My Brain doesn't do inverted

[Eyeball]

No matter how hard I try, it still takes me ages to get the moon in my eyepiece. Despite using a wide-angle 25mm one, it appears that my brain is not in sync with inverted views; it cannot seem to process the information that the eye is providing, when the image is upside down. It really is problematic.

I went into the front garden this morning about 6.00am, and the moon was beautifully clear. As the previous night had been cloudy, I saw it as an early morning opportunity to observe the terminator, something that I had not viewed before. For ages I fumbled with the focuser, and was so disorientated that I no longer knew whether I was on the planet Earth, Middle Earth or flamin’ Narnia!

Concentrating so intently, I never realised that daylight had come and people were looking over the picket fence laughing at me.

Standing there in Homer Simpson slippers, pyjama bottoms and string vest, I must have looked a sight. I beat my chest like a Silverback and bent at the knees: “Don’t care how cold it is, I like to keep fit,” I uttered, before scurrying inside the house deeply embarrassed.

I think the moral here is: if you cannot find the moon with a reflector get an erect eyepiece – I intend to do so forthwith.

[jgs001]

Use an RDF first, that'll put the moon in the centre of the FOV and everything works in the way you would expect them too. That's why I took off the finder scope from my fracs and got RDF's instead.

[Eyeball]

Use an RDF first, that'll put the moon in the centre of the FOV and everything works in the way you would expect them too. That's why I took off the finder scope from my fracs and got RDF's instead.

I have an RDF on this scope (Heritage 130P) but you need to be a contortionist to use it.

Surely an erect image eyepiece would be a lot simpler? If the moon is above a chimmney of a house down the road, you merely line the viewfinder up with the chimmney then raise the elevation until you have the moon.

[jgs001]

Colin, I've tried finding the moon without a finder, and it can be done, but take out the ep. Look for the bright glare in the ep hole, then insert the EP. I've used this with my Skymax 102 which has a focal length of 1300mm.

[yesyes]

At this early hour I even have problems remembering my own name, let alone finding the moon or any other object though the scope.

May this have contributed in your case too?

[Eyeball]

At this early hour I even have problems remembering my own name, let alone finding the moon or any other object though the scope.

May this have contributed in your case too?

I have always been an early morning person - dawn is the best part of the day.

[John]

I have an RDF on this scope (Heritage 130P) but you need to be a contortionist to use it.

Surely an erect image eyepiece would be a lot simpler? If the moon is above a chimmney of a house down the road, you merely line the viewfinder up with the chimmney then raise the elevation until you have the moon.

As I think has been said before, if you introduce an erect image eyepiece you will loose more than you will gain. It might be OK on the moon where you have plenty of light but with most astro targets light is at a premium - you don't want to do anything that will reduce the light throughput or contrast - it could make the difference between seeing details on planets or faint DSOs or not seeing anything.

My advice is to perservere with using the red dot finder - once you have the knack they work a treat

[Eyeball]

Colin, I've tried finding the moon without a finder, and it can be done, but take out the ep. Look for the bright glare in the ep hole, then insert the EP. I've used this with my Skymax 102 which has a focal length of 1300mm.

I see the point you are making, and it is a helpful one. However, I feel that if I had a corrected view of things there would not be a problem.

I also use a Bresser Sprite 20x50 monocular for quick views of the sky, and can lock onto a target with ease using it, because it is a normal image that I see.

[Eyeball]

As I think has been said before, if you introduce an erect image eyepiece you will loose more than you will gain. It might be OK on the moon where you have plenty of light but with most astro targets light is at a premium - you don't want to do anything that will reduce the light throughput or contrast - it could make the difference between seeing details on planets or faint DSOs or not seeing anything.

My advice is to perservere with using the red dot finder - once you have the knack they work a treat

Valid points - I might try the RDF again tonight and see if I can get to grips with it.

[Iris]

Valid points - I might try the RDF again tonight and see if I can get to grips with it.

Eyeball is it just the fact that you cant get a bead on the moon that is causing the problem or is it that you cant get your head around the fact that you have to push the scope/motor button in the opposite direction that you expect to get it placed where you want?

If it is the latter then instead of thinking in terms of moving the scope in the opposite direction to get the target lined up think of it as dragging the sky into position in front of your (fixed) scope that way the motion preserves the natural order.

So if the target is at the extreme left of the fov and you need it at the right rather than thinking "I need to move the FOV left so I have to move the scope right" - instead think "I need to drag the sky right so push the scope right or press the right button on the controller or whatever" it works a treat for me.

Obviously if the problem is the former then the above wont help solve it - but an RDF will.

Its odd cos the moon has been the one target I have never had trouble aligning even without the RDF

[Wobbly Bob]

Colin, the RDF is defo the way to go IMHO. One trick I used on me Dob was to raise the RDF away from the scope with a home made bracket. I found this helped a lot in ligning up and object.

The 45deg errect image thingy will do you no favours at night.

[Eyeball]

Colin, the RDF is defo the way to go IMHO. One trick I used on me Dob was to raise the RDF away from the scope with a home made bracket. I found this helped a lot in ligning up and object.

The 45deg errect image thingy will do you no favours at night.

Where the RDFs are concerned, you've hit the nail on the head - they are too damn close to the tube.

You say that you have raised yours with a home made bracket - were you still able to align it properly?

[Eyeball]

Eyeball is it just the fact that you cant get a bead on the moon that is causing the problem or is it that you cant get your head around the fact that you have to push the scope/motor button in the opposite direction that you expect to get it placed where you want?

If it is the latter then instead of thinking in terms of moving the scope in the opposite direction to get the target lined up think of it as dragging the sky into position in front of your (fixed) scope that way the motion preserves the natural order.

So if the target is at the extreme left of the fov and you need it at the right rather than thinking "I need to move the FOV left so I have to move the scope right" - instead think "I need to drag the sky right so push the scope right or press the right button on the controller or whatever" it works a treat for me.

Obviously if the problem is the former then the above wont help solve it - but an RDF will.

Its odd cos the moon has been the one target I have never had trouble aligning even without the RDF

Now my brain hurts!

[Mark at Beaufort]

As you get more experienced you may wish to find fainter objects never mind the Moon. Over the years I have found two items of equipment allow me to find the most difficult and faint objects. First priority a RDF - line it up on a distant object in daylight. Second a right angled correct image view finder - I have a Orion 9x50 Finder that gives me a FOV of 5 degrees. With these two items correctly set up you should have no problems finding any object.

Mark

[Eyeball]

As you get more experienced you may wish to find fainter objects never mind the Moon. Over the years I have found two items of equipment allow me to find the most difficult and faint objects. First priority a RDF - line it up on a distant object in daylight. Second a right angled correct image view finder - I have a Orion 9x50 Finder that gives me a FOV of 5 degrees. With these two items correctly set up you should have no problems finding any object.

Mark

Thanks for that Mark - appreciated.

[pvaz]

That's about the same config I use. I have a telrad and use it's circles to measure distances when I starhop. That makes it very effective to find objects that aren't visible at naked eye.

Then I have the 9x50 Right angle finder for any final adjustments. I use the finder often when I have a high mag ep in and I don't want to waste time changing EPs.