Yahoo, my first observe!!!!

[Samop]

For the first time since getting my 'scope over two months ago the sky was a bit  clear(ish) tonight so I quickly assembled everything  and LOOKED THROUGH IT... at last.

Probably a bad idea for a newbie to do an unplanned impromptu observe but I did get a magnificent view of the moon and I looked at Mars although not totally impressive.

With luck the weather will start calming down and I should now start being a bit more proactive and actually plan what I'm going to look at.

I have a question, though.

The lightest touch of my eye on the eyepiece caused everything to bounce around so I had to do hands-and-eye-off viewing. Is this normal? I have a Skywatcher 150pl with an E3-2 mount. Everything was done up as tight as I could do it, and the movement was coming from the "head" of the mount, not the legs or anything.

What do you think?

[Jim L]

You’ll hear frequently that many scopes are under mounted and you’ve just had your first practical lesson on exactly what this means. Given the size and weight of the 150PL, and the strength of the mount and tripod, this setup will be sensitive to touch and prone to vibrate more than is desirable.  Some of that you can work around with practice and experience, but external forces like wind and ground vibrations are something entirely different and something you’ll occasionally have to live with.

The solution is a stronger mount and tripod, but that something you can explore when you’re ready. In the meantime, practice using a light touch with the focuser and avoid unnecessary contact with the eyepiece. It’s all part of learning how to get the most from the equipment you have.

[wookie1965]

Fill the legs with play sand and you can also suspend weight from the spreader plate not too much 2kg will do, make sure the weight barely touches the floor.

[Carbon Brush]

Good suggestion form @wookie1965. The weight has been my standard holiday accessory. A water bottle filled with sand.

There is often a little play between tripod legs and top plate.
Depending on the situation you can just tighten up. Or add a washer to fill the gap, then tighten.
Not forgetting to loosen the screws if you need to fold the legs for storage.

With practice you will learn how to turn the focus without putting much force on to move the scope.
You will also learn how to hover just off the eyepiece to avoid moving anything.
I won't talk about solutions involving a focus motor or long eye relief eyepieces as these cost far more than sand😁

Enjoy the scope.

David.

[JOC]

If you want something that takes up less space to transport than a water bottle with perhaps a little more flexibility try a reuseable shopping bag, the sort that are often given away as promo materials.  Fill it with stones, sand, or bottles/cans of liquid if you want to laugh in the face of the idea LOL!  Then use the, often long, handles to tie to your gear.

[Samop]

Thanks for your ideas but that's not the issue....

I had a serious look at it today in the daylight, and the tripod bit of the mount is rock-solid (if you ignore the rubber feet!).

The movement is coming from a little bit of play in the dec  "pivot"  in the head. I've tightened up the screws and apart from a bit of flexing it seems less wobbly.

Of course I won't really know until I point it at something, but it looks pretty cloudy out there at the moment