Seeing nothing but tiny dots and random squiggly lines..

[Imac]

Hello,

Firstly, apologies if this question has been posted and answered elsewhere - I had a look around but could not find anything. Also, sorry if this is in the wrong section.

 

About ten years ago my wife purchased me a Skylux Bresser telescope. I used it once, couldnt figure it out and set it aside for a decade (terrible attitude). However, my obsession with space has returned and I am determined to stick with it now that im a grown up. The problem is that every time i aim at the moon and look through the eyepiece all I see is an undefined blur and a load of dots and squiggles (and occasionally my eyelashes). I purchased a new 10mm 62 degree “Aspheric” lens - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0749PC72L/ref=cm_cr_othr_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

but that has not helped much. The image is still just a blur. Its almost as if  its ultra zoomed in but no matter how much I adjust, I can’t get an image of the moon that looks anything like what other newbies seem to have. Does it sound like the telescope might just be rubbish/damaged?

 

I have been at it for hours and I am just in to boil the kettle. I thought i would join up here and see if anyone is feeling helpful.

Thanks for reading. Any advice at all is most welcome.

 

[Ags]

What is the focal length of the telescope? Is it a reflecting telescope.

It sounds like you are either using too much magnification or you are way out of focus.

[Imac]

Thanks. Its a F=700 D=70 refractor. Im still at it. When I dont have the eyepiece in I can see a perfect tiny moon through the telescope but when I put the eyepiece in its all a blurred mess. I’m thinking you are probably right with the magnification. Its the obvious reason but I don’t understand whats making all these random lines and dots. 
 

[Ags]

If they move around, they are bits of jelly inside your eye, commonly called Floaters. Try with a 20 or 25 mm eyepiece if you have one instead. Rack the focusser all the way out and inch it in slowly.

Edited December 16, 2021 by Ags

[ONIKKINEN]

Sounds like a focus issue if you can see an image without the eyepoece but only the floaters in your eyes (normal btw).

Try to lift the eyepiece out of its holder and hover it outwards. Does the image get better or worse? If you do reach focus at some point you might be missing a piece somewhere. Just to make sure, but you do have the diagonal in the back of the telescope and the eyepiece in it? 

[Stu]

Welcome to the forum @Imac.

I guess this is the scope?

a 10mm lens in this scope will give x70 which should be perfectly ok and within the capabilities of the scope. I suspect it’s just a focus problem. Are you using the diagonal, and have you racked the focuser all the way through it’s range?

Also, are you sure you are actually pointing at the Moon? It can show quite a lot of glare in the eyepiece even when not quite in view.

[Franklin]

Focus problem, sounds like not using diagonal. Try it in the day-time pointed at a tree or chimney, should work fine.

[Ags]

Just to underline the point, the diagonal must be used or the eyepiece will be too close to the telescope lens.

[Imac]

Thank you all for your replies and valuable advice. It turns out I do have “floaters”, I just never realised! Im glad to hear they are normal enough. What a revelation though..

I am pretty sure everything thats required is attached. I will take a picture/video.  There are a few things I know are missing - the long rubber bit which make it easier to adjust, and the viewfinder. Please do let me know if anything else important is missing though.

I have adjusted the focuser the whole way through but no improvement unfortunately. I will purchase a set of new eyepieces (hopefully in the sale because the sets are more expensive than I expected). 
 

Thanks again 

 

 

[Ags]

Before you spend any money, try focusing on a distant building during the day. That should be easier than focusing at night, and will get you close to infinity focus.

[John]

You are really going to need a finder scope (viewfinder I think you call it). Pointing the scope with any accuracy without one is very difficult indeed because the main telescope will show only a tiny patch of sky.

 

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Imac said:

Thank you all for your replies and valuable advice. It turns out I do have “floaters”, I just never realised! Im glad to hear they are normal enough. What a revelation though..

I am pretty sure everything thats required is attached. I will take a picture/video.  There are a few things I know are missing - the long rubber bit which make it easier to adjust, and the viewfinder. Please do let me know if anything else important is missing though.

I have adjusted the focuser the whole way through but no improvement unfortunately. I will purchase a set of new eyepieces (hopefully in the sale because the sets are more expensive than I expected). 
 

Thanks again 

 

 

Everything looks like it is there (apart from the items you mentioned).

I actually still think you might not be on target. Reasons? Well, you have the mount setup pointing towards the moon, which ironically will actually make it very difficult or impossible to get onto the target.

If you set the EQ mount up properly, the polar (RA) axis should be pointing roughly towards the Pole star, and then you will be able to swing the scope around to find the Moon much more easily. There are plenty of YouTube guides on setting up EQ mounts, but fundamentally it’s about pointing the RA axis at the Pole star by pointing North and setting the altitude to your latitude.

