Help with my telescopes , cant see

[McLovin]

Hi I recently upgrade for a astromaster 130 before I have the 114 eq. So I know a little bit on the topic but really noob. But my problem was when I trying to see during the day , I was not able to see anything, just a bright blurry light. Yes I remove the cover, yes I put the eye focus in, it was the 20mm so its more easy to see thing. I try to ajust the focus but nothing . With my 114eq I encounter no problem but with this one I have no clues what I am doing wrong! I buy it almost new from older peoples it was too heavy for them so that why I was suspicious on maybe its broken but when I look to the main mirroir its looks fine, no damage visible, the telecospe looks brand new! Can someone with good knowledge can help me

[Moonbuggy]

Maybe you’re looking at something too close. It’s a bigger aperture than your 114 so you will have to focus it on something (during the day) much further away. Have you tried it on the night sky yet?

[michael8554]

I don't own a 130 so it's hard to be definitive, but try a daytime target half a mile away.

Try loosening the screw holding the eyepiece, and slowly pull it out of the focuser, you may find the focus point.

If it's a long way out with the focuser fully extended then the focuser needs an extension added to it before the eyepiece is inserted.

Conversely, if the focuser and eyepiece are all the way in, perhaps there is already an extension on the focuser that needs removing.

Once you have a landmark in focus, adjust the finderscope to frame the same landmark.

Fine tune on the moon and stars at night.

Michael

[Bignerdguy]

Something else to consider:  With Newtonian scopes you have the ensure they are properly collimated when you buy them from the store or online.  They do not always come properly collimated so images may be very blurry.  For this reason first time buyers should consider either purchasing a refractor or Mak's or SCT since most of these are already collimated or are much easier to collimate.  Newts have two mirrors to collimate instead of 1, like SCT's and none for refractors or Mak's.  While it is possible to learn to do so first time scope users may have more difficulty in doing so.

[McLovin]

On 11/01/2025 at 05:46, michael8554 said:

I don't own a 130 so it's hard to be definitive, but try a daytime target half a mile away.

Try loosening the screw holding the eyepiece, and slowly pull it out of the focuser, you may find the focus point.

If it's a long way out with the focuser fully extended then the focuser needs an extension added to it before the eyepiece is inserted.

Conversely, if the focuser and eyepiece are all the way in, perhaps there is already an extension on the focuser that needs removing.

Once you have a landmark in focus, adjust the finderscope to frame the same landmark.

Fine tune on the moon and stars at night.

Michael

Ty a lot ! I Find the problem its was the little mirroir for the eyespiece was misaligment ! I fix it and tight the  screw now I am gonna try to adjust the finderscope thanks again !

[Bignerdguy]

10 hours ago, McLovin said:

Ty a lot ! I Find the problem its was the little mirroir for the eyespiece was misaligment ! I fix it and tight the  screw now I am gonna try to adjust the finderscope thanks again !

Collimation is a three step process.  First you rotate and enter the secondary under the eyepiece tube.  Second you align the secondary mirror with the primary.  last you adjust the primary.  once all three are done you should get good views. 

 

 

[McLovin]

Ohhh I didnt not know that! Ok that can explain why I see Jupiter very blurry..With my 114 eq I was able to see Jupiter more clearly but with this one is not that much clear but I run the original eyespieces. I think im gonna buy a barlows 2x and maybe a 4mm omni to see planets. Let me know if it is a good choice. If I see the moon clearly but the others planets blurry like I cant have a good views of Jupiter. I try to adjust the focus but its like the planet will always try to split or when I was able to create a sphere the views was very blurry. Do you think its just the collimation again or its just a problems of eyepieces? 

[starry_vedant]

41 minutes ago, McLovin said:

. I think im gonna buy a barlows 2x and maybe a 4mm omni to see planets. Let me know if it is a good choice

Buy the 2x Barlow and you should be good with the 20mm and 10mm eyepieces that came with the telescope. I don't recommend more magnification as even with my 10mm + 2x Barlow I can see good detailed view of jupiter and Saturn's cassini division(rings) but it is really a trouble as the planet will move out of the field of view(FOV) within 10-15 seconds so you need to repeatedly keep on moving the scope. Same with the moon it moves too fast so I don't feel comfortable with it and just get annoyed to move the scope continuously if I want to observe a particular crater up close.

[AstroMuni]

21 hours ago, McLovin said:

Ohhh I didnt not know that! Ok that can explain why I see Jupiter very blurry..With my 114 eq I was able to see Jupiter more clearly but with this one is not that much clear but I run the original eyespieces. I think im gonna buy a barlows 2x and maybe a 4mm omni to see planets. Let me know if it is a good choice. If I see the moon clearly but the others planets blurry like I cant have a good views of Jupiter. I try to adjust the focus but its like the planet will always try to split or when I was able to create a sphere the views was very blurry. Do you think its just the collimation again or its just a problems of eyepieces? 

I had the Astromaster 130EQ and you should be able to clearly see planets. Yes, there will be a lot of jitter at higher magnifications as the mount isnt very stable, but they shouldn't be blurry. Check the collimation. The 4mm eyepiece will be quite tricky to deal with so I would suggest getting a longer focal length one and using in combination with the Barlow (if need be)

[JOC]

I have a different telescope, but on my focusser there is a sort of locking screw which is very easily tightened accidentally, esp. when observing in the dark.  Once tightened no amount of twizzling of the focusser knobs shifts the focus tube and Eyepiece up and down, though the knobs do appear to turn.  It's just worth checking that the focusser knobs are literally moving the focus housing at all and that the locking knob (if fitted) hasn't been tightened without your knowledge.

[Bignerdguy]

Here is  good instructional on how to collimate your telescope. 

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/how-to-align-your-newtonian-reflector-telescope/

 

Here is another good one with easier instructions and graphics:

 

https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/

Edited Tuesday at 10:14 by Bignerdguy

[Bignerdguy]

Forgot i also had this graphic: