HELP PLEASE

[lindon uk]

Hi All, well first night out last night wwith my new skymax 127 goto, but i must be doing something very wrong, i put the scope outside for a good hr and a half i had lined up the spotter scope earlier aligned the scope, but when i came to view the sky all i got was blackness, i saw more through the spotter but nohing in the skymax, i used 25 mm ep first then the 10mm but still nothing, could it be i'm not focusing correctly?, ( and i had removed the end cap lol ), thanks.

[jgs001]

I'd suspect focus... The Skymax has a long range of focus movement as the mirror moves up and down the tube. It can take a while to locate the right point. Also, the very narrow field of view makes it hard to find targets. I'd suggest pick a really bright star or planet (mars) and use that to start with. Align with the finder, then use the 25mm (widest FOV) and work through the focus range, don't go to fast, as it can whizz through the correct focus point. If you see an odd donut shaped large blob at any point, that's the object coming into focus, slow down. it's deceptively difficult to find targets with the Mak

[jabba]

Ahh Haa ... I had the same issue last night , my first time out , couldn't seem to focus anything very clearly , i saw the donut "Blob" view you mention when using the focuser on mars, but assumed i'd gone too far and whizzed it back. I also had what seemed to be a blackout in the eyepiece , no light at all visible. Obviously , i didn't have clue what i was doing , and by the time i started to get a grip on things (sort of) i was all dewed up and had to call it a night.

All in all a very dissapointing first night out , i spent far too long messing around with the goto controls , next time i'll spend some time looking around manually and trying to sort out my eyepiece viewing technique and aligning things properly. Saw nothing interesting at all other than very small , bright white blobs

BTW .... will a 4mm eyepiece be of any use to me with my Celestron Nexstar 4SE ?

I have a 25mm and a X2 barlow , plus the 4mm , when i used the barlow i couldn't see anything.

it's specs are -

Magnifications (with eyepiece supplied): x53

Highest Practical Power (Potential): x240

Diameter of Primary Mirror: 102mm

Telescope Focal Length: 1325mm (f/12.99)

what other eyepieces would be good for planets ?

cheers

[Capricorn]

Jabba, think the 4mm is too much for the SE4, I wouldn't expect it to work well with an EP of less then 9 or 8mm, and a 12 would be optimum.

I would say rarely would a 6mm be usable and as to the 4mm sorry just way over the top. And then if any use they would have to be good quality ones. I presume that the 4mm came with the SE4 and is a Celestron.

Astro-Baby will come along some time as give you better and first hand information.

Never believe the magnifications they quote as I see they cover theirselves by adding "potential".

[jabba]

Ahhh ... thought so , the 4mm was a newbie impulse buy

- Note to self - Read the faq on eyepieces before buying , muppet !

- Secondary note to self - RTFM on the scope before blundering around in the dark !

Ok , so i'm gonna dump the 4mm and get hold of something around 9-10mm ?? sound ok ?

any recomendations ? whats good , bad and just plain ugly in the eyepiece world ?

Are Meades any good ? Televue worth the money ?

[LukeSkywatcher]

I've had some good lunar views with my SW 130P Dob and a 6mm EP (also 2X barlowed). The scope has a f/l of 650 though. I certainly had no luck with the same setup on my 90mm EQ scope (f/l 1000)

what other eyepieces would be good for planets ?

I find with my 90mm scope that 9-10mm EPs are about the best.

[TheThing]

I have a 4SE as well and regularly use a WO 6mm SPL EP with it. I've even been know to barlow it at x2. That's quite a lot of power (maybe too much?) but I've got away with it. Not the best of views when Barlowed, but I was trying to make out the E and F stars in the trapezium.

You can certainly use a 6mm EP with the 4SE, but it might only get an outing on very clear and steady nights.

[Space Bat]

Ok , so i'm gonna dump the 4mm and get hold of something around 9-10mm ?? sound ok ?

Keep the 4mm for collimating

[jabba]

Thanks guys

I think i'll try and find a half decent 9 or 10 mm , ebay perhaps ?

[pvaz]

I find ebay sometimes is over priced so double check on official stores such as FLO.

You can also try the sale section on this site 1st:

For Sale - Stargazers Lounge

Lot's of 2nd hand gear at good prices there.