6x30 finders - anyone using one?

[Mr Spock]

I have just ordered one of these, and here is my logic.

There is so much light pollution here I frequently can't see below mag 4. What I do with the 4" is use my RDF to locate a bright star, then use the 42mm LVW as a finder to star hop from there. It's 3.7° fov is ideal for that.

But, what about areas of the sky where there aren't any bright stars. For example, I've not seen Cancer yet this year - It's just not cutting through the LP. So I thought, with a 7.5° fov, a 6x30 finder will allow me to locate some of the brighter stars in areas like that. And a basic finder (not RACI) would match the reversed charts I've produced for the refractor, and of course the refractor view.

For my next 4" double star session I'm looking at the bottom end of Leo. For some of the stars, star hopping across from σ is my current option but the brighter stars are quite a distance apart. With a 6x30 I would have the arc of χ, 59, 58 and 65 in view and from there could easily see the next, but fainter, arc of 37, 35, 34 and 36. Sounds like a plan 

[Franklin]

I use 6x30 right angled (not RACI) finders on all my refractors and couldn't live without them. The RDF is ok for pointing at the Moon and for star alignment when setting up the goto but as you say, with the degree of light pollution around here you need some magnification. Just wish one of the higher-end manufacturers would release one as although the generic synta types are good enough the cross-hair is a little on the thick side.

[Mr Spock]

15 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Just wish one of the higher-end manufacturers would release one

Me too. I would like one with thin crosshairs and a wider field of view.

[Franklin]

16 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Me too. I would like one with thin crosshairs and a wider field of view.

Yes, a Takahashi 6x30 finder but with a right-angled prism rather than straight through.

Maybe if we all bombarded Takahashi with email requests they may listen? Not!😁

[Mr Spock]

3 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Yes, a Takahashi 6x30 finder but with a right-angled prism rather than straight through.

Perfect 👍Will never happen though

I'd settle for a 60° flat field eyepiece. Imagine what 10° would look like 

[dweller25]

I use the SW 6x30 RACI finder on my 4” refractor as it’s nice and light and easy on my neck/back.

Edited May 5, 2023 by dweller25

[CraigT82]

I use one on my frac and it works ok.  Horrendous stars at the edges though.   I now mostly just use a 2x converter to look through the quickfinder and that works great.

[Guest]

I used one of those straight through finders last weekend on a dob.  I hope it works for you but i would never have one. 

[JeremyS]

I always avoided 6 x 30 finders but never found them to be very good optically. This all changed when I got a Tak (sorry, Michael) 30mm finder which is excellent. And I like the fact that the field is inverted as I am old skool. 
Not tried under heavy LP, though.

On RDFs. Never got on with them, except for the Baader SkySurfer V, but that is bulky, so might as well go with a finder.

[Roy Challen]

I don't generally use finders, no need for lunar or planetary with a long frac. But I also have a short frac and a mac, for which a finder isn't necessary but does make things easier. I have a nice Japanese 6x30 and a Skywatcher 6x30, both are very good optically, and as you only spend a couple of minutes looking through them, the fact they're not RACI doesn't matter. Tal 6x30s are a bit better than average, at least the three I've had were.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Roy Challen

[cajen2]

I also use a Skywatcher 6x30 RACI on my 102 frac. I find it excellent (don't really care if the optics are excellent or not as it's only for spotting targets, though they are actually quite good!).

[Mr Spock]

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

This all changed when I got a Tak (sorry, Michael) 30mm finder which is excellent.

I would have one if it were right angle. My back and neck won't bend to straight through finders 

[Mr Spock]

Hopefully this will demonstrate. In my LP, the best I can hope for is to see ι, ρ, and σ naked eye - on a good night!

I've marked out finder circles for the 6x30, a 9x50 and the scope with 42mm LVW. The 6x30 has the reach, the 9x50 is confusing as it's a RACI and the view compared to the scope and chart is back to front, and the 42mm LVW goes faint but means tricky star hopping when stars a far apart.

 

 

[Stu]

So any of the right angle polar scope eyepieces fit the Tak 6x30 finders? Might be handy?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-right-angled-eyepiece-for-polar-scopes.html

[Mr Spock]

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

So any of the right angle polar scope eyepieces fit the Tak 6x30 finders? Might be handy?

But won't they introduce aberrations and spoil that nice crisp Tak finder?

[John]

I use 6x30 RACI's on my 100mm and 102mm refractors. 9x50 RACI's on the 120mm and 130mm. I have a couple of RDF's that sometimes get used instead but mostly it's the optical RACI's which are Synta products either branded Skywatcher or Orion (USA).

 

 

[Paz]

Yes I use 6x30 finders on my small scopes (and 9x50 on the C8 and VX14). I used to use 9x50 on everything but the lower weight and wider field of view of the 6x30's is winning on small scopes. You don't see as deep and sometimes I have to use "the force" to find dsos in 6x30's that would be obvious in 9x50's.

I have a 6x30 mirror version and raci version and I use whichever finder is the same orientation as the diagonal I am using so that I don't have the image flipping between the finder and the scope. 

[John]

I don't actually use the finder to find fainter DSO's themselves of course. It is centering the star field that the DSO lies in that the finder is used for. For really faint stuff a wide field eyepiece in the scope provides the next step 🙂 

 

[Mr Spock]

9 minutes ago, John said:

For really faint stuff a wide field eyepiece in the scope provides the next step 

That's my intention and what I do now. Except I'm having difficulty seeing the bright stars to start with which is why I need a wide field finder. 

[Stu]

3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

But won't they introduce aberrations and spoil that nice crisp Tak finder?

Probably yes! 😭😭

[John]

I had a Tak 30mm straight through finder which came as the package that my FC100-DL came equipped with. I'm afraid that I lasted just one short session with it. The quality is excellent of course but the humble Skywatcher 6x30 RACI worked better for me in terms of comfort and the orientation of the field (which is a personal preference I accept).

The Skywatcher finder fits into the Tak finder bracket and, IMHO, looks fine on the scope. I don't have so much infatuation with the brand to prevent what I see as effective and sensible changes here and there🙂

Edited May 5, 2023 by John

[RobertI]

I’m always surprised how much you can see through a 6x30 and they are so light too. I have been meaning to get a 6x30 RACI for a while to sit on my 102ED as my 9x60 is rather  bulky and causes balance issues. 

[Stephenstargazer]

Another SW 6X30 RACI user. Cheap and easy, shows most stars as in Pocket Sky Atlas. Useable fov is over 7deg. Tarted it up with some aluminium thumb screws.

My other bigger (better?) finders dont often get used. This is better for star hopping and enough for alignment.

[mikeDnight]

Like Jeremy S I really like the Tak 30mm straight finder. I often just look along the tube of my scope to roughly align it with an object, then it's the most natural thing in the world to me to look straight through the finder while looking along the tube. I even keep both eyes open more often than not, and that makes it easy to align the target with the crosshairs while keeping it in view in the sky.  Tonight was my first real experience with a 9X50 right angled finder, but i found it to be awkward compared to the more intuitive straight through finder. 

 My favourite finder has to be the Tak 50mm, which has a finely etched illuminated crosshair, but its quite pricey at around £300 just for the tube assembly. By comparison the 30mm Tak finder is a real gift. 

[Mr Spock]

Just arrived. Looks a lot nicer than I thought it would.