Finders and red dot finders

[earth titan]

Which is preferred?

I find looking through a finder scope fiddly to pick out where I am. I am in a light polluted area and the 6 x 30 finderscope doesn't pick enough out to allow easy star hopping.

Anybody find the red dot finders easier?

[marcdearn]

I struggled to find things -or at least I struggled to be sure I was looking at what I thought I was- until I bought a Rigel Quickfinder from FLO

It is so easy to set up and use and I am confident now that the object I see through the EP is the correct one.

[johninderby]

As red dot finders don't magnify, the worse the light pollution the the less useful they are as they don't show anything that can't be seen with the naked eye which can make tracking down specific targets a bit tricky. A 9x50 right angle finder makes a huge difference over the 6x30 and is a good choice in areas of high light pollution.

The ideal solution would be a 9x50 RA finder and something like a Rigel Quikfinder which is fairly small and compact but really works. For bigger scopes a Telrad rather than a Quikfinder. That way the red dot (actually circles) will get you in the area and the RA finder will get you spot on.

John

[DarkerSky]

A finderscope everytime for me over a red dot finder. Red dots are impractical for star hopping to faint objects, as often you need to hop to stars of 6th, 7th and 8th mag. A 9x50 finder gives me the best range

[brantuk]

Put one of each on your scope. Terrific pose value - looks like you really know what you're doing, and makes the scope look champion. Saves your back and you'll find anything in view whether light polluted or dark site.

[Bizibilder]

Buy a Telrad. Use with both eyes open and you can position the scope precisely every time. I was amased at the ease of use - and Ive been using "normal" finder scopes for years! I now just use it occasionally to get an idea of the local field of view, or to pick exactly which target I want if there are several close together eg DSO's in Virgo.

[Ollienttm]

Finders - Rigel QuikFinder Compact Reflex Sight

Can anyone tell me if these are any good? Is it the same as a rdf or finderscope or used with them?

[earth titan]

So both of them then?

Fit a telrad along with the finder scope already fitted - find things easy - looks cool. Sounds like a plan.

[Astro_Baby]

I went with the both approach as well. I found with a relatively short scope trying to get your neck bent to the nagles sometimes required by a straight through finder was hard work. So a right angled finder was whats needed.

I also have a red dot because its easier to get in the general area with that and great if you just want a fast view of something that your eyeballs can see.

The redt dot and the right angled illminated finder is also the business for aligning synscan. The red dot will zero in on the alignment star easy (especially if the firts star on the alignment process is out by a long way) while the illuminated reticule provides a perfect centre to put the star on for alignment.

I dont bother aligning the Synscan using the main scope optics - I do it all with the finder. You just have to make sure the finder is well aligned to the main optics but since adopting this methid I find Synsca gets an alignment bang on each time - no more annoying 'ALIGNMENT FAILED' messages.

Heres the two finders together on the scope - the 9x50 has since had a low profile mounting made to sex it up a bit and as brantuk says it makes the scope look the biz and provides large volumes of pose value

[pvaz]

I use the telrad most of the time, specially when I'm star hoping and I could live with just it and a wide field EP.

Then I have a RA correct image 9x50 finder that comes handy sometimes to do a final alignment, when I don't have the widefield EP in.

[orionhunter]

i use both a normal finder and a RDF. horses for courses and all that.

id love a telrad, when the money (ie the wife) allows it.

[brantuk]

Nice one astro

[BazMark]

I fitted an Orion 9x50 RA finder to my Skymax 127 Mak. It's like having two telescopes. 9x mag on the moon gives a nice view and I have some fun with the kids, especially friends of my kids. They all love to look through the scope but they usually look through the finderscope first by mistake and exclaim, 'Oh WOW!' I then say 'now look through there' and point to the main EP, and wait for their response. It's fun, as much for me as it is for them.

Anyways, the red dot finder worked for me once aligned properly with the main scope. However, I much prefer the RA optical viewfinder for the reasons allready expressed. For me they are deffinitely better in light poluted skies.

Mark