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Hello there! Novice here


daveyboy20

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I'm Dave and have always been interested in space but recently have taken much more notice of things and really started to get quite excited about it all, then 'wonders of the solar system' by Brian Cox was aired on the BBC and that really kick started it all again, I've just got my first proper telescope - of which I know nothing about!!! I only got it last night so haven't had a proper go yet, its a second hand Tasco Galaxsee 46-114500 with D=114mm F=1000mm does anyone use such a telescope?

So far I have observed an electricity pylon that I didnt know was there in the distance over my backgarden! I can't wait to have a go at looking at the moon

I got a few lenses with it;

SR4mm

MA 10mm Long Eye Relief

MA 20mm Wide Angle Long Eye Relief

2x Barlow Lens

Moon filter

I know nothing about them or what they are best to view? I have an interactive star chart that plots the position of the planets on my phone that I have been using to look at Saturn and Mars and Venus with the naked eye over the past few months and have learned a lot about the constellations, I cant wait to have a go at looking at the planets through my new telescope, do I have a good setup to see any of them?

Any help or info much appreciated, from an extremely excited though knowledgeless Daveyboy20! :D

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thats a good enough starter scope going purely by the specifiactions you've given. I haven't used 1 myself but you should be able to see jupiter and saturn and the rings, and some deep sky objects like galaxys and nebulae depending on the light pollution in your area

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Hi and welcome

your 10mm will be best for planets and i would use the 20mm for deep sky objects such as star clusters and galaxys.

and yes other scopes with similar specs to yours can get you views of saturn, jupiter (not for a while yet though), and quite a few bright DSO's.

As for your barlow, im not sure about the quality but if its anything like what came with my scope it will be cheap and very degrading in quality wise, so dont expect alot of clarity when you use it.

Have a look at M44 the beehive cluster west of mars in Cancer, its a great place to start with the Messier list

Rich

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Hi Dave,

a very warm welcome to SGL, I personally have no knowledge of your scope, but I am sure someone will before long, your lens types are Meade Modified Achromatic based on the Kellner design which I believe have somewhere in the region of 40 to 50 degrees field of view ( FOV ) and with your scope of a 1000FL will give magnifications of 100X and 50X, your SR4mm is not really suited to the scope as this will give 250X which exceeds the limitations of the instrument, your 4.5" dia objective is only suitable for around 30X per inch in this Country which is about 140X and that is in good seeing conditions, the Barlow is a 2X magnifier doubling the power of an EP, hope this clarifies some points for you, enjoy the forum.

John.

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Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum. :D

You'll find it very friendly on here, with loads of great people willing to help out us newbies and lots of info spread all through the boards.

So have a good browse around and just ask away if you need any help.

After all, the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

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Thanks for the warm wlelcome and information guys! :D I have plenty of questions don't worry :p

Some of my lenses seem a bit 'dusty' (it is second hand) is there a preferred way to clean them?

Im hoping for clear skys tonight to try it out, I have set it up in our back room which is like a conservatory with opening sliding windows and there are just fields and allotments at the back so the light pollution is low (until a train goes past!!)

Can't wait!

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Welcome to SGL Dave Don't worry about clear sky's , 2 week's i had to wait when i got my dob. Look into downloading some sky charts or stellerum and get talking to the guy's in the forum they give everyone so much help good luck and dark sky's in your new hobbie

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Hi Dave, Yea i have a simallar scope (my first too) and it has done very well i think, I managed to see saturn beautifully! jupitar not to bad, mars was good when it was closser, and the orion nebula looked pritty good too, You'l be supprised at what you can see. Oh and the moon of course its great and detailed.

Welcome to SGL Dave im sure as i have you will find it a great place to learn from.

Regards,

Michael

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Hi Dave,

like others here, I would say, get a good barlow 2x, to go with the scope. It is always the let down with the Tasco scopes, that the barlow is of poor quality. Also, try to avoid the 4mm when you can use the 10mm with a good barlow, you will have a apparent 5mm with a better field of view and the quality will be better than the 4mm from tasco.

When you are happy with how to use the eyepieces, and have a bit of spare cash, you can then purchase some better quality eyepieces all round.

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hi Dave

welcome from me too.

in terms of cleaning your lenses, a little dust won't do any harm especially on your reflector mirrors - I would not recommend cleaning these just yet. it's possible but they are very susceptible to damage unless you know what you are doing.

the eyepieces can be cleaned no problem. try to suck or blow off as much dust and dirt as you can before you start

buy some isopropyl alcohol from maybe your local chemist and you can then very gently use a cotton bud just damp with the IA to wipe across the lens surface once. then do the same with the other end and repeat with new ones until it looks clean and shiny. you can try this from the bottom too. don't press hard and take your time. a bright light helps.

search the forum and there will be other threads to assist.

good luck with the new scope.

collimation won't be critical with your scope but try and learn the process if you can.

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Hi dave, welcome to the forum, if you have half as much fun as im having then you'll be well happy! My first scope was a tasco, i loved it... tasco barlows are rubbish though... have a look at flo, the tal ones are the business. Enjoy!

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Well, I had a go this evening as we had a clearish sky... failed!!

I saw a satellite of some description go passed my lens but thats it, Im fairly sure I was looking at Saturn but it looked no different to how it did with the naked eye! I was using the MA 20mm Wide Angle Long Eye Relief one but didn't do very well at all. According to 'Stellarium' on my comp and 'sideralis' on my phone, Mars and Saturn are both visible from the back of the house and I was really careful lining it up, took ages coz the star finder thing isnt set up as I dont know how yet, but I am fairly certain I was looking at Saturn, it literally looked no different to when I just looked up at the sky, am I being daft here? Probably am!!

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both mars and saturn had good visibilty tonight for me, your scope should get you clear views of saturn especially with titan in view

perhaps it was just a star?

i sympathise with you, beginning off is a [removed word]

rich

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