Needs help on skywatcher explorer 200p EQ5

[Cassiopeia]

Ive just bought a Skywatcher Explorer 200p EQ5 scope and im already haveing some problems with setting it up.

Me and my family spent last night trying to set the whole thing up and attempted to take it outside for a quick test.

In the instruciton manual it isnt very clear about what to do. In one part of the book, it tells us to focus on an object in the distance, so we put the scope onto a scarecrow in the farmers feild next to us.

When we looked through the finderscope, we saw it fine, but when we went to look through the actual telescope eyepeice, we couldnt see anything. I thought that you would be able to see the same thing through the finerscope as the actual eyepeice of the scope. ??

Also, for example, last night we tried to look at Saturn, but all we could see though the finerscope was a light, like a star with the naked eye. So we tried looking through the actual eyepeice and there was nothing to see.

Is there something we have to do that we have missed?

Do we have collimate the mirrors or something? Please help.

[SpookyKatt]

You have to align the finderscope with the main tube, ie find

something (like the scarecrow) in the main OTA and then adjust

the finder until the object is visible in the finder as well.

That way you can find objects like saturn in the finder and

it should be visible through the main scope.

Ooops I just re-read your post Cassiopeia, had you already aligned

the finder and ota ?

Kathleen

[Peter Drew]

Can you see anything at all through the telescope in daylight. It would be unusual for the optics to be so much out of line for you to see nothing. If you can see an image in the scope then line the finder up with it using its adjusting screws. If the finder is not lined up, even if you can see Saturn in the finder, (Saturn will appear like a star in the finder) it might not be in the smaller field of the telescope. I presume you have taken the cover off the front of the telescope, we've all left it on in the dark at one time or another!

[Cassiopeia]

Ok thanks. Ill try that

[Cassiopeia]

Can you see anything at all through the telescope in daylight. It would be unusual for the optics to be so much out of line for you to see nothing. If you can see an image in the scope then line the finder up with it using its adjusting screws. If the finder is not lined up, even if you can see Saturn in the finder, (Saturn will appear like a star in the finder) it might not be in the smaller field of the telescope. I presume you have taken the cover off the front of the telescope, we've all left it on in the dark at one time or another!

Yes we deffiantly took the cover off haha

Yeah, we could see stuff through the finder scope in daylight, but it the scope everything was blurry and at night we cant see anything, just darkness..

Thanks for the help, ill try it again tonight.

[Brett]

It sounds to me like a alignment issue between the scope and finderscope. I find it easier to stand at the back of the scope first and eye up what you want to look at making sure the object is on the same axis as the scope on the top and side. Use a low power eyepiece to start with and once the object is centered in the eyepiece make adjustments to your finderscope.

Brett

[Bizibilder]

Have you been able to focus the 200P on anything? Just point it skyward and turn the focus knob SLOWLY for its full travel. Objects go in and out of focus over a VERY short distance of that travel. There are bound to be a few stars in the field of view, even if they are faint. If you can focus the main scope as well as the finder you are in a much better position to align them.