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red dot finder worries

ashenlight

By ashenlight
in The Astro Lounge

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ashenlight

ashenlight

Posted
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Hello :)

Recently popped a new battery into my red dot finder (the one that comes with the Skywatcher 130PM) as I left the last one on.... and it died :headbang:

Anyway, ever since I've had this new battery in, when I first turn the red dot finder on, it seems to take a while to warm up. The red dot will appear, and before you know it, it is gone again. Tapping the top of the red dot finder helps it to come back into view, but only for a few seconds. The red dot finder never actually works - I have to give it a tap to see if it is in the right position. Very frustrating.

Do you think it's the battery? It is definitely the correct battery... just hope my red dot finder isn't broken!

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Sounds like a loose connection. By the way I left my RDF one a few times and found it powered down on its own. Turning the switch off and then non again seemed to reset it.

Your problem sounds more like a loose wire or battery fitting somewhere.

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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Daz, yes there is a little lever.. I'll give that a go. Gaz.. I've tried sort of holding the battery compartment lid on tightly whilst looking through the red dot finder, and it didn't yield any result... but I'll give it a go.

Are the standard red dot finders that come with SW scopes any good, or should I think about buying a better one in the future?

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wingman

wingman

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Amanda I have the same 'scope as you and had very little success with the supplied red-dot finder (it may have been me!) and I replaced it with a Telrad which is superb. The Rigel Quickfinder is another option which has got good reviews but I haven't used one

John

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mattlane

mattlane

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I decided to go for a 9x50 finderscope (the skywatcher right angled one), now i will say it is nigh on impossible to find anything with it as you have no reference when pointing it skywards, whereas with the red dot you can see the surrounding sky, and point it exactly where you want.

But.

I found that i can easily swap out the RDF and Scope one on the fly, so i use RDF to get to the region i want, then get the finder on to search, i found the Ring using this method. RDF to the two bottom stars of Lyra, get it in the middleish, swap in the finder you can easily see them both in the field of view, get the crosshairs on the spot, and then looked, and there it was.

I was really worried about the RDF and Finder getting misaligned when i swapped them over, but they don't, well they might be out a little, but not enough to cause an issue.

I am interested in the Telrad/Rigels, and very nearly got one of those, but thought that something with some magnification might be better, particularly when star hopping as i can see lesser magnitude stars with the finderscope, but with the RDF you're stuck with what you can see normally.

Mind you i do feel less like a soldier aiming a rocket launcher when using the finderscope, but it does look so cool with a big chunky finderscope bolted onto the side - plusses and minus for both types.

M

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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Cheers all.

I feel a bit silly now but I changed the battery and it is now working perfectly! Perhaps the battery was a bit rubbish. Anyway, I think I may upgrade to a different RDF in the future.

I understand what you mean matt, I rely on the wide fov with the rdf so much when locating things. I don't think I'm quite ready for magnifying everything in the hope of finding something. But it may come in handy in the way you described, correct region with RDF and then magnify it up to get accurate location with my finderscope. Hmm!

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mattlane

mattlane

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Seriously its well easy, takes a few minutes to get over the stress of swapping them over and worrying about dropping them, but then i don't have a lot of room where i observe, might have to invest in a little teeny table to have next to me, as the accessory tray it a bit full now.

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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It's a CR2032 lithium jobby. I bought two of them in a pack from WHSmiths the other week, never again, they charged £5 for two batteries... £3 for two in Tescos! Where did you get the 2016s from Peter? I'd love to get some 2032s that cheap...

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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matt, I recently started using a table when observing and its made my life so much easier! I lay my star map out, red light torch and eyepieces all within arms reach. Saves alot of time and I don't feel stressed out thinking I'm gonna drop them. I put the eyepieces on a tray ont he table - the lipped edge of the tray is extra reassurance they won't drop off :)

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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The 2016's are use in "led" tealights... after chrimbo Wyevale had a couple of hundred 5 packs left over in the 10p bin ( they were originally a couple of quid a pack) so i bought 200 packs... As i use 3 at a time in my small red headtotch and my RDF uses them...

I doesnt matter if i forget to switch mine off these days...

Each one runs the RDF for over a week continously...at normal viewing brightness...

I still have quite a lot left...

Peter....

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Dave Smith

Dave Smith

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I get my CR2032 cells from Directfoto Ltd. They charge £3.99 for 3 with free postage.

I have given up using the small RDFs as I'm continually leaving them on. The telrad I do use has larger batteries 2 x AA, I think, and lasts for months if left on.

Dave

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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I get mine from The Source, (formerly Radio Shack) who have a two year replacement guarantee if it wears out, and will replace the batteries up to three times. I use up the guarantee. My only problem with my RDFs is that I don't find them all that transparent, and I wondering about cleaning them. I think I'll try lens fluid. At $19.95 for the finder, I can risk damaging it.

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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I often find the red dot in my finder way too bright. When it gets near to the object I am trying to centre it on, the object (a star usually) all but vanishes. I have to pop up and look around the RDF to see where the object is, than translate this view into the view through the RDF....

...does anyone else have this problem?

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DemonicOmelette

DemonicOmelette

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I know just what you're on about. I am constantly turning my finder on and off while looking through it. It would be good if it had a sort of "blink" function... Maybe someone with some electrical skills could make it blink?

And as it is so light, would it not be possible to mount BOTH an rdf AND a finderscope on the same OTA? Best of both worlds...

-eli

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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I often find the red dot in my finder way too bright. When it gets near to the object I am trying to centre it on, the object (a star usually) all but vanishes. I have to pop up and look around the RDF to see where the object is, than translate this view into the view through the RDF....

...does anyone else have this problem?

To an extent, especially in my skies and with my eyesight. I find that dimmer stars disappear behind the 'lens' of the RDF. I usually move my eye to see the star in the sky, then move it back into the RDF. If the star appears to change from white to red as I move, I know I'm pretty close.

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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I know just what you're on about. I am constantly turning my finder on and off while looking through it. It would be good if it had a sort of "blink" function... Maybe someone with some electrical skills could make it blink?

And as it is so light, would it not be possible to mount BOTH an rdf AND a finderscope on the same OTA? Best of both worlds...

-eli

Even better... I wonder if someone could come up with a RDF and finderscope, in one sexy piece of equipment? With the blinking function of course :) Perhaps it could look like a normal RDF, but had a finderscope attached a right angle to the RDF, and you could flick between the two?

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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I usually have a 9x50 finder plus a Sky-Surfer V red dot both mounted on the tube and both aligned to the main optics. The Red dot is good for finding a general area and then switch to the 9x50 for a better view.

I find the red dot handy during alignement for the GoTo plus its handy if you want to find something unaided by the GoTo gubbins.

The standard SW red dot finder I found was pretty ok - its the same finder on the Celestron Nexstar 4SE as far as I can tell. Its not great but its adequate for the task.

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