Help with set up and viewing for newbie

[daddy_cheta]

Hi everyone!!!

It's great to be in a community of like minds and finally got my celestron travelscope 80 today, really excited and looking forward to observing tonight. However I have a few issue:

1. My finderscope images are upside down, is this normal?

2. to get my finderscope to focus on a building is really difficult, it seem wobbly and even the 3 screws ive been told to use for positioning, when I move them, I can easily knock it off focus too cos they dont actually tighten the finderscope into place, is this normal? Are they meant to be tight?

3. Finally when I try to look into my eyepiece, I see a clear image but with slight movement, it gets partially covered by black semi circles, sometimes up or down or sides, I feel its the flexible rubber on the eyepiece cos when I attach my canon 60D it shows clear, but I obviously would like to see with my eyes and not just my camera alone, I also need to point out that I do have really long eye lashes that I also feel might be causing this too...

Any help with any of these would be highly appreciated

 

Thanks

Josh

[Tiny Clanger]

Welcome !

I've a suspicion that you may be using the term 'focus' to mean aim : focus really should be used to describe bringing the view through your device to the sharpest view .

I don't know that specific 'scope, but the viewfinder is probably fixed focus , but probably not great quality . so may appear blurry at the best of times, especially in daytime.  Remember it is only intended for use on really distant objects too, so anything close by is going to look blurred ! The finder should have a base fixed firmly to the 'scope tube, then the two small screws or dials give small adjustments on that base so you can line the finder up with the actual telescope. Best done in daylight (but don't point it at the Sun) using a distant church spire or pylon or similar identifiable feature.

The eyepiece blacking out when you move your head is not a fault, you have to train yourself to keep your eye centred over the eyepiece !

Heather

 

[Pixies]

Hi there. Your scope is commonly knows as an "ST80" - sold in various guises by different companies - Celestron, Skywatcher, Orion, Meade, etc. Theer are many recent threads about them, as well as going back over the years. It's a good scope and an excellent entry to the hobby.

1. Yes. And if you removed the diagonal and attached the eyepiece directly, it'll be reversed too. Different types of scopes have varying orientations, so don't worry. You'll get used to it. What sort of diagonal do you have attached to the scope? Some come with a 45deg one, which flips the image the correct way. This is designed for terrestrial viewing. The 'star diagonal' is 90deg and flips things up, but a mirror image. See: 

 

2. The silver pin should be sprung and you can't screw it. The others are screws and push against the pin in 2 directions. It should have some resistance to it. teh finder should have a rubber o-ring fitted in a grove which fixes inside the holder and acts as the fulcrum when you adjust it. If you have any issues, take a pic and post it here.

3.  This is called kidney-beaning and results from your eye being to close to the eyepiece lens. Does the eyepiece have an eye-cup that lifts/rotates up to help position your eye? Also, the basic EPs that come with these scopes can be a bit rubbish.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Pixies

[Stu1smartcookie]

Hi Josh , Welcome to SGL 

And congrats on the new scope 

Firstly , don't worry , nothing is broken

The image in the finderscope  will be upside down , you don't actually tighten the screws on the finder ... they are there just to adjust it when you turn one of the screws inwards it shifts the image as its designed to do . When you have centered it on a distant marker and made sure your scope is showing you the view through the eye piece then its all done . One thing i should mention is , there will be an "O" ring supplied with the finderscope ... this ring fits into a groove on the finderscope and stops it from moving about . If you haven't got one of these then an elastic band will suffice for a while . 

Don't put your eye too close to the EP 

Stu

 

 

 

[daddy_cheta]

Thank you so much for the quick response all!!! 🙏 I really feel welcome and excited to be viewing tonight 😀. Yes my diagonal does flip the images to the correct orientation, cos I have a 45 deg one. I did not however see the O ring in the finderscope, the manual doesn't show any label for O ring, so I guess its not there. I am having difficulties seeing through the finderscope cos of my eye lashes, but Im sure I'd get used to it. I think I am learning to use the EP now and avoiding the kidney-beaning, I can certainly see objects clearer now and no shaking and closing, its amazing what I can see!!! 🤩

1. How important is the finderscope when trying to view objects in the sky? can I do without it? How will it aid me to find things at night when I can not even see well in them during the day?

2. Also, how late can I wait before trying to view objects? and I have always wondered, will I see anything even when my entire sky is dark?

3. How do I know where to point my scope if I can't see the object with the naked eye? How do I locate objects in the vastness of the sky and with everything seeming close on the telescope?

Sorry for my too many questions, I guess I am just excited to own a telescope for the first time.

[Pixies]

Hi,

1. Very, usually. The ST80 is quite a wide-field scope, so you might be able to find bright large objects (like the moon) without a finder, but otherwise, it could be an exercise in frustration. You have to focus it. The wider part of the finder barrel is the focuser and you can turn it to adjust focus. There will be a lock-ring to keep it in place, too.

2. Your finder is a little telescope - it's objective (large lens) is much larger than your pupil, so will catch more light and let you see dim objects. That's the point of telescopes, really: not magnification, but amplification.

3. You start by locating an object you can see - then you do something called "star-hopping", where you move the scope and follow star-patterns according to whatever chart you are using to find your target.

I'd suggest getting a book, called "Turn Left at Orion". It goes through all this as well as showing you loads of the best targets in the sky.

Set it all up in daylight first and get used to how it works. If you can't work it in the light, you won't in the dark! You need to align your finder, so that what you see in the scope is what you see in the finder. I'll see if I can find some helpful material for you

 

To start with use the finder with both eyes open, and 

[Pixies]

Manual: https://celestron-site-support-files.s3.amazonaws.com/support_files/22030_Travel Scope 80_Manual_5Languages_Web.pdf

adjusting a finder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH4MksauCjY&ab_channel=Celestron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waPj5AkXirs&ab_channel=EyesontheSky

Focus a finder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9jUMmABVak&ab_channel=NorthernOptics

 

 

 

 

[Pixies]

has it been packed with the o-ring here:

[daddy_cheta]

16 minutes ago, Pixies said:

has it been packed with the o-ring here:

Mine is exactly like this, I have managed to keep moving the finsderscope stick with my hands and the screw and finally got the image in place and locked in the screw so it stops wobbling, cos if I dont lock the screw, it will wobble and lose its aim again, sorry for the confusion, I meant aim and not focus. I will get use to the words, I hope. Thanks for the manual pdf you sent me, I already had it hard copy though. I also watched the videos and the way they simply turn the screws and I see a smooth aiming of the target, thats not how mine works, I have to keep supporting mine with my hands to get the right aim then I screw in when I have gotten  that, dunno what I may be doing wrong  

[Pixies]

1 minute ago, daddy_cheta said:

Mine is exactly like this, I have managed to keep moving the finsderscope stick with my hands and the screw and finally got the image in place and locked in the screw so it stops wobbling, cos if I dont lock the screw, it will wobble and lose its aim again, sorry for the confusion, I meant aim and not focus. I will get use to the words, I hope. Thanks for the manual pdf you sent me, I already had it hard copy though. I also watched the videos and the way they simply turn the screws and I see a smooth aiming of the target, thats not how mine works, I have to keep supporting mine with my hands to get the right aim then I screw in when I have gotten  that, dunno what I may be doing wrong  

Ok - I see now. this finder has 3 screws, rather than a spring loaded one and 2 adjusters. No problem - this is quite standard. You need to keep keep them all snug and adjust it by slackening one and tightening the other 2, or vice versa. A little at a time.

Did you find the o-ring?

[daddy_cheta]

Also, I am using the starry night celestron software to view what is in the sky according to my location. I am facing the west at the moment and the sun is just setting...I have seen the moon a couple times here at west late at night, Im hoping I get to see it again this night, though from the app its saying the moon is far off in the south east, will it come around later at night or would I have to go outside to find it?

[daddy_cheta]

1 minute ago, Pixies said:

Ok - I see now. this finder has 3 screws, rather than a spring loaded one and 2 adjusters. No problem - this is quite standard. You need to keep keep them all snug and adjust it by slackening one and tightening the other 2, or vice versa. A little at a time.

Did you find the o-ring?

The O ring is just the round hole where the screws are attached to at the top and both sides, is that correct? 

[daddy_cheta]

2 minutes ago, daddy_cheta said:

Also, I am using the starry night celestron software to view what is in the sky according to my location. I am facing the west at the moment and the sun is just setting...I have seen the moon a couple times here at west late at night, Im hoping I get to see it again this night, though from the app its saying the moon is far off in the south east, will it come around later at night or would I have to go outside to find it?

 

[daddy_cheta]

Also, I am using the starry night celestron software to view what is in the sky according to my location. I am facing the west at the moment and the sun is just setting...I have seen the moon a couple times here at west late at night, Im hoping I get to see it again this night, though from the app its saying the moon is far off in the south east, will it come around later at night or would I have to go outside to find it?

[Pixies]

4 minutes ago, daddy_cheta said:

The O ring is just the round hole where the screws are attached to at the top and both sides, is that correct? 

The o-ring needs to go around the body of the finder tube and fits in a lip just under the mounting ring at the front.

Here's a quick shot of my old Bresser finder, which is very similar. The red arrow shows where the o-ring goes:

 

[daddy_cheta]

Here is what mine looks like, I havent got a rubber like O ring

[Pixies]

You've got the bracket the wrong way round, man.

The screws go at the back

[johninderby]

That looks like the finder bracket has been fitted backwards. The ribber o ring would be at the end oposote the thumbscrews.

[Pixies]

Telescope manuals are notoriously bad. Just had a look at the one for this scope, and it's terrible.

[daddy_cheta]

Thanks guys, ive changed the positioning, but bear in mind I still do not have a rubber O ring, was it missed out or does mine not come with that?

[Kev M]

You should be bble to obtain a rubber O ring from B&Q or plumbers merchant, just a case of finding correct size

[daddy_cheta]

My first image of the moon captured yesterday with my new telescope, what do you guys thing?

[Pixies]

Yes - I can confirm that is the moon!

Congrats. Looks like you had success, as well as clear skies. Did you manage to get the finder aligned OK?

[Stu1smartcookie]

I like the second photo which has  the exposure toned down a bit .   You can probably push the magnification on the moon ... try it next time