through "Turn left at Orion".

Don't expect to much on your first night....

Remember this hobby is for a lifetime.

[James333]

Ahh lame, it didnt arrive :crybaby:

Its been cloudy, snowing and raining all day and has now gone really clear dammit! Maybe tomorrow!

[Merlin66]

Best advice I can give you is to set it up indoors, get used to the feel of it, where the finder is, how to align it, where the eyepieces go and how to get the scope firmly connected to the mounting and balanced. Use a low magnification ( ie a long focal length eyepiece - 25mm?) for starters and just practise getting and finding focus on stars etc... You've got a lifetime to get it right - just like the rest of us, but primarily ENJOY!!!!!!

[Astro_Baby]

Totally agree - firts thing I do with any new kit is mess about with it indoors for a lot of time. Get to know where everything is. Try working in a dimply lit room or a dark room with just a red light torch as well. It pays dividends when you out in the dark for real, cuts down set-up time and lets you see more of the clear skies you get.

Nothing worse than fumbling around in the dark with something thats unfamiliar.

[acey]

Congrats on your new scope, and I agree with all the good advice that's been given: start indoors, then your garden, then head for dark skies. If you're going to drop things on the grass it's best to make it your own grass first. A few home sessions will also help you figure out exactly what you need in terms of clothes, maps and general paraphanalia. Practise getting your gear in and out of the car - think about how you'll deal with sudden showers (you might want to take a scope cover). And when you do make your first field trip, make sure the Moon won't be in the way - it's bright!

If you haven't already worked out a dark site, use a map to try and get somewhere with a clear southern horizon without town lights if you can. I prefer something accessible by a minor road, as you want as few passing cars as possible - their lights are distracting. I avoid recognised lay-bys as other people tend to use them for purposes of their own (let's not go into that...). Check out your chosen site on Google Earth and visit it during the day to see if it's going to work. Ideally you want to be parked off the road, unless you want to get into lots of chats with concerned or curious passers-by.

Good luck with your observing - you made a great choice of scope and it'll give you years of pleasure.

Andrew

[dark knight]

Don't get disheartened, the weather will eventually provide an opportunity and with lots of indoor practice you will be ready an waiting when it does.AstroBaby - hmm the last time I fumbled around in the dark with something unfamiliar I ended up marrying her.

[James333]

lol, i was going to say something about that comment.....

It turned out like this.............

Got home on Monday, to my dissapointment, no big boxes in the hall, so I spent the evening doing some things, then had to go to the garage to get a car part I had sold online........

I opened the door and there sat 2 big boxes, I was really happy/excited but at the same time, not that happy that they had left £400 worth of stuff in my unlocked garage, also, no note through the door to say.......

Anyway, I spent the rest of the evening setting it up messing with it to get to grips with it all. Then at about 10 30 my namber came round to tell me there was a parcel in the garage and her husband signed for it and forgot to tell me!

I had an amazing night last night, it cleared for about 2 hours, and I had a look at the orion nebular and the Pleiades, it was amazing to see the diamond like stars so crisp and sharp but...... to cut a long story short..... its broken now!!

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,37941.msg386745.html#msg386745

the above link shows what happened, its all being sorted though as ray at newton ellis & co is really helpfull and has sorted a replacement mount.

I cant wait to get out again and maybe go somewhere where my house isnt in the way so much

[dark knight]

Aha it makes sense now, I read that post earlier but didn't respond, because what can you say to someone when a major malfunction occurs the first time the apparatus is used. As if competing with the clouds and rain isn't enough, you got doublewhammed(is that a real word???)Hopefully alls well that ends well. Have fun

[mdstuart]

WOW an 8 inch scope as your first scope...

My advice is do not plan to do too much. Just go outside find a constellation you recognise, then pick one object from the turn left at orion book and spend some time looking at that object at various powers, draw it etc etc....then come inside and read up on it, see how faint stars you could see using Stellarium (free download) and then most importantly keep a record of what and when you saw it as this builds up over time.

Enjoy.

Weatherwise, no joy for at least a few days...

Mark

www.bristolweather.org.uk

[ianmwatson]

I bought an 8" reflector as my first scope 16 years ago. I have a CG5 which I mount it on, which is similar/same as EQ5. Please be careful setting up, make sure your clutch clamps are tight so the head doesn't go slamming into itself. When this happens it came shear something in the blink of an eye. Like people have said, use the cloudy time to examine the mount and scope, get to know it and get used to the bulk of the thing.

I hope I don't seem to alarmist, have fun. Oh and, how are you set for collimation?

Whoops, just seen your other message. My timing is bad as usual. Well, it looks like you got it sorted. Those slow-mo shafts are pretty thin. You have to be so careful with a GEM.

[acey]

My first scope was an 8" too - once you get the glitch sorted and get used to the set-up you'll have a brilliant time with it.

[philsail1]

Yes James, as ianmwatson says, "watch the tightness of the clutches" - and make sure the tube rings are comfortably secure on the telescope body, and the telescope dovetail mounting block is held tightly on the HE5 mount.

Great scope the 8" Newtonian.

Best wishes,

philsail1