A Complete Newbie Grateful for any advice on a newly acquired reflector telescope.

[Pete-Tebbs]

I have always had a wonderment and fascination of the cosmos and other sciences. However my 5 year old boy has shown and big interest also. We got him a cheap science fair telescope x20 (incase it was just a passing phase, I have used a large binoculars x40). We have been looking at the moon and constellations, books, documentaries and Star walk 2 full app. ect.

However I was offered this reflector telescope, stand and mount with various eye pieces some has threads inside and out, a barlow don't seem to have any lenses. it seems abit of a mishmash. The spotter scope only has a lense at one end with crosshairs, the mount seems to also include some sort of viewing scope. All this was offered for £50 I had to make a quick decision, but thought is was still a good deal to start with and add too, thought it was a good start. After some quick research before buying. Unfortunately on the outskirts of Lincolnshire all we have had is 98% cloud cover with rain for over a week. So haven't had a chance to even have a go yet.

I would like to finally add a Raspberry pi camera module for photography.

Any advice would be muchly appreciated.

Pete

[Neil H]

Hi it's a 150 scope on the old EQ3/2 mount mine was rock solid it has the polar scope fitted so that's a big win you can't get them and if you could there £50 can you do close up photos of the eyepieces and any writing on them so we can see what you have I know the video is not the mount you have but will still polar align the same way 

 

[banjaxed]

Hi Pete, welcome to SGL. Looks like you got a pretty good deal with that set up, a 6” mirror will give you some great views. One of the things you need to know about with a reflector scope is collimation which becomes easier the more you do it. You have joined the right place for friendly and knowledgeable people so you won’t be short of any help or advice.

[Budgie1]

Hi Pete and welcome to the SGL.

Your mount looks like the Helios version of the EQ3/2 and this MANUAL should help you understand the setup of the mount and the telescope.

[Cosmic Geoff]

47 minutes ago, Pete-Tebbs said:

However I was offered this reflector telescope, stand and mount with various eye pieces some has threads inside and out, a barlow don't seem to have any lenses. it seems abit of a mishmash. The spotter scope only has a lense at one end with crosshairs, the mount seems to also include some sort of viewing scope. All this was offered for £50 I had to make a quick decision, but thought is was still a good deal to start with and add too, thought it was a good start. After some quick research before buying. Unfortunately on the outskirts of Lincolnshire all we have had is 98% cloud cover with rain for over a week. So haven't had a chance to even have a go yet.

I would like to finally add a Raspberry pi camera module for photography.

Looks like you have a bargain! It should be a good outfit for visual use. The Barlow, if complete, will have a lens at one end only.  The 'spotter scope' (finder) may be incomplete. The 'viewing scope' in the mount is intended for polar alignment.

I am not sure what you intend with the Raspberry Pi module.  This scope is not ideal for astrophotography.  The optical tube might serve, but you may have trouble getting a camera to focus.  Except for the very shortest of exposures (Moon?), you would need a motor drive on the RA axis.

If you have not yet encountered it, get and read "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards (available from FLO), and if you are still interested in trying deep space astrophotography after reading this, add up the total cost of his kit...

[Jonny_H]

31 minutes ago, banjaxed said:

Hi Pete, welcome to SGL. Looks like you got a pretty good deal with that set up, a 6” mirror will give you some great views. One of the things you need to know about with a reflector scope is collimation which becomes easier the more you do it. You have joined the right place for friendly and knowledgeable people so you won’t be short of any help or advice.

Re: collomation - this user guide helped me and a vast amount of others with this. Well worth a read!

http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

 

[Neil H]

Pete looks like the bottom of the Barlow is missing the lens part , don't worry for now see how it goes with the eyepieces you have have you found any writing on them 

My second scope was the 150/750 on that mount and I had some nice WOW moments with it 

[Ricochet]

Your barlow is either incomplete or in several pieces. The one you have is the same as the one sold by FLO under their Astro Essentials brand. 