Let us know how you get on.

[Imac]

Just took it back indoors. Again, thanks a lot for the help tonight. WFH tomorrow so will have a go at viewing objects in the small amount of daylight we have, and I will definitely update on here. 
 

Have a good evening!

[Franklin]

The eyepiece that you bought is 10mm 62deg so it will give 70x with your 700mm scope and the FoV will be 0.88deg. The Moon is approx 0.5deg so you should get the whole of the Moon in the field of view with a black ring of sky all the way round. As you are using the diagonal in your picture, the problem must be your location of the Moon. Follow the advice above for getting focus on infinity during the daytime. Good luck.

[Imac]

Hello,

I have spent a bit of time today looking at a mountain through my telescope in the daylight. Unfortunately its the same situation - a perfect little image through the scope but as soon as I put the eyepiece in its just an undefined blur. Below is a picture of what can be seen without the eyepiece (its a mountain with a small peak). I have gone through every position on the focusser/tracker but perhaps im just not skilled enough yet. I couldn’t get a good photograph of the image produced through the eyepiece but it just looks like a tiny ball of white light. I am wondering if I am inserting the eyepiece correctly so I have added a video of how im placing it in the diagonal. 
Again, thanks for all the help. Im really grateful for your time. This site is a 💎 

 

 

[Imac]

Just to say that I have got everything working and it is incredible. @Stuyou were absolutely bang on I think. The mount being set to the correct latitude and pointing north made the difference. I dont fully understand why it made such a difference but hopefully I will become more knowledgeable about all this stuff. Not sure if anyone is still reading this post but thanks so much. 

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, Imac said:

Just to say that I have got everything working and it is incredible. @Stuyou were absolutely bang on I think. The mount being set to the correct latitude and pointing north made the difference. I dont fully understand why it made such a difference but hopefully I will become more knowledgeable about all this stuff. Not sure if anyone is still reading this post but thanks so much. 

Fantastic! Really glad you got sorted. EQ mounts can be the work of the Devil sometimes 🤪 but once you get the hang of them they are fine.

Enjoy 👍, and please send some clear skies this way!

Stu

[Sunshine]

Was listening in, didn’t chime in as you were in good hands as it was, great to hear it’s sorted out!

[Franklin]

If you get hold of a 32mm Plossl eyepiece it will give a very low power of about 22x in your scope and it will also give a field of view of about 2.25deg which is over 4 full moon diameters. This will make finding stuff in the night sky much easier for you. As well as a small finder scope as @John mentions above. Good luck.

[Stu]

14 hours ago, Imac said:

I dont fully understand why it made such a difference

Not sure if this diagram helps at all. Basically the way you had it set up, the polar axis was pointing whereever you had the latitude set, and the scope would have been pointing in this plane regardless of how you adjusted it, you could not move the scope up or down to get the Moon centred so unless your Polar axis was pointing at exactly the right altitude you would never have seen it.

With the mount properly positioned, that same limitation is directed at Polaris, but you have the full range of motion outside that.

[Imac]

Its great reading these posts. I will be getting the 32mm plossl as well as a set of good binoculars I think. Having had a proper look around this site, I can tell it’s easy to spend serious money on stargazing! 
 

Thanks for the diagram, @Stu. I have also been watching youtube videos about this, and reading a book called “Backyard Astronomers Guide” which my wife bought me years ago along with the telescope. Things are slowly coming together. But this forum was the key!

Cheers

[Broadymike]

Glad you have it sorted. I would definite recommend a finder as they are essential really. Also another vote for a 32mm EP. On my 70mm refractor I use a rigel quickfinder. Because there is no magnification or flipping of images its very intuitive to use. Also having the concentric illuminated rings can really help with star hopping. Once you have your target in the finder move to the 32mm and you can then fine tune and swap out to higher power eps if necessary.  

 

On my 5" newt I use basically the same set up with the addition of a 9x50 RACI (right angle correct image) as well. The RACI is like an intermediate view between the non magnifying rigel and the higher magnification of the 32mm ep. Also the RACI can help to find fainter objects in the sky as it gather more light than your naked eye can. For example in my location I can't see andromeda with the naked eye. I use the rigel to get to the approximate area of the sky, this doesn't necessarily mean that I can see it through and eyepiece. I then use the RACI and through that I can now start to see andromeda in the fov. Centre in the RACI and I'm now aligned for using eps. 

 

Basically there are many options for what kind of finder set up you use. It's just working out what works best for you.