QR Red Dot Finder

[Llamanaut]

I recently bought a qr red finder from scopesnskies, its turned up today and its actually in really good nick, bargain for £9. Only downside is the qr hasnt got a footplate. Anyone know of anywhere i can get one or if theres a quick fix to mounting it to my scope?

[brantuk]

A friend of mine at Kelling stuck an rdf on his Tak with 2 sided tape - not the ultra sticky type though - more like weakish surface tension. Just an idea for a quick fix

[Llamanaut]

thats one really quick fix i had in mind, cheers... great minds do think alike! Really struggled last night trying to find M65 and M66 in Leo without a decent finder... think i glimpsed them but couldnt zero in for definate.... mind you saturn was tiny in my 76mm mini newt so im guessing they will be almost unseen.... got an antares x2 barlow in my astroboot haul for £5 so hopefully i'll be able to see a bit more... put the whole mini newt, barlow, finderscope and 3 eyepieces together for less than £40... not bad imo

[John]

thats one really quick fix i had in mind, cheers... great minds do think alike! Really struggled last night trying to find M65 and M66 in Leo without a decent finder... think i glimpsed them but couldnt zero in for definate.... mind you saturn was tiny in my 76mm mini newt so im guessing they will be almost unseen.... got an antares x2 barlow in my astroboot haul for £5 so hopefully i'll be able to see a bit more... put the whole mini newt, barlow, finderscope and 3 eyepieces together for less than £40... not bad imo

Actually many galaxies are quite large in the sky - I suspect it's the limited aperture that is hampering you - unless you are observing under very dark skies most galaxies are going to be pretty chellenging with a 76mm aperture.

You are right though, a red dot finder makes getting to the right part of the sky easier - then use a low power eyepiece to pan around and see if anything faint and fuzzy hoves into view.

[TheThing]

How about this ?

Seems to fit the bill nicely!

[Llamanaut]

thanks thing but ive already got one of those mounted on the 76mm... its a totally different size and fit... i knocked up a diy baseplate last night out of poster card and masking tape... works a treat while im looking around for the real thing! Pity it was 8/8 cloud cover last night