Generally your photos are too close or the wrong angle to tell what we're looking at or if there are parts missing that you have not considered.

[Pete-Tebbs]

20 hours ago, Neil H said:

Hi it's a 150 scope on the old EQ3/2 mount mine was rock solid it has the polar scope fitted so that's a big win you can't get them and if you could there £50 can you do close up photos of the eyepieces and any writing on them so we can see what you have I know the video is not the mount you have but will still polar align the same way 

 

These are better photos of the eye pieces the ones upright either are empty or has on lense and no writing on them. I think there are ones that can go together. Very thankful for all the help and advice I have received.

[Pete-Tebbs]

Thankyou to everyone for all of your advice and help and places I can get Information. I feel so grateful I found this forum and it already has made me feel very welcome.

Thankyou

 

Pete

[Neil H]

Hi Pete for now use the complete eyepiece that will get you started , read the thread eyepieces what do I need this will help , you don't have to buy new look on here and Astro buy and sell for eyepieces plossl as minimum but the thread will give you better into 

I use a celestron zoom 8mm to 24mm add a good Barlow and that's 8 eyepieces in one of you have a good budget the baader zoom with Barlow is amazing but it does cost 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-eyepiece.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-barlow.html

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, Pete-Tebbs said:

 

The top item in this photo is the bottom half of your barlow. You should find that the two screw together. 

The middle item might be your 25mm plossl. The silver part in a previous photo looks like it is just a sleeve that would normally be covering the black part in the middle. 

[Tiny Clanger]

Hello Pete and welcome,

it's biologically safe here you can take the mask off if you like .... 🙂

The two eyepieces labelled 'super ' 10mm and 25 mm are the standard ones you get with every present day skywatcher telescope package, the 25mm is fine, and should give you decent views , the 10mm is less well thought of , but is better than nothing . Interesting that there are a couple of plossls of the exact same sizes, maybe they were the original ones with the 'scope ? Plossl is a type of lens arrangement rather than a brand, when you get to use the 'scope compare them with the 'super' ones, and see which works best for you.

The barlow looks like the skywatcher one too, it can be disassembled into three sections, I have one and I'll take some photos later so you can see if you have all three bits to re unite . It's an OK barlow , 2x if you use it 'whole' , 1.5x if you use just the lens cell part, and threaded at the top to take a 'T' camera adaptor.

BTW, in case you didn't know, a barlow is a device which goes in the eyepiece tube of the telescope ,  you put an eyepiece in the barlow, and what it does is increase the magnification of that eyepiece. So your 10mm and 25mm become a 5mm and a 12.5mm (or with the lens only part at 1.5x, a 6.6mm and a 16.6mm )  Which is nice ...

Heather

[Neil H]

It looks like the bottom part of the Barlow is in the last photo the silver and black part at the top

Edited February 7, 2021 by Neil H

[Tiny Clanger]

1 minute ago, Neil H said:

It looks like the bottom part of the Barlow is in the last photo the silver and black part at the top

That's what I thought , I've taken a few snaps of my barlow to upload , will do it soon !

[barkis]

Welcome to  The Stargazers Lounge Pete.
You got a decent  Photo Visual Scope there.  At F5 You will get some good results 
from It when polar aligned . A good mount is  a must, and if you can make a permanent fixture  it will help a lot.

I see you have aqainted yourself with Steve Jones, who supplies astro photograpy help 
on his website  from his home in Canada.  He's a great guy, and as well as Astronomy. he loves his dog,
and his wife too of course.

Enjoy your stay here, where we have all the help you need  as you progress  through  the learning curve.
Ron.

[Tiny Clanger]

Right-o,

here are a few quick snaps of the SW barlow in bits & whole : the only part with an actual lens in it is the bottom black section. The single screw at the top is to make an eyepiece you slide into the barlow to use secure.. Hope this helps !

Heather