SKY-WATCHER EXPLORER 130PS AZ5

[TonjeF 2]

Hi - this might sound very silly but I have some questions regarding the SKY-WATCHER EXPLORER 130PS AZ5 - I was gifted it and I have no idea how this works. Main question: how do I see the stars?...

I have two lenses “Super 10 long eye relief” and “super 25 window angle long eye relief” and we have set it up (think this has been done correctly). It was a clear sky today and dark (and stars visible on the sky) and adjusted the scope according to the red dot finder. Still we could not seee anything at all...?! Feel like we might be doing something very wrong? 
 

does anyone have any recommendations please? 
 

thank you very much in advance from a Norway!!

[Tiny Clanger 923]

Hi,

Did you spend some time lining the red dot finder up so it matches the view through the telescope ? It is best to do this in daylight , choosing a distinctive target a few km away, something like a tower which will be easily recognizable ...  remember the view through an astronomical telescope will usually be be upside down . If you try to do this at night, it is hard to be sure the star you see in the telescope eyepiece  is the same star the red dot is on .

You were pointing the open end of the telescope at the sky , weren't you ?!

[TonjeF 2]

Hi - thanks so much for the reply. This seems very complicated 
We did not do this in daylight no - so maybe we can try that. The red dot was aligned straight on the star but it was nothing to see...and we did point the open end of the telescope at the Sky...(eventually at least..lol!!) I was thinking I put the lens in incorrectly or maybe the lens wasn’t good enough ?! Also the protective thing that goes in front (pic attached) had one hole in it so was even debating whether I should leave this on or not.... 

 

[Tiny Clanger 923]

OK,

First an easy one : the protective cover should be taken off , the smaller hole in it has uses , but for the moment , leave the small cap on . The cover is to keep dust from falling into the tube and onto the mirror when the telescope is being stored.

The red dot finder (RDF) needs to be adjusted to line up accurately with the telescope tube. Remember you are magnifying your view a lot by using the telescope, so you only see a tiny part of the sky . The RDF needs to be accurately lined up to that tiny part of the sky. To do this there will be some small dials on the side of the RDF. I posted a long explanation of how to do this some months ago, I'll find it and give you a link .

Heather

 

[Tiny Clanger 923]

Here's my 'how to' guide , edited for clarity:

 In daylight line your telescope up with a distant , non moving object (TV aerial , top of street lamp, church tower, etc)  the further away the better.

Using the 25mm eyepiece (or the highest numbered one you have) and without any Barlow , centre the chosen object in your view. Don't be surpruised if it appears upside down, this is normal for astronomical telescopes !

Then without moving the telescope tube,  swap to the 10mm eyepiece (or whatever lower numbered eyepiece you may have) This increases the magnification and decreases the field of view.

Again, look through the eyepiece , and move the telescope carefully until the object you chose is right in the centre of view .

Now tighten the knob(s) on the mount to lock the tube in that position . Look through the eyepiece again to ensure you didn't accidentally shift the tube while tightening . If you did, loosen the controls and repeat the first steps.

Then, being very careful not to knock the tube, turn on the red dot finder (RDF) , it will probably click on,  then the button will continue to tun, turn it all the way until it turns no more. This is because many RDFs have adjustable brightness, and you want it as bright as possible to see the dot in the daylight.

Move behind and in line with the RDF to sight through it and spot the red dot. Now fiddle with the two adjusting buttons or dials until the red dot appears to lie on the distant object you selected. Go back to the 10mm eyepiece, ensure the scope is still pointing accurately at the distant object, double check the RDF.

Keep adjusting until the red dot is on your target, which is exactly in the middle of the view of your lowest numbered eyepiece.

Once you've finished, don't forget to turn the RDF off (although the cell lasts for ages )

It sounds like a long process, and the first time it can be, but once it's done I've found mine stays accurately aligned unless it gets knocked. It's much easier to do the process in the daylight, and means you won't waste time when you could be seeing stars .

Hope that helps

Heather

[happy-kat 5,801]

Hi, nice gift

The 10mm is you highest power and 25 your lowest powered magnification. Take the focal length of your telescope and divide that by the focal length of the eyepiece.

Example 650/10 = x65 magnification

To focus point the telescope/RDF at the target start with lowest powered eyepiece (not the sun) and slowly wind the focuser in and then out until you find the focus point, this may not be the same hen swapping eyepieces over.

[TonjeF 2]

Thank you so much - much appreciated! I will try this tomorrow and hopefully that will help. 

[happy-kat 5,801]

Meant to add the end cap with two smaller covers is for when looking at a full Moon, which can be very bright, place the cover back on telescope and remove the smaller cover.

[TonjeF 2]

12 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Meant to add the end cap with two smaller covers is for when looking at a full Moon, which can be very bright, place the cover back on telescope and remove the smaller cover.

Ahhh.....good to know, I was so confused about that, thought maybe they made the hole by mistake  amazing - thanks very much. 

[wulfrun 245]

Once you have your finder aligned correctly, it's just a case of aiming the dot at a star you want to see, then adjust the focus knob(s) until the star appears as a small, bright dot - as small as you can get it is the correct point. As a rough starting point, if you look at the second picture you posted, you can see a silver tube poking into the main tube as you look into the end. It's called a drawtube and most of it will probably have disappeared into the focuser when you've focused correctly. Remember stars are so far away that they are always a point, you cannot magnify to give any detail on a single star. If you cannot focus to a tiny dot you have found a planet or made a mistake. Usually best to start with the 25mm and move to the 10mm if/when you need to. Enjoy!

[Stu1smartcookie 364]

16 hours ago, TonjeF said:

Hi - this might sound very silly but I have some questions regarding the SKY-WATCHER EXPLORER 130PS AZ5

Hi TonjeF,

Welcome .. Please remember , NO question is silly . For every question asked there are many other people that will also benefit from the answers given . And , as you have found , the SGL community will ALWAYS help where they can .

I hope you have lovely clear skies .  

[TonjeF 2]

Thanks so much for The replies. The issue was that the RDF wasn’t aligned with the telescope as suggested - so we did manage to see some stars in the end. 
 

Does anyone have suggestions of which other lenses to buy to see wider/‘more pandoramic?

[Second Time Around 655]

On 15/01/2021 at 13:35, TonjeF said:

Does anyone have suggestions of which other lenses to buy to see wider/‘more pandoramic?

If you give us a budget I'm sure we'll be able to help.

Also are you in a city or in the country?

Do you wear glasses to correct astigmatism?